Rappers: the new renaissance men?

Al B. Sure! · July 28, 2003, 01:57

in the other thread, rappers in movies was brought up so i was thinking about this... major rappers are modern renaissance men.

take Puff Daddy for example... aside from being a rapper, he is a successful businessman and president of Bad Boy Entertainment, a music producer, a music video director/producer, and a skilled dancer. he is only in his early 30's.

Tupac was a dancer (ballet being his major in high school), the star or co-star in several movies (and not just action roles), producer of a few of his own songs, and when he died at 26, was on the verge of starting his own record label and starting his political career.

and on and on... Ice Cube stared in and produced half a dozen movies... Nas directed an independent film recently and plans to pursue that in a few years when he retires from rap... Dr. Dre raps, produces, acts in an occasional film, and is president of aftermath records which includes a over a dozen rappers and singers... Mos Def is a skilled actor (who unlike most other rappers, barely ever does an action role [I believe Italian Job was one of his first though was no where near having a starring role in that movie]), a musician, music producer, and a singer...

so it seems clear to me... rappers are overall the most intelligent and talented men in the entertainment industry.

kind of makes me wonder what all these people here in philly who sit on the stoop all day could do if they had some more oppurtunities...

MichaeltheGreat · July 28, 2003, 01:59

Asher · July 28, 2003, 02:04

Not so much renaissance men as idols for the misguided youth.

They have no musical talent, they have no acting talent (have you seen an Ice Cube movie?), and they rely on braindead morons to buy their albums, then see their movies, then buy their clothes.

mrmitchell · July 28, 2003, 02:07

Rappers are nothing more than musicians.

Get over it.

Ming · July 28, 2003, 02:11

Quote:

Originally posted by Albert Speer
kind of makes me wonder what all these people here in philly who sit on the stoop all day could do if they had some more oppurtunities...

You don't "make" opportunities for yourself by sitting on the stoop all day. People that expect things to be handed to them are just lazy... You have to go out and work hard for them...

David Floyd · July 28, 2003, 02:44

If rappers are so smart, then please explain why they're always getting shot or arrested?

I suspect I know the "answer", but I'd still like to hear it

Al B. Sure! · July 28, 2003, 02:48

thats a damn shame... how many rock singers have directed movies? how many are CEO's of record companies?

David Floyd · July 28, 2003, 02:54

Being CEO of "Hippity Hop Rap Daddio Blam Blam" isn't the same as being CEO of a Fortune 500

Hell, I can start up a business and be a CEO, too.

Same thing goes for movies - if I have enough money, I can direct my own movie. Doesn't mean it'll be good, though.

And you still didn't answer my question.

asleepathewheel · July 28, 2003, 02:58

This is asinine. Rappers hardly have a monopoly on outside adventures. Inevitably singers want to act, actors want to sing, country boys want to play some baseball. Master P plays sports agent. Keanu thinks he's a rocker, as does billy bob.

Madonna owns a record label, to name one singer, many others own labels as well. I can't think of singer-directors, but I'm sure there are some crappy ones out there. Bon Jovis probably done some (poor) directing as probably others have too.

And you're doing your own theory a disservice by only giving "mad props" to your "homeboys" Missy elliot, for example, can out anything 99% of male rappers.

and for my final point, three words:
ice ice baby

Al B. Sure! · July 28, 2003, 03:05

David Floyd:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.../16/bmpuff.xml

Quote:

Puffy, whose real name is Sean Combs, and who now records under the name P Diddy, is also a film actor, a restaurateur, and the CEO of a clothing line, Sean John. His personal fortune runs to about $160 million. His net worth? About a quarter of a billion dollars.

yeah i'm sure you could clock those numbers...

Fortune 500 you said?

http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m.../article.jhtml

Quote:

Rap star Master P, 29, whose real name is Percy Miller, was listed at No. 28 with a net worth of $361 million. The CEO of No Limit Records, an independent record label, was the only entertainer to be named to the list. And, he was among just three listed who were under the age of 30!

Master P's No Limit entertainment conglomerate extends beyond music. He owns No Limit Films, No Limit Sports and No Limit Etc., which markets shoes, clothes and toys.

David Floyd · July 28, 2003, 03:08

Yes, yes, but you were making the point that these people were something special in terms of intelligence. Sorry, I seriously doubt the majority of them are all that smart. They're rich, and used their money to hire smart people to make them more money.

But if you're telling me that Master P is as intelligent as, say, Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, then I'm gonna have to go ahead and say WRONG!

David Floyd · July 28, 2003, 03:09

But you still haven't answered my question - if these people are so smart, why can't they stay out of trouble?

Al B. Sure! · July 28, 2003, 03:11

now you may not trust Jet magazine rehashing an artcle from Fortune but how about Business Report?

http://www.businessreport.com/pub/20...er/1920-1.html

Quote:

When he arrived in Baton Rouge, Miller had an estimated income of $50 million in one year alone. More recently, Forbes magazine estimated his net worth at $249 million.

cough...

David Floyd · July 28, 2003, 03:12

AS,

This is like saying professional athletes are smart, because they make so much money. Sorry, but Alex Rodriguez has a $200 million contract because he has athletic ability in the sport of baseball, not because he can beat me in Trivial Pursuit.

Al B. Sure! · July 28, 2003, 03:13

David Floyd:

Quote:

if these people are so smart, why can't they stay out of trouble?

didn't Mozart and Wagner get in trouble with the law constantly?

Al B. Sure! · July 28, 2003, 03:15

Quote:

This is like saying professional athletes are smart, because they make so much money. Sorry, but Alex Rodriguez has a $200 million contract because he has athletic ability in the sport of baseball, not because he can beat me in Trivial Pursuit.

there's on huge difference between Rodriguez and Sean Combs and Master P... the latter two STARTED their record companies from scratch, have complete control over their earnings (they aren't getting a salary from a damn baseball team) and have expanded them to other areas including movies and clothes.

Al B. Sure! · July 28, 2003, 03:18

it should be noted that Sean Combs didn't even start out as puff daddy the rapper. he initially started his own record company and was more in the business aspect of running a company but then started to produce music and after the death of biggie, only then did he start rapping.

David Floyd · July 28, 2003, 03:21

Quote:

there's on huge difference between Rodriguez and Sean Combs and Master P... the latter two STARTED their record companies from scratch, have complete control over their earnings (they aren't getting a salary from a damn baseball team) and have expanded them to other areas including movies and clothes.

Yet this is all predicated on their ability to make money rapping. No prior money = no success. Now, granted, this is largely true everywhere, but the difference is, these people are doing "work" that consists of cursing a lot and talking about busting a cap in yo mama's ass.

And congratulations, they've expanded their earnings. Oh, excuse me, I mean they've hired other people to expand their earnings for them. You think P Diddy could direct a highly profitable movie by himself? Yeah, I doubt it.

The point is, while I'm sure these people aren't all stupid, I wouldn't call them shining examples of intelligence, either. These people do lot's of stupid stuff, get sent up on sexual assault charges or weapons charges, and get shot by other supposedly intelligent people (which brings up a good question - who's stupider? Master P for talking **** about DMX or DMX for shooting him for it? and yes, I know those two people didn't actually do that

).

And yes, this kind of thing happens to other people, too. Of course, this is to be expected, as most people in general are stupid, too.

David Floyd · July 28, 2003, 03:23

And maybe I'm being a little harsh. But frankly, the way these people act, the way they speak, the kind of **** they put out in "music", etc., does not make me think these people are very intelligent at all.

Al B. Sure! · July 28, 2003, 03:25

Quote:

Yet this is all predicated on their ability to make money rapping. No prior money = no success

didnt i just say...

Quote:

it should be noted that Sean Combs didn't even start out as puff daddy the rapper. he initially started his own record company and was more in the business aspect of running a company but then started to produce music and after the death of biggie, only then did he start rapping.

Master P did start out as a rapper but i believe he also started out from scratch distributing and marketing his own material.

Quote:

And maybe I'm being a little harsh. But frankly, the way these people act, the way they speak, the kind of **** they put out in "music", etc., does not make me think these people are very intelligent at all.

judging a book by its cover...

Al B. Sure! · July 28, 2003, 03:31

and by the way...

Quote:

talking about busting a cap in yo mama's ass.

as much rap as i have listened to, i can only think of one time when this was mentioned... Eazy E said something to this effect on an old ass NWA song

The Mad Monk · July 28, 2003, 03:43

Quote:

Originally posted by Albert Speer
thats a damn shame... how many rock singers have directed movies? how many are CEO's of record companies?

You're kidding me, right?

The Mad Monk · July 28, 2003, 03:53

The only big one I can think of right now is Apple Records, which was set up by the Beatles, but the entertainment industry is literally carpeted by thousands of little production companies that were set up and given to actors and musicians as part of their compensation packages.

Al B. Sure! · July 28, 2003, 04:00

Mad Monk:

thousands of little production companies? come on... can any of them except Apple Records compete in net worth with Bad Boy Entertainment/Sean John clothing, No Limit Entertainment/Sports/Films, Def Jam Entertainment Group, Rap-A-Lot Inc., etc.

and again... No Limit and Badboy were founded from scratch, not as any compensation package...

mrmitchell · July 28, 2003, 11:39

Albert, there is one major exception to your comparison between Mozart-era and today. Classical music composers usually worked their ****ing ass off because they loved music.

Now here's pop quiz time:

If you mugged a rapper and forced him to answer to you truthfully whether he rapped because he loved the music or all the money he was getting, which would he say?

Quote:

Albert Speer's Signature"I come from the ghetto. I don't worry about image. I worry about making money." -Master P

And it should be noted that rappers don't have to work hard at all, considering that right now there are probably a million Americans exactly repeating their lyrics and tunes.

(Albert, you might think you're winning, but the troll is so poorly made that countertrolls can only come from those desperate to just troll out anything. Perhaps if you carefully disguised the troll in a thread about the California recall or the United Nations or a budget deficit, you would be countertrolled harder.)

David Floyd · July 28, 2003, 12:53

Yeah, agree with MM. All I can really do is say "Look at these people - by and large, they're ****ing idiots."

Comparing these rappers to real CEOs, indeed

Jac de Molay · July 28, 2003, 13:37

Quote:

take Puff Daddy for example... aside from being a rapper, he is a successful businessman and president of Bad Boy Entertainment, a music producer, a music video director/producer, and a skilled dancer. he is only in his early 30's.

When you're peddling crap, you probably need to work twice as hard.

monolith94 · July 28, 2003, 13:44

True, many rappers are multi-talented and versatile, but not all of them are, and you certainly don't have to be a rapper to be a 'renaissance man'. You seem to think the term is defined by your profession, while I've always seen it used to describe someone who's well educated in many areas of culture and science, as well as having much and diverse real world experience.

Al B. Sure! · July 28, 2003, 13:47

Quote:

Yeah, agree with MM. All I can really do is say "Look at these people - by and large, they're ****ing idiots."

Comparing these rappers to real CEOs, indeed

yeah Puff Daddy is looking a lot better than those Enron people...

monolith94 · July 28, 2003, 13:49

The first against the wall will be the ceos, not the rappers. And I can't say that I mind.