I’m kind of uncomfortable making this statement since not too long ago I was telling the interwebs to take it easy on the kid. And also I do appreciate his work and his long time interest and support of indie hip-hop. But all that being said, this is less about him and more about the circle jerk hip-hop sites jumping on a bandwagon. I have the utmost respect for Sway and he is specifically excluded here. He was being polite and also did not have any part in over sensationalizing a fair, not-terrible amateur performance. But the rest of the so-called leading music sites, wow, groupthink much?1 Is Sway’s tempered, narrow (hollywood only) co-sign enough to amount to this much hype?2 Did any editor out there actually watch and examine what is being covered?3 Is this what Trump & Hillary had to deal with for so many months?4 Am I taking this way too seriously?5 I know Shia will keep doing his thing he looks like a trooper but if it were another youngish, amateur MC that was on the comeup I would, nine times out of ten, make sure to tell them and emphasize to Keep Doing It. No one is great all at once and beginnings do not limit outcomes. And also, every rapper is not a career rapper. Rap at home for your kids cause that’s what you do. Rap at the family bbq while your cousin plays the guitar. So to all the amateur MCs out there, Keep Doing Your Thing, participation is critical and we all look forward to listening your demo. But don’t let the hype get to your head.

 


1. I’ll go ahead and answer my own q’s by the way since comments here are rare like indie hip-hop sales outside of Europe. Groupthink much? Yes! Yes you do.


2. Yes! Apparently. And honestly, Sway is such a positive, uplifting sort of character, this all makes sense from that angle


3. Likely to some extent, but what do they know?


4. Absolutely


5. No not really, it’s just kinda fun and an ongoing issue I observe so why not address it now, I have time to kill between flights. Plus, like I said, this is mostly not about Shia. Seems like a cool kid. This is about sensationalism, media hype, pack journalism, false confidence and the effect this has on young people and the way special interests can use this to their advantage to manipulate the actions of segments of the population