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This piece was originally published on August 31, 2017.
Were re-publishing it in light of XXXTentacions death.
Its more than just your average jilted breakup rap.
(Past honorees include J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, and Chance the Rapper.
)17is presently on pace to bow out shockingly close to the top of this weeksBillboard200 chart.
took clubs and concerts by siege.
(HisNo Flockinintroduced the rhyme flow Bronx star Cardi B used for her smash hitBodak Yellow.)
This year Kodak awaits trial for a 2016 sexual-assault charge.
A second similar incident from February has yet to reach the courts.
Kodaks latest,Project Baby 2, a bleak collection of musings on love and hopelessness, is No.
2 in the country this week.
Police could be seen harassing unarmed citizens; kingpins handed out turkeys at Thanksgiving.
They gave voice to the struggles of the disadvantaged and illuminated a way out for the daring.
To love rap is to crusade for its honor, to suspend disbelief and enjoy it free of moralizing.
Its not a crazy question, but the timing never works.
Theres always a bigger concern eating up attention.
It is not a noble thought process; it is apathy disguised as passing concern.
While those gears turned, the powder keg personality set out on a volatile tour.
At one stop, an opener got beat up in the crowd.
Another saw X punch a fan in the face unprovoked.
The whole tour was called off before I could check it out in NYC.
At a lot of rock shows, that kind of reckless jostling was the point.
Nowadays, rappers pause shows to encourage fans to brace themselves for moshing.
This isnt to say that rap is the new rock because the two scenes have shared players for years.
The early 90s saw Chuck D pop up on a Sonic Youth song and KRS-One on an R.E.M.
The last bit should be a point of concern in examining the current rap landscape.
It doesnt matter how hot your single is if youre seen as a security risk.
Labels need to do more training.
Fans need to do more soul-searching.
We need to ask more questions.
Inaction is an action.
