By Emmanuel Louis-Charles
Imitate Excellence
Three days out from the release of Thugs new album “So Much Fun” I find myself thinking about his influence and clear imprint on the hip hop game. Thug to me is the best example of how having massive influence is almost a trade off for massive popularity. In my opinion you almost have to have some type of underdog element to your craft, in order to create a fan base that values your art above even the most highly marketed and funded artists. Look at Wiz and Curren$y. While Wiz’s mainstream popularity and songs like “See You Again” have his name in the brains of Mom’s all across the world, way more people want to actually rap like Spitta, and you can trace the lineage of “mumble rap” almost directly from Silk The Shocker and Curren$y. Artistic influence is not something that can be bought or smashed into peoples faces. It’s something intrinsically inside an artist that connects to the hearts of the listener and makes them want to become them. Look at how many rappers sound just like Thug with a twist and are popping as fuck. Gunna, Lil Baby, SahBabii, Lil Keed, Lil Gotit, and a sea of other lil’s and young’s that crack and strangle their voices like Jefferey. In closing Thug is a G.O.A.T and if you don’t sound like Thug in 2019 your probably trash and never gonna make it. Slatt.
ifudontkno 