“T.I. reported to a federal prison in Arkansas on Monday. Gucci Mane was arrested on a litany of traffic charges on Tuesday. Lil Wayne is expected to be released from Rikers on Thursday. So on Wednesday, all four rappers were behind bars. And while their careers appear to be headed in very different directions, they all illustrate how prison time can only harm a rap career. Tours derail. Endorsements vanish. Momentum slows. Infractions that used to help build a rapper’s mystique now only jeopardize a brand.
“The branding powers of a prison sentence felt tangible when Tupac Shakur’s album “Me Against the World” topped Billboard charts in 1995 as he served an 11-month sentence for sexual abuse. Today, the notion feels obsolete.
“‘Jail for anyone’s career is bad,’” says Texas rap legend Bun B. ‘It stops everything dead. There’s no reason to be proud of going to jail unless you’re going to jail for activism.’”
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True words spoken by Bun B!!!!
I disagree with the blanket statement that imprisonment can only harm a rap career. That’s looking at things too narrowly. I would say that repeated incarcerations (see tip, gucci, et al) or really long terms (see shyne, boosie, c-murder, et al) will definitely derail a career for the reasons listed above.
Wayne’s incarceration, though? Provided he doesn’t get busted for something else in the near future and goes back in, I think this brief hiatus has only added to his fame and anticipation for future works. Granted, his people helped keep the buzz going.
Wait, I thought Wayne went to jail on purpose to up his nonexistent “street cred”?
Oh also, jail fucked T.I. up! I don’t know anything about his lifestyle before heading to the bing, but he seemed to come out with drug problems after going in on gun charges. Once again I don’t know shit about him so he could have been fucking with lean and e for years.
T.I. will be more effected negatively by jail than Wayne or Gucci as far as profits from endorsements. Wayne never had any real endorsements before jail so not like he could lose something he never had.And Bun B knows Wayne isn’t proud of going to jail so that quote was obviously not about Wayne.
I think jail only helped pac because everyone felt like he was innocent. To me the combo of Waynes star fading (see rebirth sales), him going to jail, and his overexposure (letters from prison, too many lackluster features, tons of mixtapes) fucked his paper up more than him going to jail.
thastrings and Bun are both correct. I agree with both statements. I find accurate attributes in those two declarations. I strongly believe those two orations of inaudible decree, possess irrefutable verity.
XD
Since 1979
I disagree with the blanket statement that imprisonment can only harm a rap career
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I feel ya bruh but your argument aint that strong though
It’s the G-O-D .. Godfather part P!
Wait, I thought Wayne went to jail on purpose to up his nonexistent “street cred”?
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I thought Wayne went to Jail on purpose to put his male sexual
encounters on unlimited status
Nina & Grime
I Co-sign completely
I disagree with the blanket statement that imprisonment can only harm a rap career
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I feel ya bruh but your argument aint that strong though
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all i need is one counter-example to refute a blanket-statement, right? so, again, wayne. i think it’s accurate. between the celebrity visits, the fan-letters, the grainy phone verses, this guy’s prison stint has definitely added to his mystique. not in a way that boosts his street cred necessarily (does anyone actually care about that anymore?), but in an anticipatory way. lots of people are expecting (or maybe just hoping for) some deeper, more focused material once he gets out.
whether he’ll actually come through with such material remains to be seen. but i don’t think the eventual outcome changes the fact that prison did not hurt, and may have even helped, his career. consider the alternative. had wayne been free for the past year, he would have had his usual level of exposure–one that some people were certainly getting tired of, and one that definitely would not be as interesting/discussion-worthy as seeing his prison i.d. card (wayne’s a catholic?) and hearing about how he got thrown in the hole.
basically, jail prevented (or at least delayed) wayne’s career from quickly becoming same old same old. so that’s my argument lol.
but that’s really an exception to a rule. t.i.p. and gucci are in a bad place, and boosie’s pretty much fucked.
anyone who thinks wayne’s rebirth album is a reflection of his star power in this industry should eat glass… He is the biggest star in the rap game next to Eminem and he about to take over the world with Drake and Nicki whether we like it or not…
Jail is terrible for your career. Gucci was on a path to being a bigger name in rap and jail killed promotion for an album that had 2-3 radio hits on it (The State vs. Radric Davis). Yea he’s a name, but the album he put out this year had no steam behind it.
T.I.has killed his momentum by doing silly shit. Tip was part of the Elite 5 in rap (Em, Ye, Jay, Wayne) It seems like ever since coming back from the first trip to prison, T.I. never got the mojo back. His guest spots were killer, but the singles not so much. He final gets a hot single with Ross and he gets popped again.
Seeing how in rap (and music biz in general) you can got from hot to cold so fast, why would you risk your hot run over some bs.