The thing that makes the urban adult cartoon, The Boondocks, so controversial is it's bold and sarcastic approach to the issues that plague the African American community. From typical problems like racism to more rare/extreme ones, like Hurricane Katrina; the cartoon has covered it all. This week's episode touched on the declining state of rappers and Hip-Hop. It did so by killing off one of the show's most infamous rappers, Thugnificent. Thugnificent was symbolic of your typical hot rapper for the moment. He had a huge hit single, blew his money on a lot of luxury items, and milked his popularity for all he could. But like tons of ignorant rappers today, he fell off. He got into tax problems, he lost all his stuff, he fell victim to poor music trends and petty beefs, and his music stopped selling. After all was said and done, he ended up working for UPS. You can see the tragic, yet comedic tale after the jump.
I think this was one of the most honest depictions of the rap game today ever. Aaron McGruder took some risks, but the industry today is really that sad. What makes it even worse, is declines like the one Thugnificent went through, can be avoided. If rappers were more: educated, individuals, and invested in their work; they would all be just fine. Too many of them sign contracts and stuff without knowing what the hell they are doing. Education or taking time to hire someone who does, seems to be too taboo for them to handle. I don't even want to get started on the overkill of AutoTune that took place. Just cause some people can work it, doesn't mean that everybody can. I'm glad it has seemed to fade out more or less. And the quality of albums is so poor these days, it's not even funny. Rappers seem more concerned about pumping out as much as they can just to turn a profit, then taking time to really give fans something to listen to. I'd rather wait an extra month or two to get an album I can play all the way through, then blow money on an album where only the singles are decent. Hell by the time an album drops, the singles have been played out. Fans don't want that, they want fresh material from an album. Especially with the money and the economy being so tight these days. Can't afford to waste money on bad music. So much props to McGruder for keeping it real, one of my favorite episodes so far. Anyone else have thoughts on this? Leave comments and share your opinions. -MinM
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