i don’t like the big 3 example cus 1) cole prolly has like 1 maybe 2 bars about guns and they from last year. and 2) the reason why kendrick wasn’t called corny is cus he could also make commercial songs which is the most important thing

real music

what is op's criteria anyway didn't j cole just put his wack roster on a track with young nudy

Wayne during Drake’s rise is not Carter 2 or even Dedication Wayne. that nigga claims blood by affiliations and cause they protected him

that’s like calling Kendrick a street rapper LOL

this nigga made lollipop in 2009

Jay-Z signing Cole didn’t give that nigga street credibility

the nigga had Missy Elliot, Trey Songz, and Drake on his debut and songs about trials and tribulations of love, how good he is as a rapper, and just other s*** on the same album featuring Jay where they rapped about watches you are YAPPING

hood niggas are not a bigger demographic than the average black person so we’ll just end this conversation there lmfaooo. otherwise Lil Baby and them would have pulled off a successful tour with all the street love you keep hyping up as a key to success by now but the only one is 21 Savage. Uzi still doing 1500 venues and that’s with fans on both sides of your example. At the end of the day, it’s just a person’s ability to make good music that a massive audience can attach to and them having an equally attractive personality and proper promotion to draw that crowd in live

At the beginning of Kendrick’s career he made commercial songs that appealed to streets/club scene and even up until now

Swimming Pools
B**** Don’t Kill My Vibe
HiiiPower
Money Trees
Backseat Freestyle
B**** I’m In The Club

These 5 off the top of my head were basically made to appeal to the streets with Swimming Pools having the more broad appeal

He didn’t just make “commercial songs”

He made commercial songs for specific demos like any successful artist does

I think there was a very recent stretch where that was more important, from like ~2017/18 to like -2022/2023, and Drake fits into that

But I think the big 3 example and thinking the street thing has really mattered for a long time is off base imo

Wayne was def a street rapper from the beginning of his relationship with Drake from like 08-2010. Wayne had a street image to the point where on one of his first songs with Drake he rapped about the d*** and gun charges he was facing. Plus cash money in general is a street label.

That’s not even taking into account before Drake even got with Wayne fr he had niggas on the west end of Toronto looking out for him. Drake even said it himself in his rap radar interview that he came in the game “surrounded by real Gs” or something to that effect.

Idk s*** about J Cole’s rise other than he was a college dreamer on some a different world s*** and he networked his way into meeting Jay. So I can’t speak on him too much.

But I can’t really say @op is wrong. Pretty much every rapper that made an impact was either a street nigga themselves or got signed to street niggas or a label funded by them. Rappers like Tyler are the exception

Even if you look at most rap labels throughout history, Ruthless, Rap A Lot, Cash Money, No Limit, TDE, 1017, etc, pretty much all were funded by someone who had some street money and decided to get in to the music business

think about those songs you just named he not talking about street s*** on none of em. just cus something has a trap sounding beat doesn’t make it street. content matters

i’ll give you its a lot of street talk on gnx but he was already established by then