THE UNSIGNED HIP-HOP ARTIST'S GUIDE TO DOUBLE SPEAK

WHEN THEY SAY

I like your stuff. It's phat.

I like you because you remind me of a rap artist that is already popular

I like your stuff. It's phat.

I like your music because it will be easy for me to sell

You guys will have to play for what you can get at the door

I am a club owner who is too cheap to pay you a decent fee for your performance, so I will rip you off based on how few people show up to see you

You guys will have to play for what you can get at the door

I am a club owner who doesn't respect your act because you are not already famous

I'd love to have some of that rap stuff in my club

I'd love for you to perform any type of rap in my club that is not threatening to me or my uptight suburban customers

I only like hard-core hip-hop

I have a narrow view of music and can only appreciate rap that is base, vulgar, demented and misogynistic

You guys need to be able to cross-over

I am an industry person who thinks that your music will not appeal to what we imagine white people will listen to instead of what white people ACTUALLY will listen to

I'm just not feeling your track

Your music sucks

I'm just not feeling your track

I am too narrow minded to appreciate your music

I'm just not feeling your track

I really like your music but I am too much of a follower to take a chance supporting something that is new and different

I came up from the streets

I came up from the streets of the suburbs

I'm straight up 'hood, you know what I'm sayin'

I'm too ghetto to expand my view of the world

I like him. He's keeping it real.

I like him. He's keeping rap music at the lowest, basest, most crude level possible

I don't like him/her. S/he ain't hardcore.

I have a narrow view of music and can only appreciate rap that is base, vulgar, demented and misogynistic

I like all types of hip-hop

I have a broad view of music and can appreciate rap in all of its forms

I like all types of hip-hop

I want desperately want to remain attached to the Rap Community. Therefore, I am afraid to be critical of rap because I don't want to be rejected by the group.

I like all types of hip-hop

I am too dense to be able to tell one type of rap from another.

I HATE all types of hip-hop

I am too dense to be able to tell one type of rap from another

I REALLY HATE RAP! IT'S CRAP

Those angry ghetto youth frighten me

Why does Rap have to be so angry?

I have no real understanding of the plight of Black Americans. I also have no real understanding of how demented the musical tastes of the American public really are.

Don't dis him/her. S/he's just keeping it real.

I feel personally attacked when you criticize my favorite Hip Hop artist because I have a narrow view of music and can only appreciate rap that is vulgar, demented and misogynistic

 To make it in this business, you got to pay your dues

To make it in this business, you have to have a rich and/or influential friend or relative

I'm a straight up thug

I think it is macho to pretend to be a hoodlum

I'm not into that thug type of rap. I prefer to just me myself on stage.

I actually have done illegal things and I am smart enough not to tell you in my stage act or tell you personally

To make it in this business, you got to have skills, kid

 To make it in this business, you have to have a rich and/or influential friend or relative

I like that softer type of rap

I like rap that doesn't frighten me

Too many of these rappers these days can't emcee

I am old enough to remember when it really mattered how an artist performed live

I hate Will Smith. He's soft.

I have a narrow view of music and can only appreciate rap that is base, vulgar, demented and misogynistic

Don't playa hate on my boy/girl. S/he's just keeping it real.

I feel personally attacked when you criticize my favorite rap artist because I have a narrow view of music and can only appreciate rap that is vulgar, demented and misogynistic. In addition, I know deep down inside what you are saying is true, but I must defend this person because I don't want to be rejected by the rest of the Rap Community.

I don't like this new stuff. I'm from the old school.

I am stuck in the past

I don't think rappers should call women bitches

I think that only women should call women bitches

I don't think rappers should have to use "nigga" all the time

I actually have standards for what music I will listen to

I don't think rappers should call women bitches

I actually have standards for what music I will listen to

I don't know why rappers use "nigga" all the time

I have never heard how some black people actually talk to each other when they think no outsiders are around

I only like conscious rap

I have a narrow view of music and can only appreciate rap that scares white people

I don’t see why you rappers need to cuss all the time

I will criticize you for cursing even though I use more swear words than you do when I discipline my children

There's a difference between a rapper and an MC, kid

I am a Hip Hop elitist. However, I am old enough to remember when it really mattered how an artist performed live

YouknowwhatI'msayin'??

I want you to agree with me

YouknowwhatI'msayin'??

I love to end my sentences with mindless catch phrases so that I will appear to be hip

Your track is okay, but you guys have got to come with something NEW

I really like your music but I am too much of a follower to take a chance supporting something that is new and creative

Don't worry, I'll listen to your demo

Don't worry, I'll throw your demo in the pile with all of the other tapes and CD's I've been given

Don't worry, I'll listen to your demo

I'll listen to the sound your demo makes as I throw it out of my window

You guys should get a female singer, or, you girls should sing, not rap

Rap that has no singing frightens me. In addition, I would like to be able to get sexually aroused when I see you perform, so I suggest that you get a half naked female singer. If you are women, I suggest that you dress like sluts so that I can vent some of my pent-up sexual energy when I see you on stage.

Rap is too repititious. They ain't doing a thing musically.

I feel free to criticize the monotony of rap, yet it is okay for Blues, Country, Gospel, Rock, R&B, and other musical artists to get away with playing the same three chords over, and over, and over again because I do not find those types of music threatening.

Rap is too repititious. They ain't doing a thing musically.

Those angry ghetto youth frighten me.

Rap is just a fad. It will never last.

I hope that rap does not last because those angry ghetto youth frighten me.

Your track is okay, but it's just not what I'm looking for

Your music sucks

Your track is okay, but it's just not what I'm looking for

I really like your music but I am too much of a follower to take a chance supporting something that is new and creative

You guys were BETTER than (so and so--the famous act you opened up for)

You guys are actually talented and the group you opened up for is only famous because they have rich relatives

Rap is not music; it doesn't have any MELODY

I have a narrow view of music and can't appreciate Hip Hop because it doesn't conform to European standards of music

You rappers need to learn more about music

I have a narrow view of music and can't appreciate Hip Hop because it doesn't conform to European standards of music

Don't worry about your image. SKILLS are what is important!

Don't worry about your skills. IMAGE is what is important.

I won't go see a rapper who ain't dope live!

I actually care about an artist's stage presence and will not throw my money away on someone who does not have a decent performance.

You rap: you can't tell me anything about music. I'm a musician; I attended (such and such), I KNOW about music

I have a narrow view of music and can't appreciate Hip Hop because it doesn't conform to European standards of music. In addition, I am too arrogant and lazy to apply my training so that I can learn how to play Rap properly.

You can't learn about Hip-Hop in no music class; you gotta FEEL it, kid

 I have a narrow view of music and can't appreciate other music because it doesn't conform to Ghetto standards. In addition, I am too arrogant and lazy to apply my talent so that I can learn about other forms of music in order to make my style of Hip Hop more creative

Aw man, he weak, he soft. He ain't sayin' nuthin'!!

I have been dumbed down by the music industry to the point where I cannot appreciate the content of someone's lyrics unless they are screaming at me, cursing at me, or half-naked. In addition, I have a narrow view of music and can only appreciate rap that is base, vulgar, demented and misogynistic

Man, I like (so and so). Now THEY are some REAL niggaz!!

I have a need to vent my hostility through some distant figure I don't really know. I have been dumbed down by the music industry to the point where I cannot appreciate the content of someone's lyrics unless they are screaming at me, cursing at me, or half-naked. In addition, I have a narrow view of music and can only appreciate rap that is base, vulgar, demented and misogynistic

Samples, man, that's Rap music right there

I am too lazy to be original

I like the way that REAL DJ's sample

I actually know the difference between creative sampling, where old songs and sounds are blended together creatively and blatant plagiarism.

Our label is looking to promote something new

Our label wants to promote the same old stuff but pretend it's something new

We do this music for the love, not for money

We do this music for the love of money

I don't care if I make it

I have given up on any hope of becoming famous, yet I still like to rap anyway

I'm trying to get paid, youknowwhatI'msayin'?!?

I am only in this business for the money, and will wimp out if I do not become famous within the next year and a half

I'm trying to get paid, youknowwhatI'msayin'?!?

I am only in this business for the money, and will degrade myself in any manner necessary in order for me to make a profit, no matter how much shame it brings upon my family

I'm trying to get paid, youknowwhatI'msayin'?!?

I am marginally talented, I know that I am a hack, and I am only in this business for the money, and I will wimp out if I do not become famous within the next year and a half

I'm trying to get paid, youknowwhatI'msayin'?!?

I am only in this business for the money, and will do whatever it takes to make a profit, even if it means selling drugs and killing people, not JUST rapping about selling drugs and killing people

Your stuff is alright, but it's not what we want

I really like your music. What I will do is wait until I think you have forgotten about me, then make money by exploiting your concept without giving you credit for the idea YOU came up with

Your stuff is alright, but it's not what we want

Your music sucks

I don't like to sign contracts when I hire acts to perform

I am a club owner who doesn't want to sign a contract for a set amount because I want the freedom to be able to rip you off when necessary

You guys are not "real" rap

Your rap does not threaten me

You guys are not "real" hip hop

Your rap does not conform to my narrow view of what I think hip hop should be

You guys can cross over

Your music conforms to what we THINK white people will listen to as compared to what white people ACTUALLY listen to

Aw rap, rapping is easy, it ain't nothing

I am too ignorant to realize the amount of talent it takes to be able to entertain someone with the gift of writing, rhyming, and delivery

Freestyling is not important

Freestyling is important if you want the respect of people who can really tell a good rapper from a bad one

To be a REAL rapper, you have to be able to emcee

I can actually tell a good rapper from a bad rapper. I also have not been dumbed down by music videos to the point where I do not care about an artist's stage presence and live performance.

You gotta pay your dues; it takes YEARS to make it in this industry

It will take forever for you to make it in this industry if are not willing to degrade yourself, or if you don't have rich, influential friends or relatives, or if you are willing to rap for one or two decades even though no one who can help you will notice you or acknowledge your existence

To make it in this business you gotta do your own thing; produce your own product; make your own label

To make it in this business you need to have rich and/or influential friends and relatives who will give you the money so that you can do your own thing. If not, then you can always raise money for your label through illegal activity, then turn around and make more of a profit by rapping about your crimes