well an artist as ,first of all ,to be real..
then I like albums when they are original ,when rappers got they own style ,own way of spitting ,and when they have different type of tracks on the album (sad ,dark ,smoke songs ,songs bout girls) but always with the same style..if you from the west coast ,keep your beats west coast..
albums need more work ,albums have to reflect the artist's personality ,feelings ,opinions....
problem nowadays with rap is that rappers try to please everybody on their albums but they can't.
they aint real ,they aint innovating as much as in the past ,most of the shit has already been done ,and the bigegst problem is that a lotta young guys are comin with wack beats ,simple ass shit..
I like beats when they get along with the artists feelings and emotions,when they get along with the artists lyrics.
Rappers need to work more on their shit ,and if they wanna blow up ,they have to promote their shit to the fullest ,be on the radios ,doin shows ,promotin.....
Back in the days ,even mainstream shit used to be tight ,nowadays even underground shit is 99 times outta 100 ,weak.
What I like with Mitchy Slick or LIL CS is that they keep it real ,their albums are personal ,they got they own style ,with some good west coast beats like you dont even hear anymore ,even in the bay..you can feel their shit is real when you listen to it ,their albums got a groove ,they have different type of songs but they always keep it personal..thats why MITCH and CS your shit is BUMPIN.
I dont think peeps are exposed anymore to GOOD MUSIC nowadays ,considering that about everything is WACK...so all you can do to sell ,be successful and gain nationwide respect is to promote everywhere ,as much as you can..most of the shit heard on the radio is wack....and....after all... why couldnt good artists be on the radio too??
plus mitchy or lil cs shit is pretty simple to get into ,i'm sure if a million persons heard it most of em would think its tight...so they gotta be heard by more people to gain respect.
its 100% business IMO....I dont think rappers even have to make good shit to go nationwide and be on the radios and go platinum...thats what is fucked up...music dont mean shit ,if you are exposed to a million peeps ,even if you got an average ass flow and some average beats ,you can be sure some peeps gonna feel it...
so what I'd say to all rappers wantin to blow up is promote your shit ,try to be heard everywhere ,and make good music ,give people some shit they gonna remember and consider classic...most of the shit thats on the radio ,nobody will remember it in 10 years ,while peeps gonna remember their whole life an album they love..
so please your fan-base as much as possible ,dont change your shit for the radio ,accept criticism and improve all the time...
thats my opinion