The Real Cost Of Recording: For Some Rappers Jail Seals the Deal.

News usually travels at a rapid speed when an artist has a hot single; their album is worth going to the store or downloading on iTunes, and especially when they get locked up. In some cases it has gone from shock to the expected that Hip Hop’s sons continue to get caught up with the law. Society sometimes makes a correlation between rap and trouble, but if anyone digs deeper they will see an actual person behind the microphone that needs guidance beyond what their next hot track should be. Money and prestige can’t fix all the problems, at times it brings out the worst in the best of us. That invincible shield fans think rappers wear definitely dissipates when the law comes knocking.

 Celebrities often say they didn’t ask to be a role model, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are mimicked and modeled after by millions. The influence on others is valuable but the impact on one’s own life should be even more profound. From Gucci Mane, T.I., and Lil Wayne, to name a few, the first lesson to learn is to be mindful that worldwide appeal now found shouldn’t interrupt even the basics of life you had before any fame. Jail time wasn’t meant to be mixed in with tour dates and special appearances, to put it plainly. Rap already gets well, a bad rap, those who have followed the art know there is meaning hiding behind verses and a hot chorus, sometimes it’s even an artist crying out for help before they self destruct.

Under the superstar is a simple human being. That is at times put on the backburner when the people around the artist only see more revenue, their latest hit, or the change in lifestyle they can all benefit from. The person is pressured while the artist in them is pushed. It’s seems only when they go from an asset to criminal that the world becomes concerned again with their upbringing, life story, or them period.

With a song there is always an ending, but for the rappers with wiser planning they can start anew when it comes to not only their careers but their lives. Labels can’t teach practical life lessons in the midst of getting deals signed and molding artists for the media, they have to want to shape themselves for themselves. Maybe a few steps should be taken from the limelight and find that inner light that values the simple freedoms of life over the trouble that some find while running neck and neck with success.

By Tawni Fears