Bas breaks down the differences in “street” and “conscious” rap.
As Hip-Hop becomes increasingly democratized, the lines become more and more blurred with what sits at the mainstream. As it pertains to the newest era of emcees, perhaps no label has flirted with that gray area as best as J. Cole‘s Dreamville has.
In a recent sit down with No Jumper, Bas revealed that this is the case by design as he dived into the differences between more conscious lyricists and street rappers and how the Revenge Of The Dreamers sessions were a purposeful bridge between the two.
“I think that was the whole point of Revenge Of The Dreamers III,” Bas said. “It’s like you know Dreamville has always been kind of you know on its own off to the left you know left of industry in a sense. And we were like let’s go to Atlanta let’s link with a bunch of People. Let’s bring them to our world, you know, let’s collaborate. We all got a really open collaborative process when it comes to creating music. So we were down there and Nudy pulled up. I think he did a couple joints when he came to the sessions you know and ‘Down Bad’ was just like was the one.”
Bas would go on to reveal that he believes more traditionally trap and street artists like DaBaby, Young Nudy, NBA Youngboy and Kodak Black to be conscious rappers.
“I mean Kodak to me is a conscious rapper. He’s a street rapper but he got songs where you like, ‘Damn like I feel exactly where he’s coming from.’ I feel his struggles a lot of NBA Youngboy. They’re considered street rappers. Those dudes are conscious as hell if you’re listening to some of the like the pain and then they’re putting in their records like I never been through what they’ve been through right you know what I mean so I’m getting it through them I’m learning that through them.”
In that same spirit, Bas continues to be a conduit, revealing his forthcoming collaborative track with Gunna. Watch the interview in full up top.