Great artists need to fill a cultural gap while staying relatable. Young Jeezy showed how to take an existing style like trap and introduce a fresh angle that creates new narrative space. You can't just repeat what's already been done, even if the topic itself is familiar.
Chapters
What makes a great artist creatively? I think it's, it's that fine line of filling the void but also being adaptable, relatable, you know what I mean? To where you don't like— it's, it's a void there, but it's— you're not too different. Because like, if you look at hip-hop, there's not many roles, there not many characters. You could be that guy from Pittsburgh that rap about weed because Somebody from LA already raps about weed. Somebody from Texas already raps about weed. You know what I mean? So it's like, you could be— you got to have something that's, you know, familiar but also new to where it's like, okay, I have a new point of view, but I'm still in this sort of category, but a little different, like not from that place, a little younger version of it. Kind of like where people would look at Young Jeezy when he came out. It was a whole new version of something. You know what I'm saying? That we didn't see before. And I think that's important because then you can start to write your own story.