Underground vs. Mainstream

There are two separate and extremely important categories when it comes to the rap music industry: That is, Underground and Mainstream. These two categories contribute to the birth of rap music and its shape and form today. They coincide with one another even though they are in two different stages. One could not exist without the other.

Mainstream

Rap group YMCMB, who has been taking over the
Mainstream category

Mainstream music features the artists that the common person is familiar with. They are the ones mainly featured on the radio. Mainstream entertainers are masterminds when it comes to knowing what their audiences want to hear.  They hook up lyrics to a beat and wall-ah! A song that individuals find pleasing to the ear is produced. Mainstream artists have some obstacles however. Eventually the amazing song that was produced weeks to a few months earlier will get outdated and the listeners will demand the production of a new song. Some will be up to par with the craze of starving fans and some will struggle.

Underground

Dom Kennedy, a known "Underground" artist

Underground artists are the people that have not quite made it to the mainstream category but are closely approaching. Some underground artists have a slight dilemma while transitioning into mainstream. They are striving to be a part of the Mainstream industry but still want to retain the individuality that underground lets them possess. It was their own originality that brought them to be a part of the underground category, but once they hit mainstream, that originality will change. The mainstream industry knows what the majority of society wants to hear and in order to give them that, the underground artist will have to alter anything needed to please their new-found audiences.

Which is better?

               This is not something that can be assessed accurately because each has their own strengths that they present to the table. I feel that the underground category brings more originality while the mainstream category brings more creativity. Most people feel that people in the underground produce for the love of music; and mainstream produces for the love of money. Either way it goes each category gives the audiences what they want to hear and because of that, rap music is consistently evolving and I can finally say it is evolving in the right direction.