Consequence believes more rappers should use songwriters to keep their music at a high level of quality. Appearing on the latest episode of Drink Champs with N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN, the Queens native talked about rappers refusing to collaborate with songwriters to maintain an image when it’s actually damaging their careers.
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“Part of the rules of the culture was always being your own person, having that individuality,” he said on the July 23 episode. “So when you were presenting yourself as an MC, you’re presenting yourself. But when you’re presenting yourself as a rapper, you don’t have to be an MC to make a hit record.”
Consequence continued, “In retrospect, a lot of people should have songwriters. A lot of rappers are in positions to be bigger, but they’re clinging to the culture. As a businessman or woman in the music business, every resource is at your avail as long as the budget allows for such, so why would you be at a six-seven figure level as far as a performer, but then minimalize yourself to the elbow grease of writing it all yourself and it’s not clicking?
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“Or trying to produce it all yourself when, because you’ve been on tour, maybe you’re a little bit out of touch of what radio’s doing, what the playlists are doing, what’s happening on YouTube. The number one thing once you’re a brand is brand retention, so there is no boundary in that. It’s a boundary you create for yourself in Hip Hop.”
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Consequence also gave longtime friend and collaborator Kanye West respect for working with others and giving them credit.
“Because Kanye has stated that he has songwriters, that doesn’t mean Kanye’s not nice,” he said. “So, saying all that to say that, at the end of the day, the number one thing should be final product when you get to a certain level as far as being a name-brand. When I feel like I can’t do the task, then if the budget allows for that, I don’t have a problem with bringing in anybody.”
On a 2020 episode of Drink Champs,Busta Rhymes compared rappers with ghostwriters to Lance Armstrong using steroids.
“The way I was raised, number one, you could never be classified as Top 10, Top 5, or top anything if you had assistance with your pen,” he said at the time. “Period. You automatically disqualified, I don’t give a fuck how great you think you are.”
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More recently in June, Remy Ma said rappers who don’t write their own lyrics are “karaoke singers.”
