The basic meaning is that a rapper’s upbringing is a communal effort. The responsibility for raising a rapper is shared with the entire community. Everyone in the community participates–especially the older rappers, producers, managers, publicists, musicians, friends and even fans.
The problem is that rappers aren’t born into a community of support. They have to earn that shit. Nobody wants to waste their time raising or supporting a rapper that is lazy, selfish, uncreative, thoughtless, untalented, hard headed or just an ass hole in general.
How many times have we met a rapper who is a combination of these terrible adjectives? We’ll do everything possible to keep them out of our village and have no motivation to support them.
These rappers will never find a healthy village to adopt them, and therefore will never give themselves a chance to be successful.
Even if a rapper contains all of the qualities it takes to be successful, they will fail if they are not able to recognize the qualities of (and avoid) an unhealthy village or villagers. They must recognize parts that will develop a healthy whole and learn how to motivate them.
If the rappers village has members who are greedy or lazy, the village will fail completely or at least fail to reach its potential.
Not all rappers play the same role in their village. Once the village is established, the rapper must be flexible in their roles. They must understand that if they want their village to grow they must embrace change, but it is important that they don’t lose focus of the big picture. (It is up to them to define this big picture if they want to be the leader—which not rappers are or should be.)
The village must be able to successfully create quality products while maintaining and creating relationships with those who will help with distribution. A great manager will look like an idiot presenting a shit product, and a great product will go unnoticed without a proper representation.
The package itself must be strong on all sides. It is the manager’s job to understand the potential and actual value of the package (knowing this lets them define the value of the package). In order to do this they must be realistic, creative and focused.
The village also must have defined roles.
Macklemore’s camp is the strongest in the Northwest for a reason. Each member of their team knows what their job is: Zach Quillen handles management and booking, Tricia Davis is product manager, Ryan Lewis is producer, and Macklemore is the rapper.
Although Macklemore is the centerpiece, the village would not be as strong without the talent and character of the entire cast.
They also invest in additional members to strengthen their village– including Owuor Arunga on the trumpet, Andrew Joslyn on violin, and vocalist Ray Dalton. Investing in these key role players may not have been immediately profitable, but they were all part of the big picture and have helped amplify the value of the village as a unit.
The core of Macklemore’s village (aka #SharkfaceGang) is small, but their outreach is huge because of well they all complement each other. You don’t have to know them personally or see the inside of their operation to understand how efficiently they run. It is visible through their products and progress.
Each member of the village puts the village first.
The combination of individuals they have is special and would be impossible to recreate, but their recipe is one that should be mimicked more often. Two people create a great product, and two people work getting it out to the public. Everyone is talented. Everyone has good character.
This way everyone works in their strong areas, and everyone eats.
Building and operating a village on your own is impossible—unless your name is Sapient , but even he has help.