9/12/2023 0 Comments Londynn b rhythm and flowShe implored the judges that “this is her life,” but Chance The Rapper later exposes that she didn’t write any rhymes for the show (despite having time before every round to craft rhymes). George belies the fiery determination she exhibited in confessionals by choking in a freestyle, then later bungling her bars in a rap battle. In later episodes, artists complain about having to write and memorize a song as if it’s a lofty, unfamiliar task instead of a fundamental requirement of a rapper. Onetake Carter fumbles his Plan A by stumbling during a freestyle. But while several Last Chance U players perform well on the field and have actually gotten a whiff of the NFL, so many artists on Rhythm + Flow drop the ball. The hungry rappers sound similar to the football players depicted on Last Chance U, a Netflix favorite which chronicles Division II junior college football players vying to get accepted into Division I schools. New Jersey rapper Felisha George told fellow contestants about how her grandmother lives in Bronx public housing, “gave her life savings” for her to follow her rap dreams, and therefore “has to see her make it.” Most of the artists on the show believe that the competition is their family’s sole ticket out of generational poverty. While the show’s final four contestants - D Smoke, Flawless Real Talk, Londynn B, and Troyman - demonstrated solid song making ability, the pool of artists that they toppled seemed to only be chosen for their stories. Chance’s surprising candor elucidates his awareness that D Smoke, a 33-year-old Inglewood rapper who radiates an undeniable Kendrick Lamar influence, was the exception to the show’s general rule of shameless gimmickry and heart-tugging backstory ahead of talent. “You don’t necessarily believe that in a workspace like this that you’re gonna find somebody that you really believe in, believe in,” Chance tells eventual Rhythm + Flow winner D Smoke. Rhythm + Flow producers clearly vied to make the “nothing to something” narrative everything, shoving sob stories down the viewers’ throat in a heavy-handed, borderline exploitative fashion. And it’s just as bogged down by hackneyed tropes and an underwhelming talent pool as its predecessors. The 10-episode show, which just wrapped its first season, is just the latest televised rap competition. It’s on those tenuous grounds that Rhythm + Flow rests. J-Pex gets the boot in his initial audition, despite Fat Joe finding novelty in his portly physique. as rap stars is hamstrung by an insurmountable deficiency: he admits that he’s never actually performed live. J-Pex says that he’s been rapping since he was 12-years-old, but his quest to join show judges Cardi B, Chance the Rapper, and T.I. The Philadelphia rapper is one of the countless aspirants aiming to win the contest that’s offering $250K to “the next rap superstar,” according to the show’s official site. “This is something I’ve always wanted,” 20-year-old rapper J-Pex reflects on an early episode of Netflix’ Rhythm + Flow. The rap competition show vied to find “the next rap superstar,” but instead gets lost in a borderline exploitative focus on its contestants' traumas.
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