A Run in With Rev Run

On my way home from Texas I had the pleasure of sharing a flight with the notorious Run-DMC. After getting over the pure shock and excitement of being in the mere presence of such a figure in the evolution of hip-hop I conjured up the confidence to ask him one question. I asked him, "how would you define a sell-out rapper"? I brought up a Gap ad Common did a few years back as an example of a rapper "selling out". When that commercial aired my fellow HipHop friends were disappointed to see Common, an MC who has paved his way by sticking to the roots of HipHop, essentially always Keepin' it real, using the image of HipHop to promote Gap to make a few bucks (although I admit I don't consider common a sell-out, I figured it was a good example that wasn't so typical). Run's response..."There are none, poetry is poetry". A response I had no time to rebut as I was quickly kicked out of first class.

I was disappointed in such an answer because quite frankly it sounded like a cop-out.  How can he consider lyrics such as "Superman that Hoe" poetry? Furthermore, how can he consider terrible rap that strays so far from the roots yet is able to be sold because the artist calls it HipHop, not a sell-out? How can he consider rappers that create a fake persona to sell records not a sell-out? Unsatisfied with such an answer I searched elsewhere and heres the best thing I came up with....

The answer to what makes a rapper a sell-out artist....ONLY THE ARTIST REALLY KNOWS