Exotic Vs ‘Foreign’

When it comes to cars, the top rappers know their brands. From Ferrari, to Lamborghini, to Rolls Royce, to Bentley, hip hop artists’ lyrics have been riddled with these names. What they fail to mention when describing these luxury and sports cars is some luxury and sports cars are made in the US. Also, they seem to use the word “foreigns” to refer to any expensive car; they make no distinction even between mass-produced and exotic vehicles.

The aforementioned names might literally be foreign, but there’s a delineation between vehicles built in this country by companies with headquarters overseas, and the high priced cars favored by rappers.

This misrepresentation is a conceptual failure. As long as rap stars continue to confuse foreign cars, luxury vehicles manufactured domestically, and exotic cars, they will perpetuate the breakdown in language.

The amount of money these rappers make should afford them ample opportunity to learn the difference. With vehicles like the questionable Maybach, which has become a shadow of its former self after being momentarily discontinued, rappers like Rick Ross might consider changing his famous Maybach Music Group (MMG) imprint to Toyota Entertainment because he was so enamored of the idea that “foreigns” are somehow better. Of course the irony is, Toyota cars are produced in the United States. As an aficionado of fine classic American cars, this may seem improbable but it’s not impossible.

Kanye West once rapped, “What [do] you think I rap for?/ To push a f—ng Rav-4?” This may be the reality for many up and coming rappers who see the game as a feast or famine. Thousands of rappers are twisting words from their heads just to get a deal. The last thing on their minds is making sure the listener knows they can distinguish a high-priced car from an actual foreign made car.

The “fake it ‘til you make it” idealism is what is most pronounced here. Those artists who don’t know the Beemer, Benz, or Bentley exotic cars in their garage from the supercharged, exotic Camaro, Charger, and Corvette cars, continue to fake it after they’ve made it when they refuse to know. When supporters don’t go to shows, stop streaming their songs, and show a disinterest for the artist, they will still have to deal with twenty thousand-dollar-oil changes and tire rotations. They’ll have to sell off those vehicles, whether they acknowledge they’re American made or not.

The reality of the game is far from the dreamland the lyrics most rappers spout. It’s beautiful for a youngster about the age of eighteen to be driving a Rolls Royce Wraith. It shows their work has paid off and they have achieved the level of success that gives them access to such a vehicle at quite a young age. The truth is, however, for every one rapper, there are scores of hip hop artists who happen to be living in a Rav-4,and don’t know, or reject knowing the difference between foreign and exotic.

As far as Generation Z is concerned, hip hop is the dominant genre in the entire world. The messages and images they consume follow no rules, guidelines, or parameters. So the rapper talking about the Maserati and Aston Martin in his garage, may own a Mitsubishi from a previous decade. The illusion that the sticker price has anything to do with the location the car was manufactured cannot possibly make up for the painful reality they may have to give up their precious wheels one day. As long as he or she raps it, the sick beat, and the melodious rhyme pattern, will cause millions to believe the rapper is loaded with riches.

Rappers saying “foreign” without really understanding, or caring to know the meaning, are like hip hop artist Tyler the Creator saying “a Honda is a foreign, too.”