Son’s rap career

I'm going to take this post at face value and give you an honest answer:

He's not bad. He's not great. It's cool that he's really into something and passionate about it, regardless of the shite pile you are likely about to experience on this thread.

My 12-year old is a really talented mountain biker, and he'd also like to go pro in it. He would also have a much better chance if he weren't in school for 8 hours a day. That being said, he understands the importance of a backup plan/education. One compromise we've explored is putting him into a blended learning school that we have here, which would let him do a lot of his classes online, especially if he's traveling for races during the school year. This school (public and free charter) has quite a few Olympic hopefuls and other potential pros in sports like golf/tennis who attend. My son is a really social kid, though, so he likes going to school.

Anyway, I don't know how your son's rap career would be furthered by dropping out of school altogether. Seems like a dumb idea.

I would start looking at myself every morning in the mirror and ask myself where I have failed my son. He’s only 15. You can still help to turn things around

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He’s contemplating dropping out of school to do this full time

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I work in the music industry - actually for the past 20 years. I'll be honest with you, while it's great to see your son take an interest in music, he's not a very talented rapper. Maybe he can be involved in the production and recording part of the scene, but to be honest man most of those guys struggle to make it happen as well. The music industry is not what it once was and it's lucrative for a very select few who are really talented. Hell, even some of the most talented struggle to make it in this industry. It's not all glorious like he may think. I would advise you tell him to stay in school. He definitely does not have the talent to drop out and do this full time right now.

I'll give you a real answer. On this board, you'll get a lot of automatic anti-rap sentiment, FWIW.

I'm not a huge fan of the style he's attempting. I'll lead with that and try to give fair criticism beyond it.

My biggest issue is that it comes off very generic. He leans hard on the chorus, but doesn't have a lot of wordplay outside that. The topics...ice and such is done to death.

His flow, I'm not a fan, but it's popular right now with guys like Blueface and G Herbo.

My ultimate thought is that it's too early to tell if he has potential. If he's going to be successful with it, there needs to be something about him that separates from the other people in this style. My piece of advice for him would be to try and find that.

Having something original vs being a knockoff of other people is what would make him successful. If he wants to do this, he should work on refining his wordplay, flow and metaphors and developing his own perspective.

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And he definitely needs to get some face tats. Can't make it in the game without face tats these days.

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My advice to OP is that I'd advise his son to hold off on face tats for a few years.

If he develops well, then maybe he can go Tekashi 69. At his current stage, I wouldn't be limiting my career options quite yet.

Keeping working at it and improving his craft while in school? Good idea.

Dropping out? Stupid idea.

I know three kids personally, all 21 or under, who do the exact same thing as your son. There are thousands and thousands of American teens who create a basic beat and put some poetry to it and autotune their voices. Few ever have a shot at a career.

My son went to NOCCA and is an extremely talented pianist. However, he now has a Civil Engineering degree and makes damn good money while still playing and performing.

Get real, dude. Keep his butt in school.

You should post this on the OT and then let your son read the responses.

Welcome to the unfiltered real world.

LINK

With marketing in the music industry anything is possible. I thought the lead in to need was a little long. Click that link after covid take Him for a visit that will refocus his efforts and become a possible fruitful endeavor. It’s a very viable industry and program is doing well.