The issue of ghostwriting has been contentious in Hip Hop this year. After Meek Mill accused Drake of employing ghostwriters for his verse, a debate ensued over the legitimacy of such a position. Can a rapper be considered authentic if he doesn't write his own verses? What if that rapper started off as a ghostwriter? These questions are particularly salient for Tony Lanez, who has risen to great heights in the hip-hop industry over the past years. Lanez feels that he is ready to put his ghostwriting days behind him and move on to the stage. His rhymes are personal, says Lanez, and he should be writing them for himself.
"Always, always. [I] still ghostwrite to this day, still write reference things," he explained. "I still write hooks, I write songs for people. The thing about ghostwriting you getting a ghostwritten record, you write something, you was just being creative and it might speak to somebody in a certain way. The song speaks to them so much and they want to sing it and it may not mean what it means to them. They going to sing it a totally different."
Lanez explains that he is tired of this working relationship and wants to express himself to a larger audience. He feels his rhymes are personal, and shouldn't be used by anyone else. Lanez also believes that he has the star power and charisma to be a successful MC. Like many other in the industry, he is ready to emerge from behind the scenes.
He told The Western Union VIP Lounge, "No one should be writing your rhymes. I've written rhymes for other people. I've written verses and I still do. I don't be feeling like I should be writing other people's raps because when I write my own raps... When it comes to being in the booth, off of the emotion of everybody and everything that be going off in my mind, I'm going to just spew out and say. I don't think that should ever be written for you."
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