i draw a fine line between a hype man and a backup mc. in my books hype men are the dudes who spend the whole set just plain screaming and yelling the name of what ever crew/click/posse/whatever they might be "representing", making shoutouts to friends and and trying to get their voice heard by any means necessary, even if it means shouting into the mic like a rabid chimpanzee over the main artist. this usually ends up badly as everything the crowd can hear is absolute gibberish. comprehending whatever mad lyrics the artist may have - you can forget it. i can't even imagine what a pain in the ass 20-man entourage on the stage is for the soundman who's trying to keep the whole set together.
backup mc's on the other hand are on stage for certain practical reasons. to easen the job of the main artist a little, easening breath control, bringing that little something to hooks and so on. pretty much the same why rappers double some of their rhymes on album. if the set is any longer than say, half an hour, it gets physically hard and tiring to perform if it's just one man show. add one backup mc, the set gets a bit more interesting and a bit more easier to the main artist to perform.
i agree tho, those shows where there's basically more people onstage than in the crowd are definitely not a good look.
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perfectly said.