JohninMinn. Posted December 16, 2004 Author Posted December 16, 2004 huh? 162320[/snapback] What part don't you understand? Belinda means no message...
nick in* england Posted December 16, 2004 Posted December 16, 2004 lol - sorry njsue.... but whenever i see anything to do with Tupac it turns me off Rap for a month.....
njsue Posted December 16, 2004 Posted December 16, 2004 lol - sorry njsue.... but whenever i see anything to do with Tupac it turns me off Rap for a month..... 162359[/snapback] Is it because he was a gangster rapper? Just like biggie smalls. I like some rap, but not a lot.
Fake-Fat Sunny Posted December 16, 2004 Posted December 16, 2004 The thing I find really funny is how much like my parents (or is it granparents) I beginning to sound like as I get older. I also detest rap music, but I also remember my parents not considering the rock I listened to in the 70s to be music and I suspect that my grandparents also found that this Elvis Presley guy to not be music either. I think one of the main selling points for Tupac, Eminem, or whomever fans is that folks like me do not consider it music. I guess if I was really opposed to it, I and my generation would like it and say so which would probably kill it in a minute.
slothrop Posted December 16, 2004 Posted December 16, 2004 explain why it's not music? seriously. Is not music defined by a collection of sounds assembled in a way to produce a product that was not previously existing? You can say, "that is bad music," or "I don't prefer rap," but it is music. Also, I do not know the racial and age make-up of this board, but I wonder how much of this debate would be informed by your generation and/or cultural background? I do not like current commercial rap, but I am a great fan of Chuck D and some of the other political/social conscious artists.
nick in* england Posted December 16, 2004 Posted December 16, 2004 OK OK - I do not like Gangsta Rap music... It is all so contrived and samey to me. And I hate they way all Gansta's throw out love to Tupac and Biggie and every other dead artist - it's always so fake to me. They were on the whole such obnoxious people that many people wanted to shoot anyway that giving them props all the time is pathetic. The other things with Tupac is we keep having to hear all the stevestojantty tracks he laid down but weren't good enough to release back in the day - and are only good enough now because he's dead. I saw a documentary about him Mom who said that she's just thankful that she was left with so much material to remember her son with - and I thought - BOLLOCKS, she's happy he left all that material so she can make money out of it. Similarly I was interested in the music scene that bred the Gangsta rap genre, so I read a load of books about Suge Knight, Tupac, NWA, the growth of gangsta rap, Dr Dre, Eminem - you name it. The thing that strikes me about all of it is that in the first instance the music they create is generally really decent, heartfelt music. As they all progress they turn into whinging fame monkeys who shoehorn in lyrics about murder and 'gats' just to be cool and their music is shoddy imitations of their earlier work. Rap is crap if you ask me. Give me some good, honest Hip Hop, and I'm fine. But rap??? forget about it. That said, new groups like Black Eyed Peas are entertaining, so too are Outkast who seem to have eschewed some of the elements of rap that I detest.
Tux of Borg Posted December 16, 2004 Posted December 16, 2004 Similarly I was interested in the music scene that bred the Gangsta rap genre, so I read a load of books about Suge Knight, Tupac, NWA, the growth of gangsta rap, Dr Dre, Eminem - you name it. The thing that strikes me about all of it is that in the first instance the music they create is generally really decent, heartfelt music. As they all progress they turn into whinging fame monkeys who shoehorn in lyrics about murder and 'gats' just to be cool and their music is shoddy imitations of their earlier work. 162377[/snapback] I love how the subject of rap always comes up here. Gives me a chance to talk about my old army days. I knew two guys that grew up in south central Los Angeles and both hated rap. My roommate Robbie told me that NWA were considered "studio gangsters", and had no real street credibility. I tend to believe the stories of someone who was there for the LA riots, and has knife scars all over him. Compared to that propaganda shown on MTV.
Nervous Guy Posted December 16, 2004 Posted December 16, 2004 The thing I find really funny is how much like my parents (or is it granparents) I beginning to sound like as I get older. 162373[/snapback] Sigh...me too..."Turn that noise down"...."How can you listen to that stuff".... I'm an old bastard.
Dante Posted December 16, 2004 Posted December 16, 2004 I do not like current commercial rap, but I am a great fan of Chuck D and some of the other political/social conscious artists. 162374[/snapback] Last place I look for social or political enlightenment is friggen rap music. Totally biased slant and a uneducated one at that.
Guest Guest Posted December 16, 2004 Posted December 16, 2004 I consider rap to be a form of talking ...... fast talking.
aussiew Posted December 16, 2004 Posted December 16, 2004 I remember my parents thinking that "folk" and/or "Beatles" music would ruin me because it was people singing about "life" as they saw it at the time. Does today's rap music have people singing about "life" as they see it?
MDH Posted December 16, 2004 Posted December 16, 2004 Last place I look for social or political enlightenment is friggen rap music. Totally biased slant and a uneducated one at that. 162464[/snapback] Chuck D uneducated? I'd wager the guy knows more about politics and government than you'd ever care to. How about having a clue before opening your mouth? Nah, wouldn't want to do that.
stevestojan Posted December 16, 2004 Posted December 16, 2004 wow. I cannot STAND rap music. deteste it. loathe it. and if it weren't for R.Rich not letting me, i would hate it. buuuuuut, that doesn't mean it isnt music. When I first moved down here, I had about 2 country songs I could even stand to listen to. Now, the only think I listen to besides country is stern in the morning. That's right - i love country music now. used to loathe that too. All you do by saying that rap is not music is identify yourself as the "backwoods moron" from buffalo that everyone steryotypes us as anyway.
RuntheDamnBall Posted December 16, 2004 Posted December 16, 2004 Last place I look for social or political enlightenment is friggen rap music. Totally biased slant and a uneducated one at that. 162464[/snapback] Do you mean your slant is totally biased and uneducated or that of rappers labeled 'socially conscious' or 'political'? If you mean the rappers, then some of them may not be as grounded in the kind of education valued in the U.S., especially by white people, but many of them have seen enough and learned enough from life to know injustice when they see it (and have educated themselves in different ways). 99% of current rap/hip-hop, like most music, is crap -- but there are a handful of interesting people out there. I kind of liken these days in hip-hop to those when hair metal ruled the airwaves in the rock scene. There are very few people doing something of integrity. I know because I spent two years in the studio working with a lot of clowns, waiting on them, watching them waste time and seeing what they were doing it for. Very few of the rap 'artists' i ever worked with impressed me (a few that did were Jay-Z and LL Cool J, as people). One thing people don't realize right now is that hip-hop albums are dirt cheap to produce, technically (not factoring in the Cristal and diamond-encrusted IPods). So it makes sense for the industry (which has lost just about all its "music" people and replaced them with "business" people), which is more focused on the bottom line than ever. The days where CEOs stuck with artists over time knowing they would develop great careers (like Neil Young, Joni Mitchell) when they didn't yield immediate returns, are over. Dylan, Young, Aretha Franklin would never happen right now. Anyway, personal lamentations on the music industry aside... I think anyone who is looking for something musical in hip-hop would be well served to check out some MF Doom / Madvillain, Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul and the myriad projects of Del Tha Funkee Homosapien (Deltron). Also there are some pretty amazing instrumental hip-hop artists like DJ Shadow and Prefuse 73 who have a real knowledge of musical history and do some pretty amazing things (not all scratching and cutting either).
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