Puzzled perception of the rap genre

Locky · #1 (**permalink**) Jun 24, 04

Well to say it straight up, I HATE RAP. And this is the kind of hatred that even prevents me from respecting 99% of rappers as artists. Lyrics are terrible and the background rythms are as inspiring as taking a shit. It seems that in rap, musicianship is not as important as image. Which makes me wonder how something with such shallow traits has become such a popular genre of music for such a long time. Please explain???

Rhianna · #2 (**permalink**) Jun 24, 04

Have you taken a good look at most people out there?

But hey, if it makes you feel any better, I HATE RAP like death. The best is when you see the little upper middle class white girls driving around in their parent's mini-van blasting rap. ****Ewwww vomit****

Did I tell you guys how much I hate rap?

axion · #3 (**permalink**) Jun 24, 04

Quote:

Originally Posted by StoNeY

Well to say it straight up, I HATE RAP. And this is the kind of hatred that even prevents me from respecting 99% of rappers as artists. Lyrics are terrible and the background rythms are as inspiring as taking a shit. It seems that in rap, musicianship is not as important as image. Which makes me wonder how something with such shallow traits has become such a popular genre of music for such a long time. Please explain???

i could say the exact same thing about breakbeats, trance and alot of house.

it's impossible to put into words why you like a certain genre of music. as a general rule, music is to be felt and not thought about. i dont know you or nor do i know how extensive your knowledge of hiphop is, but i would suggest maybe talking to someone who is into the hiphop scene and get them to hook you up with some quality tracks. i dearly hope you are not using muchmusic and the beat as a basis for judging this genre of music.

but i guess, to each his own... it's really as simple as that.

Wood · #4 (**permalink**) Jun 24, 04

sounds to me like what you guys hate is the 'thug life' image that's been mass-marketed by the music industry for the past bunch o' years... can't say i blame ya, in most cases it's fully contemptible...

don't take that as a representation of the music on a whole though, hip hop has a rich musical history and is still saturated with talented, original artists who are producing some of the freshest music out there, & with poigniant lyrical content too. It's the precursor to all the rave music you've heard, and it's influence can be felt in just about every corner of modern music.

Berta · #5 (**permalink**) Jun 24, 04

Quote:

Originally Posted by axion

i could say the exact same thing about breakbeats, trance and alot of house.

it's impossible to put into words why you like a certain genre of music. as a general rule, music is to be felt and not thought about. i dont know you or nor do i know how extensive your knowledge of hiphop is, but i would suggest maybe talking to someone who is into the hiphop scene and get them to hook you up with some quality tracks. i dearly hope you are not using muchmusic and the beat as a basis for judging this genre of music.

but i guess, to each his own... it's really as simple as that.

listen to this guy..haha its all about the hip hop..i dont like rap either but i do love hip hop and they are definatly not the same thing

Scarface · #6 (**permalink**) Jun 24, 04

Quote:

Originally Posted by axion

but i guess, to each his own... it's really as simple as that.

Exactly.

Rhianna · #7 (**permalink**) Jun 24, 04

Quote:

Originally Posted by liquid_haze

listen to this guy..haha its all about the hip hop..i dont like rap either but i do love hip hop and they are definatly not the same thing

Exactly. I never really looked at rap, hip hop on top 40 mainstream hip hop as being the same thing.

Wood · #8 (**permalink**) Jun 24, 04

rap is something you do, hiphop is something you live ~krs one

Berta · #9 (**permalink**) Jun 24, 04

download sum grouch, aesop rock, slug, del, eyedea, murs, (living legends, atmosphere) etc. to get sum hip hop.

axion · #10 (**permalink**) Jun 24, 04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wood

sounds to me like what you guys hate is the 'thug life' image that's been mass-marketed by the music industry for the past bunch o' years... can't say i blame ya, in most cases it's fully contemptible...

don't take that as a representation of the music on a whole though, hip hop has a rich musical history and is still saturated with talented, original artists who are producing some of the freshest music out there, & with poigniant lyrical content too. It's the precursor to all the rave music you've heard, and it's influence can be felt in just about every corner of modern music.

good post. just to expand on your point about the "thug" image... i think 95% of people dont like hiphop because of the image it unfortunately carries along with it. there will always be stereotypes within any subculture and genre of music. stoney, for a fact i know from your posts that you are into jazz... do you think you would have ever got into that kind of music if you automatically jumped to the conclusion that jazz was shit because it is only for boring, old people? like i said before, there are inaccurate stereotypes for every subculture and genre of music. you can say d'n'b is for washed up jib-teks, trance for prissy bi-sexuals, house for pretensious (sp?) assholes with coke-inflated egos... i could continue but im sure you get my point. if people associated genres of music with their negatives stereotypes then no one would have any taste in music at all.

DJ Ponz · #11 (**permalink**) Jun 24, 04

I just can't prescribe to the subject matter of rap. I find it hard to gain enjoyment from listening to someone tell us how they exploited people in their hood, popped Joe Blow from down the road, told his woman to "suck my dick", all in the name of greed. Even worse are rap videos - truely follies of the American dream and frankly embarrasing to watch. I'm not going to doubt that there is emmence talent in this genre - but its hard for me to really dig a genre that has an overwhelmingly negative message. (I know there are exceptions).

I'm not cooler than anyone else, so why the fuck should I say that I am?

Hot Karl · #12 (**permalink**) Jun 24, 04

so basically we have a few people here judging a genre of music solely based upon stereotypes. good job team!

you people hate gangsta rap. and obviously don't know shit about hip hop. that sums it all up.

Berta · #13 (**permalink**) Jun 24, 04

lol good summary

wigglesworth · #14 (**permalink**) Jun 24, 04

kev, try looking farther then whats on your radio and on tv.
bobby t will hook you up.

axion · #15 (**permalink**) Jun 24, 04

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ Ponz

I just can't prescribe to the subject matter of rap. I find it hard to gain enjoyment from listening to someone tell us how they exploited people in their hood, popped Joe Blow from down the road, told his woman to "suck my dick", all in the name of greed. Even worse are rap videos - truely follies of the American dream and frankly embarrasing to watch. I'm not going to doubt that there is emmence talent in this genre - but its hard for me to really dig a genre that has an overwhelmingly negative message. (I know there are exceptions).

Ridiculous.

That's just as stupid as if were to say that "i hate all electronic music because of the overwhelmingly negative pro-drug undertones of this genre. this subculture has too many crackheads who have no respect for themselves or anyone else for that matter, so from now on i hate all electronic music." Think about it for a sec, it sounds dumb right? Well, that's how ignorant you sound.

Wood · #16 (**permalink**) Jun 24, 04

a lot of people take the violent imagery of gangsta rap at face value, which isn't always wrong... but in a lot of cases there's a positive message behind it. Artists like Ice Cube, Nas, Mobb Deep... they speak about their experiences, which include crime & violence, not so much to brag but to paint a picture for the world of the environment they came up in. I know for me, listening to this stuff in my formative years, i never took it to glamorize violence... in fact it opened my eyes to a lot of things and made me question some things about our society.

DJ Ponz · #17 (**permalink**) Jun 24, 04

You can't sit there and tell me that rap isn't about one-upmanship. I'm better than you, I have more green, I have more bitches, I have a better car..... And to clarify, I'm not talking about hip hop here - I know fuck all about hip hop so I can't comment on that.

Let me think, I know plenty of songs in the techno genre that say I should go pop pills and not give a shit about society. Yep, you got me on that one. Talk about fucking rediculous.

axion · #18 (**permalink**) Jun 24, 04

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ Ponz

You can't sit there and tell me that rap isn't about one-upmanship. I'm better than you, I have more green, I have more bitches, I have a better car.

Yep. You are exactly right, there is alot of this kind of rap out there.

But think about this... if you grew up in the ghetto (not the ghetto as we know it here in vancouver, but the straight-up real projects), could barely afford the basic nessecities in life and were surrounded by violence and drugs for as long as you remember, im 100% sure when given the opportunity to express yourself you would rap about the exact same things.

decypher · #19 (**permalink**) Jun 24, 04

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ Ponz

You can't sit there and tell me that rap isn't about one-upmanship. I'm better than you, I have more green, I have more bitches, I have a better car..... And to clarify, I'm not talking about hip hop here - I know fuck all about hip hop so I can't comment on that.

Let me think, I know plenty of songs in the techno genre that say I should go pop pills and not give a shit about society. Yep, you got me on that one. Talk about fucking rediculous.

ur listening to the wrong kinda hip hop, and generalizing it all into one lump..

Theres tonnes of hip hop out there with positive msg's, u just haven't given it a chance or been exposed to it. I thought like u guys when i was a hardcore punk/metal head in highschool.. then i heard some gangstarr, jurassic 5, souls of mischief, hieroglyphics, etc etc. and that just opened my eyes to countless other oldschool and nuskool acts out there who are preeching something to there audience, whether its just about an experience they had, something funny, something serious, or telling the kids to put down that joint and bottle and pick up a book.

Theres tonnes of rappers out there who just talk about the party thug life, to make a quick million. While there are many other hard working mc's and dj's out there making real music that is innovative and important. Tagging this genre as what it is protrayed as in the media, is really a loss on ur part.

hip hop is such a versatile form of music, u really should investigate it, read some lyrics and actually UNDERSTAND the genre that u are all hating on

EDIT: one more point i need to make.. Sure hip hop can be about showmanship and "one-upmanship" as u call it, but some mc's might actually be preeching about fighting ur battles with words instead of weapons, just some people dont actually understand that when listening to the song.

Wood · #20 (**permalink**) Jun 24, 04

the 'one-upmanship' goes back to the age-old tradition of the MC battle, which is at the root of hiphop culture. If you wanted to be an MC, rock the party and get your time in the spotlight, you'd have to prove yourself by battling other MCs and let the crowd decide the winner. That would entail busting out the wittiest rhymes to diss your oponent & get a reaction from the audience. best believe, pre-written rhymes wouldn't do the trick, to be a successful battle MC you must be able to freestyle, take your opponent's rhymes & throw them back in his face. as hip hop broke into the record industry, battling escalated to the point that artists were battling each other on records, ie releasing a track dissing their enemies, which would of course call for a response track from the opposing crew (prime example: Boogie Down Productions 'South Bronx' --> Mc Shan 'The Bridge' --> Boogie Down Productions 'The Bridge Is Over'). It's a mentality that many outsiders find difficult to relate to, but if you love the music & embrace the culture, it all makes sense.

Don't think of hiphop & rap as 2 separate genres, it's like drum'n'bass vs jungle: 2 words for the same thing. Of course each word carries it's own separate connotations, but it's not like they are 2 separate & discernable things. Hip Hop is the proper name for the genre & the culture that surrounds it, whether it's mainstream or underground. 'Rap' is a verb, it's what an MC does. There's a lot more to hip hop than rapping, like DJing, breaking, grafitti, etc.

Bobby_T · #21 (**permalink**) Jun 24, 04

Quote:

Originally Posted by StoNeY

Well to say it straight up, I HATE RAP. And this is the kind of hatred that even prevents me from respecting 99% of rappers as artists. Lyrics are terrible and the background rythms are as inspiring as taking a shit. It seems that in rap, musicianship is not as important as image. Which makes me wonder how something with such shallow traits has become such a popular genre of music for such a long time. Please explain???

Hahah.

This coming from a guy that doesn't like Pink Floyd either.

Kevin, stemming from the two types of music you don't like it is apparent to me that you don't smoke enough weed.

haha.

Kevin gimmie a call to meet up with Lucky because he said he's coming to Mikey's Boat party. Are you?