An honest question from someone who doesn't understand rap...

Ha wow this is actually turning into a really cool conversation. As an interesting parallel between rap/hip-hop culture and the metal/hardcore culture, you could basically put "hardcore fan" in place of "backpack fan" and put any sort of mainstream "metalcore, post-hardcore" in place of "gangster/flashy rap" and the article would still be completely correct!

Small world heh
 
this is an amazing thread. The Kweli and Common thing.....I've got total respect for both of these guys, and they rhyme about themselves and their culture, whether it be problems in the culture or how fun it is to hang out on a sun. afternoon w/ their lady. You know how much of their stuff gets played on radio here in cincy? zero. and Kweli's from here. it's sick.

this all goes back to that payola thread from before. you've got promoters buying off radio stations.

I work with a bunch of farmer type guys from KY (who for the most part I have no problem with). The young guys who listen to the R&B/"hiphop" station feel like tthey are in tune w/ black culture because they know all the lyrics to whatever Franchise Boys just put out. I've been trying to enlighten them to other avenues to music other than the sell out radio shit they play around here.
 
dnkygirl said:
You're going too far.... the racial stuff.. is just a little too much. That's why this topic is stupid. A stupid rhethorical question... I hate seeing that word in writting... let alone in this day and time. I didn't grow up in the 50's so i'm not oppressed in anyway, but the use of it in language really does bother me.


Demi
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going thru reading this whole post and i must say i dont agree wit that even tho i hate the fact that the thread turned racial at this point...... lol its like im at a community meeting and this topic came up as the discusion topic
 
ndutle said:
this is an amazing thread. The Kweli and Common thing.....I've got total respect for both of these guys, and they rhyme about themselves and their culture, whether it be problems in the culture or how fun it is to hang out on a sun. afternoon w/ their lady. You know how much of their stuff gets played on radio here in cincy? zero. and Kweli's from here. it's sick.

this all goes back to that payola thread from before. you've got promoters buying off radio stations.

I work with a bunch of farmer type guys from KY (who for the most part I have no problem with). The young guys who listen to the R&B/"hiphop" station feel like tthey are in tune w/ black culture because they know all the lyrics to whatever Franchise Boys just put out. I've been trying to enlighten them to other avenues to music other than the sell out radio shit they play around here.
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Kweli isn't but his band mate in Reflection eternal, DJ Hi-Tek, is.

Like Nas said, "Run through every station, wreck the DJ"

Back in the day, artists used to holla at the DJs and they'd play joints they thought were hot [my dad was a radio DJ in the 70s] - now, the DJ gets exclusive contracts from labels and plays their material. Any city you go to, the rap station, at least, will sound the same.
 
how bout this - y cant artists like common n talib kweli type artist have their record labels run that payola tish too? then at least fans could hear "more"

i hate payola and dont think it hsould occur - but u cant change the world - if u cant beat em, join em - play their game, . . . if its all about who pays the station - then some non-gangsta, snap-music, hyphee, car-ridin-drug-dealin, what ever tish artist/label needs to kick in the doh!!!!!
 
Fyre said:
going thru reading this whole post and i must say i dont agree wit that even tho i hate the fact that the thread turned racial at this point...... lol its like im at a community meeting and this topic came up as the discusion topic
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I know.. it is like that isn't it...



Demi
 
jibran said:
Kweli isn't but his band mate in Reflection eternal, DJ Hi-Tek, is.

Like Nas said, "Run through every station, wreck the DJ"

Back in the day, artists used to holla at the DJs and they'd play joints they thought were hot [my dad was a radio DJ in the 70s] - now, the DJ gets exclusive contracts from labels and plays their material. Any city you go to, the rap station, at least, will sound the same.
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out here in northern california the radio stations play alot of our indy/local stuff, as evenly as the regular radio songs...
 
maybe its not for you to understand. I cant understand why people enjoy heavy metal, polka, world music, and country. Those genres in general sound lifeless flat and boring to me. I love the pounding of the drums and bass it love the catchy hooks. i love the energy of the music. Hip Hop is the best thing since sliced bread. I also dont understand why people enjoy Nascar, Baseball, Golf, Hockey, Cigarettes, kids, and several other things. I choose not to try to wrap my head around it
 
northern cali said:
oh n for the record theres no such thing is "real hip hop" or "true hip hop", thats just what some of these backpackers(people who prefer underground/independant rap and strongly dislike comercial/mainstream rap) refer to the type of music they listin to, they seem to think abstract rap is what hip hop really is and gansta/drug rap is fake or untrue to hip hop
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Im glad someone said it. Most of the albums and groups listed here I respect and somewhat enjoy but its not the kind of rap I listen to. Check out 2pacs Me Against The World, Dr. Dre The Chornic or 2001 it doesnt matter which one they are both masterpieces, Jay Z The Blueprint, Kanye West College Drop Out, Snoop Dogg Doggy Style, even The Game The Documentary all great hip hop albums, alot of which are some of my personal favorites. Theres more out there and to be honest what you hear on the radio is watered down compared to whats on the album.
 
jibran said:
I disagree with both dnky and northern cali. If you were to purchase the "top ten" rap artists on the market today, you'd have a CD changer full of garbage and a wallet that's considerably lighter.

northern cali's assessment that there's no such thing as "real hip hop" is incredibly false. To call something like "Laffy Taffy" or "Chicken Noodle Soup" hip hop is, at best, insulting to the genre - it would be idiotic to claim that only underground rap fans dislike it. There is no musical quality whatsoever to that kind of music, in any way. Also, listening to underground or mainstream music is not mutually exclusive. There are many artists that I listen to, both known and unknown.

Ignore the fools, concentrate on the music.
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how arent they hip hop? i personally love the blueprint and chicken noodle soup and lean wit it rock wit it. what makes The Light anymore hip hop than Rock Yo Hips
 
jibran said:
I know that hip hop began from club music - but Laffy Taffy, etc. is not hip hop - it's cooning.

Yep, I said it - it's straight up cooning. The point of those records is to make brothas look stupid so that white folks can tune in to BET and say, "Hey, look at those stupid nigg-ers!" and laugh.

Hip hop as dance music, I'm okay with but snap music is NOT hip hop. I love a lot of club records, I'm not ashamed to say that - but they are quite different in spirit to the aforementioned.
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just because its bad hip hop doesnt make it not hip hop
 
meh, mainstream rap gets people listening. A lot of people start listening to that, and eventually come across all the indie artists, which is where the best shit is at imho.

^no knock intended to fans of mainstream rap. I don't hate mainstream rap, although I think it's effects can be seen reflected in society.

I sent a few PMs, but I'll say it in here too...


for those of you in this thread who don't listen to rap, but would like to exposed to some of it...If you would like me to send you some underground hiphop, let me know.
theres a lot more to this genre than what's heard on the radio/seen on TV.
you might like some of it.
hit me in a PM if you care enough.

easy,

-ethos
 
If y'all want to hear some, check this out as well.

Note: Mods, that's not a bootleg, so please don't edit the link out of the post.
 
jibran said:
Kweli isn't but his band mate in Reflection eternal, DJ Hi-Tek, is.
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I guess what I meant was that Kweli broke out in cinci, in Mood, which was probably one of the best groups to come from cinci. Ahhhh, high school was awesome....from wikipedia

"Talib Kweli started his rap career in a group called Mood with DJ Hi-Tek as the group's producer, Main Flow and Dante, back in Cincinnati. They had problems dealing with record labels and they never got major distribution and promotion for their only effort, an album called Doom."

They played a free show here last summer (Kweli and Hi-Tek) on the new fountain square. That was pretty damn good, but seemed underappreciated by the cinci crowd.
 
a lot of rap sounds the same. but that can be said with any genre. rock, metal, pop, country. the good stuff like a previous poster said is the more unique and harder to come by stuff. something that is innovative. that's why a lot of the best artists from each genre are the bands that actually helped to create the genre. because almost anyone that follows that genre is then copying/repeating a sound that has already been done before. also there has to be a fair balance of underground and mainstream success. most mainstream artists suck, and most underground artists suck. you have to find a happy balance. that's where the best artists are in my opinion.

that being said.. i love creative or just fun to listen to rap/hiphop. like will smith , the roots, wu tang, etc..

oh, and the art of beatmaking. a lot of ignorant people think beatmaking is easy and sucks because it's not "real" instruments, but let me tell you it's anything but easy. there are a lot of repetitive / boring beats that all sound the same... but there are a lot of awesome/ unique beats that can rival almost anything done with real instruments.
 
what i dont understand is.... my son and my nephew and their friends listen to snap music (which i cant stand), but as they are listening to it they talk all the way through the song then a quarter or half way through they skip to the next song which sounded like the last song. they have about 40 mix cd's and 3/4 of them have the same songs on them but maybe in a different order. and it's like that with almost every person that listens to rap that i know.
 
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