Is rap "music" dumbing kids down?

Originally posted by LifeIsEnergy
Man, most of these posts were too unbearable to read, cuz dey waz IGNAT az hell, so sorry if this was already posted.

There sure is a lot of closet racists on here lately! Open your minds PEOPLE!

I actually promoted at that event here in Houston

reply to post by BlesUTP


Wow.. you got all that from my post?!

Sometimes people only read what they want to read into a post.. Sounds like you are doing exactly that.

Perhaps you might want to chill.. enjoy what you want to listen to, and try not to seek hidden agendas where none truly exist.

In response to white people wanting to be dumb rapper / gangsters bit:

The emasculation of endemic cultures in white society left a cultural vacuum.
If there isn't a positive culture filling that need in people, a negative one based on the elevation of willful ignorance will inevitably fill the space.

Why is "rap" music still a topic?

It's been around for like 40 years now.

People dont talk about rock or metal anymore. Why do they still talk about rap like it's some new thing?

reply to post by EarthwormJim

I have not read all your pages yet and im sure someone has mentioned this already but the fact of the matter is most mainstream music is dumbing the kids down,not just rap,its got nothing to do with real rap,whatabout all these 2bob rock bands like Busted,Embrace,Evanescence,Nickleback,Rooster,Puddle Of Mud,Etc.....i could go on and on,they are just as bad as your Lil Waynes and your Eminems!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

reply to post by Justaposter


never claimed there was an agenda, just that you cant compare pre 70's music to rap.

if you like rap, cool. i dont, and was merely sharing my opinion as to the why. i dont need to chill.

but whatever, im off to other threads.

reply to post by EarthwormJim

Yo yo yo wagwan woz up beoootcchhh!!!!!!! i see you have got a Pink Floyd avatar,do you think kids should listen to stuff like Umma-Gumma,would that dumb them down less that hip-hop!!! (love floyd by the way lol)

Here you are,learn history and groove at the same time!!!

ahhh it feels good to be back.

Well, I have to disagree here.
Rap music is not dumbing anyone down. Mainstream puppeteers are though. Hip Hop as I prefer to call it was invaded by the corporations. Real Hip Hop artists music is supressed by the Russel Simmons, Jay Z, control of what is going to be heard and what aint.
Then you have gangster rap, which speaks for itself.

But!!! Hip Hop is much more than that, it is also the most expressive music lyrically and can actually get to the people, as it has been proven by such groups as Public Enemy, and it is being proven by the mainstream crap that people like it and begin to wear it and talk it. So it was important for the PTB to hijack Hip Hop.

And now I leave you with some of Sabac Red's lyrics of one of his songs. Apart from being a Hip Hop artist, he is also a youth worker and spends his free time helping young kids.

I will
Live my life more conscious
I'll be the God among monsters
I'll exercise more often
I will read more books
But wont judge a cover based on how it looks
I will
Choose love not fear
And make sure my commitment stays alive this year
I will
Choose to eat more healthy
And won’t believe everything you tell me
I treat women with respect
And be pro active thrive for the best
I will
Start to drink more water
And not spend when I can’t afford to
I make my message clear
And make sure my commitment goes past this year
I will

'SABAC RED'

This lyric alone proves Hip Hop is quite the opposite.

reply to post by EarthwormJim


If its mainstream then it would be in TPTBs interest to choose/create what is put out there. Personally im pretty convinced that 'artists' (i use that word very loosely in this case) in the mainstream are used to sub-consciously drill messages into people. Bitches, Guns, money, cars and partying...... Now look around you. Look at peoples desires. They want what they are told they want.

Mainstream rap music? Absolutely. I haven't listened to any rap/hip-hop radio stations in months, maybe even a year. Every time I turn them on just to see if rap music has hit rock bottom, it's just the most garbage music imaginable. All that is needed to be considered a talented rapper nowadays is a catchy beat that people can dance to, and a chorus that repeats for the majority of the song. Then when the actual rapping comes around in a mainstream rap song, most of the lines don't even rhyme, and half of it is just extremely vague lyrics that I can't even understand or relate to.

90s rap on the other hand is all that I listen to. Tupac, Biggie, N.W.A., Ice Cube, early Eminem, Dre, and Snoop Dogg never get old to me, even though I've listened to most of their albums like 50 times. Eminem's newer stuff is pretty whack too, he's kind of a sell out now, rapping with Lil' Wayne, Drake, Rihanna, and all of those other talentless "artists". From the few new Snoop Dogg songs I've heard, it sounds like he's sold out too, no more dope lyrics from him, just beats and choruses. It's not like Biggie or N.W.A.'s music is exactly making people smarter, but at least they put hard work into their music and the lyrics actually rhyme and there's actually a complex flow, with some theme in each song. If you really listen and focus on what they're saying, not just those two artists but any of the 90s rap that I listen to, I think your brain is doing enough work that it keeps people from becoming stupider while they listen. Especially Tupac, his songs actually ask questions about society and address issues like poverty, war, racism, family, death, religion, the afterlife, etc. I can't say the same about anything mainstream.

Just about any mainstream rap is extremely materialistic, and doesn't really have any themes other than money and dancing. I don't know if the good rap artists just don't exist anymore, or they're just underground and the stuff that gets popular is only made popular by ignorant teenagers who only care about a beat and don't even think to listen to the lyrics. It's pretty funny when I'm at school and people are asking me how I haven't heard the new Wiz Khalifa or Lil' Wayne song, I just think to myself "What is wrong with our idiotic generation"

Whatever, if they want to bob their heads to a beat and honestly believe that Lil' Wayne or any other garbage artists are more talented than Tupac or Biggie, I'll let them think that. I've had too many arguments with idiots who seriously believe that newer artists are more talented than 90s rap artists to care anymore. Our generation is stupid when it comes to music, and that's just the way it is.

Overall,yes but its the lyrics and what the music stands for that is doing it in my opinion.
Women,bling and money is what rap is all about these days.
What happened to old school rap?

There are white kids in the ghetto, and there are black kids in the suburbs. It's not 1955 anymore.

That said, I don't think it's so much a conspiracy as simply the general dumbing down of Americans gravitating towards crap. Granted, old school hiphop is awesome, but the garbage that they come out with these days is pure trash for the most part.

Aside from anything else, teenagers have always been stupid and will always be stupid. Tis simply the nature of the beast.

Originally posted by Nobama
reply to post by catwhoknowsplusone

 

MAINSTREAM rap is. the good stuff is and always will be underground, if you want to hear good hiphop you have to put your ear to the ground and listen

This applies to most music in general, not just rap and hip hop.

reply to post by EarthwormJim


Op plz do not compare the garbage music that is out today compared to what rap music really was in the 70-90's

also there are plenty of underground rappers that still teach what rap music was orginally ment to do for example, immortal tehnique.

Pretty much anything in todays Billboard Top 100 Pop Charts.
It's all contrived, unchallenging and similar.

It doesn't challenge the listener to ask questions.
Or, raise any social awareness.

It's a great vehicle to sell consumer product.

Originally posted by SirKnightE

Originally posted by LifeIsEnergy
Man, most of these posts were too unbearable to read, cuz dey waz IGNAT az hell, so sorry if this was already posted.

There sure is a lot of closet racists on here lately! Open your minds PEOPLE!

I actually promoted at that event here in Houston

For real? Nice!

Hey, maybe you could help me. I have been trying to get my hands on the full video of this event, but with no luck. I've contacted Rice Univ. a few times but I'm getting the 'run-around' and no one is returning my calls or emails. I've contacted Bun B's manager too, but he is too busy and said to contact the school. I wanted to show this to a group of community leaders where I live because it pertains to the very topic we are dealing with here. Any ideas? Thanks!

All music has the potential to dumb people down. I'm a huge fan of rap music and I say that it depends on the kind of content you listen too. Keisha's music is just as stupid as Little Wayne's. However thanks to the devils in disguise in hip hop(the record execs) Hip-Hop, which once was a great culture in the public eye, has been damaged. Listen to guys like Lowkey, Immortal Technique, Dead Prez, Saigon, Diabolic, Andre 3000, Big Boi, Nas and then tell me that hip hop is dumbing people down. It is not about the genre but about the content.

Rap music has hundereds of different sub-categorys. It would be foolish to say that rap and hip-hop in a whole are "dumbing kids down". Lil Wayne, Gucci Man, Ludacris and so on are not rap artists, they are pop artists who make music for main stream. You have clearly not listened to real rap music, therefore you have no idea what you are really talking about. Please, go listen to some Garth Brooks or somthing.

reply to post by LifeIsEnergy


I plan on heading downtown after work tonight, I'll try to get at one of my associates who promotes with me at other venues and try to get you the full vid. Bun B actually has a class at Rice and other universities in houston based off religion and hip-hop

reply to post by SirKnightE


Dude I would be so grateful if you did that! I'll owe you a favor, just ask.

Yea I knew he taught a class there, pretty cool imo.