My problem with rap/hip hop music: We have seen this musical form rise from the ghetto's of Compton/South Bronx during the 80's and have watched as it
catapulted it's way into the mainstream ever since. As with most musical movements it started relatively pure, with artists such as Grandmaster flash
producing funky tunes that included some social commentary about the hardships they faced because of racial discrimination and urban poverty. This was
taken a step further by people like NWA when they started taking the formula and bombarding it with misogyny and grisly tales of stick ups and murders
and everything associated. One could argue that they were merely presenting a way of life that people in the ghetto are forced to live on a daily
basis. The same could be said about earlier rap groups, although they did not need to lace the 'music' with profanity and misogyny. The Impact of
their message was strong enough, they did not need to add the shock factor that many rappers solely rely on today.
With a surge in the popularity of the brand of hip hop coming out of Compton it seems that many followed suit. Another person worth mentioning is
Tupac Shakur. While his music was filled with profanity and deemed offensive to many, he had a poetic streak to him. He did tell stories of peoples
struggles in the urban jungle and the racial discrimination that his peeople faced, he did this well. Though Tupac was a walking, talking
contradiction and that is what takes away any credibility in regards to his message. He represented the 'thug life', raped women, cracked skulls,
shot at people etc etc etc etc etc etc. While he was rapping about all the problems black people faced in the ghetto he was perpetuating the BS
stereotype of black gangster rappers and the people who looked up to him all totally ideolized him, and would want to be like him, and what a poor
example for young people he was. Biggie was similar, except he actually didn't go around doing this things that Pac did, people who wanted to be like
Biggie were most likely at a club blazing a blunt trying to 'mack on some honeys'. Tupac was irresponsible, I would bet money that many people have
been shot while the tune 'hit em up' plays on a car stereo....
As this has progressed we have seen all number of rappers come and go. DMX, Nelly (band aid face, totes original), Ja Rule (thought he was tupac),
Lil' Jon (the guy who yells WHHAAATTT), 50 cent (spare change), The Game (really?), etc etc etc etc etc etc. Rap has broken records commercially and
is now played on major commercial radio with dildo's like Kanye West becoming household names.While there does remain a lot of hip hop/rap that does
not fit what I am about to say I will point out that the vast majority DOES fit the bill, and it is what is being shoved down the youth's throat.
The Absolute majority of the 'music' is stolen. It is sampled/STOLEN from other people. IF it is not it is usually unimaginative, derivative of every
other piece of Sh** rap record that hasn't made the top 40 and repetitive. This makes the creators of such music not only thieves (I'm sure they paid
for it, but quite literally it is plagiarism), but also makes them uninspired, unimaginative and down right obstacles to the evolution of music. It
also means that most of the time the people creating this 'music' are NOT MUSICIANS. They are just arrogant ignoramus's who spit fourth grades rhymes
laced with excessive profanity, misogyny and poorly thought out ideas over other peoples compositions. All you have to do is listen to the STAX/VOLT
box set recordings to work out where 60 per cent of the music for the rap catalog comes from, believe me.
Another thing that really grinds my gears is what most of these people do to the english language. I'm all up for abbreviations and slang but it has
gone too far. One other thing I notice about rappers/hip hoppers is that they live on another planet, not in the ATS sense of things but they seem to
exist in a reality where yelling at people over stolen music is apparently 'realer' than picking up a guitar and drums and writing a song.
They also seem to be part of some kind of game. Most of them rap about 'hating the game' but then say that they're 'number one in the game' and how
people 'hate they reign' in 'the game'. I mean some people say that life is a game, so maybe they're saying they hate, and that they're 'number one in
life' which is a pretty positive message I guess although I doubt that's what they mean. Maybe it's just some kind of alternate reality in which these
negative 'heads' exist.
What also makes this genre of music look ridiculous is the actual nature of what they're saying most of the time. Excluding people like J5, dead prez,
de la soul etc they're basically just rapping about how many more chicks they get than you, how much richer they are than you, how much more crystal'
they drink than you, how many more people they shoot than you, how many parties they rock more than you etc etc etc you get the picture. They rap
about basically how amazing they are judged by their own standards and how incredible their skills are and most of the time they actually fail to
prove this. You see with good music, critics will write reviews, good ones mostly if it is good, they do not need to include their own personal
commentary on their amazingness in their actual songs. They just prove how great they are by writing/performing amazing music. Rappers on the other
hand will just yell at you about how much better they are than everyone else, yourself included and mostly fail to prove their hypothesis. Add to
this the profanity and general lack of talent going on there and you find yourself subjected to a pretty unfavorable and obnoxious experience.
I can understand that young people feel angry and angsty in life, being a teenager is tough. Though don't you think that listening to rap is only
going to make you feel worse? I mean when someone is already filled with insecurities in life and unsure of where they stand and filled with hormones,
do you really think that the content of most rap is going to make them feel better? Maybe some of the angrier sentiments might, and that is a release,
though what happens when they absorb the other 80 per cent of the content? A feeling of inadequacy maybe.....
Rap/Hip hop music has turned into a monster and it needs to be shot down (BLAW BLAW!! (joke) ), though seriously, it is an absolute joke and people
need to realize this. The more we champion hip hop 'artists' the more we degrade a rich musical culture that has developed since slave times, these
guys spit on the graves of people like Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Curtis Mayfield, Sam Cooke and James Brown (the guy who's drum beats appear in about
30 per cent of rap music ever made) when they parade about in their 'iced out' torso sized necklaces that 30 or more people were probably killed for
during the mining of said diamonds and rhyming about shooting a brother down in street for looking at your car stereo, what an absolute F****** JOKE!
The more we champion these idiots the more we degrade music to a point where mindless idiots can talk BS over some stolen music and be in the top 10
for it, making millions, sound familiar?
If anyone feels the same let me know, I think I've pretty much covered my feelings on rap music so far:
RAP/HIP HOP IS AN ABSOLUTE
Cheers, Sir Slide
edit on 15-9-2011 by Gazrok because: All caps in thread title