Rap music is an absolute joke

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

You know it brother

S&F

Stop lying.

We know you like rap in the inside...

reply to post by sir_slide


I don't agree with you. I don't like rap that much, but not because of the reasons you've stated.

You could say the same about any type of music.
Maybe you're a racist. jk

I really can't stand it either, I prefer acoustics, a little screamo at times, welsh and french folk music. Things like that and I am black, I can't understand what is the point of that music and it's usually demeaning lyrics.

Another thing. The outfits these guys wear, it's one thing to wear a diamond necklace (totally ghetto apparently, or maybe symbolic of their shift FROM the ghetto) but it is quite another to walk around in some of the monstrocities these guys sport, I honestly don't know where some of these je** offs get off. [atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/79d69b55c3d3.jpg[/atsimg]
(here is 'Gucci Mane')
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/ba5e539d5698.jpg[/atsimg]
(this one cost $410,000, and to think that people in africa are starving, 'oh well, my power to ME!')
It is just ridiculous.

Although I don't care for it there are a few diamonds on the rough. Some songs do have substance and meaning however it is overshadowed by all the crap.
The image sold by the industry and the influence it has on young people is very strong. This is something the industry should be more responsible with.

reply to post by sir_slide


Are you jealous that you can't afford a "BIG A$$ CHAIN"?
I think you are a racist, why couldn't you post a picture of eminem...hmmm?

reply to post by GmoS719


You really couldn't have read it all so quickly, there is a lot there. If you dislike it for another reason please state why as I may have missed it. Oh and I aint no racist buddy, most of my heroes are actually African Americans for a start, and their graves are being spat on by these modern day music 'artists', its a joke bro.

ETA: Eminem is one of the worst, some of the rhymes are clever but the content is just disgusting. Same goes for Cage, ICP and whoever else. I didnt know that eminem rocked chains big enough to warrant a picture post although i can have a look for ya!

I won't post the video, but here's a link to it. www.youtube.com...

I personally find it quite hilarious as it was originally on BET, but was then removed due to angry protests.

It's called 'Read a Book'. Lil' Jon did it, but it honestly has good intentions.

reply to post by sir_slide


I did read it. I'm just asking you why are you singling out Rap / Hip Hop?
Why don't you criticize Death Metal, or Country?
Both of these seem to have more crap in them than Rap in my opinion.

Yeah, mainstream US rap has been garbage since 2000. Get some UK grime into ya, or anything by an artist/producer that doesn't drive a bentley. Anyway Hip Hop has become an international sub-culture, much the same as the ones you probably associate with, just because it's different doesn't make it a joke brah.

P.S. Tupac's ideas, attitude and environment were all conflicting, I find the contradictions in his lifestyle/lyrics endearing if anything; although I harbour similar, personal contradictions.

reply to post by Heartisblack


Totally, it is demeaning, to the listener, to the public, to women. I used to listen to it when i was 13-16 then I worked out what they were actually saying and turned it off in disgust and chucked on some rock and roll/blues and havent turned back since. People will totally call me a racist for my rant, although that is such a cop out, and totally inaccurate, I'm actually quite obsessed with african american culture/music and make a living playing variations of it. I find that a lot of rap is marketed to teenage white kids from the suburbs anyway...

reply to post by sir_slide


If you don't like rap, you just haven't found the real stuff.

Tupac was definitely the peak IMO. Biggie had great sounding songs, but he was just a radio gangster. His songs flowed really well, but had little meaning. Tupac really was a poet, and towards the "end" of his life (not gonna go there in this thread) I think he was really maturing. I could talk about how much I like tupac all day, but that's not my point. Another one I liked was Eminem, who can make the words turtle and cow rhyme. A few people you mentioned like DMX were pretty good, but that all disappeared pretty quickly.

Lately, all hip-hop/rap is so awful I can't stand it. It starts to turn to crap as soon as people decided to start rapping about how rich they are and how awful they are at making decisions with their money. Then you get braindead tards like gucci mane.

One thing that's still pretty impressive to me is freestyling. When somebody can come up with crazy clever puns and rhymes off the top of their head, that's impressive. Check this guy out:

I hate that Im growing up in a 'gangsta rap' world. Really? Youre a ghetto gangsta? Put away your chain and iphone.

I listen to the good ones, like Run DMC, K.flay, Beastie Boys(i know, theyre not the best of messages,but funny )

i cant stand lil wayne. His voice sounds so weird, if I tried to do that with that voice, I wouldnt be payed any attention.
gwatsky on youtube has some good music about current sitch. and stayign true, including turning down a phone pitch contract just so he didnt sell out.

I grew up listening to Slayer Metallica etc etc etc...But I enjoy 1990's Rap because it wasn't about how rich they were, it was about the day to day struggle we all were feeling at that time. When it went from that to bling bling I lost interest because I don't care to support some1 throwing they're psuedo riches obtained from people like me in my face while I'm poor as Fu**...So yes you are right that Modern Mainstream Rap is a Joke in my opinion but there is people that put their heart and soul into it still so not all of it is a joke... Lately I've been addicted to Fort Minor because of the truth in their songs........Kenji is a reminder of the U.S. Prison Camps during WW2 and I recommend to all who haven't heard it.

I myself have realized the more I grow as a person, the wider my tastes get. I never would've thought I would listen to rap but I must say being a musician and being able to see the raw talent involved in the linguistics and complexity of percussion and overall composure of the songs /even up to the larger concepts of connecting albums and themes together is amazing in rap. And rap is starting to evolve more than I ever thought it could, look at BOB Bobby Ray..he has a really chill beat driven sound with some cool grungy electric guitar riffs behind it and always great lyrical ability... eminem is becoming a legend for the generation. I also really like dre, travis barker (percussionist), aesop rock, dj shadow, just to name a few.


my favorite part of rap is that it is more relevant today than ever. Its great it reminds me of oldies in a sense that the songs tell a story.....every word has passion put in it.

reply to post by GmoS719


Death metal musicians play instruments and actually write music, although it is not the taste of most people, it is still music and can be an important release for young people, and it is very rare to find people who listen to death metal to go out and do the things described in their songs. That may be the case with Norwegian Black Metal, but not death metal.

Country music is a lovely form of music, it has composition, spirit, soul and talks about the loves and lives lost in a romantic world of card games, southern dames and freight trains. It tells the forgetten stories of the down trodden and howls with the heart ache of the lonely wanderer, forever on the road to nowhere. It uplifts people and helps them consolidate their feelings and seek comfort in other peoples reflections on harder times and they can relate to it, find some consolation and resolution through the music. That's why I didnt mention those two genres, only rap.

First, lil jon says "yeah"...

Some new stuff is crap. But you must not be from the hood or "ghetto" or barrio.. Seriously. These songs arent bragging what they have so much as giving me an anthem. Something that gets me going. Not sure how to explain it.

Fat pat.
S.p.m.
Snoopy blue.
Zero.
Chamillionair (try "goodmorning")
Philidelphia freeway
Ugk

Seriously, they speak of where I been. Where im going. Sorry. But listening to country, about whos boots your bed been under, means nothing to me. but, imma scratch yo shyt up. Does. Perspective friend. Its all about perspective.