RAP offensive?

[Moaku Hyena]

Re: RAP offensive?

Oh, don't get me started on how bad rap is. Rap used to be good, but it's now just noise generated by hyperactive apes in a hangover.

I can't stand listening to that stuff. And what's worse people ACT that way because of influence... Do I really want to hear 3-9 minutes of threats from some gang, put into a "create tone"? No sir. "Don't mess with my homes, watch your back! Piss me off and I do RAT-TAT-TAT!" is something that I heard 24 hours a day in my old neighborhood.

Now I just listen to White Noise (Nature sounds), Classical and Jazz. At least they haven't went corrupt yet.

[DrivenTooFar]

Re: RAP offensive?

I have to say that I don't really like new rap either. Then again I find it hard to like any new music coming out in any genre. Old rap was kind of like story telling that you could relate to or enjoy. Now it all seems to be the same negative stuff thrown together to try to sell an album. Just my opinion.

[Hereaux]

Re: RAP offensive?

i like old school rap... this new crap make me sick...

[Auron517]

Re: RAP offensive?

Yes, definately as a whole:

Old School > New School

But, honestly, new school isn't THAT bad, jesus. There's just a couple people that make it look bad. Look at my list above. There's plenty of "new school" there and you won't be disappointed

[DieselBoy09]

Re: RAP offensive?

I miss old rap. It was about social problems, and injustice. NWA, etc..
Now its hoes, money, drugs, and all I have that you don't.
Granted though, there are still rappers not completely concentrated on that, but unfortunatly the mainstream has decayed into something empty, but then again, the same can be said for other genres of music.

Support the death of society, support clear channel.

[711rocks]

Re: RAP offensive?

Year old thread bump ><
Rap lyrics are annoying and degrading. Don't give me warning points for my rap lyrics. Every song is "Nigga nigga nigg, drugs are good. Nigga nigga nigg, got shot up in da hood."
I heard one guy called Atmosphere or something like that who I thought had rather interesting lyrics, sounded like that old school stuff everyone keeps talking about.

[Auron517]

Re: RAP offensive?

This coming from some asshole that doesn't even listen to Hip Hop. >.>

[WishMaster3K]

Re: RAP offensive?

TY Auron for holding down the fort until I get here. Before I begin, let me just say what I avidly listen to on a daily basis: Adema, Breaking Benjamin, Cam'ron, Ciara, Coldplay, Common, Crossfade, Drowning Pool, Earshot, Eminem, Fabolous, The Game, Godsmack, Good Charlotte, Gorillaz, Hoobastank, Incubus, Jadakiss, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Killswitch Engage, Linkin Park, Memphis Bleek, Mos Def, MSI, Mudvayne, Muse, Nas, Nickelback, Puddle of Mudd, Reveille, Saliva, Snoop Dogg, SOAD, Trey Songz, Twista, The Used

Now I have seen nothing but rap bashing, and it's terribly biased. For one, rap takes skill. Listen to the layers of lyrics in these words from Jay-Z's "Threat"

Grown man I put hands on you
I dig a hole in the desert, they build The Sands on you
Lay out blueprint plans on you
We Rat Pack ni**az, let Sam tap dance on you
Then, I Sinatra shot ya God damn you
... I put the boy in the box like David Blaine
Let the audience watch, it ain't a thang
Y'all wish I was frontin, I George Bush the button
Front of all you in your car lift up your hood ni**a run it
Then lift up your whole hood like you got oil under it
Your boy got the goods y'all don't want nuttin of it
Like, castor oil, I Castor Troy you
Change your face or the bullets change all that for you
... y'all ni**az is targets
Y'all garages for bullets, please don't make me park it
in your upper level, valet a couple strays
from the 38 special, ni**a, God bless you

Find me a rock song that can use pop culture and historic references in 16bars like that and I'll show you a genre influenced by the heavy hitters of rap. Like it or not, rap is here to stay.

To sit here and say "rap nowadays is all about bitches and hoes and gangstas. Old rap was better" shows me that the only rap you've eever heard was GrandMaster Flash. Furthermore, the only contact you have with rap is what you see on the evening news.

Without a musical resume that encompasses many genres, no one can pass judgement. Have your opinion, but dont make an ultimatumis decision on something you have no clue of.

Eminem, no one realizes his talent, they see an "angry white boy talking about drugs, raping monkeys and hating his mother" Listen to his song on his first CD, "Infinite" and listen to "Renegade", which was featured on Blue Print and then listen to "My First Single" on his latest album "Encore".

Three different levels of his career and you can still hear a flow that is uniquely Eminem.

Like I said, I get annoyed when people simply claim rap is one thing or another, when it is really the voice of the urban culture.

Don't Punks hate it when they're compared to Goths? Don't Goths hate it when they're compared to Emos? In the same way you respect your individuality, don't blasphemize an entire culture as one that celebrates hoes and money.

Which brings me to my next point, "gangsta rap"

One thing you have to realize that first and foremost, rappers may have a passion and want to be heard, and that hunger drives them to make good music and not churn out top 40 pop chart crap. However, the CEOs of this company do what is best for their businesses, and above passion, is the drive to push numbers and make money. Passion can come later after the public accepts the artist.

Hence, while I hate 50 Cent as well, he's probably among the smartest businessmen in the industry aside from Jay Z. 50 Cent has the raw talent to create a song that's an instant hit. Put 50 in a verse on your song, and you'll have something that is played on the radio, in clubs and out the back of someone's car when they're chilling with their friends.

That said, 50 Cent has brought in drastic amounts of money and fame to Aftermath Records- The fact that he created beef with people for no apparent reason other than to promote his new CD shows the mark of a mad genius. Hate It Or Love It, the underdogs on top. And He's gone' shine, homie, until his heart stops. "Go 'head and envy me, I'm rap's MVP. And I aint going nowhere, so you should get to know me."

With that said, don't get caught up in rap's struggles, it's only to get you mad and move units. Think of what competition does to the video game market. That's my piece.

Double Post Edited:
Let me also point out that rap isnt driven strictly by people living in urban settings. Realize that African Americans barely occupy 20% of the country's population, and that not every black person listens to the same exact thing. Also keep in mind that rap is insanely popular, despite your own personal preferences. With all this working against it, how does rap, with all the rappers out there, prosper?

Because in all seriousness, white kids who grow up in gated communities eat this shyte up. That's what gangsta rap is targetted at. I know personally that no one cooks crack anymore. Shit, no one has cooked it since 89. It comes prepackaged, the distributors do all the work so they make more of a profit off the dealers. Dont' take too much of rap literally, you'll overload your narrow minds.

[DakAttack]

Re: RAP offensive?

I'll put in my two cents.

Rap is offensive to all the senses. It's an industry that prides itself on having a less than acceptable image and we can't forget being fake. You can't "get anywhere" unless you target other rappers in your lyrics. Your four primary topics include drugs, sex, being poor, and violence. You have to revist the topic about being poor over and over no matter how expensive your mansion is. When was the last time you heard a Missy Elliot song that didn't rip off somebody else? How could she have possibly ripped off a seemingly no-name French tecno artist named Les Rythmes Digitals? Every rap artist looks the same, and they all sound the same. What's ironic is Fat Joe doing a commercial telling you not to drink while underage then saying "Don't look sloppy". That guy has two beer bellies for a chin and spits when he raps.

There's so much wrong with the world now that you know you're doing something wrong when you're "going with the crowd". Lemmings? World of Warcraft? Need I say more?

Edit: Just to be clear, obviously what I said isn't going to apply to every rap artist and every song. I'd say 99% of our American rap culture meets the above description.

[x1ang]

Re: RAP offensive?

all the oldschool/underground hiphop is alot better (imo)... actual lyrics etc. (better to listen to, worse to pop to ;p)

listen to some of these guys for true stuff:
immortal technique (a must), deltron3030, a-trak, j-live, zion i, cage, copywrite, OLD nas, hiero, mr lif, mars ill, looptroop, camp lo, company flow, q-unique, styles of beyond, jeru the damaja, d-styles, citizen kane, visionaries, rjd2... uhh too many i give up :D

[Kagerou]

Re: RAP offensive?

mtv killed music. It's the same for rock. Old school>New school

[711rocks]

Re: RAP offensive?

Wishmaster made a few good points, but most rappers don't write to do anything about any problems they face, they just jump on the ghetto kid bandwagon. They could easily make music to help make people truly aware of problems where they grew up/reside. That doesn't make money though, so they make a bunch of bull shit music. I'll post you some lyrics by At The Drive-In. People call ATDI the first emo band. (Idk about that one) Most emo music isn't about slitting wrists, only like Bayside, who btw was in a car accident a couple weeks ago and like all died or some shit, Idk, nor do I care they blow anyway.(Maybe all that talk of death came back to haunt them eh?) I don't think emo music takes skill, its 4 chord bull shit with a crappy breakdown. Most punk rock doesn't take skill either. Metal and shit that goth kids would like might, but a lot of it is tuned down screaming and crap. (Some songs do a cool solo and shit which kind of redeems them though.) These 2 songs are about a couple of social problems, the first you should be able to understand, I'll explain the second to you.
I didn't feel like going upstairs for the books in the cds with the lyrics, and got them off the internet, if they are wrong and anyone wants to correct, please do so.

First up is Speechless off of El Gran Orgo:

mother nature never smelled so good
can i taste the flower that you carry
brilliant minds with pretty faces never cry
pedastal is crumbling down
now you're on the ground
selfless days are way too many
lay back, spread your legs, and don't make a sound

hiding bruises he brings you roses
says "i'm sorry" now it's okay
no hard feelings, no deep meanings
you were once special
but just for a day

he hook and baits you
to break you in two
now no one is saying
that it'll be all right
promises when he says "i love you"
face first to the floor
now you just don't know

speak up!
because no one's listening

all those lonely nights
you stayed up and cried
sick to your stomach with butterflies
he says "come here and hold me close
you never really seem to smile when i touch you"
saccharine sweet flavored drinks
taste so old
this burning in your mind
makes you feel so cold

no recollection of affection
we're only safe from harm when nothing
matters only 20 years have passed
and you're already feeling old
bell jar is ringing
and no one understands the feeling of
kicking a dead cow
and hoping that i will come alive
when everything is wrong
you just say..
"i'm doing fine."

she's reaching for something right

This next one is about a problem in Juarez, Mexico. Juarez is just outside of El Paso, Texas which is where this band is from. Woman there were being raped and killed in masses. They made a very sad music video for this song and I suggest downloading it, it will help expand on these lyrics, which may be hard to understand. There were about 570+ murders, and none were ever solved.

This song is titled Invalid Litter Department, off of Relationship Of Command:

intravenously polite it was the walkie-talkies
that had knocked the pins down
as their shoes gripped the dirt floor
in the silhouette of dying
dancing on corpses' ashes

yeah, they had plans for him
they has spun the last of the pimps
polyester, satin nailed jewelry lips
while the guillotine just laughed again
dancing on the corpses' ashes

paramedics fell into the wound
like a rehired scab at a barehanded plant
an anesthetic penance beneath
the hail of contraband

they had been defected and excommunicated
and all the pulses were subverted
and they made sure the obituaries
showed pictures of smoke stacks

a vivid dissection that mocked
the strut of vivisection
semi-automatic colonies
and a silencing that still walks the streets

in the company of wolves
was a stretcher made of
cobblestone curfews
the federales performed
their custodial customs quite well

callous heels
numbed in travel
endless maps made
by their scalpels

on my way
nails broke and fell
into the
wishing well

If you still want to argue about musical talent, please IM me, my sn is Ilike711dou. I'll send you music over AIM. (I'll get in trouble for posting music here) I'll send you stuff that takes a lifetime of instrument playing to master, (skillwise) which chances are, most rappers, and rap fans could never ever hope to accomplish.

[WishMaster3K]

Re: RAP offensive?

In linking x1ang and impaction's posts, take into consideration what I said about hunger. EVERY rapper is hungry to be heard. That is why underground rap is so raw, fluid, unique. But as it is, everyone who is hype on the underground becomes signed to big labels and begins to make money. Then we go into what I discussed, where the CEOs of said companies only want them pushing out music that they know will MOVE UNITS. Crap, you narrow minded people are talking like the artists are the one's at fault.

Fine, I'll do this, i'll relate this to the video game industry since no one else can understand my other logic. . .

Why do we get so many sequals and GTA rehashes? Because publishers don't play games, they only look at numbers. And numbers show a certain thing, and they feel that if they churn out copies and clones, they can capitalize. Obviously, this is incorrect, because we want innovation in our games, and blistfully blast any game that is a cheap copy of a genre setting title.

Publishers are the reason why the game industry is sinking shamefully more shallow, and we are drowned with crap. It's not our fault, it's the people upstairs. All we can do is refuse to accept crap, and when their copied/cloned games arent moving off the shelves, they MIGHT get the message. This also relates to all the crap we see during the winter due to rushing, and no games during the spring.

Now bringing it BACK a bit. Rap is largely associated with one image because that's what sells. America is driven on fear. I respect Kanye West immensely because he's breaking the norm.

Oh yeah, TY 711rocks for even reading my post, which the others after me seemed to ignore. After reading XXL for the past 5 months though, I know that rappers are individual with stories, and are eager to give back to the people who still show them love back home.

Rappers from the South are singlehandidly working to rebuild Nawlins, and from reading the articles, I've found that rap artists are more than gangbangers and drug dealers.

It would do a few people good to just read something out of XXL, you'll see a different angle. Regardless of if you like the publication or not, it's better than living in ignorance.

Good songs, 711. I've heard them before.

Double Post Edited:
And kagerou, Jay-Z could lyrically assassinate almost anyone ever!!! ARG!!!1! *exits JayZ fanboy mode* lol

[DakAttack]

Re: RAP offensive?

I have to mention one other thing and if you havn't noticed I'm not a fan of rap. Just look what it has done to our youth. It's cool to be stupid and unintellegent. There's no such thing as life past high school.

Anyways, lyrics are only half the song. I've yet to hear a rap song that actually includes any song at all. I was told by my self proclaimed hip sister that rap constitutes the lyrics while hip hop constitutes the music in the background. I'd like to point out that, from everything I've heard, everything I've heard in the background is mostly watered down, tired techno beats and notes. Nothing that would ever make up for the lack of lyrical talent. It really isn't that hard to put some sort of rap together, even more so when you've got months on end to put together an album. On top of that you wont find a single rapper that works alone. Each one of them teams up or something, or has other people working with them to write the lyrics.

The song, the background music, the hip hop, the whatever you want to call it is the most important part. This is how music started. If you want to hear HQ Techno listen to Daft Punk. I can not be more of an advocate of theirs because everywhere I go it seems like I find more and more people who havn't heard of them. Whenever I made a flash loop featuring their music it become instantaeneously popular among fans and new listeners a like. It never hurts to be a little classical either.

I'm going to stop dispensing opinions and attempt to deal with whatever flames I've most likely incurred.

[WishMaster3K]

Re: RAP offensive?

Daft Punk is an awsome band, I often turn on "Around The World" and put it on repeat and do my business around the world. I used to listen to rap heavy in Middle School, and was of the mentality, "Fu** that Rock Shit."

Then I heard Linkin Park in 9th grade and escalated from there. Now I can easily listen to Dimu Borgir, which, I don't understand at all, I think it's screamo, but at least my tastes have matured to the point where I can listen to anything at any given moment.

It's all a part of being a well versed individual, and by being able to accept different types of music at different portions, it allows me to understand people around me. This is important, as I dorming, I socially interact with people of widely different backgrounds on a level that exceeds anything I've encountered in High School.

All I'm saying is that while you may dislike something (we're all entitled to our opinions, but I think it's wrong to just totally pass something off as worthless. . . You wouldnt like if I did the same to music you understood and appreciated ), at the very least, understand what it is you're disliking. To me, it is apparent that you dislike the outward message of rap, which is ok, but you're not giving credit to the lyrical foundation.

Double Post Edited:
Bone Thugz and Harmony
NaS

There have been a boatload of names mentioned

A Tribe Called Quest
Common
Mos Def

just look around, there will be rap that isnt all "tired techno beats and notes"