Feelings on Rap

How do you feel about this art?

I feel that a lot of the popular artists have very little substance to thier music. I don't want to listen to someone telling me about what kind of cars, money, women, and parties they have. However some of the ones with some meaning behing their rhymes like DMX and Eminem I really like.

I used to listen to hip-hop almost exclusively in high school, but now I can't find much worth listening to.

Personally I can't stand it but to each their own.

It's crap.

not a big fan of "cock-in-hand" rap (except "Big Pimpin") but I like some of the stuff that's got a bit more to say than, "Bitch, ho, guns, rides, rims, bling, cristal......"

Having said that, if you don't listen to the words a lot of the music is pretty damn fine.

So, basically I'll be on the fence over here...if you need me.....

This was me in high school. I guess because at that time rap groups like a Tribe, Leaders of a New, etc. were hot. The stuff coming out now is just plain ass bad.

i.e. Nelly, Ludacris...

Most popular rappers suck.

Eminem definately sucks.

By suck I don't mean qualitywise, I mean lyrically.

Lyrically the only thing that rules is country.

Vote Kool Keith for president.

it's like anything else. a lot of crap, but some of it is really good, if you dig deep enough to find it

and i like luda =\

how do you feel about the streets? he was popular over here for about 5 minutes, and even then it was only through the college radio circuit, but it seems like most of the people from the UK that i speak to are pretty down on him. but i guess that is because he was actually popular over there. anyway, i like him

You mean like if you travel back in time to the 80's and the 90's?

It's a shame that, for many, the only readily accessable rap and hip-hop is the garbage spewed by the media. Keep in mind, MTV is not the authority.

It's just like every other genre of music. Some is quality and some is crap.

exactly. open yr minds, peoples, you miss out on lots when you work in such broad strokes.

Generally, I don't like hiphop or rapping, but I guess Grandmaster Flash & Furious 5 (still outplays all new acts in lyrics, compositions and technique) are pretty good, Dr. Octagon is funny, so is some of the stuff Slick Rick puts out. Finnish rap sucks. Period.

I used to be involved in arguments (some of the people involved are recording rappers) about what rap and hip-hop really are. The conclusion was that rap is just speech with rhythm (comparable to singing) and hip-hop is a broad musical genre. There was still some argument that is hip-hop a culture or not, my take was that it's not, since it's only a bunch of activities (ie. the four elements) but there is no defined set of ideology, for one, within it. But that again goes in how one defines culture itself.

[Edited on Apr 07, 2004 by Conry]

pretty much what everybody else said...hip hop WAS good. and now if you want to hear good shit you have to dig deep, and even then i find that stuff boring because its trying very hard NOT to sound like the mainstream stuff.

i do love mos def, talib and few FEW (few) others. the rest can turn in hell.


im more mad at how the industry that continues to pimp the shitty hip hop doesnt seem to give a shit that kids both black and white are internalizing the messages the jack asses rappers are putting out and taking it to heart. you have rappers that talk about bling because they know it sells, they collect thier check and go home, the kids see it another way, they think they have to take on the additude of the 'streetman' or 'hustler' when those two faces were born out of need.





there was a time when i used to hate on orange county white "bling bling" kids because i thought they were just total jackasses. but now i see how wrong i am, 80% of the kids of today are jackasses. white, hispanic, black.....its sucking.






uuuuggggggggggh.



im pissed.

The thing is, music does move in cultures. And modern popular rap is a horribly violent/drug and alcohol abusing/womanizing culture.

Obviously there are exceptions, but I'm not going to search through crap to find them.

Yeah...most of that "bling-rap" is pure shit......BUT there is plenty of good hip-hop still being made if you look for it.

There's the obvious Jurassic 5. Also, most anything on the Quannum Label (Blackalicious, Latryx, etc.), Cannibal Ox/Mr.Lif and the DefinitiveJux label,

For the more "out-there" stuff there's always Anti-Pop Consortium, Beans, and Boom-Bip & Dose One.

I guess to answer your question...."I'm feelin' it".

I've been listening to rap since the early 80's. It's gone through many phases and changes. There have been times when it was very positive and thought provoking. There were times when it showed the worst of suicidities ills. There have been artists who have pushed the genre into new directions and really made it a viable and important means of expression. The current state of rap is horendous. It has no substance, brings nothing back to the community. In fact it reinforces the whole ideal that money is the only important thing in the world and we must get it by any means necessary. It really is a shame that what could be such a positive influence on people has been bastardized in so many ways. I still listen to the music all the time, from a production stand piont, as someone who writes tunes using electronic equipment. There are a couple of producers in that field that have as much skill and talent when it comes to song writing and sound manipulation that it blows away the notion that it is just hacks making these songs in their basements.

in theory i dig it, if you listen to like wyclef or tupac... or even eminem in his comical way.... it essentialy is a form of poetry to a beat... if they are good and can do it....... HOWEVER peole like jay-z and mase and all them bling bling no personality no originality havin mutha f'ers they suck. digable planets are good... as long as it touches more on poetry than ego and more on music and rythem than p diddy show off shit i am a fan.

but if you really want to think about it....rock is fucking sucking too.


at least radio stuff. evanesensce is now considered metal to some. avril lavigne is considered punk so some(*shrugs*)..........lets go kill some record execs

i want to shit down lil' john's bloody stump of a neck once i rip his head off.

agreed that ludacris, nelly, and most of the bling bling stuff is crap, but there is plenty of good hip hop out there be it ungerground or whatever you want to call it. intelligent and well put together both lyrically and musically. i urge those of you throwing the entire genre out the window to check out: sage francis/non-prophets, dilated peoples, blackalicious, atmosphere, aesop rock, 7L & esoteric...and that's just what popped into my head right now. oh, and deep puddle dynamics is one of the greatest albums ever recorded, definitely check that shit out...