Guilty Pleasures: Rap/Hip-Hop... time to come out of the closet!!

[J.]

I've never been able to listen to rap for a second. The things they sing about are ridiculous to me and I don't wanna hear the nonsense they ramble about, especially when there is no musical talent to back it up. I haven't heard any of the "old-school" rap you speak of, but I doubt I'd give it a listen anyway as I just can't stomach the stuff. Most of the people around here listen to rap and they are generally a bunch of morons who irritate me to no end. That coupled with the fact that the lyrics blow goats and there is nothing pleasing to my ears coming from that nonsense is why I have a profound hate for rap. If you like it then thats fine with me. I'm not going to persecute you for listening to rap, I just don't know why anyone would to be honest.

He pretty much summed up my thoughts on rap music. Rap just comes across as so.....fabricated. Programming a beat through a machine and then talking in rhythm to that beat just comes across as ridiculous. There is no musical talent needed, that I see anyway. It's all just showmanship. Some of you may come back with "But metal bands play keyboards and use drum machines." Keyboards are an instrument that have to be played and requires talent to do so. Drum machines, eh, I'll give you that one.

Add to that all the fucking morons that feel the rest of the neighborhood should hear their moronic music by turning the damn bass up so loud it literally shakes the car apart. And add to that (like lizard said) all the stupid white boys that think it's cool to turn your hat sideways and put bullet hole stickers on their car, and you have a genre and its fans that I have zero respect for.

Papa Josh wanted to kow what's so awful, so there....


PS. Why do middle class/upper middle class white boys want to look like trash? Seriously, what is the attraction to like a complete moron by wearing baggy pants, turning hats sideways, and talking like a fucking neanderthal? Am I missing something? The other day I was driving through The Woodlands (an upper middle class/rich neighborhood north of Houston) and I saw a white boy and his girlfriend in a decked-out SUV. It had the fancy rims and all the other ghetto type accessories. THen I noticed about 5 bullet-hole stickers on the back of the SUV. Someone please tell me why ANYONE would WANT their property to look like its been shot at or whatever...?????

 

[lizard]

oh! there is one rap song I've been into lately...a spoof of OPP called ABB (Anybody But Bush)

 

[NAD]

Those people never read the White Person Manual.

RULE #1: THIS ONE IS IMPORTANT!!!
You are white, and therefore not cool.

EXPANDED VERSION:
You will never be cool, no matter how big your rims get on your 8000 lb. single passenger SUV.
You cannot dance, do not bother trying. Here, have a Butt Light.
You will never be a "playa," even if you fuck every baby's momma from Jersey to Cali.
No, inch thick gold chains do not compliment your outfit, hair, lifestyle, soul, or your matching gold trim on said 8000 lb. SUV (see above).

 

[J.]

RULE #2:
If you are from the suburbs, you will never be "ghetto".

 

[JayKeeley]

RULE #2:
If you are from the suburbs, you will never be "ghetto".

Vanilla Ice?

 

[JayKeeley]

Programming a beat through a machine and then talking in rhythm to that beat just comes across as ridiculous. There is no musical talent needed, that I see anyway. It's all just showmanship.

That description might work for modern rap that you see on TV, but the distinction to old school (basically the equivalent to 'underground') is hugely different.

It's no lie that Hip Hop originally belonged to the American black community, and most/all black communities in the US are poor. When hip hop took off, it was all about sampling beats across two record decks - that's all they could essentially afford. Well, that and a microphone. No drum machines were used whatsoever. It was so inherently street worthy that DJ's used to 'hot wire' street lights just to draw the power to their decks.

Anyway, I don't know if you've ever DJ'd across two decks, but to keep a beat going (and to mix two different samples) is INCREDIBLY difficult. It's honestly like playing a musical instrument to a degree. You can even create 'riffs' across decks - it used to be called "transforming" and it's extremely difficult to manipulate the record to create the sound.

You might have seen 8 Mile as well? Those rhymes they compete with are combinations of stuff they write and stuff they have to make up on the spot. I know I couldn't do it, not everyone can, and so it does require talent. You gotta admit, it's impressive and probably the reason why Eminem is the only white rapper that gets respect from the black community.

The music is aimed at a specific community. If you're not a part of that community then you're probably not going to 'get it'. Most people who aren't a part of the community, but have still come to like it or appreciate it to an extent, probably have friends who are into it and it's just a case of sharing each others music.

I think it rules that bands like Public Enemy used to sample stuff like Slayer's "Angel of Death" and use it to make their own music really heavy. This is before nu-metal caught on, back in the day when most music was still original and not just a variation of what's already been done.

 

[J.]

That description might work for modern rap that you see on TV,

That is all I'm exposed to, so my description was strictly for the more mainstream rap artists. I'm positive I don't "get" rap, but from what I've been exposed to, there doesn't seem to be much to "get". It's all about life in da hood, pimpin' hoes, or bustin' a cap. There's no substance, of course, there usually isn't in the mainstream. Now, I want you to....

"Put ya hands in da air, and wave 'em around like ya just don't care...."

 

[JayKeeley]

That is all I'm exposed to, so my description was strictly for the more mainstream rap artists. I'm positive I don't "get" rap, but from what I've been exposed to, there doesn't seem to be much to "get". It's all about life in da hood, pimpin' hoes, or bustin' a cap.

Yeah, well I imagine there isn't much more to life in the hood than exactly that. And selling drugs etc. So the people who predominantly listen to it pretty much live the life that they rap about. That's why it's so funny to see middle class white boys thinking that they're so down with it.

 

[lizard]

exactly. they be cool long as they can go back to the five br 2 1/2 bath "crib" at night.

 

[J.]

and they be driving mommy and daddy's ghetto ride

SEE Lexus

 

[Black Winter Day]

now bluegrass on the other hand...that's the speed metal of the mountains.

you are absolutely right, lizard (as usual). bluegrass is some GOOOOD stuff, i must say. you never get a true appreciation of the genre until you see it played live, though. (by the way, i'm pretty much a mountain boy )

 

[lizard]

that's right. all drive-bys be in beemers and mini coopers.

 

[lurch70]

that's right. all drive-bys be in beemers and mini coopers

hey watch it buddy, I drive a Cooper
I do not own a 9 or have baggy pants but I do listen to some rap and bob my head ocasionally.

 

[lizard]

all in good fun, all in good fun

 

[JayKeeley]

You know what band is cool by using hip hop beats? The Prodigy. Music for the Jilted Generation is a great album.

 

[NAD]

I love Prodigy. Does techno junk like that count in this grand hip hop scheme? If so I'm plenty guilty, FSOL, Chemical Bros, etc., I love a lot of that stuff.

 

[JayKeeley]

I love Prodigy. Does techno junk like that count in this grand hip hop scheme? If so I'm plenty guilty, FSOL, Chemical Bros, etc., I love a lot of that stuff.

Absolutely. Songs like "Bring me the Poison" has one of the strongest hip hop beats you can get, and yet Prodigy have this ability to keep it thumpingly heavy. Ever heard Fat of the Land? The track "Firestarter" is another good example.

 

[NAD]

Oh yes, Fat of the Land gets regular rotation from me. Smack My Bitch Up is one of my favorites, and I just saw the uncut video a few nights ago, it was wicked.

I wasn't sure this stuff was classified under this thread, because you know nobody will mention Ulver, Antimatter, Aborym, or any of those, even though a lot of that stuff is similar.

 

[Black Winter Day]

me and a friend listened to smack my bitch up about 7 times a day at the beach this summer

 

[Papa Josh]

These generalizations of rap music's fans are no different than Dreamlord's opinions of Opeth fans.

Having worked with people in the local rap community, it's not as easy as it looks.

Can't appreciate if you can't relate.

No big deal, I'd just appreciate you not dogging it, as I stated in the beginning of the thread this is more for those who do appreciate and want to discuss it.