I figured out why I don't like rap music.

[MJinZ]

I've never liked it, but I never quite knew why. I thought it was the lack of engaging music, but recently started listening to Damian Marley and quite like his stuff.

Him and Nas have an album ("Distant Relatives") where they both perform during the songs and after a bit of listening it struck me how different their lyrics are: Marley is very poetical and paints some pretty vivid pictures about a variety of topics: corruption, poverty, crime, crocked politics etc. Nas OTOH, sings mostly about himself.

Here's a good example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZQQYbRAEjI

Some lyrical excerpts:
Marley:
We’ve got Sunday school and daycare
We’ve got pension and welfare
And though not all will play the game fair
Still I count my blessings

Nas:
So don’t be mad if you ain’t fly y’all
You got the means to reach the level I’m on
You should know there’s only one Nas y’all
But count your blessings, count your blessings


To be honest, I didn't know who Nas was, nor can I say I give a fuck about him, yet in almost every song in that album (and some other stuff they've done together), this guy does nothing but sing about himself personally.

According to UrbanDictionary, this narcissist is one of the best lyricists rap has to offer. I'm sure there lots of exceptions, but it does seem way more common than in other genres.

Next thing you'll want is an epic Ballad about hoes and doing 90 in a 65.

No.

I hate rap that sings about welfare and shit. No one cares.

I want my bitches and hoes, cash money fix plz.

 

[MJinZ]

I've never liked it because so much of it is musically retarded (e.g. if you even have any actual music, way too much sampling, and way too much non-instrument synthesized loops and shit) and its talking, not singing. Nothing wrong with having a few refrains or something of talk in a song but to build an entire genre of music on talking....meh. If I wanted to hear angry people talk or chant, I'd just go to protests or something.

But but the angry people don't rhyme like Dr. Seuss. With catchy instrumentals in the background. And a head bobbing beat.

But yea, Rapping ain't singing. Singing is an entirely superior level of human expression.

 

[MJinZ]

I think that most people who HATE rap are close minded to music, and think its "cool" to hate on the genre. Most people have never given it a chance. The whole "They don't use real instruments" argument is weak and just an excuse. There are plenty of rap groups that use real instruments, and the ones that don't are just as good at creating music a different way. I will agree that the rap you hear on radio's and shit now is awful....but the 90's?...that was the pinnacle. Gangstarr, Mobb Deep, Nas, Jay-Z, Wu-Tang, Big L...I could go on.

I'm suing Wu Tang on basis of false advertisement. I expected Asian rap.

 

[purbeast0]

saying you don't like rap because of nas is about as big of a fail as one can get.

 

[MJinZ]

saying you don't like rap because of nas is about as big of a fail as one can get.

Plus Nas has like one of the best rap songs of all time (One Mic). And his other stuff is pretty boring IMHO.

 

[purbeast0]

I'm suing Wu Tang on basis of false advertisement. I expected Asian rap.

they drafted tiger woods so they now have asian in their crew by default.

 

[CRXican]

Nas is underwhelming and boring anyway.

yep

 

[SP33Demon]

<<<Marley is very poetical and paints some pretty vivid pictures about a variety of topics: corruption, poverty, crime, crocked politics etc. Nas OTOH, sings mostly about himself. >>>

If you're more into poetic rap, try listening to someone who was a dealer on the streets and considered on par with NAS but more raw: Cormega. He is the voice of the streets and hustling...

1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uoc34ZNghqo
2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COBNvmSo_dA
3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0J3E36PgH0
4) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5nZtPz7F18
5) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDmQqJpr3JY

From 5:

Life is a journey before I went the rap route,
I served niggaz off the bench like Stackhouse,
going in with no intention to back down,
my cocaine flow solidified I spit crack now,
you get consignment&#65279; from my mental stash house,
I'm back, drought's over fiends' mouth foaming,
there's residue in the street my mic's smoking,
time to show these niggaz it's doe or die my eyes ain't closing,
ever since i started rhyming the crime rates lower,
and I froze my watch cuz time waits for noone,
can fuck&#65279; with NY when you think it's over,
the State coming back like the Yanks with homers,
I ain't livin on the strength for noone, control my fate, I hold my weight and know my place,
When I show my face it's all love if not I say fuck it I don't mind hate.

How the mighty have fallen,
the city never sleeps look how tired New York&#65279; is,
where I was born and raised is a part of my aura,
im too young to die, too old to try the corners,
truth be told I move weight before starving,
life has highs and lows like a song from Marvin,
police take lives and go free of all charges,
justice fucks us and conceives martyrs,
so I open my eyes to the vision of malcolm,
I live for today yet I wish tommorow
is better&#65279; than yesterday dont exist no longer,
I dont maintain I elevate it just go harder,
with verses you sweat like a lyrical sauna,
the message I am sendin with the pen in my palm is,
the hiatus is over I have risen and conquered,
laugh now cry later, this is the karma,
hip hop never died it's just sick of the drama.

 

[Nik]

Rap is full of stupid people yelling about their bitches&hos and drugs and money and fame and how I'm so awesome this and I'm so awesome that.

Good grief. STFU already!

I'm DAMNED GLAD that there's a local rap station. Keeps that shit centralized, off of other stations, so I only have to avoid one frequency.

 

[BeauJangles]

Rap is full of stupid people yelling about their bitches&hos and drugs and money and fame and how I'm so awesome this and I'm so awesome that.

Good grief. STFU already!

I'm DAMNED GLAD that there's a local rap station. Keeps that shit centralized, off of other stations, so I only have to avoid one frequency.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzMvdFKDriM

Some rap is awesome. The above is an example.

Among all the crap about sleeping with women, you can find a lot of rap that is the spiritual successor of 60s political rock. They're talking about problems in their lives, problems in our country, etc, etc. That's more than a lot of genres can say.

 

[Nik]

I refuse to listen, sorry.

 

[BeauJangles]

I refuse to listen, sorry.

Your loss.

 

[Nik]

Actually, quite the opposite. It's like saying hey you should go down this dark alley at night because there's a pretty kitty down there you can pet and go awwww at.

Fuck that shit, rap as a whole is absolute garbage and needs to simply vanish off the face of the planet.

 

[BeauJangles]

Actually, quite the opposite. It's like saying hey you should go down this dark alley at night because there's a pretty kitty down there you can pet and go awwww at.

Fuck that shit, rap as a whole is absolute garbage and needs to simply vanish off the face of the planet.

Like I said, your loss. There's a lot of great rap and hip-hop out there and it's too bad you are too close-minded to even give it a shot.

 

[KeithTalent]

There is a lot of good stuff out there, but I've never heard any of it on the radio. Most of the stuff I have heard on the radio, or even on MTV or whatever, is quite terrible.

KT

 

[BeauJangles]

There is a lot of good stuff out there, but I've never heard any of it on the radio. Most of the stuff I have heard on the radio, or even on MTV or whatever, is quite terrible.

KT

Can't that be said of pop, rock, and the other junk that gets played?

 

[Nik]

Like I said, your loss. There's a lot of great rap and hip-hop out there and it's too bad you are too close-minded to even give it a shot.

Good OLD stuff, sure. Like, 30 years old.

New shit is full of arrogant pricks that don't deserve the money and popularity they've been given that feeds their worthless nature.

 

[KeithTalent]

Can't that be said of pop, rock, and the other junk that gets played?

Absolutely, but for whatever reason people seem to write off all rap/hip-hop from the junk they hear on the radio, but they do not do that with rock and whatnot. Not sure why that is. :hmm:

KT

 

[sandorski]

Actually, quite the opposite. It's like saying hey you should go down this dark alley at night because there's a pretty kitty down there you can pet and go awwww at.

Fuck that shit, rap as a whole is absolute garbage and needs to simply vanish off the face of the planet.

hehe, I wouldn't go as far as that, but agree it's overdone and at this time the majority seems to be the same as the early stuff. 20+ years of saying the same thing is annoying already.

I can appreciate that much of it reflects a Reality and always has, some of it might even attempt to change that Reality into something better. It has become monotonous though and it's time for something new. That said, I suppose I just need to accept that Kids these days like it, just as they like walking on my LAWN!!!!

 

[BeauJangles]

Good OLD stuff, sure. Like, 30 years old.

New shit is full of arrogant pricks that don't deserve the money and popularity they've been given that feeds their worthless nature.

You have no idea what you're talking about. You even admitted as much two posts ago.

 

[Nik]

Can't that be said of pop, rock, and the other junk that gets played?

Yes, but those genres aren't full of the stereotypical black man calling every other black man a nig, aren't full of disgusting habits and treatment of women, don't constantly insult and debase every rival they can fathom, aren't constantly involved in gang bullshit and shooting up night clubs and wanton violence and mayhem.

 

[Nik]

You have no idea what you're talking about. You even admitted as much two posts ago.

You can raise the banner all you want about "underground" shit until you're blue in the face. The plain and simple truth is that you're talking about a very small 5% of the rap market. When 95% of the genre is exactly as I've described it, maybe the 5% of the market you're referring to should be broken off into it's own non-cromagnon-man genre.

 

[KeithTalent]

Yes, but those genres aren't full of the stereotypical black man calling every other black man a nig, aren't full of disgusting habits and treatment of women, don't constantly insult and debase every rival they can fathom, aren't constantly involved in gang bullshit and shooting up night clubs and wanton violence and mayhem.

I don't understand how you seem to speak like an expert on the subject when you do not even listen, which is actually quite evident from the content of your posts.

KT

 

[Nik]

I don't understand how you seem to speak like an expert on the subject when you do not even listen, which is actually quite evident from the content of your posts.

KT

I used to. Additionally, some of my collection involves rap and hip hop from back in the day when they weren't sad, sorry excuses for bilking money out of caveman-like customers.

 

[BeauJangles]

You can raise the banner all you want about "underground" shit until you're blue in the face. The plain and simple truth is that you're talking about a very small 5&#37; of the rap market. When 95% of the genre is exactly as I've described it, maybe the 5% of the market you're referring to should be broken off into it's own non-cromagnon-man genre.

Again, you don't know what you're talking about, so why are you still trying to argue with me?

Basically what you're arguing is that 95% of rap is crap so that makes ALL of rap crap. Couldn't we say the same thing about every other genre of music?

or are you holding Katie Perry, Kesha, Justin Bieber, and Taylor Swift to a different standard?