Rap/Hip-Hop fans

[Guest]

Check out this artist: watch these two videos of the underground, undisputed lyrical king, Canibus.

The Grand Deception

Channel Zero

Let me know what you think.

[mr_thebrain]

wait... there's rap/hip hop fans? i thought that was a myth... i mean you'd actually have to LIKE rap/hip hop.

[Demosthenes]

Yeah, I thought they were proven extinct...? Odd.

[fawkes]

I think it's safe to say there are none of those here.

[Claire]

I'm a fan of GOOD hip hop.
(not an attack at the poster of the link, I haven't listened to it yet.)

[mr_thebrain]

so you're saying you don't like hip hop

(to clarify, i'm saying that there is no such thing as good hip hop)

[neo-dragon]

PWeb is sooooo white...

[VelvetElvis]

I'm paler than a corpse. It's quite sad.

[mr_thebrain]

i like people pale. the tanned can't be trusted.

[VelvetElvis]

Duly noted. I mistrust brown-eyed people.

[mr_thebrain]

that makes sense. brown eyed people only have brown eyes because they're full of s***.

[VelvetElvis]

Ha! I knew it.

[neo-dragon]

Looks like the coloured folk ain't welcome in these parts.

[mr_thebrain]

because we don't like rap/hip hop? or because i don't trust tanned people? btw, i meant tanned by the sun. and i was joking.

[eriador]

Haha. Only hip hop I respect is A Tribe Called Quest, and then only sometimes.

[Gravity Defier]

Looks like the coloured folk ain't welcome in these parts.

Then it's a good thing for them there are only two of us (that I know...surely there are at least one or two more) that aren't white.

*runs before a lynching is thought up*

[Young Val]

I think it's safe to say there are none of those here.

quite wrong, actually. i'm a fan. most anything but country (and some of that, as well).

[lovesonia]

I like lots of hip hop/rap. I like all sorts of music. Good music and bad music... I'll listen to most of it. Just keep the very very redundant trip hop/d&b/techno/trance/etc. electronica music awaaaay.

[hive_king]

I am suprised at how many people are thinking hip hop or rap is dead. Where I live, non hip hop fans are the small minority.

[eriador]

I know, and a persecuted one at that!

[Guest]

Well, Nas may be right in saying that "Hip Hop is Dead" on his new album, but there are still tight MC's from before the recent death of rap that can kick it. CanIBus is one of them, Beanie Siegel another, Nas, Tech N9ne... Usually I prefer ambient music, jazz/blues, new age, celtic, drum 'n bass, etc, but if a rap song is done like the aforementioned mic handlers, I can dig it. I suggest listening to the links in the OP.

[daPyr0x]

I must say I'm rather unimpressed by the response that this thread has generated....

I mean, seriously....50 cent is da shiznit, yo.

Nas, Jay, and - in the newer people out there - Lupe are really good. Even, and it pains me to say this, The Game, has some things to say...occasionally.

For what it's worth, look at my sig. It should be rather obvious I'm not exactly a gangsta. I'll listen to anything from Norah Jones to Armin van Buuren to Nas to Korn......

[zeroguy]

It should be rather obvious I'm not exactly a gangsta.

You had me going with that 50 cent comment... now you're just trying to confuse everyone.

[mr_thebrain]

see i would probably like rap/hip hop if it weren't for one thing:

i like MUSIC

[Dr. Mobius]

Depends on how you define music.

[luminousnerd]

Dude, this argument is old. Rap is music, period, no question about it. If you say it's not you're just doing so because you've heard other people say it and you decided to latch onto the idea for no reason other than to insult a form of music that you don't like.

You don't have to like it, but some people do and you can respect that.

[eriador]

Umm. Except for the dumb lyrics and crappy sampled drums, I see nothing in rap/hip-hop that resembles music. It doesn't even resemble bad music. And every bit that even vaguely resembles music is sampled from somebody else, so "rappers" have nothing to do with music.

[Claire]

Just because the only rap you've heard is 50 Cent and Kanye doesn't mean its the only rap that exists.

[mr_thebrain]

ok, first of all, i'm in two bands. Muted Buddha, and New Clear Solution. Muted Buddha is a rock band, whereas New Clear Solution is an "electronica" or "techno" band. We do all originals, however, at times we sample very very small bits from other songs for NCS. now. in NCS, the actual techno aspect of it is extraordinarily simple. no work involved, hit a couple buttons and it just goes. heck, even when you DO the work yourself, you can still record it into the electribe. (and yes it's actually that simple for anyone who working in that genre. in MB, we actually play instruments and it's hard hard work. i don't consider NCS music. not really. it's more of a... collection of sounds. and yes, we've had rappers on a few NCS songs.

i mean, hell. I can rap. i'm not even half bad. but it's not an art. it's talking. to a beat. sometimes fast, sometimes slow. singing is an art. playing an instrument is an art. punching buttons on a sampler... not an art. not music. rapping and hip hop are collections of sounds with talking over it.

if rap/hip hop/electronica or other related genres are music, then i guess when i sit at my computer and type it's actually music. and all this time i thought i was just surfing for porn. i was actually making songs.

[luminousnerd]

Umm. Except for the dumb lyrics and crappy sampled drums, I see nothing in rap/hip-hop that resembles music. It doesn't even resemble bad music. And every bit that even vaguely resembles music is sampled from somebody else, so "rappers" have nothing to do with music.

So what you're saying is you've never heard any rap?

[luminousnerd]

i mean, hell. I can rap. i'm not even half bad. but it's not an art. it's talking. to a beat. sometimes fast, sometimes slow. singing is an art. playing an instrument is an art. punching buttons on a sampler... not an art. not music. rapping and hip hop are collections of sounds with talking over it.

I'd wager you're a terrible rapper. There are plenty out there. There are people who are good at it, and those who are bad at it. It takes plenty of practice and you have to be naturally talented as well.

If that's not an art...what is?

Your voice is art regardless. Your voice is just as much an instrument as a trombone. James Earl Jones' voiceover talent is certainly an art.

[VelvetElvis]

LN, are you sleeping with the double post fairy?

[eriador]

Um. I think that that double post extravaganza has been going on with LN since he joined. I guess he's too good for edits.

The other thing that he did was counter those who disagree with him with completely pointless attacks in order to confuse the issue, instead of responding to the content of our posts.

Maybe he could elaborate on:
a) What part of rap makes it music?
b) What rap should I listen too?

Perhaps then I might start to respect him.

[Guest]

You'd respect someone for that? lol.

1.) What part of *any* "music" makes it "music"?
The only qualifier for "music" as an "artform" is in the subject listener's mind. All this argument about instruments vs. sampled beats and whatnot is arbitrary and pointless. The only value in the actual "music" part of a song (disregarding, the for sake of argument, lyrics/words/voice), is in it's subjective aesthetics. There is no other. Saying that music has to have live-play instruments, either because it's "harder" or "more artistic" or whatever, is like saying one type of food tastes better because it's harder to make than another. Getting into the concept of the vocals/lyrics, the only qualifiers in it are twofold: their harmony/synergy with the "music" portion (i.e., does it enhance and flow well with the sound), and whether the words connect with the listener in a substantive, meaningful manner. This is the most confusing portion, in my opinion; what topics, concepts, and communication in one person's experience seems meaningful and uplifting, might seem absurd and disconnected in another person's experience. However, the best artists (in any genre) find ways to connect with a broad stroke of individuals through universal topics; ones that many (if not most) people can identify with. If you find that you rap music is aesthetically displeasing, or are unable to identify with a rap songs concepts, then you simply don't listen to rap. Don't try and explain away your incompatibility with it as some kind of deficiency, flaw or lack of artistic talent in the creator of the song(s). Lastly, anyone here who feels that they could accomplish success in *any* music genre (let alone rap) is sorely delusional, as I suspect if you had that capability, you wouldn't be wasting your f***ing time here.
2.) No one can tell you, or anyone else for that matter, what rap (or any music) you "should" listen to. You "should" listen to whatever floats your boat. You might wish to *try* some artists I suggest, to see if they are pleasing to you, but what you do is your own choice.

Artists in rap/hip-hop genre that, in my opinion, don't suck:
CanIBus
Twista
Kottonmouth Kings
Lupe Fiasco
Bun B
Beanie Siegel
Obie Trice
MC Chris
Del the Funky Homosapien

[hive_king]

Now what I want is a rapper that can actually spell his name right. Do any of those exist?