I don't like rap. I prefer artists that have a good singing voice accompanied by musicians rather than some dude rhyming a bunch of silly nonsense accompanied by a hype man who does nothing but say crap like "yeah...yeah" over and over. I thought rap would have played out years ago but each to his own. My parents didn't like my generations music either.
Some of the posters in these music threads don't like anything other than bands or music that only they've heard of, and when people start to hear of the band they "like" then that person doesn't like them anymore. In terms of rap, it's pretty ironic to me that the type of people who don't like rap are the same ones who will mimic hip-hop culture or quote some rap lyric in an attempt to be cool in a social situation. White people are keeping "Whoot there it is" alive...not me.
it's actually whoop but who cares that song sucked no lyrics huh have you listened to any of the songs i posted i betting you haven't if you don't like rap then why comment on a subject that is dealing with rap this thread however is suppsoed to be talking about how the "n" word is now being substituted with hip hop, what do you think about that? here are song lyrics fo ya http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB56lLzKjhE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHReQQnMVQo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ef-pmebpb6M
It's music that's holding black people back in this country. Less Soulja Boy and more Phil Collins, problem solved. That's brilliant.
I don’t agree with the writer about “hip-hop” being the same as the “N”word, but I do agree with some of his takes (especially the part about Whitlock being a Tom). Are a lot of commercialized rap lyrics/videos bad? The answer is yes. Are they any worse than the majority of mainstream television (the bachelor, desperate housewives, real world)? Are they any worse than a lot of the heavy metal music that I saw on TV in the 80’s? Are they any worse than the shoot-em up flicks that made people like John Wayne or Arnold S. famous? Are they any worse than the sexual lyrics I hear when I play my mom’s old Motown records, or some of the lyrics that encouraged drug use and free love from the 60’s and 70’s? THE ANSWER TO ALL OF THESE QUESTIONS IS NO!!!! Yet somehow rap music winds up getting the blame at times for all kinds of garbage (i.e. someone getting shot at home during a burglary…see Whitlock on Sean Taylor). And that, to me, is bull$$$$. Now I read idiotic posts from guys like bigtexxx, which basically say rap music is destroying black youth. My question to this, as it has always been, is why is this music not destroying white households, since they buy the majority of the commercialized product? Why is the rest of the garbage on TV not destroying other communities, or why didn’t these negative images destroy them in the past. Are black youth the only dummies that can’t tell the difference between reality and entertainment? I find that hard to believe. Two of my favorite movies are “Boyz n da Hood” and “Menace II Society”…watched them both when I was growing up. Neither movie made me want to go out and shoot someone. I knew it was entertainment, similar to “Die Hard”. Your logic is asinine…. And as many others have pointed out there is a vast difference between commercialized rap and rap music in general. Big companies like Time Warner decide what music will be commercialized and what won’t be because they control the market (i.e. radio/TV) and distribution. Most record labels are ultimately funneled towards them. These companies choose to market negativity because that’s what sells…that’s what has always sold (again turn on your TV or watch a movie). So if you want to make $$$ you better get with their type of music to get airtime….which is why the “good rap” is now underground, on a mix tape, etc. So if you want to say rap music sucks and we should get rid of it, that’s fine. But I also hope that means you don’t like mainstream media in general, or else you are a big hypocrite.
According to Jeff Chang, hip-hop could be attributed to the political struggles between the PNP (People’s National Party) and JLP (Jamaica Labour Party) that were fighting for political control of Jamaica. According to him, they used what later became hip-hop as a political outlet much like Grandmaster Flash and P.E.(Chuck D. in a later interview though said that they was just making records). Then though, it was actually music with the breaks like early hip-hop in New York, rap was added here in the States.
To be fair, The Roots are the only ones who have a constant band and there is a reason why they have always been "groundbreaking" as opposed to "popular". You simply cannot say they are indicative of hip-hop as a whole, especially when people in this thread are only really talking about the mainstream stuff that defines current hip-hop. Hip-hop is a double edged sword in my opinion. It has brought about a lot of empowerment in black culture (male and female) there is a whole growth of poetry, art, film, and theater that never gets mentioned in such discussions. That is because these are obviously smaller segments of the larger commercial behemoth. I can't remember who but one of the big academic critics of hip-hop made the observation that if you look at your typical "party" hip hop video it would be perfectly in line with some kind of image the KKK would produce of blacks. Obviously, that is not reality, but it is a perception and in our culture national perception is more real than reality. The rampant materialism is certainly disturbing but is typical of any cultural movement that comes from a poorer segment of the population as hip-hop originally did and continues to do. Hair metal certainly didn't hold back a whole generation of white kids, despite promoting stupid values, but white kids also didn't have to combat a majority that has had generations of bias built in...so who knows long term.
Speaking of hip-hop, as a music major, musically, it has declined a little, but the biggest decline has been lyrically, and that is to say, at least in the main stream. But that is what sells right now. These guys are capitalizing off of what the industry is telling them to create. The industry is telling them to create what makes them the most money. The fact that it is garbage really doesn't matter, it'd the $$$ that is driving the music being produced. Being role models, political, or even musical is the last thing these "artists" think about when a company approaches them about a 50 million dollar deal. I don't blame them one bit for that. So what do we do about it casting negative shadows upon a race? You would think that most people would have sense enough to know that what is on the radio and on BET and MTV is not real life. But that would probably give people too much credit. I don't know, it's a complex issue. Recently up here in Dallas, there were rumblings about a city ordinance requiring people to wear their pants up around their waste. I mean, come on......
Oh, and the reason I call Whitlock a Tom is because he has the voice/opportunity to truly educate everyone about all of hip-hop, yet he focuses on the commercialized negative aspect as if the other aspects don’t exist. Many take his words and say “see, this black guy said this”. You can find his articles used as support in many threads here. I don’t expect avg white dude to know about Mos Def or Common, but I expect Whitlock to know about them.
ultimately up to the listener? you have kids in elementary school who listen to this, i'd say its hardly up to them. you could blame the parents, but chances are that urban parents work a lot and cannot always be with their kids. you can blame schools, but truth is schools strongly enforce rules against "hip hop" attire and music. then the blame goes straight to media, not just radio where the music is heard, but mtv where it is seen. you have cribs and videos where this is a glamorous lifestyle. but you can't keep this stuff of the air because of freedom of speech and the ratings it gets, so is it the goverments fault? you do have a point that at some point it does come down to the listener, i mean i listen to it, but it hasnt influenced my life. but when there are young listeners looking for role models, how can you blame them without blaming their enviroment altogether.
the total numbers don't matter. it's the percentage who buy the stuff. 90 percent of a minority is enough to cause serious social change. 10 percent of majority is not enough.
It’s always up to the parents. Working a lot isn’t an excuse for not instilling morals and values into your children. My parents worked a lot but they still taught me what’s right and what’s wrong. So do you have these same feelings for other types of negative entertainment (basically 75% of mainstream/popular TV/movies/music), or just rap?
I'm sure you'll pardon me for disagreeing, but "the lyrics that encouraged drug use and free love from the 60’s and 70’s" that you mention being "as bad or worse than Hip-Hop" (I think that's what you were saying... pardon me if it wasn't) encouraged women to come out from under the thumb of the sexist male domination, explore their boundaries, enlarge their world, empowered them... they didn't refer to them in language that would be demeaning to a prostitute, much less ordinary women and girls in this world. It was about sexual liberation for women and men. The drugs? For many, it was part of the lifestyle they were exploring. I don't care about that aspect of the Hip-Hop culture, the drugs, because that is an individual choice to make, but I do care about the treatment of women as sex objects and tools for the pleasure of men, which is being very reserved in describing many of the lyrics I've heard over the years attributed to Hip-Hop. It disgusts me. It should disgust all women. They are the equal in every way to men, except for what's between their legs and the fact that they can have children, if they desire. Hip-Hop glorifies male dominance over women. In that respect, and saying it in general terms (I know it doesn't describe all of it), Hip-Hop sucks. Impeach Bush.
but those images of women are portryed by playboy and hollywood, do you supprt either or get upset because of that, there are threads on this website the exploit the sexuality of women almost everyday, "post your favorite weather girl for example" that's treating women like a sex object, the part of hip hop you have been exposed to is very limited just admit that, and if you don't like it don't watch it or listen to it
