Hip Hop artists know more words...

[Paul R]

Just to clarify:

 

(1) NWA's Straight out of Compton had considerable merit and was among the most important albums at the time.

 

(2) The new Dr. Dre's Compton is a travesty by comparison (IMO).

 

(3) Quite possibly the most intelligent and informed political analyses I have heard anywhere are in The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy's Hypocrisy is the Greatest Luxury and in the later Michael Franti's solo album Yell Fire (which in turn is a sound track to an excellent documentary movie I Know I'm Not Alone he and others produced when they visited Iraq and the Occupied Territories a few years after the 2003 invasion.)

 

But Bill, the stuff you posted, which is thought provoking at the least, is not what I hear when the radio channel hits a rap station around here, or even when a rap crossover hits the other channels.

 

What's coming over the airwaves today is mostly just nasty shock noise, designed to separate one from one's hard earned cash. Hate filled stuff to be honest, like that lady down here in Texas who is advocating that all white people should be killed, for whatever reason is in her beady little brain...

 

None of that is at all like the stuff De La Soul put out on _3 Feet High and Rising - try "Eye Know" from that one. Or much of the stuff Queen Latifa put out, not much of which was mean or hate inspired. She had a point, and put it out. Good stuff.

 

Perhaps some education on the genre is required. I am old enough that the F-Bomb still disturbs me. The songs I grew up on were far more randy and suggestive, but managed to avoid the hard language use. I am pretty sure it is just sued for shock value today.

 

-Paul

[ElviaCaprice]

Paul I was digging your great examples of good Rap. Didn't know I was a fan, can't wait to play some similar rap when requested. Agree about all the bad lyrics of hate and shock. It's like someone vomiting. Thank goodness most of the time I can't understand the lyrics anymore, but unfortunately I can feel the emotion and know when it's not good. If it's meant to be a repellent to keep the likes of moi away, then it works well.

[wgscott]

But Bill, the stuff you posted, which is thought provoking at the least, is not what I hear when the radio channel hits a rap station around here, or even when a rap crossover hits the other channels. ...

-Paul

 

I think Michael Franti (Disposable Heroes) and Consolidated (a bunch of white guys, FWIW) were an exception, and thus not at all representative of what is typical.

 

I wasn't suggesting all hip-hop is equally meritorious. Most (white) pop music is garbage. All I am saying is that you can't dismiss the whole genre or whatever it is called. Some of it is clever analysis. Some of it is cheap misogynistic and reverse-racist hate. Some of it is all of the above... and might still have creative merit.

 

 

 

...unfortunately I can feel the emotion ...

 

I think that is the point. I agree, it ain't easy listening. But it does capture the essence of the frustration, and is often a message we prefer not to hear. Good punk rock like the Dead Kennedys did likewise.

[livelistenlearn]

before we nukem new rap, dub step & EDM (and blow people off in the wind):

"...every generation throws a hero up the pop charts

medicine is magical, and magical is art...”

Paul Simon

truth = some pop songs doth speak. some even change the world (imagine that). others just want you to pull a muscle somewhere relevant.

entertainment = skrillex, harris or kanye, why not? like shotgunning a beer during/after a sweaty mental day and night.

agreed = we have come some ways from “love me do” (1962) to “dirty vibe” (2014). chalk and cheese. but both drove youths wild.

vidlink on post 19 = welcome to disturbia city limits. wow, thanks Paul R

 

So, Kanye West used more words in his songs than acclaimed lyricist Bob Dylan, researchers found? okay, maybe he has a bigger dictionary...