Rap or Crap?

[The Peon]

[-Demosthenes-]

Indie's where it's at.

[NeonBlack]

It really depends.

In my opinion, most of today's rap is garbage, but I really like older (before 1994-ish) rap.

[aj47]

I agree almost all of rap/hipohop on the radio is a load of crap but there is a lot of good stuff out there, you just have to find it.

 

I.e. Guru, Ty, Life, Roots Manuva, Quasimoto... just to name a few

[Royston]

I voted crap, but rap is just talking over music...it's not actually the music itself. I guess you were referring to recent popular US rap...which is throw away, formulaic...err crap. I listen to all styles of music, so I'm not in the habit of saying an entire genre is rubbish.

 

To pick an obvious popular few that aren't or were not crap...Pharcyde, Beastie Boys, De La Soul, Arrested Development et.c I personally don't listen to hip hop too much, and if any of this new bling bling stuff comes on TV or the radio, I would switch over...hence my crap vote.

 

EDIT: my examples are relative to the genre.

[YT2095]

I voted Crap also, it just strikes me as gratuitous nonsensical verbal diarrea.

[swansont]

It's personal taste, of course, but I voted crap. IMO it's like Dr. Seuss with a drum kit, except he never advocated killing cops, and it wasn't "Horton Hears a Ho' "

 

 

I will not EAT green eggs and HAM.

I will not EAT them, Sam I AM!

Word up. Peace.

[FreeThinker]

Some songs can be good. Has anyone heard of Canibus? Almost all his songs are inspired by science, even though it seems like he tries to use big words to impress his listeners. But he has done some good stuff as well like Poet Laurett II. All the RAP on TV is CRAP besides maybe the early Eminem. He was very different in his first two albums from the crap other rappers were talking about.

 

Overall, I vote crap, with a few exceptions.

[AzurePhoenix]

It just gives me headaches. A cat in a blender is more musical.

[GutZ]

I prefer rap over most music. There are a few good artists I guess in every genre. I find most music now a days to be crap, its not just rap.

 

Mos Def & Kweli, Common, Sadat X, Guru, I also like a few of Jedi Mind Tricks. I mostly listen to older stuff such as wu-tang (36 chamber to whatever their Double LP one was called) , Tu pac, Slick Rick, Big L, etc.

 

To each his or her own. The most annoying thing is when people listen to music because it intellectual or deep and look down at people who dont share their taste like "Oh you listen to rap? *smirk* *giggle". What happened to pure enjoyment? I like Rap because of the beat (mostly ripped from someone else but hey, and it has some lyrical flow (If you actually spend the time to find good artists). At the same time I enjoy classical, for other reasons, and so on.

[Aka]

I don't listen to much rap, thought I have to admit some songs are good. I listen to a wide variety of music J-rock, rock, Hindi songs,chutney (some what) anything that sounds good, but ,I'm ashamed to admit, I don't understand any of the languages ( except English ) completely, so I'll only have a vague idea of what's being said. I think if you listen to music that you don't understand you appreciate it more because you focus on the melody etc.

[Genecks]

Heavy metal, punk, and hip-hop for me.

[Illuminati]

Yea, crap, much more a fan of Black metal, techno, jazz, classical and opera.

 

In any case, I can see a clear reason that rap is bad, mainly from the people I go to school with who are deeply impacted by this music. Aside from the constant slur of speech and the fact that whever they have nothing better to say, they repeat some rap lyric they listen to. As you can imagine it gets quite annoying.

 

But besides the annoying aspect, the men are especially effected in that they have no regard for the female sex. To me, it seems to be a direct correlation between rap and disregard for females, putting them down constantly, making them out to be no more than sluts and whores. Absolutely dispicable. However I suppose this is a two way street in that the women put up no resistance, subjecting themselves to the title of sluts.

 

Oh well, I suppose I'm just so fed up with it, I just needed to vent.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

I don't like rap at all, but I can tolerate it. If it's playing somewhere, I just ignore it. I prefer classical however.

[In My Memory]

With only a few exceptions like the song "Changes" by Tupac, rap is completely unlistenable.

 

I remember listening to the radio and a song called "Air Force Ones" by Nelly played and I laughed so hard because the lyrics are hysterically awful, its a song about buying sneakers. It was such a bad song, but Nelly made millions with it.

 

The worst part about rap is that it has no timeless value. We'll still be talking about Elvis and everyone will still know the lyrics to American Pie 50 years from now, but names of rappers like Chingy and Snoop Dogg are going to be completely forgotten. Rappers dont write music for the sake of writing music anymore, they only write music because they have a built-in audience of millions who will buy whatever they create no matter how awful it is.

[Callipygous]

i think a lot of the posters in this thread need to take a step back and think about other points of view. most of the judgements im seeing here are based on your own preferences, but arent phrased as such.

 

what makes good music? does it have to have good lyrics? does it need to make you want to dance? does it have to touch you emotionally?

 

if theres one thing rap is good at, its making people want to dance, which is what i personally look for in most of my music. something that has such a good beat, and sounds so good, that you find yourself moving to the music without trying to.

 

i dont see how its all that much different from other forms of music.

 

1. anyone who thinks it doesnt take any talent needs to try to talk that fast, that clearly, in time to the music, and still have the words actually rhyme and form complete thoughts. (and yes, it does. just because you cant pick it out if hes talking too fast doesnt mean hes not actually saying anything).

 

2. its NOT all songs about bitches and hos. thats a stereotype, its not true of all rap. (and other genres swear and talk about prostitutes and drugs too, its just a little harder to pick out)

 

3. while the lyrics of many rap songs are not very solid, that's not specific to rap. there are plenty of songs in other genres that have nothing but 2 or 3 sentences repeated through the whole thing.

[YT2095]

most of the judgements im seeing here are based on your own preferences' date=' but arent phrased as such.

[/quote']

 

with the exception of One post (that doesn`t even Mention rap) All is presented as personal preference, read it all again Carefully.

[Callipygous]

id give quotes that i think contradict that, but that would just single people out, probably start arguments, and drag the thread off course, and its not really the purpose of the thread anyways.

 

if it helps, feel free to just ignore that first paragraph.

[gcol]

and its not really the purpose of the thread anyways.

 

 

Is it not? How can you be sure? "Rap or crap?" is neither a sentence nor a meaningful question. As written' date=' it is an invitation to express a preference for one of the other. I would prefer a good crap, personally, just an opinion of course.

 

Had the subject been [u']"Is rap crap"? [/u]Then we could have had an argument about its merits.

 

I reckon:

1. Rap is crap.

2. Rap is opium for the already brain-dead.

3. It is a great scam for making money from kewls.

4. On a scale of 1 to 10 of artistic merit, it scores an infinite negative.

 

If crap rap is the direction that civilisation is going, then armageddon can't come soon enough.

[FreeThinker]

2. Rap is opium for the already brain-dead.

 

Well some of the methaphors used in rap can be quiet complex and well thought out. It is not all about " Hoes , money and cars"

[ffsjoe]

I'd agree with crap because todays rap has no soul and is about the money. In 1996 rap died, prior to that it was good and I like music from that time. I only like the music from artists like Tupac Shakur and a couple others. "Changes" was the first song I listened to by Tupac and thats why I like his music.

 

I agree with Callipygous, not all songs put down women. "Keep Ya Head up" by Tupac is the opposite. Instead of posting the lyrics ill just post the url.

http://www.lyricsdepot.com/tupac-shakur/keep-ya-head-up.html

[gcol]

So on a scale of artistic merit from 1 to 10 you would give it.........?

[doG]

So on a scale of artistic merit from 1 to 10 you would give it.........?

a zero....

[ffsjoe]

Rap in general? Or are you talking about a specific artist or time period? Either way I do not know if I can judge it on artistic merit. Music is a matter of personal choice.

[AL]

I listen to hip-hop when I'm at the gym or doing a bike marathon/race. Not sure any other type of music works for working out, except maybe dance/house music, which I sometimes listen to at the gym.