Hip-Hop/Rap Music?

I'm really enjoying Run the Jewels 3 at the moment.
The bass is just ridiculous, bigger than anything else I currently play. It feels like total immersion in a bass bath. How can something this huge possibly fit in my room?

Also from a different angle, Shedding Skin by Ghost Poet. Delicate, breathy and supremely musical with lyrics dripping in pathos. More in common with alt-j and James Blake than with the usual suspects.
And the perennial trip hoppers, Massive Attack's Heligoland is firmly under my skin. Huge but ethereal

About as close to Rap as I get is US3

I often find virtues in musical taste to be intertwined with culture and environment. My father was the audiophile and listened to jazz, classical, etc and my stepfather listened to classic rock, rap/hip hop/ and blues.

I have developed an appreciation for many kinds of musical genres. Rap has a strong connection to growing up in a life as an underdog and not getting your fair shake within society. So the lyrics are hard hitting, vulger most times and with a strong emotional response to being black and aspirations to get out of the hood. When the music drops it either hits you or it doesn't. You feel this kind of music in a way that is not the same as other music. So when I hear mariachi and salsa I feel the need to dance, or if I listen to metal I feel the need to headbang. When I listen to rap I feel the need to express.

Unfortunately like all the other genres of music you have a lot of bad artists who still get album deals with lousy music. It is much more apparent rap at least to me it is.

Yes. And No.

It's more true to say that I like a lot of rap/hip-hop albums, but as a genre, not so much. But that's true for most music I like. And although it's only a part of my musical diet, and much of its content is problematic (and impossible to adequately cover here), some are of my faves are:

Public Enemy It Take a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
Man, what to say about this? Chuck D's huge baritone, massive hard-hitting production, and poetic rebuttal to white political culture makes this one of, if not the essential rap album of the twentieth century.

Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP
Yes, it's filled with questionable if not outright misogynistic/homophobic subversive humour that makes repeated listening almost impossible for me, but nevertheless, it's complexity of emotions and musical influences portray a tortured white-male psyche that's both self-aware and yet full of self-loathing, in which even Dido is made to sound interesting and culturally resonant.

Madvillian Madvillainy
Experimental, spontaneous, rhythmically obtuse and train-of-thought non-literal, it's one of the few hip-hop albums that defies easy classification in it's cartoonish reimagining of Sly and the Family Stone and Bitches-era Miles, meaning it's never less than intriguing, and surprisingly, occasionally packs an emotional punch.

Jurassic 5 Quality Control
Wiser, self-reflective, and more fun, Jurassic 5 sounds old-school because it is old-school, sidestepping much of what caused the hip-hop's notoriety (and problematic sexual politics and racial rage) and completely unapologetic about it.

DJ Shadow Endtroducing
The first, and greatest all-sampled album is still one of the defining moments of hip-hop realising it didn't need lyrical MCs to be busting rhymes in order to say something profound, and for anyone who's truly interesting in finding out why sampling other people's music can be musical in-and-of-itself, Josh Davis' blended turntablism and MPC electiveness remains the go-to, twenty-one years on.

Blackalicious Nia
Old-school meets new-school, with one of the craziest and playful MC/Producer duos, Blackalicious mixed Sesame Street rhymes with Afro-Beat funk stylings that made everything sound strangely familiar and yet subtly innovative, with seventy-four minutes of language and not a single instance of cussing.

Quannum Spectrum
Instrumental hip-hop found its zenith just as the millennium ended, and with a newer generation of MCs willing to go back to improvisation, Spectrum mixed both to a heightened frenzy that stands as one of the few bright spots before the commodification of rap and hip-hop culture rendered it radio-friendly, consumable and derivative.

D'Angelo and the Vanguard Black Messiah
This album is just incredible. I don't have words.

And yes, like Infinitely Baffled, huge Massive Attack fan, and one of the best live shows I've ever been to.

Best,

853guy

Nope, Rap/Hip Hop is not on my radar. The genre doesn't interest me and sits right there with Jazz as musical style that seldom get played or listened to.

I have the Beastie Boys anthology and that's about it. I have not listened to it in years. There are some stand out artists from years past but they are few and I do not show interest in picking up cd's or lp's.

As I have posted in other threads I tend to enjoy the music of this genre but like opera they have to open their goddam mouth and talk or sing. Downhill for me thereafter!

Yes but typically the lighter fare. I don't enjoy those with violent and overly sexual thematics.

For me this is not music, it's a lifestyle. And the types that are violent in their lyrics and gestures and inciting people to follow those trends, I am all against.
If it's cool like Bob Marley, Reggae music approach, I like it.

But the type of Snoopy Dog, Yo yo man, and with fingers and hands down their crotches, and violent looks in their eyes, guns, sex, drugs, and bouncing like crazy is not for me.
They act like snobs who don't know better than others by showing off their superior moves above the peaceful norm. They are better and tougher than the rest; they've seen more than others, they rap it off, showmen of the higher learning curve. To me it's a big pile of caca. I'm talking bad rap here, not the good stuff that promotes happiness, joy, peace, love one another, respect of the smooth.

I despise violence in music, bad lyrics, sex addicts, rapists (rap), loose cannons, drug addicts, low lifers.

I won't post any youtube videos because they make me sick!


So no, I don't want to be near that type of rap (crap/extremely violent/disturbing) music.
Keep me far far far away, I want Mozart, Bach, Chopin, Beethoven...cello, piano, violin, clarinet, trumpet, flute, ...

Period!

Bruce B said:

About as close to Rap as I get is US3

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This, is good, no problemo, I like it, very.

It's very simple; there is good music and there is hell.

NorthStar said:

For me this is not music, it's a lifestyle. And the types that are violent in their lyrics and gestures and inciting people to follow those trends, I am all against.
If it's cool like Bob Marley, Reggae music approach, I like it.

But the type of Snoopy Dog, Yo yo man, and with fingers and hands down their crotches, and violent looks in their eyes, guns, sex, drugs, and bouncing like crazy is not for me.
They act like snobs who don't know better than others by showing off their superior moves above the peaceful norm. They are better and tougher than the rest; they've seen more than others, they rap it off, showmen of the higher learning curve. To me it's a big pile of caca. I'm talking bad rap here, not the good stuff that promotes happiness, joy, peace, love one another, respect of the smooth.

I despise violence in music, bad lyrics, sex addicts, rapists (rap), loose cannons, drug addicts, low lifers.

I won't post any youtube videos because they make me sick!

So no, I don't want to be near that type of rap (crap/extremely violent/disturbing) music.
Keep me far far far away, I want Mozart, Bach, Chopin, Beethoven...cello, piano, violin, clarinet, trumpet, flute, ...

Period!

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it might be unwise to broaden this into a discussion about 'lifestyle'

plus Bob Marley was a warrior who advocated fighting injustice and oppression.
Check the lyrics in War or Get up Stand up. Rasta is imbued with the language of struggle and identity, and so is hip hop. There has been some terrible reggae artists but they don't get invoked to represent the genre, in the way that the worst exponents of hip hop usually do

Bruce B said:

About as close to Rap as I get is US3

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This would be good if there were NO VOCALS to ruin what would otherwise be good jazz.

Those crappy vocals do nothing to enhance the music. They only detract from it.

Classical (Bach to Wagner), Jazz, Blues, Rock, Grateful Dead, Country, House, and yes Hip Hop, Rap. Having spent time with DJs, artists, classically trained musicians who 'drop beats', come up with lyrics, jam with drum kits and electronic drum sets, i have enjoyed every session. Watching musicians actually do it...trade different styles of rap, the good ones rap with the beat, rap against the beat, syncopate their rap relative to the beat, and even slide their rap 'just off' the beat and still keep the rhythm...i have to say, i really enjoy it.

I have enjoyed talking to an insurance salesman who trained in performing arts school with Norah Jones and used to jam with her when they were in high school...and we spent most of the time talking about Snoop Dogg, and our respect for his rap style which makes it seem effortless and broke new ground from the old Run-DMC staccato style to the smooth lyrical (along with Tupac and (for me) to a lesser degree, Biggie).

Endorse negative connections that come with (all kinds of) music?...nope. But as they say, the music is dope. JackD201 - where are you?

Dr. Dre - 2001
Snoop Dogg, Doggy Style
Missy Elliott, Respect M.E.
Lil Kim, the Notorious Kim
Public Enemy, it takes a nation of millions
Mos Def, Black on both Sides
Black Star, Black Star
Tribe Called Quest, Low End Theory
Boogie Down Productions (KRS-One), Blueprint of Hip Hop

JackD201 said:

I don't enjoy those with violent and overly sexual thematics.

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NorthStar said:

I despise violence in music, bad lyrics, sex addicts, rapists (rap), loose cannons, drug addicts, low lifers.

(…)

So no, I don't want to be near that type of rap (crap/extremely violent/disturbing) music.

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GaryProtein said:

I do agree with NorthStar that it is a sort of lifestyle for the lowest common denominators of society.

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Rhetorical question: Is it the depiction of sexual content, violence and/or consumption of drugs that causes us to reject hip-hop and “despise” it, or is it that we prefer our depictions of sexual content, violence and/or consumption of drugs to be more aligned to our own cultural sensibilities in the form of Hollywood films, television shows like Narcos and Game of Thrones, graphic novels and comics, video games and rock, blues and pop music?

Perhaps it’s less that we find hip-hop offensive for the reasons we say we do, and simply for the fact it’s a form of socially-defined cultural reality that a culture other than the one we primarily identify with chooses to express itself through in musical form.

Be well, gents,

853guy

853guy said:

Rhetorical question: Is it the depiction of sexual content, violence and/or consumption of drugs that causes us to reject hip-hop and “despise” it, or is it that we prefer our depictions of sexual content, violence and/or consumption of drugs to be more aligned to our own cultural sensibilities in the form of Hollywood films, television shows like Narcos and Game of Thrones, graphic novels and comics, video games and rock, blues and pop music?

Perhaps it’s less that we find hip-hop offensive for the reasons we say we do, and simply for the fact it’s a form of socially-defined cultural reality that a culture other than the one we primarily identify with chooses to express itself through in musical form.

Be well, gents,

853guy

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Well said.
Unfortunately a thread like this is always going to expose some troubling attitudes and differences between the generations

853guy said:

Rhetorical question: Is it the depiction of sexual content, violence and/or consumption of drugs that causes us to reject hip-hop and “despise” it, or is it that we prefer our depictions of sexual content, violence and/or consumption of drugs to be more aligned to our own cultural sensibilities in the form of Hollywood films, television shows like Narcos and Game of Thrones, graphic novels and comics, video games and rock, blues and pop music?

Perhaps it’s less that we find hip-hop offensive for the reasons we say we do, and simply for the fact it’s a form of socially-defined cultural reality that a culture other than the one we primarily identify with chooses to express itself through in musical form.

Be well, gents,

853guy

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infinitely baffled said:

Well said.
Unfortunately a thread like this is always going to expose some troubling attitudes and differences between the generations

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When I first read the first post of this thread, it said:

"Do you listen to hip-hop/rap music?
If yes, what do you like about it?
If no, why do you not listen to it?"

It is a vast subject because it encompasses many variations of rap and hip-hop music, from good to bad, from cool and smooth to heavy dementia.
I started from the later category, for my first post, without going too deep into the type of crap I was referring to because it is just too heavy to show here to our children's children. So I only posted one that is ... 'average' from the darker side.

I might have another dozen posts towards the bad/darker side of rap music (under control because some of it is simply too violent to listen to and to watch on youtube), and another dozen coming up toward the brighter side of hip-hop, better rap from better people who have a better way to express their message with more impact that works. Because violence doesn't resolve violence, intelligent actions do. Music with violent lyrics won't do any good, but smart lyrics exposing the injustice is the better way to get the message across.

If this thread really take off, like hundred pages, and members want to participate actively and by welcoming new members, rapper musician artists/singers/writers, hip-hop dancers, from all venues, you will see the two faces of rap. The one face that's coming from the drug dealers and killers from the toughest neighborhoods of our woods; that one is a lost case. The only way to save that crap is to bring jobs in those hoods, and not crappy jobs like from McDonalds burgers, but good paying jobs like building electric cars, solar panels, ocean floor wave turbines, reforestation of our cutdown and burned forests, water reservoirs for our gardens and health, stuff like that. Then that kind of rap crap will die. The few drug dealers (rap writers) remaining will clear out when they find themselves all alone and not making business anymore because there are no more poor people to exploit and drug to death.

When I first read the first post of this thread, I thought that if if really take off we'll be able to explore a vast world of oppression, destruction, revolution, and with some peace messages too (good vibrations). Google rap music, check wiki, expand the knowledge, describe what's good and what's bad, go slow, not all @ once, but one @ a time.

We're humans, we are weak, deficients, and not all of us. Jack, Gary and I we don't like violent rap music with dirty lyrics and gestures, killer lyrics from sadists and sex sellers. It is one type of rap, there are others, but this type gives a bad rap to good rap music.

Ron asked us if we listen to rap and hip-hop.
And if yes or no, why?

We're going very smooth right now, and we'll keep this way. Just for fun, if you can handle it for more than two minutes, watch that earlier video I posted, or any other even much more worst. I couldn't myself; I gave up after only eight seconds, right after the first shooting, or was it the second one?

Then Bruce posted that trumpetist video. The music was more my bag; I didn't pay particular attention to the lyrics, but I will now. Gary mentioned it.

It's a good thing discussing new stuff, music stuff, audio stuff, space stuff, it expands our horizontal and vertical knowledge.
Rap/hip-hop goes perpendicular.
_____

We had a similar thread in the past, and I mentioned some of the rap genre music I listened a little about forty years ago. I got roughly couple dozen CDs; they never get played again, and the new stuff of today doesn't attract me. There is not enough time when the classical music is playing in the air.

infinitely baffled said:

Well said.
Unfortunately a thread like this is always going to expose some troubling attitudes and differences between the generations

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+1

I was going to say exactly this only much less well written and intelligible