Monday, June 15, 2009

Rappers (The Music Genre and Industry In General)

It's not that I hate rap like Bill O' Reilly does, but I just have a serious beef with today's rap, such as it is. For one thing, I'm biased against almost any rapper that:
  • Doesn't give back to the communities that put them on
  • Have at least 3 songs on the radio in heavy rotation daily
  • Show up late for concerts and give half assed performances
  • That comes from the South (UGK and Outkast among notable exceptions)
  • Calls me out as a hater because I don't celebrate the obscenely large contracts they don't deserve
  • Don't rap about anything with a cogent message, like "don't do drugs" or "you can be whatever you want to be in life" or something like that
Exhibit A:



A message that rappers these days let arcade games like Final Fight beat them to

I'll address each of these points in turn. Dudes forget where they came from and ignore folks who helped them in their times of need, and hate being reminded that they weren't always on top. They demand you buy their albums so they can tell you that you suck because you're not a millionaire like they are and hate on them because they're better than regular people. If I wanted to be belittled, I'd get a drill sargeant to shout at me while I work out!

They let people know they couldn't be any less interested in remembering who got them where they are. get pissed and act diva-like when a fan asks for even a fraction of their time for an autograph or pose for a pic that the person will remember forever. They show up mad late and severely underperform at their overpriced concerts. Never mind that they have up to 3 songs in heavy rotation on the radio every day after getting it in on the mic; the rapper(s) then get a swelled head and can't seem to handle it. Remember what the Good Book says about pride?

According to most every rap artists these days, they stay getting hated on. The thing that they don't seem to get is that when you flash money and (rented) jewelery in every video you've done or been in, and you're not sharing some of it, people are gonna ignore you! in the words of another "old school" song, "if you ain't sharin', people ain't carin'"

Hip Hop is currently owned by the South, for whatever reason. It would seem that after B.I.G. and 'Pac died, there's been a regional power vacuum left and the south, starting in 1999 took over and this massive influx of hip-POP took over and rap as an art form has been in the shitter since. It's no longer about GOOD music that adds to the reasons people should love and embrace hip hop; it's about making music based mostly on the big assed females in the clubs that include made up words, half-assed lyrics, a catchy hook, and a beat females (typically ghetto-bred, in the age range of 16-29) can dance to. How very sad...

Exhibit B:



The formula for success in "Hip Hop" these days...

The state of Hip Hop is bad right now to say the very least. The other day, I was watching "106 & Park" and when they had their "old school joint of the day", it was the song "Bad Boy For Life"; the album the song's featured on came out in 2001! How's that "old school"?!

I know the "old" heads remember back in the day when there wasn't a single rapper that sucked and whose music didn't have a positive message other than "it's good to be rich?" Not even close to that right now. Nas was right; Hip hop is dead! But to let Souljah Boy tell it, Nas himself was the one who killed it and not him! I weep for the future of this art form if the East and West Coasts, combined with revolutionary artists can't bring it back from the dead...

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1 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Hey, I followed a link from an old friends sight. I totally get what you are saying.

Hip Hop sucked in two very wonderful genres. Rap and R&B. Every once in a blue moon you get a decent song that combines the two. Or a song that leans more one way than the other with a good body to it.

Rap used to represent something real. Something people could touch on and identify with. Now it's all about bling. There is no message.

R&B used to be about love, soul, and heartache. Now it's mostly blah. It lacks a depth and talent. The closest you'll find will be in the pop section of itunes (and even there it's more like bubblegum than soul food).

Don't get me wrong. There are definitely exceptions. I love a good beat you can rock out to or strong vocals that make you stop and pay attention.

July 25, 2009 at 1:48 AM  

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