Is rap crap?

[Laughing Gull]

look, people, rap is not my favorite genre, but to dismiss it as "not music" is a close-minded simpleton point of view.

and yes it fits the dictionary definition:

mu·sic ( P ) Pronunciation Key (myzk)
n.
The art of arranging sounds in time so as to produce a continuous, unified, and evocative composition, as through melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre.
Vocal or instrumental sounds possessing a degree of melody, harmony, or rhythm.

 

[cgannon64]

Originally posted by thestonesfan

I was in high school when rap exploded. I thought it sucked then too. I think people like it because the bass lets them show off their car stereos.

At least you got the funny and marginally good stuff then. Like that one where its "A hip hop hippidy dip dop a hip hop dibbidy doo!" and "Fight the Power".

I laughed hysterically watching that Spike Lee movie with the huge black guy who has the giant stereo blasting that song, and laughed even more when I heard the whole thing.

"1989 the number! Another summer! Do it to the sound of the funky drummer! Saying what I know while the black man sweatin'!"

 

[anarchywrksbest]

Originally posted by Laughing Gull
look, people, rap is not my favorite genre, but to dismiss it as "not music" is a close-minded simpleton point of view.

and yes it fits the dictionary definition:

mu·sic ( P ) Pronunciation Key (myzk)
n.
The art of arranging sounds in time so as to produce a continuous, unified, and evocative composition, as through melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre.
Vocal or instrumental sounds possessing a degree of melody, harmony, or rhythm.

The only thing it evokes in me is nausea.

 

[Amenhotep7]

Rap is the worst form of music ever concocted out of a human's mind!

 

[thestonesfan]

Originally posted by Amenhotep7
Rap is the worst form of music ever concocted out of a human's mind!

Kenny G, Yanni, and John Tesh may beg to differ.

 

[Wolfe Tone]

I'd love just to make a one word post saying 'YES' but I know they are frowned apon so I won't.

 

[Gainy]

At least you got the funny and marginally good stuff then. Like that one where its "A hip hop hippidy dip dop a hip hop dibbidy doo!"

The Sugarhill Gang - Rapper's Delight

I like a few rap "songs", but the majority are pretty bad...

 

[MummyMan]

It can be pretty good, but i would never consider it good like i would a band i like, say, The Dandy Warhols (currently )

 

[Perfection]

Most rap is pretty bad, there's some good stuff, but it's often not worth wading through the sea of crud to find it.

 

[WillJ]

Some rap is very good (Chingy always has good beats, Eminem and Ludacris can be funny at times, etc.) but some (probably most) is certainly not, just like any genre. I used to dismiss rap as "crap without the 'c'" until I actually started listening to it.

 

[cgannon64]

Originally posted by MummyMan
It can be pretty good, but i would never consider it good like i would a band i like, say, The Dandy Warhols (currently )

Wow, we agree on more bands than I thought! I haven't listened to them lately but its mostly because I got into other bands...great band though.

 

[Archer 007]

Most rap is very poor. As with anything, something breaks threw every once in a while.

 

[Stile]

I don't like it, but sometimes, with a few beers in me, I am so inclined to get jiggy with it.

 

[aaminion00]

Rap can be easily split up into a few parts. The Commercial rap that's popular today is horrible. However I think underground and old school are pretty damn good here and there. Try out "Black Helicopters" - non phixion.

But yeah, I hate the 'rap' that's popular today; Nelly, 50 cent, Ludacris, etc. etc. (Eminem and OutKast are maybe the only two exceptions). As far as the beats go they're pretty catchy sometimes, but what pisses me off is that they always talk about the same thing. Girls, drugs, fama, the ghetto, or some unholy combination of all 3.

The reason it's become so popular isn't so hard to phantom. It reached it's golden age during a time when Rock became more serious and depressing (grunge-era). Whereas it used to be Sex Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll, it's now by far Sex Drugs and Rap. The decent music is always there, it's the Sex and Drugs that attract a mainstream in need of quenching it's middle class rebelliousness. It's no longer a fad either, rap has been the most popular music for about a decade now, and I think it will get another one or two before it starts to fall and get's replaced by either Rock or something completely different.

 

[CIVPhilzilla]

Rap = Most vile thing on the radio. I h8ed it the moment it came out and still to this very day. Drug dealers and bums should not get millions for going: *mummble* drugs *mumble* kill everthing *mummble*

 

[mayakovsky]

Ugh. Here we go again. I will agree that the rap most people are exposed to is indeed crap. It is not only crap but it will be the downfall of true rap music. There are plenty of rap artists out there who do not talk about money, clothes and hoes. You just have to search deep beneath the surface.

Here is a good Canibus quote:

'I’m convinced now that more than the truth is at stake,
Where people create language that pretends to communicate,
Euphemisms are misunderstood as mistakes,
But it’s a byproduct of the ghetto music we make,
From an extroverted point of view, I think it’s too late,
Hip-Hop has never been the same since eighty-eight,
Since it became a lucrative profession there’s a misconception,
That a movement in any direction is progression,
Even though the potency of it lessens,
Big money industries writing checks to suppress the question,
And nobody gives a f**k no more' --Canibus

 

[addiv]

Most rap I've heard is crap, but some of it is mediocre(!). Maybe there's some not-commerialized good rap out there, but I don't think I'm interested enough in the genre to really go and search for it.

 

[Matrix]

Rap is...not my style. But it's certainly a form of music and I can imagine why people like it.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

I agree most commercialized stuff is crap but there is a lot of good non-commercial hip-hop. The underground seen has a lot more to choose from than the mainstream. The problem is people who aren't into it usually can't understand it and there intrepretation is usaully way off. It takes a lot more skill to be a good lyricist in this genre than it does many others and you have to listen a bit closer to understand it. Unfortunately most people are incapable of interepreting music unless they can identify with the subject matter and the attitude of the artist.

 

[Vancouver 2010]

Rap = crap.