RAP INGENERAL

[Guest lambertj3]

Now i know i am gonna get a lotta hate from people who swear they know better, but i think rap is better than ever now because it's so diverse you have will smith for the old school fans, eminem for the suburban angry white kids ,50 cent for the thugs, and common ,along with kanye west for the socially conscious. I like evrybody no matter who they are,and i just think rap is so diverse right now,like i said i probably say that because i like everybody from will to 50 cent,just want to know your opinion on the music as of right now. P.S THIS IS JUST PEOPLES OPINION PLEASE LETS ALL BE RESPECTFUL OF EACH OTHER NOW.

[JumpinJack AJ]

Rap in general sucks. It has been going thru' a downward spiral since the mid-90's. Only ignorant people are getting record deals. These cats don't know how 2 rock a show, they can't write decent lyrics, they don't care about their fans or the kids that hear their music. Nearly no artists who get commercial success are actually REAL artists anymore.

Back in the day, parents and adults hated Hip-Hop cuz they thought it waz explict, awful music, but they were so wrong. Now Rap music gets it pretty easy...but now the music is awful.

Real artists find it hard 2 get decent record deals much less proper promotion. Labels only wanna sign ignorant young cats who talk about money, sex, drugs, and violence. When music had a heart, emcees would bring up drugs and violence 2 say "hey, this is how life is 4 some people...FIX IT"...these days they just talk about it. Most of the guys who talk about this stuff these days don't live that lifestyle and never seen a gun until they put it in the music video.

Time's aren't gonna change until we have another big tragedy like another murder. I don't see how the young kids who are buying these records will ever know about better music since it isn't getting played.

[Jazzy Julie]

i dont really like rap these days, there are a few rappers that i like, such as kayne BEP and dilated people (not actually sure how long they have been out).

Rap is more popular these days than ever especially over here in Britain which is good that it has become more popular, when ppl said it was a faze, but i just dont like the way it has become popular. if that all makes sence, i think rap is at its worst right now and im hoping some new guys come out and change it.

but i c where u r coming from lambertj3 with the diversity thing, there just isnt enough old school right now.

[bigted]

The thing is hip-hop is everywhere these days so there's no pressure on a lot of these new rappers getting record deals to raise the bar creatively 'cause their record sales have always been high unlike when it was the mid-'80s and early-'90s where it was harder for hip-hop to be accepted in mainstream! Think about this way "He's the DJ, I'm The Rapper" was a classic hip-hop CD, but it only sold 2 million copies and Eminem sold more than 7 million copies apiece doing "The Marshall Mathers LP" and "The Eminem Show" but the albums weren't as hot from beginning to end as "He's the DJ,I'm The Rapper". If Eminem was releasing those albums 10-15 years ago he wouldn't be selling as much 'cause back then, nobody did! Dr.Dre's "The Chronic" set the standard for hip-hop in the '90s but only sold 3 million copies, but each of his protege(Eminem) albums sold more than that and that's a disgrace when Eminem's an average rapper at best. Ludicris, Jay-Z, and Eminem have been doing the same thing for the last 6 years but they always go multiplatinum. I liked them when they 1st came out but they got boring. I admire artists like Will Smith, The Roots, Nas, and Common 'cause at least they attempted to do something DIFFERENT with all of their albums! As long as hip-hop remains mainstream there won't be motivation for originality unless you check for the underground scene.

[Jonny 5]

If we're talkin about gettin more old skool on the scene then it probably ain't gonna happen until people stop buying the commercial stuff that's out now. It's gotta have something to do with the fans that like these artists, they couldn't survive without fans.
I think some people that want more old skool must be buying the new stuff beacause it's all that's coming out, and that is actually helping more new stuff to come out.

[Silver Tiger]

I miss the days when you needed talent to be a star. Now all you need is money and know somebody who knows somebody.

God Blessa!

[JumpinJack AJ]

I hear u on that!!

I don't think anybody here wants true old skool music 2 make a comeback...cuz it's time and place is in the old skool. I think what many of us are craving is the way it waz during the late old skool era and the golden ages of Hip-Hop. Back when people where themselves on records, when they had their own style, when there were all kinds of different sounds and subject matter.

That's all gone....95% of the successful people are just rappers, not emcees. They don't have real background in their music, they don't know how 2 perform....they just walk across a stage, rapping in2 a mic over an instrumental while they posse adlibs 2 no end and grabs their crotch. It's a shame cuz young kids and people new 2 Hip-Hop don't know what good music is. What would happen is an emcee came out NOT talking about sex, money, and drugs...what if they didn't wear baggy cloths with name brand labels all over them...God 4bid anybody do anything original.

[Hero1]

i dont think the commercial rap artists are very diverse at all..most of the talent lies in the underground...

dilated peoples/jurassic 5/blackalicious etc came from the underground...

[WildWildWillennium]

So much truth in one thread.

Another sad thing is that nowadays all u need is "the look" 2 make it big. The skill doesn't even have 2 be there...u just have 2 be whatever the record company wants at that certain time. Unfortunately, most of the time what they want is crap. Makes no sense. :dunno:

[TopDawg14]

I'll sum up today's rap in this one example. When 50 Cent came out he was dissin' Ja Rule for having his shirt off, making pop tracks and singing on hooks. Well what is 50 Cent doing now? He's taking his shirt off in videos, making pop tracks and singing on hooks.

Rap has been brutal for the last 8+ years. I believe hip-hop died when Dr. Dre released The Chronic. While it was a great hip-hop album, it served as the basis for what every rapper had to do(thugged-out, gansta videos, etc.). Record companies started realizing that this was the style to make money so everybody started copying it. When Biggie & Puffy started name-dropping(Versace, Cristal, etc.) everybody followed suit. Whatever the trend is in rap today then that's what the vast majority of rappers will do.

Rap will only change when people get tired of it. The problem is that we've got a generation of young people who don't know what good music is and are easily influenced by marketing tricks.

Here's an example of kids not knowing hip-hop history:
After BET premiered Jay-Z's video "99 Problems" on 106 & Park they went to the audience to get a reaction. One guy said that he liked the girls in the video and wanted to see "the girls shaking". He thought the video wasn't that good and wanted Jay-Z to have more girls in the video. He also didn't know who the bearded guy was in the video. It was Rick Rubin. RICK RUBIN!!!! How can you claim to love rap & hip-hop and not know who Rick Rubin is(and for those of you who don't know, Rick Rubin is the co-founder of Def Jam Records and is responsible for starting the careers of Run-DMC, LL Cool J and The Beastie Boys to name a few)?

Hip-hop has lost its soul. Rappers, producers, DJs, and fans alike have sold hip-hop's soul for money, mainstream success and bling bling.

[bigted]

The sad thing is for the young teens now that are in high school who only seen the commercial side of hip-hop(sex,drugs,cash,clothes,Cristal), how will they be original if they see nothin' original out there?!! :dunno: They'll talk about the same things when they make their demo tapes 'cause they'll think "Oh THIS is the way I'll get famous"! :cussing: To be honest though I did the same thing when I first started rapping at 15, but by the time I was 17 I hated that style and started to listen to more of old school hip-hop and decided to be myself more 'cause it felt worthless imitating others, I remember more kids in my high school liked my rapping when I tried to act commercial, but I don't care who likes me 'cause I feel better when I'm myself! :peace:

[JumpinJack AJ]

I agree with the 2 of u. When i started writing rhymes (around 11), my stuff waz very JJ+FP / M.C. Hammer....so i waz obviously influenced by my fav artists at the time. The difference, my favorite people were creative, they had heart...these new guys suck and kids are growing up thinking this stuff is good and that it's the standard.

And what TopDawg said about The Chonic...that's looks like the case 2 me. When that album came out, everybody copied it's style...not even the Hip-Hop style...they copied what made 'gangsta rap' dominate commerical Hip-Hop/Rap. There waz lots of good Hip-Hop and Rap that came out after The Chronic, it's just that alot of wack fake gangsta rap started coming out...HOW MANY OF THOSE ARTISTS ACTUALLY LASTED?!?).

The sad thing is that most of the stuff that i and some of us are dissing about commercial rap stems from the old skool. FP, LL, Run-DMC, Heavy + The Boyz all would occasioually mention name brands in their music...but when they did it, it waz like "this is my style"...these days, it's over-done and it's cuz they are saying "i have lots of money and can by these cloths that everybody else is wearing. L.L. Cool J caught lots of heat when he did that Walking With The Panther (1989) album cover with the jewelry, girls, money, and alchol. However, that's exactly what people are doing these days and getting praised 4 it. Back then, L.L. waz flossin'...these days it's just ignorant fools with ego problems who need 2 make themselves feel better.

[Guest lambertj3]

I actually agree on some of the points you guys made , but the one where 50 cent is singing hooks no offense is garbage, he is actually rapping on those tracks it is ja rule who is actually SINGING with the r&b divas not 50. But you know there are a lot of rappers out now who sound alike example shyne trying to be biggie. You know the one thing about rap that burns me up is,don't think im racial but what is up with all these walt disney blond haired white kids, like aaron carter, stevie brock etc thinking they are rappers? has rap really sunk that low?

[JumpinJack AJ]

[quote=lambertj3,May 13 2004, 07:50 AM]don't think im racial but what is up with all these walt disney blond haired white kids, like aaron carter, stevie brock etc thinking they are rappers? has rap really sunk that low?[/quote]
I don't think anybody (including those people themselves) then they are really rappers. Back in the early 90's and even mid-90's...alot of R-N-B artists would even rap on their own trax (Bobby Brown, Tevin Campbell, Batman of Immature, Mary J. Blige, Monica, etc).

I personally don't mind if a rapper sings on a track. Queen Latifah had done it her own carreer. Will's "Willow Is A Playa" is really funny. Biz Markie sings in his own weird way...ha ha. However, Ja-Rule definitly needs 2 stop singing on the trax...dose he not know that he can barely rap?!? He should ever think about singing again.

[Daedalus Mortality]

I personaly think its like this:

You have Will smith for suburban white kids
You have Eminem for suburban white kids
You have 50 cent for suburban white kids

that really the biggest pat of any rap artists buyers :P

An to whoever said Eminem is an avarage rapper should listen to the Slim Shady LP again.

[quote]Hero1 Posted on May 11 2004, 12:27 AM
  i dont think the commercial rap artists are very diverse at all..most of the talent lies in the underground...

dilated peoples/jurassic 5/blackalicious etc came from the underground... [/quote]
EMinem came from the undground also, so did 50cent Edited May 13, 2004 by Daedalus Mortality