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J. Jacques Doesn't Care About Black People: A Hip-Hop Thread
Johnny C:
Buck 65, contrary to certain expressed beliefs, still makes hip hop music. He just incorporates blues elements and elements of his home - the Canadian maritimes - into his music. He also made the song "Devil's Eyes." But that is not representative of his newer work.
So, with that in mind, it's all about Buck 65, Black Star, Blackalicious, Mos Def, anything that Quasimoto and MF Doom are involved with (especially Madvillain!), Common, Kanye, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, De La Soul, Ludacris, Talib Kweli, Nas, and pretty much anything that's recent by Snoop Dogg ("Signs?" "Drop It Like It's Hot?" Hell yes), and the occasional piece of crunk. Oh, and "The Whisper Song" which is creepy and wrong but yet very fun to listen to. If you can't hate children, how can you hate grown men with child minds?
And guys - everybody - if you don't like the gangsta elements, fine, but don't hold it against the artists. Considering rap's origins, history, and connections to modern urban culture, the content of a lot of rap now is the social commentary - like, the medium is the message. Basically, it's not up to the rappers to start rapping about their Adidas shoes again, it's up to us to be culturally literate and filter out why they're rapping about sex and violence. And for that matter, it's up to us to ask that exact same thing about rock music and electronic music and a lot of music and do you see my point yet? Music doesn't exist in a vacuum. Simple as that.
Hat:
I've seen a few folks mention the Hilltop Hoods, and while they're not terrible, I'm just kind of surprised they were thought highly enough of to mention it here, because while I loved them when I was first getting into Hiphop a few years ago, the more I listen to them, and other hip-hop, the more I get tired of them. I mean, don't get me wrong, theres still a few songs on their albums I still put on regular rotation (What the Seasons Change, Distortion, Illusionary Lines and The Sentinal are all great songs), but they just lost a lot of their initial sparkle for me when I heard a lot of the other stuff out there.
Plus, they are Aussies, so considering how few hip-hop groups really make it on a large scale, I guess theres quite a bit of pride there as well, but generally, I prefer Koolism, or even The Herd, and Butterfingers for any sort of serious music sessions.
Then again, I do have pretty "terrible" taste in music in other genres, so shit, I am not judging anyone.
est:
I have no problems with them rapping about sex and violence, it's just the way that they do it. Most of the artists on my list (and probably on others, too) do address gangsta elements, but they try to do it in a way that doesn't seek to glorify and promote it. (the obvious exceptions in my list would be Ice Cube & NWA).
Most rap that I've heard talks about some kind of social problem. To use an example I wrote a while ago, if given the choice I'll take say:
Grandmaster Flash, The Message:
"Broken glass everywhere
People pissing on the stairs, you know they just don’t care
I can’t take the smell, I can’t take the noise
Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice
Rats in the front room, roaches in the back
Junkie’s in the alley with a baseball bat
I tried to get away, but I couldn’t get far
Cause the man with the tow-truck repossessed my car"
over Ludacris from Chingy's Holiday Inn:
"Stop, drop, KABOOM!, baby rub on ya nipples
Some call me Ludacris, some call me Mr. Wiggles
Far from little, make ya mammary glands giggle
Got 'em under control, the bowl of tender biddles"
or 50 Cent from "P.I.M.P" :
"I told you fools before, I stay with the tools
I keep a Benz, some rims, and some jewels
I holla at a hoe til I got a bitch confused
She got on Payless, me I got on gator shoes "
It's like, the people at the bottom aren't getting the airplay any more, it's more the cocks at the top who are making money just bragging about it & telling people that they can do it too if they just push drugs to their friends and neighbours & rent out their girlfriends as whores. That's not the kind of message that should be given airplay.
I understand though that it's as much a problem with society as it is with hip hop in itself. There's a market for this shit because everyone's become more self-centred and materialistic. But then that's a conversation for another time, on another board.
Johnny C:
--- Quote from: Johnny C ---everybody
--- End quote ---
Est, I appreciate your argument, and actually concur with the fact that commercialism is supressing high-quality hip-hop in favour of braggarts with poor self-awareness and total dickassery. (Also, shitty beats - have you ever LISTENED to a Scott Storch song?)
The problem I have is just with people complaining about the content of a lot of gangsta rap and rap in general. If you have that much of a problem with it, maybe get your hip-hop fix from DJ Shadow?
McTaggart:
Everything that Hat just said is pretty much true. I mainly included the 'Hoods because they were like a gateway drug for me.
Another thing that I should have made more clear; The Herd are fucking awesome. They were probably actually the initial kick in the ass that sent me tumbling down the hiphop hill. I've forgotten what the track was called but
'Like a three dollar fourty
bag of fresh hip hop
from your local fish and chips shop
aah, scallops
with dollops of flavour on top'
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