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[LiterSize]

Does anyone else feel that there's a signification saturation of hip-hop/Rap out there in mainstream music today?

[jeph]

Umm...yes?

Have you looked on MTV or listened to the radio lately?

Rap is bigger than rock and roll now, at least among people in the 15-24 age bracket.

[ForteBass]

lately? Try the past couple of years.

[hoopyfroodcat]

I've recently been getting into rap a bit - I tend not to listen to the radio/watch "music" television, so I was under the impression that rap was an art form on the level of scribbling with crayons.

NOT SO.  There is some real good stuff out there.  I've been enjoying stuff like Brand Nubian, Public Enemy and *sigh* Eminem.  I also really liked Wyclef Jean's soundtrack to the documentary The Agronomist.

[czar0406]

i remember ten years ago these guys were rapping about how hard it is/was living in the ghetto, bitches and ho's, blunts, forty's and drive by's.  for god sakes i felt intimidated as a child whenever a rap video would come on MTV.  "Oh My God he just rapped about shooting some guy in the face for trying to steal his shoes!  HIS SHOES!".  now all they rap about how much money they have and how much useless shit they have.

[Phrozen]

See living in SoCal I actually don't get as much as the rap. It's here but rock is a bit more popular. Or at least in my part of California I don't I think Orange County is a bit too obsessed with the faux indie-rocker look.

The Only rap I ever hear on the radio(when I listen to it) is Dynamite Hack's cover of Boyz in the Hood. I love that song for some reason.

[reff]

im not a fan of rap/hip-hop, but there is some good rap out there.. just not necessarily mainstream.

[Phrozen]

Oh, forgot to mention. I think that Andre3000 is genuinly talented.

[Hostile]

I owe rap music for a lot. It's kinda my musical roots... god knows how you get from rap to metal, but it happened.

Good rap:

Run DMC
Dr Dre
Snoop Dogg
XZibit
NWA
Tupac (BEST!)

As you may note, all of these are either dead or sold out. That's because RAP IS DEAD. Hip-hop lives, but the true art of rap is dead.

For modern rap... I guess you've got Nas. He's pretty good. Fuck Kanye West.

[c1utch]

I'm no fan of rap, actually I think its quite pointless

However, for me, there are some slight exceptions

I will listen to some Atmosphere (have some songs from epitaph's complations) And some of The Streets, (because, well damn the kids funny)

I have music by almost every rap artist around, but its to fill my friend's tastes when they borrow my iPod, not my own.

MTV rap, I just can't relate to, it doesn't even appeal to me.  Rap as a genre I don't mind so much, but besides a few exceptions, I'll stick to the older stuff, RunDMC, old beastie boys, (2 live crew is funny, but not necessarially good) Etc.

Not my normal music tastes.

[emudoug]

the lyrics of a song are always very important to me-- that's why i dislike a lot of rap. i can't stand songs about how awesome a person thinks they are. when they rap about things that matter, though, if they're talented, it can be pretty awesome.

[Suburban Post-Modernist]

The only rap I like is DJ Danger Mouse's Grey Album, which is a remix of The Beatles' White album and Jay-Z's Black album.   The Jay-Z/Linkin Park mashup is listenable too.

[Mercurial]

i can't stand songs about how awesome a person thinks they are

yeah, that stuff got old a long time ago, but there's plenty of good rap/hip-hop around if you want to look a bit, where the lyrics are terribly important - and at best are more akin to poetry.  I'm a little out of my expertise here, but I've never gone wrong with:

Saul Williams (in fact a published poet)
Sage Francis
MF Doom
Antipop Consortium
Aesop Rock
Buck65
Madlib

[geoff]

ahem.

gorillaz.
head automatica.


good stuff.

[Mercurial]

thanks Geoff - you just jogged my memory of a glaring omission:

Del the Funky Homosapien (Deltron 3030)

Admitedly, I've been endorsing a lot of things I don't actually own here... but I do have Deltron, and it rocks...

[3Z3VH]

the lyrics of a song are always very important to me-- that's why i dislike a lot of rap. i can't stand songs about how awesome a person thinks they are. when they rap about things that matter, though, if they're talented, it can be pretty awesome.

I agree 100%.  Self flagellation gets a singer nowhere in my book.

So I take it you liked Will Smith stuff ?

[ForteBass]

No mention of Black Eyed Peas? I'm shocked. I really dig them.
There's not a lot of rap I can get into, but every now and then something comes across my path that I think is pretty damn good. Black Eyed Peas definitely made that cut.

[emudoug]

So I take it you liked Will Smith stuff ? ;)

Will who? oh you mean THE FRESH PRINCE.

He was kinda cool when he was the fresh prince.

^.^

[TrueNeutral]

While I hate most rap, there's some good stuff among it at times.

Gorillaz, for example. I also liked Mos Def's collaboration with Massive Attack, 'I against I'. And Eminem. Yeah, me too. *sigh* Only because his songs crack me up.

Saul Williams (in fact a published poet)

I heard him a while ago. Good stuff. I hear he's making something with Zack de la Rocha and Serj Tankian.

[happybirthdaygelatin]

i like alot of rap.  same with hiphop.

blackalicious/quantum and anything associated with it is great.  dr. octogon is possibly some of my favorite stuff by kool keith, as deltron is some of my favorite stuff by del quite possibly because of the work of dan the automator (who also works(worked?) with del and others to create the gorillaz.

i've been impressed by what i've heard by sage francis, atomosphere.  aesob rock is pretty damn cool.  lifsavez (also on quantum i think) are great, though all i've heard is hellohihey.  mc chris and frontalot are awesome.

[MilkmanDan]

Hip-Hop is the win.
You want great lyrics? Hit up the Rhymesayers, Anticon and Def Jux labels. Atmosphere (hell, anything with Slug in especially Deep Puddle Dynamics and The Dynospectrum), Sage Francis, Brother Ali, Sole, Alias, Dose One, Mr Lif, Aesop Rock, all that stuff. Plus of course Saul Williams and Buck 65.
Awesome stuff, the lot of it.
And that's before you even look at the instrumental area.

In an incredible coincidence, I've just started seeding a Sage Francis album on the ol' Bittorrent. What are the chances? Ooh, small world, etc.

[ForteBass]

There's actually a pretty kickass group of Hip-Hop poets around here called ReadNex. I know two of the guys in that group too. Nice guys, even if I can't understandf a damn thing they say

[Jamoky]

Hip-Hop is the win.

Indeed it is.  However! "hip-hop" on MTV is the lose.

Does anyone else feel that there's a signification saturation of hip-hop/Rap out there in mainstream music today?

does anyone feel? this isn't an opinion, or an emotion, its a fact.
And it sucks.

[Malphas]

Well, is it just me or is the stuff that's the most popular at a time period also the least talented?  I stopped listening to popular music a long time ago.

[Hostile]

Well, is it just me or is the stuff that's the most popular at a time period also the least talented?  I stopped listening to popular music a long time ago.

Not necessarily. I hear tell that "The Beatles" were big once... while your rule does often ring true, there's plenty bands and artists that manage to make it big just on talent.

[czar0406]

head automatica.

good stuff.

your sort of right.  there not necessairily rap music even though when i saw them they had a rap group perform as an opening act and they had Dan "The Automator" on there album.  There more "Dance Rock" as described by themselves.  of you guys ever get a chance to see them live do so, its quite a treat.

[Thal]

There are very few good rap/hip-hop bands. I can only stand a few bands (and by a few I mean 5 as most) or a single/few songs with and artist.

The music itself aint that bad in most cases (I can accept that) but the lyrics just makes me hate it even more. *shakes his head*

[3point14]

The music itself aint that bad in most cases (I can accept that) but the lyrics just makes me hate it even more. *shakes his head*

the music is not bad?   know why?   the artist (by artist, I mean jackass) presenting it, probably "sampled" it from someone with talent.



if I hear one more freak, wearing more gold than Mr. T, saying "Uh Huh!" or "Yeah!" over top of a song I loved from a few years back, I'm going to drive to wherever the hell MTv is set up at this week, and shoot everyone on the scene.  To prevent such an action, and the resulting prison time, I will just not listen to the radio or TV.

[Thal]

Sad enough that is true in way too many cases. But there are cases where they dont borrow stuff but still make something that sounds ok.

This is of the little rap/hip-hop music I heard. That is the one that gets played on the radio (cant be avoided even if you liten to channels that have more good music then bad) and what my friends play.

[Spencer]

You'll never hear the best hip hop on radio/mtv, because the best hip hop is relevant and socially conscious, and the last thing radio/tv want is for people to *think*.

Myself, I find myself drawn to the white rappers, because generally they are talking about stuff I can at least somewhat relate to.

Slug from Atmospehere may very well be the best MC around today (yes, even better than Sage Francis, imo).

And if you like Eminem, but you just wish he would stop taking himself so seriously, try and find some Weerd Science. His album hasnt dropped yet, but I've managed to pick up his demo ep, and a pre-release of the album (both produced by Josh, the drummer from Coheed and Cambria), and the kid is definitely tight.

And then there's MC Chris. I mean, what can you even say about MC. The guy defines geekcore hiphop. He's gonna blow up in 05. Just watch.

[3Z3VH]

Heh, you just called him "tight"

[happybirthdaygelatin]

the music is not bad?   know why?   the artist (by artist, I mean jackass) presenting it, probably "sampled" it from someone with talent.

i am incredibly confused, are you completly against sampling or more against the sampling along the lines of puff daddy and his complete rip off the police every breath you take?

because sampling is a valid form of musical expression, mixing records and knowing how to time sampling is just as complex as playing a many insturments.  and if it isn't that and the fact it's ripping off the original take a good long hard look at rock and roll.  if i had the same view that others do of sampling and applied it to rock and roll it would just be a complete rip off as well.

[ForteBass]

Heh, you just called him "tight"

BOOOO! Get off the stage!

[punk]

O think that there is good rap out there, its just hard to find. I dont like rap if its on its own, but if you add it to a rock song, it kinda flows with it. Take the Gorrilaz for instince.

[Spinless]

This thread is three years old. And you didn't really add anything to it.
Don't bump a thread that is three years old unless it is REALLY worth it.

I'm pretty sure you could have made that exact same post in any other active thread right now and it wouldn't look offtopic.

[Holm]

god i hate it when indie rock hipsters have complete disregard for rap just because they don't like 50 cent

i listen to tons of hip hop, a lot of which has been mentioned in this thread

[Thrillho]

Paging Captain Obvious to the DUHHHHH. SPAZ. Ward.

There's actually more rock in the mainstream now than there was the last few years.

[Beautiful Maladies]

the beastie boys

thats i'll i'm going to say on the subject.

[casull]

MC HAWKING BITCHEZZZZZ

ALL MY SHOOTINS BE DRIVEBYS!

[Johnny C]

This thread makes me giggle! Good work, thread.

[Inlander]

I got so excited because I thought that Czar was back.

Then I noticed that the date of his post was December 20, 2004.

Czar, where have you goooooooone???

[McTaggart]

I swear even if you played the thread necromancer card people would still be posting as if the thread wasn't from the dawn of time.

[CamusCanDo]

I'm trying to decide if I should reply or not.

Really, a three year old thread?

But, saying that:

Wu Tang Clan ain't nuthin' ta fuck wit! Wu Tang Clan ain't nuthin' ta fuck wit!

Oh my, how I do love my Wu Tang.

[Inlander]

My computer is so boggled at this thread being revived that the image on the monitor is starting to twitch and flash.

I'm serious. This is the only thread it does it in.

[Gridgm]

Del the Funky Homosapien

i only know that artist exists because of tony hawk 3...i owe this game my reintroduction to music because at that stage i had given up on commercial radio and wasn't yet aware of our local independant stations and had pretty much decided that music was crap, anyway this game pretty much lead me to go out and find out about music again and not be influenced by tohers like i used to be

in game sound track was as follows

The Adolescents - "Amoeba"
AFI - "The Boy Who Destroyed the World"
Alien Ant Farm - "Wish"
Bodyjar - "Not the Same"
CKY - "96 Quite Bitter Beings"
Del tha Funkee Homosapien - "If You Must"
Guttermouth - "I'm Destroying the World"
House of Pain - "I'm a Swing-It"
KRS-One - "Hush"
The Mad Capsule Markets - "Pulse"
 Mot?rhead - "Ace of Spades"
The Nextmen - "Amongst Madness"
Ozomatli - "Cut Chemist Suite"
Ramones - "Blitzkrieg Bop"
Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Fight Like a Brave"
Redman - "Let's Get Dirty"
The Reverend Horton Heat - "I Can't Surf"
Rollins Band - "What's the Matter Man"
Xzibit - "Paparazzi"
Zebrahead - "Check"

anywayz i made a play list the other day of hip hop i would put on an A class list...it clocked in at about 40 minutes which should tell you something about my opinion of the genre but i'll give the list to you anyway the unleash the nugget tracks are available on triple j unearthed and i encourage all to go dig them up

"gridge does hiphop"
1. bomb diggity - unleash the nugget
2. fight club - astronomy class
3. women lose weight - morcheeba feat. slick rick
4. kick push - lupe fiasco
5. if you got the money - jamie t
6. ryhthmn and rhyme - EES
7. raise up - audio architects
8. the reaction - unleash the nugget
9. houdini logi (remix) - circle takes the square
10. waht's golden - jurassic 5

[nihilist]

No mention of Black Eyed Peas? I'm shocked. I really dig them.
There's not a lot of rap I can get into, but every now and then something comes across my path that I think is pretty damn good. Black Eyed Peas definitely made that cut.

Nothing like 2.5 years to change your mind on that one.  Ever since they let Fergie in, their shit has been going downhill (lyrically).  They used to make a point, not just talk about shit.  Sellouts supreme.

[valley_parade]

For modern rap... I guess you've got Nas. He's pretty good. Fuck Kanye West.

Nas I definitely like. Illmatic is probably one of my favorite rap albums. Besides him, the only other rap that I'll really listen to is Jurassic 5 and Busdriver. Maybe a little old school Snoop Dogg now and then.

[fearghal]

Common is just cool. Weerd Science is some of the best hardcore white guy rap i've heard in a long time. There are some cool cats out there you just have to look past the"bling" to find them.

Pretty much anyone off of the Beatmart Recordings or Sytax Records Roster.

Willie Will
Soul P.
Eric Cross (ECross)
RedCloud
J Remy


I was blown away by Jay-Z's Black Album. I bought Kingdom Come expecting the same lyrical onslaught but was let down. What was better...the music. He is bringing back the "real band" sound again. You remember...when rappers and emcees had actual bands tour with them?

[ALoveSupreme]

And then there's MC Chris. I mean, what can you even say about MC. The guy defines geekcore hiphop. He's gonna blow up in 05. Just watch.

I thought this was a hilarious comment, but then as with everyone else, I noticed the date posted.

[alongwaltz]

There's very little current rap/hip-hop I like.

All the acts I like fall into one of two camps:  old school or indie rap.


Old school:  De La Soul, Public Enemy, Digable Planets, Dream Warriors, DJ Shadow,

Indie:  The Streets, Lady Sovereign, Dizzee Rascal, DJ Shadow,