Arcticflame post=18.68737.639484 said:
The only possible reading I can take from it is that they are asserting other rap is crap, their rap is good. But that doesn't change the fact that that rap there is still no better than a 10 year old rhyming words together.
It doesn't draw upon universal themes, any deep issues, moral topics, it doesn't punctuate it's points through provoking imagination, it simply whacks together words which sound good together.
This is not to say songs need to, but when all you have is a beat and faint instruments, you need to have something else to drive your music.
Condensed down, none of those sentences are especially bright. Compared with good poetry or a good speech, it is terrible, but because it has a beat to it, suddenly it's ok?
Not that rap music is detrimental to society because of that, I don't think rap music is detrimental to society. So I guess I disagree rap music is bad for society, but think rap music is stupid itself (depending on your definition of rap music).
Well, this particular song is one of those "I'm going to show you how good I am at rapping" songs, so they just use weird metaphors and language to show how deep their vocabulary is. Hip Hop is a competitive genre, where rappers are constantly having "hypothetical battles" with invisible opponents to show and remind people of how good they are at rapping and using lyrics. Its part of the fun of the genre, like a guitar solo. A solo has no meaning, it just shows the skill of the guitarist. The same goes for songs like that.
However, as for story-line songs, there's plenty:
"Brenda's got a Baby
Brenda's got a Baby
I hear Brenda's got a baby
But, Brenda's barely got a brain
A damn shame
Tha girl can hardly spell her name
That's not our problem,
That's up to Brenda's family
Well let me show you how it affects the whole community
Now Brenda never really knew her mom
And her dad was a junky
Puttin' death into his arms, it's sad
Cause I bet Brenda doesn't even know
Just cause your in the ghetto doesn't mean you can't grow
But oh, that's a thought, my own revelation
Do whatever it takes to resist the temptation
Now Brenda got herself a boyfriend
Her boyfriend was her cousin,
Now lets watch the joy end
She tried to hide her pregnancy,
From her family
Who didn't really care to see,
Or give a damn if she
Went out and had a church of kids
As long as when the check came they got first dibs
Now Brendas belly's gettin bigger
But no one seems to notice any change in her figure
She's 12 years old and she's having a baby
In love with the molester, who's sexin' her crazy
And yet she thinks that he'll be with her forever
And dreams of a world where the two of them are together,
Whatever
He left her and she had the baby solo,
She had it on the bathroom floor
And didn't know so
She didn't know what to throw away
And what to keep
She wrapped the baby up
And threw him in a trash heap
I guess she thought she'd get away, wouldn't hear the cries
She didn't realize
How much the little baby had her eyes
Now the babys in the trash heap ballin'
Momma can't help her, but it hurts to hear her calling
Brenda wants to run away
Momma say, you makin' me lose pay,
The social worker's here everyday
Now Brenda's gotta make her own way
Can't go to her family, they won't let her stay
No money, no babysitter, she couldn't keep a job
She tried to sell crack, but ended up gettin' robbed
So now what's next, there ain't nothin left to sell
So she sees sex as a way of leavin hell
It's payin the rent, so she really can't complain
Prostitute, found slain,
And Brenda's her name, she's got a baby"
- Tupac Shakur, "Brenda's Got A Baby"
That's just one song, there's ALOT I know like that.