On the subject of Rap music.

[Icecoldcynic]

As a dedicated fan of the genre, it annoys me how often ignorant people will denounce it under the false impression that it always consists of "a black guy talking about guns, drugs and hoes". Let me take this opportunity to defend the genre, and also promote my new user group:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Rap-Hip-Hop-fans

Now many people seem to think rap is primitive, that it involves nothing other than someone talking over a repetitive beat, but I'm hoping to enlighten people with this showcase of real rap, all contained here in this post!

DISCLAIMER: Some of the songs contained within this post may contain harsh language.

Why listen to Rap/Hip Hop?

1) Lyrics!

One of the biggest draws of rap music for me is the sick lyrics. Often a song's lyrics come from the person's own personal experiences. When you listen to rappers such as Eminem, you listen to a story, whether it's true or not, you're experiencing emotions through the words of the artist. Many people approach rap the wrong way and expect it to be something you can simply leave on in the background like another form of music, but in my opinion, you need to pay attention to really appreciate the genius behind the lyrics.

Spoiler: Examples

Both songs are good examples of how great a song can sound with a lyrical genius at the helm.

2) The Flow

The second biggest feature of the genre after the lyrics is the flow. What is flow, you ask? Flow is how well the lyrics roll, how they fit the music and evoke emotions at the right times. A rap song without flow is like a metal song without guitar. For an example of bad rap with no flow, check out anything with soulja boy.

Spoiler: Examples

Listening to these songs, it's easy to see how big a difference a good flow can make to your enjoyment of a song. The lyrics fit the beat perfectly.

3) The Beat

The third pillar of rap music is of course, the beat. This goes hand in hand with flow as something that makes or breaks a song. The problem with many mainstream rap artists these days is the absence of a good beat. Often you'll find a song repetitive sounding and thus dislike it.

Spoiler: Examples

Both examples of a song that takes a good beat and runs with it.

So thus concludes my defence of the glorious musical genre that is rap. Now I'm not so ignorant as to presume I would be able to change someone's opinion on a genre, but what I do hope to have demonstrated is that a lot of hate rap gets is completely uncalled for. And the fun part is I barely even touched upon the surface of good rap music! These are a few very specific examples but there is much more pure gold out there. Don't take mainstream rap as all there is.

For any fans of rap, retro, modern or otherwise, please join my usergroup!

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Rap-Hip-Hop-fans

Theres the link again! Go for it! Now let me leave you all with a track that's damn good, a remix by my favourite artist; Akira The Don, in collaboration with Joey2Tits:

http://soundcloud.com/lesacvspip/great-britain-akira-the-don-vs-joey2tits-remix

So come on guys, how about stopping all the hate and just letting the genre be? And be sure to discuss favourite artists/tracks, I'm always on the look out for new stuff, so I welcome lesser known independent artists.

Let the comments begin.

 

[Wardnath]

Escapists crying "I HAET RAP" in 3... 2... 1...

Edit: Oh, and if you think rap lyrics are bad, go check out brutal death metal. None so vilely* homogenous.

*is that a word? Screw it, I'm using it anyway.

 

[Contextualizer]

What exactly is wrong about rapping about "guns, drugs, and hoes"? It's hilarious some users here try to place themselves on some moral high ground on the topic of song lyrics when nearly all the video games they play to death have violence (and sex) in them.

Anyway, even though I come from a classical and jazz background, I love hip hop so much. It's so much to dance to with my girlfriend and there's such a wide variety of production and vocal styles/flows.

So. good.

From Lil Wayne to Little Brother, Andre 3000 to Andre Nickatina, Fat Jon to Slim Thug...It's all so amazing.

 

[SomethingUnrelated]

Ehhh... I find some rap to be 'okay', and I do like rap if it's comedic or something [Lonely Island?], but most of the generic rap I hear is just... empty. The content is predictable [Sex, Black People, Fights or GUNZZZZ!!!!111011011one] and sometimes I just find it sounds terrible. Don't get me wrong, there are a handful of rap songs, that aren't comedic, that I like... I just prefer other music... By a mile...

 

[OmegaXIII]

You gave some good examples of good rap music. The trouble is that rap/hip-hop tends to be a genre overflowing with mediocrity and outright crap which makes genuinely good work quite rare to come across.

I do share your sentiments about labelling in general, as a metal fan i am no stranger to having people berate me with idiocy such as 'all they sing about is death' etc - so for that, more power to you.

 

[khaimera]

can't say I liked that remix you posted at the end but I share your thoughts about how people love to trash this whole genre even though many rappers and producers have an insane amount of talent. Its worse with techno though, at least in America.

I enjoy hip hop with either great beats or a great flow. Thats why I like Slick Rick, its the flow.

I also love these guys

 

[reg42]

Ok, it's not fair of me to say I hate rap because of it's retarded lyrical content. I can still say that I hate gangster rap because of it's retarded lyrical content. I used to listen to rap, so I actually know what I'm talking about.

I don't mind the act of rapping itself, as there are quite a few rap metal bands which I really like. I think the biggest turn off for me is the beats which they use. They're pretty much all crap IMO.

 

[Eyelicker]

You gave some good examples of good rap music. The trouble is that rap/hip-hop tends to be a genre overflowing with mediocrity and outright crap which makes genuinely good work quite rare to come across.

I do share your sentiments about labelling in general, as a metal fan i am no stranger to having people berate me with idiocy such as 'all they sing about is death' etc - so for that, more power to you.

Dude, ALL genres are overflowing with mediocrity. Metal included. You're just more familiar with it in rap because you get all the mainstream bullshit forced on you all the time

 

[Icecoldcynic]

can't say I liked that remix you posted at the end but I share your thoughts about how people love to trash this whole genre even though many rappers and producers have an insane amount of talent. Its worse with techno though, at least in America.

I enjoy hip hop with either great beats or a great flow. Thats why I like Slick Rick, its the flow.

I also love these guys

It's fair enough not liking it, everyone has different tastes, even within the same genre. I like the song you posted though, you're right about the flow, it's pretty ill.

 

[cheese_wizington]

You should really put Hilltop Hoods up there. They really are what got me into Hip Hop.


Ignore the BMX....

 

[Icecoldcynic]

You should really put Hilltop Hoods up there. They really are what got me into Hip Hop.


Ignore the BMX....

I know there are TONS of good artists I missed, and the stuff I posted was a little too mainstream, however I also know no-one is going to sit there and actually listen to 20 mins of rap music, so I had to choose some of the more well known examples. Anyway don't forget to join the group! It's always nice to talk to people with similar interests. The chat can be used to talk about anything you know!

 

[cheese_wizington]

You should really put Hilltop Hoods up there. They really are what got me into Hip Hop.


Ignore the BMX....

I know there are TONS of good artists I missed, and the stuff I posted was a little too mainstream, however I also know no-one is going to sit there and actually listen to 20 mins of rap music, so I had to choose some of the more well known examples. Anyway don't forget to join the group! It's always nice to talk to people with similar interests. The chat can be used to talk about anything you know!

I joined.

 

[mrkeebz]

Usually I would state that I don't like rap but that isn't exactly accurate . I recently bought the adventures of bobby ray album as I found it oddly compelling despite I've never owned any songs of the type before.

Since buying the album I've given the genre more attention as its shown that not all of it is generic.

 

[Icecoldcynic]

Usually I would state that I don't like rap but that isn't exactly accurate . I recently bought the adventures of bobby ray album as I found it oddly compelling despite I've never owned any songs of the type before.

Since buying the album I've given the genre more attention as its shown that not all of it is generic.

This exactly what I mean. I actually remember a time where soulja boy was big, and I said I hated rap, simply because I didn't understand it. I thought it was all the same garbage. It wasn't until I started to hear REAL rap artists like wu tang and sugarhill gang that I managed to shed my prejudices and start to hunt around for other quality artists.

 

[Burningsok]

I will happily agree with this. Most modern rap is crap. But you got gems like eminem who break the mediocre boundary almost every time. At least not all of his music is about guns and gangstas. Here and there he will rap about family and such. I think over the years he has matured the fastest of any rapper out there. He used to be one bad dude, but he is turning out to be a respectable person in a way.

 

[OmegaXIII]

You gave some good examples of good rap music. The trouble is that rap/hip-hop tends to be a genre overflowing with mediocrity and outright crap which makes genuinely good work quite rare to come across.

I do share your sentiments about labelling in general, as a metal fan i am no stranger to having people berate me with idiocy such as 'all they sing about is death' etc - so for that, more power to you.

Dude, ALL genres are overflowing with mediocrity. Metal included. You're just more familiar with it in rap because you get all the mainstream bullshit forced on you all the time

Hehe i thought of that the second I hit the post button

 

[Ironic Pirate]

I'm not a big fan, but I like some.


And Rap Rock can be awesome.

Spoiler

 

[Icecoldcynic]

I'm not a big fan, but I like some.


And Rap Rock can be awesome.

Spoiler

Definitely agree with you on the genre fusions. RATM's merging of rap with elements of metal and rock sounds bloody awesome. I've also heard pretty sick stuff where they merge rap with techno and electronica.

 

[the Dept of Science]

Wow, its nice to see not everyone on this forum hates rap. Pretty much every other person on "what music do you like" threads singles out rap (and country) as some sort of plague on music. Pretty much each one of them showed some degree of ignorance about it.

Anyways, there is lots of good modern rap, gangster rap and even "mainstream" rap. Some good modern mainstream gangster rap even.
I personally find it quite refreshing to listen to that sorof stuff. Considering a large proportion of the music I listen to is angsty white guy music, its nice to blow off steam with some casual misogynistic music.