Poll: Hip Hop

[Jasper Jeffs]

I've read a lot of comments on these forums about people hating Hip Hop, or Rap. I think there was one thread to do with what music you'd bring your child up on, and people said "not Rap", when I for one would encourage (not force) my child to listen to it. Also, I'm not talking about the Hip Hop you see on TV, I'm talking about songs like this:

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That's the Hip Hop I know, and I'd like to know out of genuine interest why people say it's bad so much to the extent that they wouldn't allow their child to listen to it.

 

[BlumiereBleck]

no hip hop and rap ruined FUSE along with pop

 

[pantsoffdanceoff]

Life is like Candy, you throw the wrappers away.
In reality, I like ye olde hip hop as seen in the sugar hill gang. And the reason it has social stigma is because rap is associated with crime.

 

[Macgyvercas]

I make it a solid point to avoid anything and everything that has to do with hip hop so I can spend my time gaming and listening to the Moody Blues.

 

[madcap2112]

Not current Hip Hop/Rap, God no. Old-school is what I can stand; the Run-DMC, the Public Enemy, the N.W.A. It's like Chris Rock said, you could defend it on an intellectual level. You can't do that today because so little of it has any artistic value at all.

 

[Cherry Cola]

I like some rap.

RZA has done some good songs, like the soundtrack for Afro Samurai, but todays hip-hop is just shit.

In the old times when it was about fighting the power however.. Demz was good times.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

I was raised a metalhead and I will proably raise my children that way. I don't like most pop bands and most rapists out there and the very few I do enjoy listening to are overshadowed by the horrible majority that get played on the radio every day. If my child wants to listen to it, then fine. He can, I will not have any opinons on the matter. But I personally wish to stay an avid rocker.

 

[Baron Von Evil Satan]

I'd have my kid listen to Death metal before rap. At least with death metal you can't understand WTF they're saying.

 

[delet]

I don't have children, but I'll let them choose whatever music strikes their fancy.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

I have no plans to force my tastes on my hypothetical children. But I won't ever have Soulja Boy playing in my house.

 

[Pimppeter2]

I like rap and hip hop. Even the popular crap. Honestly, my taste in music is not that good.

 

[Trivun]

I absolutely loathe hip-hop. However, if my kids wanted to listen to it then what right do I have to stop them? My parents aren't exactly fans of indie rock, yet they don't mind me listening to it (even going so far as to buying me a CD I'd wanted for a long time for Christmas). If my kids liked hip-hop then I'd have no right to say they can't listen to it. No matter how much I hate it myself. If they were listening to the songs with all swearing and racial slurs and sex references in then yes, I'd be justified in banning it in my house. But not when lyrics are pretty normal...

 

[xenos60]

I'd never restrict my children's music interest. But if they did start listening to rap or hip-hop I'd direct them to the more intelligent, poetic side of the genres like Faithless and The Herd. Try to steer him clear of the pile of shit that is American mainstream hip-hop

 

[zen5887]

I love Hip Hop, something about the way they rhyme makes me smile. Obviously I'm not talking about the crappy stuff, but the good Hip Hop. Buck 65, Sage Francis, Snob Scrilla, The Roots, Bike for three.

On the topic of what am I going to bring my kids up on.

Good music.

 

[Contextualizer]

I go to one of the best universities in the world (it's consistently ranked in the top 20 of all those bullshit ranking lists) and I love hip hop of all kinds. Considering what all my friends here listen to, it bothers me when people want to make this causational link between the music one listens to and how intelligent they are.

I would definitely not restrict my child from listening to hip hop, although I would be pretty disappointed if they just listened to the really lame "intellectual" crap.

 

[MetalMachine]

kids can listen to whatever the fuck they want to, considering this is pretty much all you hear on the radio (even on the so called "rock" stations) or the T.V., they dont have much choice. If they had a genuine interest in music that would allow some sort of intellectual message to be conveied into their tiny little heads, then no hip hop is not what I, nor anyone with an IQ over 12 would recommend. Then again, considering my experience with hip hop is just what has been in the mainstream media, I could be gravely mistaken, (I would probably think the same about metal if I thought that all it was was the mainstream metalcore/nu metal fad that every angsty teen in the Western world seems to be obsessed with)

 

[MorsePacific]

I used to have the same feeling about rap and hip-hop, until I was introduced to a group by the name of Atmosphere. Their songs have meaning, unlike mainstream rappers. It opened up a whole new world to me, filled with loads of good things to hear.

 

[SageRuffin]

If my kids like to listen to rap I'm all for it; if not, than I'm not gonna persuade them otherwise. Doesn't matter if it's mainstream ([gags]) or underground/indie ([cheers]), they have their own minds, their own tastes, and their own preferences. While it would make better conversations in the car to talk about, say, how much Lil' Wayne is a - ahem - "tosser", if my kids wanna listen to him, as much as I may hate him myself, I'm not gonna stop them.

As far as the lyrics themselves are concerned, the only thing I really want is for them to know what actually makes a good lyricist. Lil' Wayne may be a great rapper, but he's a very poor lyricist.