What do you think about rap?

Hello fellow guitarists, It's the strummonster again.
I'd like to know what yall think about rap. I personally think that i'ts the most stupid genre of music that has ever been created. most of it just dj beats and some thug speaking in ebonics talking fast about his hoes, money, his ride, or smoking a left-handed cigarette. What do you say?

It's kinda arrogant to just generalize a complete style of music like that. What do you base your opinion on? MTV?

Check out Alliance Ethnik or something. I'm sure there is a lot more good stuff like this out there, but this one just comes to mind cause I personally like em.(me liking them does not make them good, that's not what I meant, but they are definately interesting musically)

It's just like any other style of music, the trash is usually served on a plate right in front of you(MTV, radio,...), but the good stuff is harder to find, and mostly gets less recognition by the big public.(wich is their loss really)


Greetz, TK

Add a capital C to that word and you've gota perfect description "Crap".
I know it's generalization but far as I'm concerned rap is way past it's prime and seems like nothing but a parody of itself.
Most of the rap videos you see are so corny you have to laugh at em>>> especially the ones where you"ve got a bunch of black guys waving their hands in front of a wide angle lens complaining about how bad they"re lives are but in the meantime making millions from record sales.
Most of the time when I DO hear a rap song I like I end up yelling in frustration for the noisy guy who's talking over top of the music to shut the hell up.

Their's definately some good rap out there... mostly old school stuff like Public Enemy, KRS 1, The Beastie Boys, even Run DMC. But even in contemporary rap you can find some rays of light such as Jurassic 5- they actually play instruments.

I don't think their's anything wrong with the genre, it's just where people are taking it...

I agree with Raskolnikov and trendkillah...
Listen to PUblic enemy, Run DMC,and "grand master flash and the furious five", and you'll see that there is something great sounding there.
I am sick of hearing of the mainstream rappers, raping about cars, money, guns etc. Fact is the best rap stuff isn't mainstream. I used to totally hate rap, untill i heard Blackalisous (i can't spell it) and their littel master peice "alphabet aerobics". There are other rappers who are starting to experiment like ONE DAY. There are some good mainstream rappers like Outkast and Jarassic 5 (as RAsk said), not many though. Oh yeah and Zack from rage against the machine, when they were still together.
There are too many too name that are good rappers, but the
problem is that they are overshadowed by muppets like "nelly" and "p diddy".
I recommend you get something by Blackalisous (i cant spell it), prefrably alphabet aerobics, you'll see what i mean.

Hi, my name is James, and I used to be a rapaholic.
It's sad but true. Back in my young, immature, pathetic days I used to like rap. But the question that everyone who likes rap has to ask themselves is, do they truly like rap or do they just like the image that rap gives them, or how it makes them fit in with peers. When I finally asked myself that and realized how pathetic I was, I started a long and hard journey to find my individuality, my self-esteem, and basically, myself. I found it in Aerosmith. Thus began my love affair with music. Now, the number of bands and artists that I love would be to many to name, but not one of them includes rap.

As for it being all crap... well like trendkillah and Ras I don't like to dismiss an entire genre like that. There is some good stuff, but the majority, and probably whatever you see on MTV will be crap. Yes, videos are pretty damn pathetic now... take your standard collection of homies in a car that bounces, add some half naked 'hoes' in the backseat, and a whole lot o' crazy hand gestures and you got yourself a top 10 video. This rap doesn't appeal to anybody but the preteen, middle-upper class whitebreads... I have news for those people; those who really live in the ghetto can't afford $500 worth of Fubu clothes and 40 pounds of gold chains around their neck.

Whenever I see someone like this walking by with their "homie strut" (that is, where one leg appears to be quite shorter then the other) I just think, "me and Guns N'Roses could kick you and Wu-Tangs ass anyday of the week."

what's your opinion on rap music & it's effect on rock bands like the Chili Peppers & Rage, just curious.

From where I'm sitting, cross polination is a good thing. Of course the Chili Peppers are more funk- and rap is a decendant of funk... but the fact is that rap was forming as the Chili Peppers were getting started, so they had to pick something up from it.

personally, i never could figure out how talking over an electric drum beat made you a musician. it requires absolutely no talent or skill? It confuses me how so many guitarists work their asses and never get a shot at making it, then some random person gets it just by talking.


can anyone explain it to me?

It's not just talking, that's the thing.
Pitch still maters (if you don't beleive me, go see POD live and tell me the singer isn't flat and it doesn't help ruin the positive aspects of the band). Second, it has to be in rythm with the music, ie in meter. If rap is crap, so's Shakespear.

The way I see it, if somebody can get up and do it live, then I have no problem with what they are doing (well, unless it's plagurized or something). I have a lot respect for some rappers- Deep down I really see this as an issue of "music is art, and who's to say what's art or not?" sort of thing.

Do any of us really have the right to say that? That somebody's work isn't art just because we don't like it?

Unfortunately music is one of those things that people take so personally that most people are afraid to voice their honest opinions. Just try saying BB King or Eric Clapton suck & you'll be fighting off flame mail for days, even if you honestly feel that way. There's a lot of musicians that I can't stand and honestly wonder how the hell they ever made it in the business or attained 'legendary' status, but I just keep my mouth shut cause there's no point in saying it.
It's like trying to argue the existence of God or the bible or whatever.
Nobody can win the argument cause each person in their own mind thinks that they're own opinion is the correct one.

I'm afraid i diagree with James. The idea of listening to a certain type of music to fit in can be applied to ANYTHING (i bet you there's someone in a rap forum saying how pathetic it was when he used to listen to cheesy heavy metal where skinny old men wear tight leather trousers, with crap lyrics and little beat to it, just so he fit in with the kids who like that stuff in school) .
I agree with Rask (again) about the cross pollination of the genres.
Zepp-rules: can i ask who you've heard? cos the discription you gave there pretty much hits radiohead's "idotique". It's not all was about achiving a certain melody there is a poetic element in there. Rap and playing the guitar a very different things, you cant apply rules from one to the other. If you think it takes not talent try it for your self (i did), it's certanly harder than it looks.
The idea that a guitarist (from a genre you know lots about) doesn't get famous, but a "random" person (someone from a genre you don't know too much about, so you somehow think this is because they dont work hard, as opposed to you not knowing about them) gets famous isn't really the most realistic of ideas.
I'd just like to point out that the mainstream rap at the minute isnt the best it's been.
To be honest i think sometimes when we hear a song that sounds good by a band we dont like, and so we tend to have something against the song, which doesn't really make anysense, cos at the end of the day a good song is good song.
(Sorry about the length of this reply)

Althuogh I don't dismiss rap as a legit music form I do have some complaints w/it.
1)Music to me, at its best, should contain a marriage of harmoney, melody, and rhythm. They have the rhythm componet going for them, but they often leave out, or disregard the importance of melody & harmoney.

2)As a guitarist it's often hard to listen to a musical genre where the guitar plays such an insignificant role, if any.

I do though enjoy the cross-pollination of rap into rock & pop music. Do you think it will ever find it's way into jazz ( imagine Lou Rawls breaking into a nice little rap over Misty )

educatedfilm, I certainly never intended to say that rap is the ONLY type of music that has been trendy and people have flocked to for acceptance. Certainly not. My point was only that for a lot of these kids there isn't any true love of the genre but only a love of the image that it gives them. Of coures this can be applied to any genre; I'm sure back in the heavy metal days there was the same phenomenon.

While we got on the topic of rap vocals... I don't think rapping takes as much skill, practice, or dedication as an actual singer goes through, but that's not to say it's easy to do what they do... definatly in rap there is strong emphasis on rhythm and beat, so you have to be in touch with that.
I think Chris Mood had a good analyzation of it...

Originally posted by strummonster
What do you think about rap?

not much

Originally posted by James
But the question that everyone who likes rap has to ask themselves is, do they truly like rap or do they just like the image that rap gives them, or how it makes them fit in with peers.

Yeah James, I know a lot of people who feel like that now. However, for a lot of people, there's something about the music that really describes how they feel, and what's going inside their head. Rap music, it's very compelling for certain types of people, however I've never really shown much interest in that genre.

But that doesn't mean that I don't respect what these artists have to offer to this industry. There are a lot of sincere rap artists that has came onto the scene over the past few years but still their image seems to over power what people really think about them.

I think for a lot of people, they are afraid to analyze what they're listenng to, and what they are getting into. I think that when it comes to music, we should just all take a step back an come to terms with who we are. Deciding if we really like it, or if we have created a unique fixation based on the beliefs of others and how it makes us feel.

So the answer to the question would be is rap crap, well that's a matter of opinion, and taste. Obviously, thi music is capable of helping people come to terms with their feelings, and it's not just the lyrics, but it's also the sounds. Hey all the power to those who appreciate rap music, however I just wish that there were more singers today who combined their talents with rock music. It's just that it seems that because of peoples laziness today, they would much rather rap a mile a minute on the microphone, instead of trying to carry a note.

I wish more musicians had the courgage today to sing, instead of annoying us with their attempts at rap. For somne people, rap music is inside their soul, but for a lot of reasons today, there are too many people who rap as a defensive reaction. Becausetheir voice isnlt up to par, where they inevitably end up defeating the overall purpose of being creative.

-Joseph

My opinion of Rap hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I would rather see a BIG BUSTED BLONDE Singing,
(Burning Love in Eb)

I will say every once in a while the band dos do,
a Rap version of the theme from the beverly hill-billys,
that goes over real well with the Red-necks.


Markzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
p:s come and listen to my story about a man named jed.ect

The first rap music I ever heard was (brace yourselves) on the Autoamerica album from Blondie! Really... check it out!

The last piece of rap that I actually enjoyed, and looked forward to hearing again, was "Funky Cold Medina" by Ton Loc.

Since then?....