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I will go even further, i mostly know Italian hip hop and rap (so i'm not speaking about other European countries but i think it's the same) but i think in terms of writing it blows the American one out of the water. All most American hip hop artists sing about is love/sex/drugs/money and even though there are some sellouts (Club Dogo, Emis Killa, J-ax, Moreno) it isn't even nearly to the same extent in mainstream Italian hip hop, let alone amongst artists who aren't as known. Rap and hip hop are still tied to social protest (the artists above fit this mold perfectly, even with catchy songs), partly because there's still so much to protest about here in Italy
Caparezza - China Town:
Clementino - Rovine
That's some great Rap. I can't understand a word of it but sounds really great.
Yes I couldn't agree more with you. Most American Rap (at least the one we get over here) has become very shallow/superficial. But that wasn't the case when it all started. I remember Grand Master Flash who addressed social and political problems in a pretty harsh way. He hit the nail on the head on a lot of "taboo" topics at the time. But that all changed when the Rap music became more commercially and spread among the main public.
But Rap in your own language is always better anyway, because it addresses the topics that are going on in your own country so it's easier to identify with.
And then your first post, with Caparezza and the 99 Posse artists, made me immediately think about this other song (which was published in 2012 I think)
At the beginning I didn't understand nearly anything, because it is a dialect really different from mine, but when I started to get something I thought that it was genial
I just want to explain what happens in the video, because without knowing the lyrics it can be misleading: in practice at the beginning there is a politician that is making a speech in the Parliament, one of those speechs that only makes you angry because in practice he is asking other sacrifices to the population, saying also that "also the politicians are working hard to help us" (as if someone believed to an affirmation like that...) . Just outside the parliament the singers of the band, who look like really bad guys, suddenly kidnap him. But they don't have bad intentions, they just bring him in a family of people that struggle everyday for having a dignified life. The members of this family bring that politician with them at work, on a normal bus, in a little shop, he eats with them... in practice at doing what they do everyday. After a day with this family the politician is exhausted, and he sees his speech of the previous day at the television. I don't know what do you read on his face at this point, but what I see is that I starts to be disgusted by what he had done. At the end the singers bring the politician back to the parliament, just for kidnapping another politician...
It is just a song to demonstrate how much we like our politicians, and that what the most of us think is that our politicians don't know at all the real world...
Same here, i would add Avrai Ragione Tu as well adn you have my favourite songs from that album. The dialect they speak is Neapolitan, i had a difficult time too at first. I understand Neapolitan when spoken slowly but you can't understand all of it at first when they speak so fast.
To add to what you've said, Tarantella Pe Campa more or less means sacrifices in these context.
"Mica van Gogh" is probably my favorite song from that album, the second is a tie between "Non me lo posso permettere" and "China Town"
this is the other song I've named
And then your first post, with Caparezza and the 99 Posse artists, made me immediately think about this other song (which was published in 2012 I think)
At the beginning I didn't understand nearly anything, because it is a dialect really different from mine, but when I started to get something I thought that it was genial
I just want to explain what happens in the video, because without knowing the lyrics it can be misleading: in practice at the beginning there is a politician that is making a speech in the Parliament, one of those speechs that only makes you angry because in practice he is asking other sacrifices to the population, saying also that "also the politicians are working hard to help us" (as if someone believed to an affirmation like that...) . Just outside the parliament the singers of the band, who look like really bad guys, suddenly kidnap him. But they don't have bad intentions, they just bring him in a family of people that struggle everyday for having a dignified life. The members of this family bring that politician with them at work, on a normal bus, in a little shop, he eats with them... in practice at doing what they do everyday. After a day with this family the politician is exhausted, and he sees his speech of the previous day at the television. I don't know what do you read on his face at this point, but what I see is that I starts to be disgusted by what he had done. At the end the singers bring the politician back to the parliament, just for kidnapping another politician...
It is just a song to demonstrate how much we like our politicians, and that what the most of us think is that our politicians don't know at all the real world...
Good story! Thanks for Explaining that. They should do that for real with some politicians
That's some great Rap. I can't understand a word of it but sounds really great.
Yes I couldn't agree more with you. Most American Rap (at least the one we get over here) has become very shallow/superficial. But that wasn't the case when it all started. I remember Grand Master Flash who addressed social and political problems in a pretty harsh way. He hit the nail on the head on a lot of "taboo" topics at the time. But that all changed when the Rap music became more commercially and spread among the main public.
But Rap in your own language is always better anyway, because it addresses the topics that are going on in your own country so it's easier to identify with.
I know, it's just something which started happening in the last decade. Other than this, i also think hip hop represents only a part of the American population which is that of the most deprived neighbourhoods of the inner cities. It isn't a wonder most rappers are black
Thanks Maxim - in all honesty I don't know what to think of them yet.
( The thing I don't like however during all these "competitions" is the judges, mimicking Americans ( same goes to Ukrainian competitions by the way.)
Here is yet another Russian song by Georgians I came across today.
I find their polyphony fascinating, since none of them are professionals - just your ordinary people it seems getting together for a good meal, ( as it was in previous Georgian video on FB.)
( The thing I don't like however during all these "competitions" is the judges, mimicking Americans ( same goes to Ukrainian competitions by the way.)
Yes, you are right. I know a very funny song about this (author words of this song is Alexander Yelin, one of the best songwriters currently in my opinion, he working also with the band "Rabfak")
Here is yet another Russian song by Georgians I came across today.
I find their polyphony fascinating, since none of them are professionals - just your ordinary people it seems getting together for a good meal, ( as it was in previous Georgian video on FB.)
Yes, it's good emotional performance. And a very beautiful nature.
I love non English Rap songs. I think most Rap artists do a much better job in their own language then trying to imitate the American Slang and accents. This one was very popular for a while. There's a lot of humor in his lyrics
I agree. Additionally it would be quite corny for Finnish rappers to sing about drive-bys, kilos of cocaine and shooting people... that just doesn't happen here. So, they sing about social problems, alcohol and drug abuse, random violence and social exclution.
Puukko-Allu consortium (knife-Allu) - The land of the thousand medicines and drunkards:
Or as in Italy, Finnish rap often has a social message. Finnish rap has traditionally been far on the left, even anarchistic. So quite opposite to American West Coast rap which is mostly an ode to capitalism. Many, like Puukko-Allu decide to stay in obscurity, never revealing their true identities, which adds to the underground anarchistic effect.
Paleface (Karri Miettinen) is a good representative and these days a well-known social critic outside the rap scene. This is against police brutality and the dangers of a police state:
Some more, firtst from Steen 1 and friends. His artist name was originally Steen Christensen, but changed it due to controversy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steen_Christensen
Steen 1, or Seppo Lampela has been a parliamentary candidate for the Communist Party, but has not been elected.
The second one is from Petos, a parody to a statement that Eastern Helsinki is filled with addicts and losers, more or less living dead. The guy with his daughter interviewed in the beginning is saying that he agrees with the living dead statement, and will kill them with the billhook he is sporting.
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