Quote:
Originally Posted by noid_1985
or conscious rappers- as far as rap is concerned both are the same thing. A rapper that is consciously aware of his/her environment has the duty or obligation to inform their audience or fans what's going on in the world and should even make an effort of telling fans of what's morally right and wrong.
I see threads on C-D bashing rappers and rap as a whole, but then the same person who said they hated rap- I ask what musicians made you come to your conclusion and they say rappers like 50 cent, lil wayne, soulja boy, etc. etc.- Personally as a Hip Hop enthusiast I don't believe those rappers that are commonly named and ones like them are the best rap has to offer. I've been quoted saying that pop, rock, and country music suck- but I'm not a creditable source until I've heard the best in that genre. So here are some albums by MCs, rappers- whatever you want to call them that will make you at least understand the true meaning of rap music-( you still may like it but at least you've heard some of the Best) 
Artist- Best 2-3 Albums
Common- Resurrection(1994) Like Water For Chocolate(2000) Be(2005)
Mos Def- Black on Both Sides (1999) The New Danger(2004)
Talib Kweli- Quality(2002) Right About Now(2005)
Pharoahe Monch- Internal Affairs(1999) Desire(2007)
The Roots- Illadelph Halflife (1996) Things Fall Apart (1999) Game Theory(2006)
Black Milk- Popular Demand (2007) Tronic (2008)
Lupe Fiasco- Food and Liquor (2006) The Cool (2007)
Little Brother- The Minstrel Show (2005) The Listening (2003)
This is just small sampling- feel free to add more of positive and good rappers |
People bash that which their threatened by...sad to say, much of it is spawned by personal bias against the majority of those who create rap, regardless of style...
In other words it's a 'color' thing for many...
Rap, regardless of style, is associated with 'young black males'...and many in this country have a phobia against 'young blck males'...
Example...when it was made known that Slim Shady was Euro-American...suddenly those I heard say they couldn't stand rap (black guys)...suddenly became big fans of Slim Shadys...and were saying he was the best rapper of all time...
Kinda like what happened in the 50's with Elvis and other Euro-artist...
They would re-record songs sung by 'blck' artist...and then suddenly it was 'ok to play in your home' cause the guy singing it was 'like us'...
I'm not trying to fault find, simply pointing out human nature...
For instance...if young Euro-males had invented rap, many who now say they can't stand it, would be listening to it...
All that aside...as far as 'conscious' rap...you certainly don't hear it on main stream 'pop rap' stations...instead all you hear is what I call 'chorus, frat boy party rap'...
Where they're like 'Just halla whoop whoop...just halla...whoop whoop...shake your booty...booty booty booty...and halla...whoop whoop'...
I mean how do they get record deals?
You hear that nonsense and R&B artist who need 'street cred' so they collaborate with hardcore rappers to create what I call 'ballet rap'...
It would be equivalent to Iron Maiden creating a song with Madonna or Brittney Spears...
It's just not done in the Metal world...what's metal stays metal...and what's Ballad pop stays ballad pop...but for some reason in the hip-hop world they combine the two, and as a result you get this watered down Mariah Carey style of hip-hop...that's shoved down the mainstreams throat...
And is usally the only rap sounding songs they will ever hear...yuk...
If that's the only exposure I ever had to 'rap' or 'hip-hop'...I doubt I would like it either...
Radio stations just seem to play the stuff that appeals to frat boys who are drunk...and songs that just have a simple 'whoop whoop, just halla for ya boys' type of beat and simple lyrics...
They, radio stations, steer clear of the more quality stuff that has a more rythmatic beat and flow to it...and where the artist is actually saying something deep...radio stations don't play that...instead they just play the 'dumbed down rap'...where i five year old could write the lyrics...
Southern rap is kinda dry to me...and all sounds the same...I guess I still have a NE bias when it comes to best artist...Strong Iland type stuff...
And for a while the west coast was putting out some stuff, during the Pac era...
Seems now the only time they play rappers on the radio is if their doing some kind of ballet with a R&B female artist...he'll rap, she'll sing or howl...then heal rap (to give her song more street cred) and then she'll howl or sing somemore...that got old to me quick...R&B ladies trying to ride off the street credit of such rappers as 'Ja-rule'...him and Jennifer Lopez did one back in the 2001? that was actually good...
And then 100 copy cats followed...Women artist realized their album sales would go up 100% if they had Snoop dog or slim shady or Ludicris or busta rymes (him and janet Jackson) in their songs...
Run DMC sure never did anything korny like that...
Oh well, it is what it is...
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Dynamite in the rap Eternity
