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I used to listen to this kind of music when I was younger. Some beats are nice and the music gives you that "badass" feeling.
But I stopped. I want to have nothing to do with culture that glorifies crime, violence, disregard for society, glorifies "Gentle Giants" but sings "F the police", is only about "me me me and f everyone else", culture thats about glorifying you-lose-i-win instead of win-win.
I stopped after Zimmerman affair. I saw a man who defended himself vilified and persecuted and a thug glorified and that was the last straw for me. I donated to Zimmerman defense fund and decided never to give another dollar to anyone associated with this culture of depravity.
If you have kids who listen to this garbage, have a serious talk with them and explain to them what this music and culture really stand for and glorify.
If you know about the history of hip hop, you would know that originally hip hop (KRS-One, Afrika Bambataa, Public Enemy, Chuck D, DJ Cool Herc, X-clan) was actually about promoting unity, non violence, love, and educating the masses in poor urban communities.
NWA, F the Police, and the gangsta rap stuff is only ONE aspect of the genre. But of course what gets played on the radio is just more commercial stuff.
There is good quality music rap/hip-hop music out there for those who seek it.
Prince Ea, Soliloquist of Sound, Arrested Development, Atmosphere, Aesop Rock, Lupe Fiasco, and loads of others are smart, eloquent and quite cerebral.
Yes there is. On the other hand, most of what passes for today's rap/hip hop does not qualify, as most of it is unintelligent babble. I mean stuff like "watch me whip, watch me nae nae".... Really? WTF is that? At least in the case of NWA they rapped about what they saw in the hood, and a lot of it was indeed political in nature. Were they promoting violence? Perhaps a bit. But I think that was the fallout of what they were rapping about. At any rate, I like music that is political. Metallica in the heavy metal genre was very political in their music, and I used to listen to them constantly. Still do listen to their old stuff, and I'll still listen to NWA every now and then. Does it mean, I seek to emulate what they're rapping about? Hell no! I take music like anything else I see or hear on tv... with a grain of salt.
Bingo.
I'm primarily a jazz man, but I like a little gangster rap from time to time just like I like violent gangster movies and violent gangster books.
And I definitely don't plan to quit playing some Mobb Deep or M.O.P. anytime soon. I love it.
If others can't separate fact from fiction, that's their problem.
I used to listen to this kind of music when I was younger. Some beats are nice and the music gives you that "badass" feeling.
But I stopped. I want to have nothing to do with culture that glorifies crime, violence, disregard for society, glorifies "Gentle Giants" but sings "F the police", is only about "me me me and f everyone else", culture thats about glorifying you-lose-i-win instead of win-win.
I stopped after Zimmerman affair. I saw a man who defended himself vilified and persecuted and a thug glorified and that was the last straw for me. I donated to Zimmerman defense fund and decided never to give another dollar to anyone associated with this culture of depravity.
If you have kids who listen to this garbage, have a serious talk with them and explain to them what this music and culture really stand for and glorify.
P.S. Knock out game this.
I am sick of it too....but guess what? It's "The free market" at work. That is why porn dominates the internet free market. That is why "Ashley Madison" has 37 million subscribers. That is OUR culture...and it gets worse every year. I am right with you but I am not going to single out the rap genre. Look at artist like Miley Sirrus and all these other scantly clad attention seeking female singers who are poor excuse for role models.
It is my belief that the record labels, that were not black owned, took rap music in the direction that it went. They dictated the type of lyrics and music that was played once the artist got signed, then marketed it to a mainstream mostly non-black demographic..... making many artists rich. You could not make money as an artist singing conscious rap...., like public enemy and KRS one, not like the millions you could make off of smut. Thus, soon that conscious rap faded out because mainstream did not want to hear that. The FBI did not want to see that type of music influence poor disenfranchised black youth either. It had just spent previous decades fomenting the assassination of black leaders and organizations, to destroy the black consciousness movement and the attention if focused on an unjust system. In doing so, it turned blacks against themselves and away from the system as a result of cointelpro then later drugs and guns. It could not let rap music create a new generation of revolutionaries.
However, like a said....its the FREE MARKET and simply reflects the state of AMERICAN culture and what AMERICANS desire as the vast majority of the consumers of rap music are not African Americans.
Prince Ea, Soliloquist of Sound, Arrested Development, Atmosphere, Aesop Rock, Lupe Fiasco, and loads of others are smart, eloquent and quite cerebral.
Someone else that has heard of Soliloquist of Sound!!!!!
Check out: P.O.S., BK-One, Mr. Lif, Shad, and Surreal and the Sound Providers.
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