Who Likes Rap?

#1


sorry those are a bit harsh but figured we need this thread back :slight_smile:

#2
#3

I have quite a large penchant for rap in the right styles :slight_smile:

#4

WHO does this nowadays?? This is soooo fire!

#5

I blasted that album for a whole summer as a kid, heh. Although I think his best work is off of The Virus!

#6

my man <3

never thought someone else would EVER drop the virus, damn. I love that album ! haha! Epic.

#7
#8

a colleague at work tried to convince me the best lyrics of today were in rap. I wasn’t necessarily disagreeing, but his starting point was booba and that’s hard to justify.

it got silly when he tried to say rap is like poetry and the trap artists he likes are like beat poets.

#9

I generally don’t like rap… but only because so much of it is bad… in a bad way. It’s not the genre’s fault… it’s a very solid and versatile genre. You can’t argue with the fact that it has caught the attention of people across cultures around the world.

I don’t agree that “…the best lyrics of today are in rap.” Although I have heard some very fine, well crafted lyrics in rap… but rarely.”

I do think that the best of rap is legit poetry. The history of “battles” on the streets of inner cities as the roots of rap served a purpose similar to the “beat” poetry that was happening at more or less the same time. One was on the streets and more about everyday life and how to deal with it…one in coffee houses and art galleries and a bit more esoteric and political. One more black and one more white, but with plenty of overlap. Both were very “American” and they both aimed to speak about “now” … who are we and what is happening “now” and what do we do and where do we go with it.

Then there was Langston Hughes… just saying… :wink:

#10

When we say “beat” poetry, are we talking beat like Jack Kerouc, Allen Ginsberg and stuff like that, or more like slam peoetry? Cuz I think slam poetry has plenty of black poets, i wouldn’t say it’s really a “white” thing.

#11

Fair question… I was on Kerouac… my age is showing.

There’s another “Beat Poetry” movement? Who’d a thunk???

Slam I get…

#12

I’d never say rap isn’t poetry. The reason I got into poetry a lot the last couple of years was because of a rapper. As you said, good rap really gets good. I guess the problem is bad poetry doesn’t go blaring in supermarkets and on popular radio stations. What happens if you’re a bad poet ? You read your lame poetry at readings and people ignore you and you go home and reconsider or write better shit. It seems possible for someone to write the shittiest poetry you can imagine and still get popular saying that shit because it’s over some cool beats.
What started the argument with that colleague is that I knew his references, and believe me those guys are not poets and for some I’m sure they don’t even think about themselves as such and would think the idea funny (or agreeably complimenting to their already over-inflated ego). That colleague basically listens to all the popular rappers. Mostly French rap as well, though he’s aware of the popular american ones. But he doesn’t know much of the classics either. Has no idea about MF Doom, for example. He hasn’t told me of any underground rapper he would have discovered when searching for new music.

When he tried to argue that rap is poetry, all he could come up with are technical reasons. It’s got rhymes, metaphors. I don’t feel like this is enough for something to be called poetry.

Also about the beats poets… I do think rap has the power to be socially relevant, unfortunately I don’t see any popular rapper here taking that stance and be politically active.
Some of them do look weird, though, which does have some sort of impact over how young thug wanabees look like now.
But apart from that, yeah…I’m feeling underwhelmed by most of what they talk about or stand for.

#13

Love this one. He’s a bit hit / miss, but this is sick.

#14

Also, these two fucks. Amazing

#16

Wow :open_mouth:… that was whacked…but I couldn’t keep my eyes :eyes: off it and my ears :ear::ear:were astonished and confused… in a crazy good way.

I was kinda scared and laughing at the same time.

Weird…

#17

infinity cool

#18

Sound design wise … yeah … cool. The lyrics are a bit of let down though.:ghost:

#19

true. the other two tracks are rather weak too. But it’s good to hear that kind of production on a hiphop track

#20

Indeed… there is hope…

Truthfully … I hear some pretty good production and sound design in Rap. What is usually missing for me is the composition. … that seems to be very formulaic to the point where any deviation is refreshing… for a moment at least. The other weak point in Rap for me is the lyrics. I’ve heard some phenomenally creative and poignant lyrics… but mostly it’s “shock jock trash talk.” It just gets old…

Maybe I expect too much… or take it too seriously… I dunno…

#21

milo imo is doing right both formally and lyrically (though you might sometimes find him to indulge a bit much)

this one, previous to last, goes one step further in the direction of something like free-form hip-hop :

his self-produced mixtapes that he releases on his own on his bandcamp are drafty tracks that sound half improvised. Something’s going on here