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Post by divasahm on Feb 28, 2015 15:22:30 GMT -4
Do you think that part of the reason we're not more familiar with Kanye's output is because FCC regulations prohibit a lot of his language from broadcast? When I drove a vanload of kids to San Antonio recently, they plugged in some rap and hiphop that had my ears burning--and I'm not easily thrown by that. It wasn't just language, it was context and subject matter--and I can completely understand why radio stations are not playing this music. They'd have had to bleep 75% of the lyrics.
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eveschmeve
Sloane Ranger
Posts: 2,329
Mar 7, 2005 15:24:15 GMT -4
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Post by eveschmeve on Feb 28, 2015 16:41:38 GMT -4
Nah, I don't think that's it. Read the lyrics to Thrift Shop by Macklemore- there is a TON of swearing in it, but they edit them out for radio. Kanye might actually use profanity less than other artists, he's said that he tries to edit some of it out and not use it as much.
I think Kanye more interested in putting out albums than singles, and that's why his music isn't as well known. 808's and Heartbreak, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Yeezus are all pretty comprehensive albums and statements. I don't think he approaches an album like a typical artist would- like, what's the lead single, and what's going to do well on radio. Kanye's first albums are a bit more like that, but I think it's because he had to break into the business that way. Now he doesn't have to do that, he has more control over his work.
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Post by Matilda on Mar 1, 2015 13:34:56 GMT -4
Did you see Kanye's Brits performance? Half of it had to be dubbed out, and the "performance" was basically an angry man shouting on a stage with people with blow torches hanging around in the background. The reason a lot of people aren't familiar with his work after the Gold digger/Stronger/Diamonds era is because it's a lot less commercial now, and doesn't appeal to the casual listener.
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mementomori
Landed Gentry
Leaning Into Impermanence
Posts: 926
Feb 3, 2013 0:34:44 GMT -4
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Post by mementomori on Mar 1, 2015 14:04:32 GMT -4
Did you see Kanye's Brits performance? Half of it had to be dubbed out, and the "performance" was basically an angry man shouting on a stage with people with blow torches hanging around in the background. The reason a lot of people aren't familiar with his work after the Gold digger/Stronger/Diamonds era is because it's a lot less commercial now, and doesn't appeal to the casual listener. Gotta disagree with you there. That particular performance was unappealing, yes, but he's released music that is commercially appealing after the singles you listed. My Dark Twisted Fantasy was released after Gold Digger/Stronger/Diamonds and had some extremely commercial singles like "Power", "All of the Lights", and especially "Monster(wherein FYI Nicki Minaj shows all the male artists how it's done)." Now Kanye is definitely unraveling, I'm not arguing that, but the black-assed truth is rap does not get the love it deserves on radio. It's still relegated to urban radio.
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Post by Hamatron on Mar 1, 2015 15:02:24 GMT -4
Yep.
It's very obvious. Bruno Mars can get Top 40 airplay with a song where he sings in detail about having crazy animal sex with a woman while drunk and high. Meanwhile, popular rap songs with very little profanity about being pulled over by the cops or how 9-11 is slow to service poor neighborhoods get no airplay. If something does make it to the radio, it's usually a song about clothing or partying, which perpetuates stereotypes about rap music.
ETA: One of the biggest songs in rap is Ice Cube's "It was a Good Day." It has some strong language, but could be easily cleaned up. It's an iconic song, it captures the sound of '90s L.A. rap. It's a song that is about 20 years old. I have never heard it on the radio. It's like if Michael Jackson's "Beat It" had gone on to be just as successful and famous, but never got airplay.
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SApril
Blueblood
Posts: 1,262
Mar 17, 2005 17:35:34 GMT -4
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Post by SApril on Mar 1, 2015 16:17:12 GMT -4
Yep. It's very obvious. Bruno Mars can get Top 40 airplay with a song where he sings in detail about having crazy animal sex with a woman while drunk and high. Meanwhile, popular rap songs with very little profanity about being pulled over by the cops or how 9-11 is slow to service poor neighborhoods get no airplay. If something does make it to the radio, it's usually a song about clothing or partying, which perpetuates stereotypes about rap music. ETA: One of the biggest songs in rap is Ice Cube's "It was a Good Day." It has some strong language, but could be easily cleaned up. It's an iconic song, it captures the sound of '90s L.A. rap. It's a song that is about 20 years old. I have never heard it on the radio. It's like if Michael Jackson's "Beat It" had gone on to be just as successful and famous, but never got airplay. For you to have never heard It Was A Good Day or any song by Jay Z other than Run This Town on the radio, is on you and what radio stations you listen to. Ice Cube's song peaked at #15 on the Hot 100 and Jay Z's Empire State of Mind was #1 for five weeks. I grew up in Portland, OR. We had one R&B station that rarely played rap and Z100, that played everything.
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Post by Hamatron on Mar 1, 2015 17:23:57 GMT -4
I don't know that it's on me so much as it's on the radio stations available where I live. I've lived in MI, OH, and MN. Growing up in OH, there was no station that played rap. In MN, there are a few, but you can't get them everywhere, and there's not a whole lot of variety.
I can hear rap music on the radio via the internet nowadays, but I won't hear it listening to local radio. It sounds like things are different on the West Coast versus the Midwest. We have one old-school R&B/hip-hop station here, and it's super spotty, hard to get, and more into obscure/deep tracks. We had an "urban" station a few years ago, but it mostly played Top 40 R&B, and was replaced by an indie rock station.
ETA: I did qualify my statement earlier that I'm talking about radio specifically where I live. I have no idea what's going on with radio stations across the country outside of a few I have saved on my iPad...
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Post by FotoStoreSheila on Mar 1, 2015 17:37:00 GMT -4
I grew up in a smallish Canadian city on Lake Superior. We had two pop stations, one rock station, one smooth jazz and one country station. I never heard a rap song on the radio until 1987, and even then, it was 'Fight for the Right' (Beastie Boys) and 'I Need Love' by LL. I went to college in the 90s so by then hip hop had become more mainstream and I had access to shows like Yo! MTV Raps.
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Post by Hamatron on Mar 1, 2015 17:52:00 GMT -4
Yeah! Yo! MTV Raps and my friends stealing tapes from their siblings and making copies was how I got into rap as a kid. Good times.
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SApril
Blueblood
Posts: 1,262
Mar 17, 2005 17:35:34 GMT -4
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Post by SApril on Mar 1, 2015 19:11:58 GMT -4
I don't know that it's on me so much as it's on the radio stations available where I live. I've lived in MI, OH, and MN. Growing up in OH, there was no station that played rap. In MN, there are a few, but you can't get them everywhere, and there's not a whole lot of variety. I can hear rap music on the radio via the internet nowadays, but I won't hear it listening to local radio. It sounds like things are different on the West Coast versus the Midwest. We have one old-school R&B/hip-hop station here, and it's super spotty, hard to get, and more into obscure/deep tracks. We had an "urban" station a few years ago, but it mostly played Top 40 R&B, and was replaced by an indie rock station. ETA: I did qualify my statement earlier that I'm talking about radio specifically where I live. I have no idea what's going on with radio stations across the country outside of a few I have saved on my iPad... I'm guess I'm a little confused by your original statement that the only Jay Z song you've ever heard on the radio is Run This Town. And outside of that song, only Macklmore or Eminem. If they played Run This Town, they played N*****s in Paris or Empire State of Mind. The latter two were bigger hits on the same charts and radio formats.
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