Hip-Hop Music

[snarkyfish]

I said REAL HIPHOP!!!

Com'on my people. Where are ya? I hope some of the old thread veterans find their way here to talk from one true hiphop head to another about the art of hiphop and the artists making that artform.

And of course the pretenders and the posers that pollute the waters at times. Because otherwise where would the snark be? But I suppose we have the Celeb section for individual attacks. This place hopefully will serve as a venue to discuss the music, what we think of it, the albums out now or set to be released and the oldies we love and the stuff we really don't like and aren't feeling despite the hype.

I loved reading that old thread. Here's hoping this new one is even better.

Y'all out there!!? Come holla!

[newmy]

No responses yet? Hopefully some hip hop fans will come out of the woodwork. And maybe someone can shed some light on an issue that I recently came upon.

I listen to XM's Raw hip hop station and there's been a cut in heavy rotation lately called "Biter". I never paid much attention to it until today and realized that it's basically clips of Biggie rhyming, then Jay-Z rhyming the same lyrics in his songs. Between each clip pair, it has Jay-Z rapping "I'm a biter, not a writer". I googled this and found a lot of sites discussing how Jay-Z blantantly, and copiously, rips off other artists, namely Biggie. I've never been more than a casual Jay-Z fan, I just like a few of his songs, so I never realized what a repeat plagiarist he is. If he's so bad about this, and people realize it, I'm surprised he has as much industry cred as he does.

[foxfair]

Well I could talk about my great love and admiration for Eminem all day but I took loads of shit for it back at FT and don't want to get into that again.

[queequeg]

Well, I love A Tribe Called Quest but I don't have much time for most modern hip-hop. I think the genre's in a kind of creative slump at the moment but I think Eminem is a hell of a lot better than asshats like 50 cent so feel free to admire him here Foxfair.

[foxfair]

So who's responsible for hip hop's current rut? If it is in a rut? I am deliberately asking a simplistic question here, and I think my answer would include a healthy dosage of P(rick) Diddy.

I am wildly interested in the issues surrounding hip hop. I know many, many people who would cringe and affect shocked-face if they even caught a hint of a racist comment, but who would NEVER consider listening to hip hop because "it's not music it's just shouting/talking" etc. I dunno, I don't in any way think that's an inherently racist thing to say, but way to write of a whole, huge, rich genre that you probably know very little about, doofus. A friend's mother told me she turns the radio off whenever a hip hop sounding song comes on because "it's just black men saying fuck". And this woman is a huge lefty/PC/liberal type. I guess what I am trying to say in my wordy and convoluted way is I think a lot of subverted general/societal tensions go into hip hop - not just into the music/by the artists, but also in terms of being projected onto hip hop by other people.

[gloworm]

yay...we can 'speak our piece" here?
hehe....it was taken away previously.

I got nothing on hiphop. I haven't listened to any new stuff in a while. Just doesn't move me anymore.

[snarkyfish]

Ludacris' rhymes always make me laugh. Just caught his latest vid on TV. Outlandish as usual. And is that Mini-me he's carrying and got strapped in a baby pouch wearing a big afro? Luda, Luda. Gotta love him.

[vegasusa555]

I just wanted to come in and speak my piece (haha, so witty I am!). I am kinda depressed by hip-hop because it is really bad lately (I'm looking at you 50 Cent! I mean, seriously....Candy Shop?).

The only hip hop that gets interest out of me lately is anything from Eminem, TI, or Jay Z (The Black Album is still on rotation in my cd player now).

So who's responsible for hip hop's current rut? If it is in a rut? I am deliberately asking a simplistic question here, and I think my answer would include a healthy dosage of P(rick) Diddy.

GAWD foxfair! You could not be more right! I don't know why people say he's talented. I think to him, producing means going into your mom's old records, taking a perfectly good 80's R&B song, adding bass, and allowing a shitty rapper to talk over it. HATE HIM!!!

[underjoyed]

I just wanted to come in and speak my piece (haha, so witty I am!). I am kinda depressed by hip-hop because it is really bad lately (I'm looking at you 50 Cent! I mean, seriously....Candy Shop?).

I know. The first time I heard that song I nearly clawed the radio out of my car with my bare hands. What in hell is that all about?

Take heart, though. It's not that hip-hop itself has gotten really bad lately, so much as the quality of much (though by no means all) of what gets air-time is so godawful.

Good shit can be found if you go looking (although it's a shame that you have to make an effort). I'm thinking particularly here of Talib Kweli, Hi-Tek and Mr. Lif. I'm also partial to a little Mos Def and have lately been lucky enough to come across Saul Williams, who I encountered first on a Blackalicious album (Blazing Arrow) and who I can't say enough about. Raw, brilliant and intelligent. In fact, one of his better tracks ("Penny for a Thought") has alot to say about the current state of hip-hop.

That being said, people who take a principled stand against music or artists, from whatever genre, on the grounds that they get played on mainstream radio have always bugged, but I have to admit that for the last few years I've been listening to more and more of the kind of hip-hop that lies off the beaten path and wondering why I didn't start earlier.

[gloworm]

Common, "BE, has leaked.

The newsroom is following this breaking news story and we'll keep you updated as information comes to us.

Back to you guys now.