Hip-Hop PSA

[quannum]

The other side of this, of course, is when people think anticon and sage francis are worth listening to...

[Plow]

http://streetknowledge.files.wordpre...nas-nigger.jpg

not sure if I'll get banned for saying

Spoiler: show

nigger

but you can not say that this album was trying to be mainstream.

Yeah, definitely not trying to be mainstream, that's why the first single was released to the radio over a month before the album.

That's why he has a shoe deal.

That's why he had a huge fake rap war bullshit thing going on to promote one of his albums.


I mean, surely he wasn't using the word nigger to try to garner attention and sell albums while literally proclaiming to be the new voice of social progress for minorities or anything.



99.999999% of rap sucks ass because it's completely full of shit. Nobody's ever compared to Outkast's best work, eminem's shit before it all became "I'm so rich it sucks so much boohoo," people like tech n9ne rapping about trying to deal with being a dad and a husband and trying to break into the gangsta rap scene at the same time, krs-one going on about legitimate direct social concerns instead of "george bush doesn't care about black people" etc. etc., because that shit was honest and real, and this bullshit is not.

[Seanr]

Plies is the greatest rapper of all time. No seriously though.. while we're on the subject... I always wish BIG recorded more material :/

[vagus]

Urban music has evolved so much in the past 15 years. Many sub genres have devoloped from hip-hop. Many people confuse hip-hop with rap. Hip-hop still exists, it's however no longer mainstream. Real hip-hop is back to it's roots, the underground. Rap and (C)rap has taken over the popular airwaves. (C)rap to me are artists like Souljah Boy, Blackeyed Peas, Drake, Bow Wow etc etc. I love hip-hop artists like Wale, The Cool Kids, Classified (Canadian hip-hop), Bliss N Eso (Australia) & just to name a few. But I also dig the rap that's out there as well T.I., Twista, Fabo, Slaughterhouse etc etc.

With the internet and .mp3s, people should be listening to more urban music and stop the hating. I'll be honest if it wasn't for the net i would have never discovered some of the artists I love. On a side note, check out Swollen Members, the best hip-hop group from BC, Canada.

[Deejay]

It was plainly obvious that Nas was trying to play the CONTROVERSIAL card with his new album. It tried to like it, but he spent so much time trying to critique other rappers that he forgot to make a good album.

I can't hate Nas too much though, because one mic is one of the best rap songs of all time.

[TomodachiF]

Ridiculous statements. I've listened from, Eric B and Rakim to NWA to Lil Wayne and love it. No such thing as "real hip hop". Get a clue. All a matter of taste. I can't help but laugh when people say Lil Wayne isn't a good rapper, some of the stuff he says is outrageous, creative, and clever. He throws around a lot of metaphors and similes and people who don't give him his credit are stuck in the past. Mainstream does NOT always = bad.

Bunch of old farts who're mad they're once idolized god isn't on top.

Edit: And to the people blaming southern music for the "demise"...hip hop is a representation of the culture around you. Southern hip hop is how (we) the south feel about our culture. Get off the west/east coast dick-tip (and yes I do love west/east coast music)

[untouchable]

Mainstream does NOT always = bad.

Bunch of old farts who're mad they're once idolized god isn't on top.

real fuckin talk!

[Alvinho]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned this yet, but Hip-Hop isn't a music genre, it's a culture. Over 9000 people will agree that four elements make up the Hip-Hop culture are: Rap(MCing), Graffiti, BBoying and Scratching.

Without going into it too much, all Rap (music genre) is Hip-Hop (culture), but Hip-Hop (culture) isn't all Rap (music genre). There are, however, subgenres of rap, like gangsta rap, crunk, etc. Being more, or less mainstream/ghetto/blingy/stupid/awesome/underground doesn't make something be ‘‘hip-hoppy’’, nor does it warrant the music itself to be called hip-hop, as a genre of music, since no such thing exists.

-----

Regarding the PSA, the message holds truth, but the execution fails on many different levels. I think the beat to the song was poorly chosen, as it actually has a nice ring to it, and the song/skit is becoming more popular by the hour, but for the wrong reasons. It's like Bamboozled in 1:40, only with less deaths.

-----

Also, I like Rap. I DJ'd many years @ a club called Paladium in Broward County, FL, and catered to a rap audience of mostly white suburban teenagers. Needless to say, mainstream was in heavy rotation, and things like Crunk were mostly prohibited by the club owner, since every kid had to show how hard he was, and fights would often break out, fueled by stuff like ‘‘Never Scared’’ and ‘‘Knuck if you Buck’’.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say, and like others have said, not all mainstream is bad. IT mainly depends on what you're looking for. 80% of the time, I personally enjoy the beats more than the lyrics, specially if I'm out dancing at a club. The last thing I need when I'm trying to unwind and have fun, is having social issues blasted into my brain. Get that shit out. Save it for whem I'm in the car, or cleaning my room.

I haven't really been following Rap for the last year or so, so I'm not up to par on who's hot and who's not at the moment, but there are mainstream artists who are worth listening to. I don't think I should mention any, because I hardly think it'll matter (opinions, etc.), but I generally tend to stay away from ‘‘underground’’ artists, because imo, they try too hard to carry that label. The so-called conscious MCs rap about things of more relevance than bling/drugs/women, but I personally don't consider them underground, since a lot of mainstream media showcase their work, or at least expose them to mass audiences, so they don't really fit into my last sentence (dudes like Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Common, et al.).

[Diamicles]

In terms of hip hop being a culture, I couldn't agree more.

GO HOME HIP HOP

Pretty self explanitory. If you love hip hop or just want to learn a little more about what GHHH is, take a look. It's a pretty solid movement for the hip hop culture.

[tyven]

white rapper show had the best rappers

[Day]

Slaughterhouse coming on Aug. 11. and Royce's solo album coming very soon as well.

[MrW]

Slaughterhouse coming on Aug. 11. and Royce's solo album coming very soon as well.

I used to hate Budden but Slaughterhouse is pretty damn good. Royce, Joel and Budden been stepping it up lately.

It was plainly obvious that Nas was trying to play the CONTROVERSIAL card with his new album. It tried to like it, but he spent so much time trying to critique other rappers that he forgot to make a good album.

I can't hate Nas too much though, because one mic is one of the best rap songs of all time.

This statement made my day. I couldn't have explained it better myself. At first I thought the same thing, that he wasn't trying to be mainstream. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt seeing as though his first few albums were some of the best I've ever heard. But then I remember the HUGE cop out when he changed the name of the album before it dropped because he was catching a lot of heat for it. I've lost a good deal of respect for NAS last few years and this is a prime example of why today's "hip hop" (if you can even call it that anymore) is LESS creative (interchangable with shitty) than it used to be.

Yeah, definitely not trying to be mainstream, that's why the first single was released to the radio over a month before the album.

That's why he has a shoe deal.

That's why he had a huge fake rap war bullshit thing going on to promote one of his albums.


I mean, surely he wasn't using the word nigger to try to garner attention and sell albums while literally proclaiming to be the new voice of social progress for minorities or anything.



99.999999% of rap sucks ass because it's completely full of shit. Nobody's ever compared to Outkast's best work, eminem's shit before it all became "I'm so rich it sucks so much boohoo," people like tech n9ne rapping about trying to deal with being a dad and a husband and trying to break into the gangsta rap scene at the same time, krs-one going on about legitimate direct social concerns instead of "george bush doesn't care about black people" etc. etc., because that shit was honest and real, and this bullshit is not.

"A meteor has more right than my people"

I remember that bar to this day lol. Rap was so good because of how genuine it was. Those artists found ways of telling stories and talking about topics that were being dealt with (or ignored) during that period. Today's rap is filled with singing hooks and telling us how cool they are because they throw money in the air at the strip club while drinking massive amounts of alcohol. Really? Give me a fucking break. People who say today's rap isn't dead needs to go pick up a cassette of Rakim, Talib, 2pac, Inspectah Deck, Mos Def, KRS-One, etc.

[Mizango]

ITT: White folks discussing commercial rap.


Get on some Lupe, Cormega, Talib, Common or Mos Def or shut the fuck up with this MTV and VH1 bullshit. Deejay hit it right on the head with what Nas has contributed, for the record the album is simply "N". Then again you'd have to know Nas and the whole QB thing to get where he is coming from with that.

[Mizango]

This is just going to turn into a poor (white) man's +1 thread with shit like...

"This sucks", "lolrap", "hip hop sucks" etc..

I'm just tryin' to get mines.

[Mizango]

Real talk.

[Day]

Take your salt outta here, this is general, we were having a fine discussion. Don't act like you the only one who knows about lupe, mos def etc.. damn miz.

[Mizango]

Saltin' game is what I do.

[Day]

I'm not sure you even read the thread.

[MrW]

Speaking of QB, I couldn't stand the Bravehearts. They were like the Outlaws. Anyway carry on.

(Killah Priest's new album is pretty decent. So is Scarface's)

[tyven]

I'm not sure you even read the thread.

he didnt, he just came in guns blazing with typical mizango bravado. because i am the only white person here saying that real hip hop is about bitches, money, guns, drugs, dubs