I'm pretty picky when it comes to music. I will listen to some rap, but even then it is usually only selected artists/selected songs because the majority of it is lousy to say the least. The same could be said abou nu metal too.

I have been listening to "The Roots" lately. They are a rap/hip-hop/r&b group w/ some pretty decent musical ability. Their newest CD "Phrenology" is pretty good, and it does have some really excellent tracks on it ("The Seed 2.0" & "Break You Off" to name a couple).

With that said, I [b]HIGHLY[/b] recommend Beck-Sea Change. Wow, what an album! Not what you think of when you think of Beck at all.

"Rap is crap." That's my motto.

Rap is almost as bad as country!

I hate pretty much all modern rap, hip-hop, and r&b.  (eminem is pretty good tho')

on the other hand the old school rap, before gangsta rap took over was great stuff.  (Run DMC, Beasties, Grandmaster Flash...) some of it was serious, but a oot of it was just fun party music.

i'm partial to Sir Mix-A-Lot (only eminem is more skilled IMOHO)  Sir Mix-A-lot is also pro gun, anti gangbanger, and respectful to women.

HELL NO!!!!!!!

You have got to love a board where people weigh in just to make smart-ass comments, or just to say "hell no".  Ever wonder why the board runs so slow?  Maybe it's because of all the people with absolutely nothing to contribute that just have to type long winded "responses".
The question was, "can you suggest some rap music?"  If you can't, how about shut the fuck up and move on to the next topic?

Heh, too much coffee this AM? Your first line was "I know I'll catch hell for ...".

You were right!  

I'm in cmjohnsons corner on this one.  

Absolutley no redeeming value in this genre.

Not music at all.

Can't compare it to early rock-n-roll, as it actually takes talent and songwriting ability to create a rock-n-roll song, or any other music for that matter.

So, because I predicted that the nimrods would come out of the woodwork, that makes it ok?

rap sucks. it's not music, it's noise. If I'm going to listen to rap I might as well put my head up against a washing machine and listen to it "whum", instead. In fact the washing machine would be more enjoyable.....

$10 bucks says you're judging from what you've heard on the radio.  Another $10 says some of the underground hip hop artists are 100 times more articulate and well spoken then you will ever be.

The same type of statement you just made can be made for any genre, but I ask you this.  If it's just noise as easy as listening to your washer machine, why don't you take a stab at it.  Prove me wrong....it would be fun to see on Cribs with a gigantic house and a new Bentley.

As another touche, it's funny when the country "folk" chime in about music being crap.  There isn't one thing interesting about the country music genre, none of the artists is ever willing or going to break new ground and introduce something new.  I'll take an educated hip hop song about the lessons in life over a song about Jose Cuervo or a fat bitch thinking a tractor is sexy any day.

The end
p.s. I hate most mainstream [c]rap too

Don't care for rap.  Some sucks worse than others, but it all sucks.  I've given it many chances over the years, but I've never heard a single rap song I liked.

[img]photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/IG_LoadImage.asp?iImageUnq=476[/img]
[url=www.nra.org][b][red]NRA[/red][/url] [url=www.nra.org][blue]Life Member[/blue][/url]
[url=www.gunowners.org][b][red]GOA[/red] [/url] [url=www.gunowners.org][blue]Life Member[/blue][/url]
[url=www.saf.org][red]SAF[/red][/url] [url=www.saf.org][blue]Supporter[/blue][/url]
[url=sas-aim.org][red]SAS[/red][/url] [url=sas-aim.org][blue]Supporter[/blue][/b][/url]

Rap Sucks!!!!!!!!!

Read the post just above yours.

I know it's been said above but rap is not singing.  The beat and tempo to all the music(sic) sounds the same.

It sucks!

There's no doubt that 99% of rap is pure crap. However, I will admit to liking the following:

[b]Will Smith[/b]: Miami, Men in Black, Wild Wild West, Millenium.

[b]Young MC[/b]: Bust a Move (OLD!).

[b]Emminem[/b]: Please Stand Up, This Looks Like A Job For Me, Cleaning Out My Closet, I'm A Soldier.

Maybe one or two others.....SINCE 1980!

That's it. The rest of it can promptly be placed in the shitter.

Here's the problem with people who don't appreciate the artistic implications of rap. They generally want to deny the artists any talent in their own right and deem it a non-art form.

Like food, music is subject to taste. That being said, you can't discredit a chef's asparagus soufflé' as a well-prepared dish of gourmet fare simply because you don't like the taste. It is indeed gourmet food, and someone else may happen to find it delicious.

Likewise, to say that rap is not an art form and/or the artists are devoid of talent is uncultured at best.

While you may not enjoy the sounds, rap does require an extensive amount of talent to do well and on a professional level. Is it the same talent as Andreas Segovia on the nylon guitar? No. It's different.

As a musician myself, I can certainly attest to the rhythmic cadence necessary to rhyme -- much of which is written in an ad lib fashion. It's no secret that rhythm and spoken word are both deeply rooted in the black American culture. Spoken word is given a different sense of perspective in this community, hence, the continual evolution of 'jive' or 'ghetto talk'. To be able to say the same thing in creative, new ways is a talent that is regarded in the black community. Taking liberties with the King's English is a form of natural, creative expression that can only be understood if you have lived in, around, or been raised in the culture.

Rap has evolved from a combination of other performing arts and disciplines. Black American poetry has been a literary staple in the black community, spanning all the way back to the chants of slaves working in the plantation fields to present day school girls in the inner city making up jump rope chants to keep time.

Additionally, lacking the basic access musical instruments, poor blacks have resorted to other means of musical expression. Basic drumming is simple and can be done with any object. The voice is versatile and becomes an instrument to accompany the rhythm. It's a natural partnership for a low-budget street performance.

The vast array of human vocal capability can give uniqueness to an otherwise identical beat. You can use your mouth, tongue, cheeks, larynx, and breath in countless combinations to create phonetic enomes, sounds and utterances of many auditory flavors. Through the years, I have learned to listen to music in such a way where I consider the vocals as another instrument in the overall arrangement. Consequently, I have learned to appreciate rap as a bona fide form of artistic expression.

Rap artists all have unique voices and vocal styling, which creates the range of diversity between them. If all rap and rappers sound the same, then certainly they do in the same way that all country and country singers sound the same – they don’t. The rapid fire, staccato of Busta’ Rhymes’ style is very different than the melodic, slippery grooves of Nelly or the complex chording of the choral elements of Bone Thugs N’ Harmony.

So what about rapper’s subject matter and what they are saying? I already said that I listen more to the blended sounds of their voices with the overall production than I do the actual lyrics. Even a primitive, “Uh uh uh” or an expletive, “All my bitches and my ho’s” can blend with drums to add a styled nuance to the music. Other than that, artists tend to write about their experience and the experience of their audience. You generally want to make a connection with the audience and be able to relate to them in some way if you are going to gain their acceptance. That’s true across ALL genre of music.

Bitches, and the ho’s,
lickin’ gangstas drivin’ low,
with a muggin’,  and a killin’, thuggin’, illin’
makes a supersonic flava’
when it’s time to be a playa’ on the wax.

While you are rejecting the true cultural art form in favor of rock, jazz, even country, remember that the influence is there in such a way that none of these other, more modern genre of music would exist as they do without the root influences that have also spawned rap. In fact, even pop and rock have followed the trend as of late. Rural folk followed the trend before then (Arlo Guthrie? Charlie Daniels?) and Anthrax was on board in the early 80’s. Now bands like Linkin’ Park are all over the radio, but are nothing more than white, greaser rappers with a Les Gibson pumping through a Marshall stack.

No, I laughed silently...I know a little about it

There is some that I like - Eminem, Dre, Cube, Snoop... but I dislike most of it. The "Friday" movie trilogy is funny as hell, and I would recommend that and a few good 40s to anyone. [:)]

I'm solidly in the "(c)Rap is noise" camp.  Been that way since Blondie did that horrible "Rapture" song...that, my musically illiterate frineds, is the root of rap.  Yes, Debbie Harry is the queen mother of rap.  And she only was a rap dilettante.

That this post was started by one question of "good" rap suggestions only proves this to be a fleeting art form.  Would a fan of classical music need to ask such a question?

One of the best contextual definitions of an oxymoron is "professional rap musician".

Keith_J, I would have to disagree with you on your assertion that in the estimation of a fan of the genre ALL classical music is good.

I favor the baroque works of Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, or even Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. Through their masterful balance in arrangement, I can identify tranquil, spiritual quiescence evoked by their use of euphonious chord structures; while simultaneously experiencing an importunate sense of anxeity and suspense throughout the extended resolution of their mathematically complex countermelodies.

The enriched auditory experience of the lush,  baroque period is more appealing to me than the brash dissonance of Piotr Ilyitch Tchaikovsky, or the experimental, unwieldly stylings of György Ligeti.

GANG STARR drops june 20th

if it doesn't get bumped another month it is a must have for true rap fans.

I don't have any hangup with them. I love heavy, hardcore metal. White Zombie, Mudvayne, Pantera, are all on my shelf.

I disagree with you that Motown and soul will die out. Any genre which becomes the foundation for a subsequent genre will be retained. Life is given to a genre by the evolution in latter generations that it spawns. Ska was a quick blip on the rader. It fueled Zepplin, early and current punk, rockabilly, and even The Police. In and of itself, ska is more obscure than Motown can ever dream to be. Yet it lives on through it's grandchildren. Apply this same philosophy to Motown, and you find its children in disco, R&B, and now Rap, and even trance (Daft Punk comes to mind when thinking about the house derivative of Motown roots).

The 20th century was definately the age of musical exploration with so much evolution coming in such a short period of time (due to a contiguous, rapid evolution in communciation technology). It will be interesting to see how music changes going forward.

One thing I have already observed is the proliferation of genre with the ready availability of catalog (P2P/MP3). While the charts tend to fluctuate back and forth between rock and R&B for commercial domination, no longer will you be able to point to even a 1 year stretch and say "That was the grunge era" or "That was disco".

I think it's a wonderful kaleidoscope of flavor now.

What about beat boxing?.  Even if you hate rap, you have to admit the art of beat boxing is pretty amazing.  For those unfamiliar with it download Rahzel and Doug E Fresh.

I liked some of the west coast gangsta rap, but I REALLY friggin hate all this new bling rap (Pdiddy, 50 Cent, et. al.).

Even more, I'm repulsed with all the wiggers (Eminem included) walking around yapping "yo dog, that's tight".  I honestly would love take a big stick and smack them upside the head and knock some sense into them.

[stick] <--- kinda like that!

CMJohnson and others here obvioulsly do not know modern rap. Many artists such as Nappy Roots and Outkast not only rap on their albums, but also sing, produce and write their own music, and play instruments.

They also don't pretend to be gangsters or thugs and write some of the most instrospective, poetic lyrics of any modern musicians. They are also intelligent, well spoken, and have no criminal records.

I have met members of Nappy Roots at Western KY University, where they were attending classes and earning college degrees.

Their music inludes guitars, horns , pianos, harmonica, and many other instruments.
Nappy Roots lyrics are mostly about friends, family, and faith. The speak of being proud of being from the country, and being thankful to God for what they have, even though they grew up poor. They speak out against the use and selling of hard drugs and women selling themselves. They encourage people to be proud of who they are and not to try to be something you're not just o please others.


SAMPLE LYRICS:
Even though I picture better days,
I'm thankful for the chance I got to say amen
The Lord done blessed me with his grace, I wish this day would never end
We represent the slums, where we from, we feel they bump
Polish shot off on these presidents, and hardtimes they go and come
Some take up off, without the chance, to make it at all
Who woulda thought Skinny'd be the one that's, makin this call
Lord, help me out, tell me where I went wrong
I'm tryna find a righteous path, although it's, never been long
I gotta do it for my sons, they tellin me, "Daddy be strong"
We gon' make it through these hardtimes
even though they go and they come
Ya absolutely right, for somethin happen to me on last Tuesday night
It's plain as day, man they... with this World Trade
Naw brave any order but confoldure
Better make it home when nothin seems to matter
That's when, see, everything can go - any which way
They got me fooled, see the Henny with the J
Front po'ch, chillin broke, country folk, I'm Nappy with my ways yo

All my life been po'
But it really don't matter no mo'
And they wonder why we act this way
Nappy Boys gon' be okay
All my life been po'
But it really don't matter no mo'
And they wonder why we act this way
Nappy Roots gon' be okay, okay


Why make blanket statements about a type of music or a type of people based on a few? That is the same type of B.S. that screws us on gun rights. Liberals try to paint us all like crazed militia members or gun-toting menaces based on the public's willingness to accept an opinion of many based on the actions of a few.

Because they are ignorant and try to attach their bias against a particular demographic to an art form they exclusively associate with that demographic. That way, they can rationalize their position that it isn't art, doesn't take talent, or is devoid of any redeeming value without any psychological backlash.

It's the same mindfuck anti-gunners use to ignore reality.

Well spoken Ben. It is a shame how many here don't realize how thier biases affect all of us and our cause in a negative way.

I'll keep this short.  Rap music as an art form has a lot to be desired.  In street language, it sucks.

That's my contribution, my opinion and my expression of free speech.  I suggest that if you can't handle the responses then don't post.

[b]"Truth, you want the truth?  You can't handle the truth!"  Jack Nicholson in "A Few Good Men."[/b]

That's cool. I already said it's a matter of taste. I don't like those Tiny Tim and Engelbert Humperdink LPs of yours either.

[:D]

He did not ask for opinions, he asked if those who do like rap, could suggest some artists to listen to. Unfortunately, he got the same kind of "it sucks" crap people get when they ask a specific question about a certain type of gun or ammo.

Maybe, depending on the level of sophistication of the person saying it. A lot of people associate country with redneck hillbilly. I tell them the same thing I am saying about the guys who are using their aversion to a demographic to discard rap as a performance art.

"Tip toe through the Garden, through the tulips that's where I'll be.  Just tip toe though the tulips with meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee."  

Damn, it scares me that I know the words. [8D]
Edited to add:  That song sucks also.



Hi Tom,

When you're around here a little longer you will realize that we say what we want when we want.  A lot of posts go off in various directions.  That's what makes it fun and interesting.

"Put your hands in the air like you just don't care."
 

Hello Rambosky,
Maybe when you live a little longer, you will realize that sometimes, people have valid questions that they would like helpfull answers too, rather than criticism and smart-ass opinions from people who don't know the answer to the question.
Thanks for the tip though.

Thomas_A_Anderson,

I sent you an instant message to take this off line.  We have some things to discuss but not in public. [;D]

Rambosky, your box is full. Please empty it so I can respond.

Thomas_A_Anderson,

Done.

... Go download [i]"Crystal Method - Tweekend"[/i] [b]norman74[/b], it is bitchin' rap/rock/fastfusion. You will like it.

... [b]lordtrader[/b] turned me onto them.

I like the old stuff. Cool and the gang, Grand MAster flash, and the Ice-T Body count album. I mainly stick to heavy metal though. Black Sabbath rules!

I've been here longer than you and it's still obnoxious.  Most of the time it comes from people that can't or won't do it in public, so they hide behind a keyboard and smart off.


BTW, I am usually called a racist on this board, and I like rap.  I also like country, as long as it sounds like country.  I don't care how patriotic a song that tracy bird lawrence black writes, modern country still sucks big fat horrible ass.  For anyone who actually listens to country music on the radio to call rap "non-music" is pathetic.  Talk about a herd/sheep mentality, look no further than the modern country/western fan.

norman, there is a type of music listener that ONLY listens to the content/meaning of the lyrics. They have no interest in the actual score so long as the words make sense and it promotes a message they agree with.... those cultureless fucks that they are.... [:D]

and it's 100% legal!  You'll be someones boyfriend one day (jail)