Rap stars flaunt $$, rock stars don't

Thumbing My Way

D Lo Brown wrote:

Trust me, it really wouldn't be that difficult to refute such well thought out statements such as:



But what would be the point? You clearly see the world through broad generalizations and stereotypes - and I'm not so sure anything I say will change that.

The original post said "rap stars" therefore, i was under the impression that he was in fact talking about: 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Kanye West.etc

I'm sorry but everything by these guys all sounds the same to me, that Golddigger song by Kanye West was probably one of the worst songs released in 2005, it's awful!!!

I'm not stereotyping, just stating my opinion on these particular type of rapper's, (the mainstream ones). I honestly don't think that these guys are talented. It's pretty easy to steal a beat from an old song and turn it into a rap song, i dunno, i just don't get it. Play an instrument then get back to me (directed at the rappers)

StuffnJunk

Echoes wrote:

Hahah I love watching people who know dick all about rap talk shit about it.

well i started this post........some people have said that "rap is crap", but i never said that or anything about the level of talent involved........all i meant was that if you take the major rap artists featured on MTV and BET and compare them to the rock bands on MTV2 and Fuse, you see this difference in money being flaunted/not flaunted

mind you, i am 29 and all i listen to is PEARL JAM, so i really don't know dick all about any of these artists, it is just a broad generalization i found interesting (and that i knew would spark at least 3 pages of heated responses)

D Lo Brown

StuffnJunk wrote:

.all i meant was that if you take the major rap artists featured on MTV and BET and compare them to the rock bands on MTV2 and Fuse, you see this difference in money being flaunted/not flaunted

and if you knew more about the history of rock star excess, you'd see that there's not much of a difference.

D Lo Brown

Thumbing My Way wrote:

The original post said "rap stars" therefore, i was under the impression that he was in fact talking about: 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Kanye West.etc

YOUR post didn't specify anything.

I'm sorry but everything by these guys all sounds the same to me,

I bet it would to someone with a narrow mind.

that Golddigger song by Kanye West was probably one of the worst songs released in 2005, it's awful!!!

So you didn't like one song. who cares?

I'm not stereotyping,

bwahahahahahahahahaha

just stating my opinion on these particular type of rapper's, (the mainstream ones).

We know it's your opinion. Thanks for pointing that out though...

I honestly don't think that these guys are talented.

That's because you don't understand what they're doing.

It's pretty easy to steal a beat from an old song and turn it into a rap song,

It's SLIGHLTY more complicated than that.

i dunno, i just don't get it.

Smartest thing you've said yet.

Thumbing My Way

D Lo Brown wrote:

YOUR post didn't specify anything.

Fair Enough

D Lo Brown wrote:

I bet it would to someone with a narrow mind.

I have a narrow mind because i have a certain opinion on rap?????

D Lo Brown wrote:

That's because you don't understand what they're doing.

Tell me then...what are they doing???

You seem to be an expert yet you haven't came up with anything in any of your posts. You've just insulted other peopple's posts, so tell me, what are they doing.

Because IMO they're poisoning the minds of so many young people. Music has such an impact on people, why is there so much violence, people aren't shooting people in clubs while Nothingman's on, girls get treated like crap these days, but..well they are treated like shit in rap songs too.

I honestly think that rap plays such a huge role in many of today's problems (mainstream crap) (just specifying for you this time D-Lo). Somebody like Eminem or 50 Cent, that has a huge impact on kids and like it or not is a role model, could send a positive message through his lyrics, but no, lets talk (because that is what they're doing ...talking) about shootings, and "hoes" and all that other garbage.

my2hands

Thumbing My Way wrote:

Rock & Roll takes talent (real rock & roll)

These rapper's are not talented!!! i don't understand how people can't see this.

Every fuckin song is about the same thing, and it is all shit!!!!!!!!There is probably 3, maybe 4 different categories a rapper can sing a song about:

Having Sex.....good one...does there have to be a "club" mentioned in every song???

Drugs
Their cars, money and houses (jewelry too...can't forget that)
Or maybe i dunno trying to act tough in their lyrics while they're sitting up in their huge house and shit...

I'm sorry but i think that rap is the absolute lowest form of music, and that these mindless, untalented (artists??...ya right) people flaunt that because they have no real perception on what music is all about. They do it for the fame and money and crap, and i mean sure if that comes along with it, and an honest rock band can make a living than great. But to get into it for that reason is wrong.

please see KRS-1...talib kweli...common...outkast...kanye west for the better side of rap

Thumbing My Way

my2hands wrote:

please see KRS-1...talib kweli...common...outkast...kanye west for the better side of rap

I will look into this

Jellyrolls

Rap doesn't suck. A lot does but not all.
Check out Outkast.

They are still making beats and songs...
They are also one of the musical groups ever IMO..including rock

Echoes

StuffnJunk wrote:

mind you, i am 29 and all i listen to is PEARL JAM, so i really don't know dick all about any of these artists, it is just a broad generalization

And there you have it folks.

Three Crooked Hearts

Thumbing My Way wrote:

I honestly think that rap plays such a huge role in many of today's problems (mainstream crap) (just specifying for you this time D-Lo). Somebody like Eminem or 50 Cent, that has a huge impact on kids and like it or not is a role model, could send a positive message through his lyrics, but no, lets talk (because that is what they're doing ...talking) about shootings, and "hoes" and all that other garbage.

i happen to disagree. i don't think 50 cent owns anything to anyone, including sending a positive message to the kids. guys like him grew up in an environment where all they knew was shootings and "all that garbage." wasn't he himself shot like 10 times? he simply talks about what he knows and people seem to buying his records. just because he's made into the mainstream does not automatically mean he must become a positive role model for the children. he does what he does, makes money off it, why should he change because he's a bad role model for kids???

similarily, his record company would probably object if 50 cent turned Bono-esque preaching about third world debt, the aids crisis africa. like it or not, this gimmick works, and lots of people--not just 50 cent--are making impressive sums of money. kids living in secure middle class neighbourhoods are drawn this rebellion, angst, and thugness they hear in rap music. it is enticing for them to get caught up into aura of violence but at the end of the day have a meal on the table, a comfortable bed to climb into, and so 50 cent becomes a sort of mystical character and a fantasy world for these kids. it's like what early rock n' roll was kids back in the 50s and 60s; a denegerate
form of "music" that parents were all in arms about. today, those artists are in the rock n' roll hall of fame and deemed as the voice of their generation.

pearl jam rules

i actually like a lot of what 50 and 'the game' have been doing in rap recently. it's not the greatest rap music but it's not the worst either

the bottom line here is that rap is ridiculously similar to rock music currently in many ways because you have your true artists and the ones who suck ass. i completely agree that the majority of rap on mtv is all about flaunting bling and talking about bitches. does that mean that all rap is bad? no. just like there are underground or "indie" rock artists, there are also underground rap artists as well, rapping about social issues, etc. if you're going strictly off of what's played on mtv, i could make a strong argument that all rock music sucks right now too, and we all know that that's not entirely true.

StuffnJunk

StuffnJunk wrote:

it is just a broad generalization i found interesting (and that i knew would spark at least 3 pages of heated responses)

and THERE you have it folks

musicismylife78

I agree with the original poster, indeed music is commercialized and wealth and how big your house is and how expensive your car is are popular.

However, I think hip hop gets negatively stereotyped.

I agree 50 cent and p diddy and nelly are all crap. They arent saying anything productive or socially conscious and arent speaking out on behalf of millions of poor blacks who listen. They could serve as spokesmen but refuse to. P diddy's making the band show on mtv is a disgrace. harriet Tubman went back after she escaped and help others to escape. P diddy could care less. Mainstream rap is crap.

However so is mainstream rock. You seem to suggest rock music right now is political and positive and powerful and sincere. Its none of that.
Nickelback, 3 doors down etc... all are crap.

There is no positive social message, no political content, no great message at all. You think the rock on mtv right now is great? You must be kidding.

Mainstream rap is crap. But the underground has powerful rhymes and political messages. They speak more about whats actually going on in harlem and south central than how much bling they got.

Same with rock or country for that matter. Turn on mtv or CMT, is this music that serves a positive purpose?

I miss the early 90's.

All true music is found in the underground. You aint going to find great music on your local radio station.

When I want to buy a cd of a band in the underground, I have to search it out. Yet I go to a cd store and I have no trouble seeing where the Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears cd;s are. It should be the other way around.

I would get the story straight. The commericialism and crap in rap has nothing to do with race. Its about money.

StuffnJunk

Cheguevara6 wrote:

You seem to suggest rock music right now is political and positive and powerful and sincere. Its none of that.
Nickelback, 3 doors down etc... all are crap.

There is no positive social message, no political content, no great message at all. You think the rock on mtv right now is great? You must be kidding.

my main point was basically rap stars dress fancy, and rock stars dress shitty, and neither would be caught dead doing the opposite............i never said anything about talent or quality of music

trust me, i know nickelback sucks

Mr. Funkalicious

Echoes wrote:

Hahah I love watching people who know dick all about rap talk shit about it.

Same here!

Thumbing My Way

I'm gunna bump this up because i told you guys that i would try and find some positve, non-mainstream crap.

I found a song called See You When You Get There by Coolio

It's awesome, it has a real positive message and i just think it's a well written song, so there...lol...i really did enjoy this song and i thought, wow, now here's how rap should be

El_Kabong

this is only true of mainstream rap...to compare the whole genre to it is like comparing all of rock to creed.

there are plenty of rap artists that talk about things other than money, drugs, sex...but these artists also have integrity so they don't sell out for marketablitly so you never really hear or see them.

Thumbing My Way

El_Kabong wrote:

this is only true of mainstream rap...to compare the whole genre to it is like comparing all of rock to creed.

there are plenty of rap artists that talk about things other than money, drugs, sex...but these artists also have integrity so they don't sell out for marketablitly so you never really hear or see them.

Very well said

El_Kabong

Thumbing My Way wrote:

I'm gunna bump this up because i told you guys that i would try and find some positve, non-mainstream crap.

I found a song called See You When You Get There by Coolio

It's awesome, it has a real positive message and i just think it's a well written song, so there...lol...i really did enjoy this song and i thought, wow, now here's how rap should be

check out Aesop Rock, especially his 2nd album 'Labor Days' His first one is good, too, but the writing is not as focused, imo

and to quote ani difranco "hip hop is tied up in the backroom w/ a logo stuffed in it's mouth'