imadroppa
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For those who say Rap has no tempo changes, listen to Alphabet Aerobics by Gift Of Gab.
Hip Hop: An Analysis
- Thread starter Ckaz
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samsquanch
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I often find myself being very centrist when it comes to arguments about hip hop. One one hand, I love 90's hip hop, Big L, Mobb Deep, Black Star being my 3 favorite. On the other I get, and agree with, statements that say musically there's no creativity or at least composition. But I also don't listen to hip hop for the same reasons I listen to classical/jazz/prog/etc., I listen to it because of the wordsmithing and the attitude.
I see hip hop as more of a narrative with a sound track, do you knock a movie for using a song that already exists instead of having a new song written specifically for that part? Probably not (unless you absolutely hate that song or it was just a poor choice), you may say to yourself, "Wow, that song really worked in that scene." It's the same thing for me with hip hop, the beat is often secondary (for me) to the words. When I think about the Big L song "Street Struck" I remember the lyrics and the message, yet barely remember the beat, and this does not detract from it, it's the message that's important here, not what sample is being used.
There are modern rappers that may be great, but honestly, I'm lazy these days when it comes to the genre, and don't search it out, or even really give it a listen like I used to. But I can say that modern radio stars are fairly lame, it has it's merit as party music, and something to pull pop culture tag lines from, but beyond that it has nothing to offer. Lil Wayne (is he even still relevant?) and the rest can claim to be the greatest all they want, but the fact of the matter is they can barely hold the mic of a true legend.
When it comes to the issue of cliche's in lyrics, every genre is guilty of that. How many times have you heard a rock singer shout about wanting to bone a hot girl, a metal singer scream about death, a country singer yodel about the green grass of the south, or an opera singer bellow about love/deceit/revenge/suicide? Genre's have themes, no big deal.
I see hip hop as more of a narrative with a sound track, do you knock a movie for using a song that already exists instead of having a new song written specifically for that part? Probably not (unless you absolutely hate that song or it was just a poor choice), you may say to yourself, "Wow, that song really worked in that scene." It's the same thing for me with hip hop, the beat is often secondary (for me) to the words. When I think about the Big L song "Street Struck" I remember the lyrics and the message, yet barely remember the beat, and this does not detract from it, it's the message that's important here, not what sample is being used.
There are modern rappers that may be great, but honestly, I'm lazy these days when it comes to the genre, and don't search it out, or even really give it a listen like I used to. But I can say that modern radio stars are fairly lame, it has it's merit as party music, and something to pull pop culture tag lines from, but beyond that it has nothing to offer. Lil Wayne (is he even still relevant?) and the rest can claim to be the greatest all they want, but the fact of the matter is they can barely hold the mic of a true legend.
When it comes to the issue of cliche's in lyrics, every genre is guilty of that. How many times have you heard a rock singer shout about wanting to bone a hot girl, a metal singer scream about death, a country singer yodel about the green grass of the south, or an opera singer bellow about love/deceit/revenge/suicide? Genre's have themes, no big deal.
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