[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oicdn /img/forum/go_quote.gif That's pretty ignorant, IMO. You should spell "artists" too, lol. An example? James Brown.....you think James Brown sucks? He's one of the fathers of hip-hop.... You know hip-hop really encompasses funk, R&B, jazz to an extent, rap, turntablism, and soul right? Also, some other genres of music.

Don't forget rock. Boogie Down Productions sampled AC/DC on "Dope Beat" from their classic Criminal Minded album twenty years ago. Even before that, Run DMC recorded "Rock Box" with blazing lead guitar from (I think) the guitarist from Quiet Riot. They also recorded a series of other rap/rock fusions, like "King of Rock." Public Enemy famously recorded a version of "Bring the Noise" with Anthrax. Don't forget LL Cool J's "Rock the Bells." Mos Def led a flat-out rock band for a while a couple of years ago, that included lead guitarist Dr. Know from the Bad Brains. More recently, Dizzee Rascal sampled Billy Squier for the drum loop in "Fix Up, Look Sharp" from his debut album in 2004. Nas just used a sample of the main riff from Iron Butterfly's "Ina Gadda Da Vida" on the title track of his most recent album "Hip Hop is Dead."

And on and on...

Point is, hip-hop and rock have passed a lot of sounds, ideas, and attitudes back and forth for decades.

People who dismiss hip-hop have no concept of the diversity of sources in the music, or of the variety of sounds it incorporates. Partly to blame for this, though, is the cookie-cutter sameness of a lot of corporate hip-hop pushed into the commercial market over the last few years.

The preponderant emphasis on gangsta posturing, to the exclusion of almost everything else, has not been a good thing. It's hard for an artist like, say, Lupe Fiasco, to get much traction under the circumstances.

 

[oicdn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrBenway /img/forum/go_quote.gif Don't forget rock. Boogie Down Productions sampled AC/DC on "Dope Beat" from their classic Criminal Minded album twenty years ago. Even before that, Run DMC recorded "Rock Box" with blazing lead guitar from (I think) the guitarist from Quiet Riot. They also recorded a series of other rap/rock fusions, like "King of Rock." Public Enemy famously recorded a version of "Bring the Noise" with Anthrax. Don't forget LL Cool J's "Rock the Bells." Mos Def led a flat-out rock band for a while a couple of years ago, that included lead guitarist Dr. Know from the Bad Brains. More recently, Dizzee Rascal sampled Billy Squier for the drum loop in "Fix Up, Look Sharp" from his debut album in 2004. Nas just used a sample of the main riff from Iron Butterfly's "Ina Gadda Da Vida" on the title track of his most recent album "Hip Hop is Dead." And on and on... Point is, hip-hop and rock have passed a lot of sounds, ideas, and attitudes back and forth for decades. People who dismiss hip-hop have no concept of the diversity of sources in the music, or of the variety of sounds it incorporates. Partly to blame for this, though, is the cookie-cutter sameness of a lot of corporate hip-hop pushed into the commercial market over the last few years. The preponderant emphasis on gangsta posturing, to the exclusion of almost everything else, has not been a good thing. It's hard for an artist like, say, Lupe Fiasco, to get much traction under the circumstances.

Amen....it's a sore topic for me, because hip-hop encompases happy horns, drum and bass, lots of jazz influences....people do dismisship-hop as rap and gansta Crap, but fail to look back at the roots of hip hop like White Lines, Rappers Delight, and other soul music...it's a shame really, and it's own industry is to blame....

 

[keanej6]

kanye west.

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oicdn /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...it's a shame really, and it's own industry is to blame....

I think this pathology has consumed many kinds of music, including rock and dance music. When the style or genre is young, the business types just hold on for dear life and try to figure out what is going to sell. When they find it, they market it. After a while, the suits begin to believe that they don't really have to look for talent any more; they simply manufacture a standard product and ram it through carefully constructed marketing channels.

I was sitting in tears last night watching videos of Eva Cassidy on YouTube (how could it have taken me so long to think of searching for her there?). One of the most breathtaking singers I have ever heard, or expect to hear, and she lived and died without being offered a recording contract.

Why? Because she refused to be pinned down as a cupie doll or to be shoehorned into a particular style. Rock, jazz, folk, country, R&B. Fergodssake, she even sang the hooks on a hip-hop record. And all of it was brilliant, and she reserved the right to do any or all of the above both live and on her records.

Despite that fact that anyone who heard her realized that she was surpassingly great, she committed the unpardonable sin of not being "marketable." So she financed her own recordings and never got anything like decent distribution. Forget airplay.

So then she died at 33, and, shortly afterward, a BBC DJ found and began playing her quietly ecstatic version of "Over the Rainbow." Not long after, she was dominating the UK charts with virtually no marketing, and, obviously, no opportunity to play in front of audiences or promote her "product."

Her records continue to sell steadily around the world; according to a Nightline profile from (I think) the late 90s, she had by then sold half a million albums in the US alone. In other words, a non-pareil talent, given a chance, could succeed without the benefit of crass marketing, radio payola, or any of the other BS that the record industry considers sound business practices.

And the industry continues to insist that the problem is piracy. Not the fact that they refuse to look for, and in fact disdain, actual talent (too hard to work with). Not the fact that the public has grown tired of pre-fabricated crap from the likes of Justin Timberlake and his psychotic, talentless ex.

Well, the silver lining for Eva Cassidy fans is that since the industry didn't want her "product," her family retains ownership of her masters, and I assume that means that at least they get some of what should have been her due.

The recording industry as we know it cannot go away fast enough for me.

 

[Altoids]

Soulja Boy.

 

[usc goose]

bad religion, black flag, rollins band, GWAR, suicidal tendencies, butthole surfers

those come to mind off the bat. i'm sure i have others.

 

[Schalldampfer]

Ithzak Perlman. With a passion, too. His concert sounded like a fifth grade violin recital. I expected SO much better...

 

[ronfint]

Really, I love Itzhak Perlman -- hate Gidon Kremer.

 

[Schalldampfer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ronfint /img/forum/go_quote.gif Really, I love Itzhak Perlman -- hate Gidon Kremer.

Yeah, a lot of people seem to like him. I haven't heard anything other than his live concert I went to, and he... just didn't try, I think, and that really disappoints me because he managed to disappoint a lot of people at the concert, I assume.

 

[ronfint]

I think as far as violinists are concerned -- they don't make 'em like they used to. If you are willing to look for LPs there are many great violin recordings, e.g.

 

[PhaedrusX]

uscgoose...bad religion? black flag?

that's it.
you and me, after school, by the bicycle racks.

 

[Mr_Penut]

punk must be viewed as more than just music; it is akin to sizing an iceberg with what you can on the surface alone. step fully into the water, then judge

 

[Shizelbs]

Right now, I hate all things Akon.

 

[kikkomang]

vanessa mae

creed

nickelback

 

[squall2072]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oicdn /img/forum/go_quote.gif Cher....is a transvestite.

Fixed

I avoid the 'top 40' as much as possible, but I probably hate James Blunt the most.