Rap!?

[Basshole]

SeriusXM radio has solved that problem for me Basshole... BONEYARD FTW.

Boneyard is all I ever listen too! I actually turned it one like 30 seconds ago

[FirstMeasure]

Rap's not for me, but is some kind of Entertainment, and while it does have music in it, it's not musicianship.

[BlackHawk233]

Boneyard is all I ever listen too! I actually turned it one like 30 seconds ago

 

 

 

Yay!!! haha, I'll also listen to Octane, but sometimes music I don't like comes across it.

[cookieman15061]

Well I'm not real fond of it myself but my son has done a couple of CD's worth of it and I've played guitar on a few of them for him. There's a link in my sig to one of them if you haven't had a chance take a listen.

[Jayla]

I hate it. I just don't understand what anybody sees in it. It seems to be more about image than music. No melody' date=' foul language, the lyrics degrade women, it all sounds the same. The only time it's listenable is when a ripped off melody from another song is sampled. [/quote']

 

Rap's not for me' date=' but is some kind of Entertainment, and while it does have music in it, it's not musicianship.[/quote']

 

If I had a nickel for every time I heard these very same comments from my mom and older family members and friends about rock groups I liked when I was a teenager, I'd be able to afford a 339 like rocketman's today!

[pippy]

What can I say? I just finished watching "Notorious". Know what I'm saying' date=' homies? Hell ya, bee-yatch! Fo' shizzle![/quote']

 

No; I have no idea what you are saying. Is that what is known as 'American English' perchance?

[FirstMeasure]

 

If I had a nickel for every time I heard these very same comments from my mom and older family members and friends about rock groups I liked when I was a teenager' date=' I'd be able to afford a 339 like rocketman's today![/quote']

In this case it's not about what type of music they're making, it's the fact that they don't make the music, they "Sample" it. Perhaps I should have clarified that.

 

Plus, as Tony Bennet points out, it's got the Beats and the Rhythms, but it doesn't explore the Harmonies.

[daveinspain]

I like Grand Master Flash's, Rappers Delite and Run DMC's, Walk this Way... I hate the gangster rap crap.

[tuckomf]

Rapper's Delight was Sugarhill Gang.

 

I love older rap - back when it was about sneakers and dancing.... not so much the capping *****es asses.

 

There are a handful of newer groups that I like, most of which are on the Rhymesayers label. Sage Francis, Atmosphere, Eyedea & Abilities, Brother Ali, and a handful of other artists are really good, and their lyrics are more creative and insightful than most modern "rock" bands. And I have yet to hear anything about *****es, ho's, bling, capping asses, or anything that ends in -izzle.

 

Atmosphere-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKYVs9OoFFU

 

Sage Francis-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8ZL33Uz8dw

 

Eyedea & Abilities

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcCioUDfG8s

 

Brother Ali-

[Notes_Norton]

I've got to admit that some of the rhythms are interesting, and the production values are often outstanding.

 

But my idea of music has to have melody, harmony AND rhythm and it seems that most rap does not have either melody or rhythm so I get bored with it after about 8 bars.

 

But when I was young I listened to music that doesn't do anything for me today, so I can't really criticize it all that much.

 

Notes

[Jayla]

 

If I had a nickel for every time I heard these very same comments from my mom and older family members and friends about rock groups I liked when I was a teenager' date=' I'd be able to afford a 339 like rocketman's today![/quote']

 

In this case it's not about what type of music they're making' date=' it's the fact that they don't make the music, they "Sample" it. Perhaps I should have clarified that.

 

Plus, as Tony Bennet points out, it's got the Beats and the Rhythms, but it doesn't explore the Harmonies.[/quote']

 

 

My point is that for some people, there's always a type of music "that ain't music," and their arguments always run something along the lines of the comments here about rap.

 

For whatever reason, we tend to dismiss in derogatory terms things that we don't like -- "that s*** isn't music!" -- rather than just explain why we find them lacking. Maybe it's because we don't "understand" them, look down on the people who do, don't see what all the fuss is about, feel left out in some way 'cause we don't "get it," or what-have-you. I just find the attitude interesting and, as I said, I've heard many of these comments said about the rock music that many of us here find unquestionable.

 

Also, FWIW, sampling is an old practice that definitely predates rap. The Beatles sampled, quoted, and otherwise appropriated sounds and lyrics (I am the walrus, Being for the benefit of Mr. Kite, Revolution No. 9, Run for your life, The Inner Light, Tomorrow never knows, et al). Stravinsky, too, was a sampler of sorts, and included appropriations in many of his compositions (Petruschka, his various ragtime-inspired pieces, etc.). The list is long.

 

And as for lack of harmonies, well, Indian classical music has none, neither does early Christian music, many types of Asian music, etc.

[guitar_randy]

Rap literally makes me angry when I hear it

[bol316]

Having grown up just outside a decent sized city I grew up in a very culturally mixed enviroment. I agree with manys assessment of most rap. Its largely just throw-away garbage. Though I think the art form itself is basically a good idea, I think many have used it and cheapened it for personal profit. Much like just about any art. I own and occasionally enjoy some rap though the abundance of my musical collection is rock. To sum up that blurb, just like any other form of music, if done correctly rap can be very enjoyable and even move people. Its an artform just like any other kind of music. No more mind-numbing or idiotic then alot of modern day country music (which i dont find nearly as much criticism for)

[grampa]

Back in my youth - prehistoric times - we were asked about what we listened to: "You call that music?" I vowed that I never say that, one reason was not only was I listeneing to the rock of the time, but I also listened to and even performed music from my parents generation. Disco was the first music to challenge my vow but I endured that without saying "Disco sucks" too many times.

I see rap in pretty much the same way as rock was seen by my parents - it's the expression of youth today in a way that is theirs and not some previous generation. I may not be able to relate to the issues of today's youth, but I will not supress or censor their expression.

[gvhbngh]

 

+ infinity

+1

[FirstMeasure]

 

 

My point is that for some people' date=' there's always a type of music "that ain't music," and their arguments always run something along the lines of the comments here about rap.

 

For whatever reason, we tend to dismiss in derogatory terms things that we don't like -- "that s*** isn't music!" -- rather than just explain why we find them lacking. Maybe it's because we don't "understand" them, look down on the people who do, don't see what all the fuss is about, feel left out in some way 'cause we don't "get it," or what-have-you. I just find the attitude interesting and, as I said, I've heard many of these comments said about the rock music that many of us here find unquestionable.

 

Also, FWIW, sampling is an old practice that definitely predates rap. The Beatles sampled, quoted, and otherwise appropriated sounds and lyrics (I am the walrus, Being for the benefit of Mr. Kite, Revolution No. 9, Run for your life, The Inner Light, Tomorrow never knows, et al). Stravinsky, too, was a sampler of sorts, and included appropriations in many of his compositions (Petruschka, his various ragtime-inspired pieces, etc.). The list is long.

 

And as for lack of harmonies, well, Indian classical music has none, neither does early Christian music, many types of Asian music, etc. [/quote']

I have to disagree on sampling. Sampling isn't playing a piece of music inspired by or even borrowed from another source. It's taking the actual artists work and using the actual recording for your own work. That's just not making music to me. And it's not 'cause I don't like it. I liked NWA when I was in school and I wore our RUN DMC's Raising Hell, to boot. Indian classical music is using notes, rhythms and Dissonant Harmonies, and the music is being played on an Instrument, not a Turn table and Record. That's very advanced Stereo Playing, but not musicianship.

[Jayla]

I have to disagree on sampling. Sampling isn't playing a piece of music inspired by or even borrowed from another source. It's taking the actual artists work and using the actual recording for your own work. That's just not making music to me.

 

Well' date=' that's a very narrow definition of sampling, but ok, I understand what you mean, though I disagree that it's not a way to make music. I guess my definition of music is not limited to sounds made by traditional instruments.

 

To play the devil's advocate again, what do you think of Steve Reich's early work? I mean the tape loop pieces like "Come out" and "It's gonna rain? Nothing but loops of sampled speech, but he makes a whole world of music with it. (And these pieces really contain the germ for all of his later orchestral music, which explores things already at work in the tape loop pieces like phasing, rhythmic displacement, melodic looping, etc.) Some of Eno's ambient music works on the same principles. Cage and Stockhausen also composed several pieces using samples as you define them. Would you not classify them as music either?

 

Indian classical music is using notes, rhythms and Dissonant Harmonies, and the music is being played on an Instrument, not a Turn table and Record.

 

I'm not sure what you mean about the "dissonant harmonies" in Indian classical music. Are you talking about the droning instruments/strings you hear under melodies? My memory may be worse than I think it is but I can't recall any examples of Indian music where instruments actually play harmonizing lines as in western music, which is what I understood by harmony. I even remember a criticism that Ravi Shankar made about the Indian/British pop singer Najma who has used harmony in her music. He said: Indian music doesn't need harmony.

[FirstMeasure]

Well' date=' that's a very narrow definition of sampling, but ok, I understand what you mean, though I disagree that it's not a way to make music. I guess my definition of music is not limited to sounds made by traditional instruments.

 

To play the devil's advocate again, what do you think of Steve Reich's early work? I mean the tape loop pieces like "Come out" and "It's gonna rain? Nothing but loops of sampled speech, but he makes a whole world of music with it. (And these pieces really contain the germ for all of his later orchestral music, which explores things already at work in the tape loop pieces like phasing, rhythmic displacement, melodic looping, etc.) Some of Eno's ambient music works on the same principles. Cage and Stockhausen also composed several pieces using samples as you define them. Would you not classify them as music either?[/quote']

I'm not defining music to my taste, I'm taking the definition of music I was taught in Grade School and have read about in the Dictionary. And I've always felt that looping samples is akin to Collage Art as opposed to Art, until he starts "playing music" over it, then it becomes Music.

 

I didn't define sampling, it was defined by the Artists Doing it. When people did it, it needed a term, so there you have it.

 

I'm not sure what you mean about the "dissonant harmonies" in Indian classical music. Are you talking about the droning instruments/strings you hear under melodies? My memory may be worse than I think it is but I can't recall any examples of Indian music where instruments actually play harmonizing lines as in western music' date=' which is what I understood by harmony. I even remember a criticism that Ravi Shankar made about the Indian/British pop singer Najma who has used harmony in her music. He said: Indian music doesn't need harmony.[/quote']

Yes, The Drones are making harmonies, dissonant means that the tones being played are not "In Key". They can be heard in a lot of Jazz, Grunge, Progressive Rock, and Indian Classical Music. Tones played together are harmonies, they don't have to be played in unison by different players. A Sitar is making harmonies the whole time it's being played because of r the Drone Strings.

 

Plus, I don't think it has to be played on a "Traditional Instrument", but music must be played on an Instrument, including the natural instrument, the voice. And Shouting is not Singing, or we wouldn't have two words for it.

[Jayla]

I'm not defining music to my taste' date=' I'm taking the definition of music I was taught in Grade School and have read about in the Dictionary.[/quote']

 

Ok. I see.