I was just watching the PBS Newshour and they had a story about an anthology of Rap lyrics being treated as poetry. After a couple of days of talking about ancient music history like the Beatles and John Lennon, I'm curious what the consensus would be about this genre of music.
My opinion is that the stuff that's just shouting and wall-shaking bass is not that interesting to me, but it might be if I could read the rhymes. I had counted myself among the "I don't like rap" group until I saw Public Enemy live at Bonnaroo a few years ago. That is some powerful energy live. When the crowd is into it, and the rappers and musicians click, I can see how it's a popular and creative artform. How the heck do they remember all those words anyway?
I was kind of embarrassed up to that point to admit that the only artist in that genre that I liked was Eminem, as if it was because he's white. I still think his rhymes are the wittiest, and whitebread individual that I am, I can tell what he's saying on his records.
Poetry. We don't need no stinkin' poetry!
I throw up a little (to coin a modern phrase) even when I hear the Beatles songs described as poetry. I really like the B's music, but I don't ponder the lyrics. I just like the songs.
I'd prolly be diggin the rap if I was a yungin' these days. Lots of good anger and cussing, a type of release. Each generation has to deal with life in their own way.
Us old guys are dinosaurs still roaming the earth.
Newer life always wins.
I like both kinds of music, country and western.
Ha, ha. Me too. Not to repeat myself, but I will anyway, if one in ten songs on the radio is any good, you're lucky, at least around here. Current pop or rock or country or whatever radio is not indicative of the best of each type of music. I can turn on the country station and say "I don't like country". But the other stations are playing crud I can't listen to either.
Country acts that I like that I can think of off the top of my head are Merle Haggard, Hank Williams (the first) and Hank III, Buck Owens, Dwight Yoakum, all those Sun Records artists that went from country to rock & roll. Willie Nelson's good, but shoot he's so stoned he can't put on a consistent show. I saw him two nights in a row and cringed at how bad he was one night and then he was fine the next. Keith Urban's really good and there's a bunch of tele-pickers I can't think of right now that are phenomenal.
Rap/Hiphop sucks.
Yeah, I was thinking about that too. For example, "Love Me Do", great song but as poetry it sounds like a 4th grader wrote it. I think Bob Dylan shook up pop music when he came out with songs about subjects other than moon/june/spoon. Dylan also paved the way for a generation of singer-songwriters that can't sing in a conventional sense.
Yep, can't stand it myself, but having read some of the lyrics I can see where some of it could be classified as poetry.
The upside to me about rap is it makes some of the artists stretch a bit to remain relevant. Public Enemy is a good example, sounded just like everyone else when they first came out and if you listen to their old stuff compared to new, you can see a progression. As it is now, thus has it always been, why folks like Dylan aren't on the old folks tour playing casinos and the same stuff they did in the 1970's.
Tupac is excellent. Listen to "Until the end of time" once. that is one powerful song, most of his stuff is quite good.
Out of all rap songs, I think I like about five. Its not my cup o tea.
I kind of hate to admit it, but that's about the number I like too. If I was a college student with all kinds of time on my hands and going to parties with the latest tunes blasting, I'm sure I'd feel differently. As an AARP member with severely lame radio stations in my area, the fact that I even have music that's been recorded in the last ten years on my radar is an accomplishment, I think. It's actually more my wife's accomplishment. There are a lot of new artists I wouldn't know about if she hadn't set me down and played them for me.
my favorite music currently is Cool Jazz for some reason. I can't explain it. Hip hop doesn't do it for me especially when all I hear is the base line in the car next to me rattling my windows. NPR has been doing a lot of Hip Hop stories over the past few years; maybe they are trying to be more "with it."
Steve
You need Sirius/XM in your car and Pandora on your desktop. You won't have those problems again.
Steve
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Dan
I think Richard Cheese does some very enjoyable rap music. As a matter of fact, here's his treatment Baby Got Back.
[flash width=480 height=385] http://www.youtube.com/v/KCv2cgIlnHA?fs=1&hl=en_US [/flash]
Lounge against the machine.
Dan
One of my favorites is DCTalk they blend a lot of Rap within a song. Classic is Jesus Freak
[flash width=480 height=385] http://www.youtube.com/v/mjpe-AquuUQ?fs=1&hl=en_US [/flash]
[flash width=480 height=385] http://www.youtube.com/v/0UjsXo9l6I8?fs=1&hl=en_US [/flash]
This is one of the few I like.
Peter Lazio
Go Old School
Rap's heyday...
GRANDMASTER FLASH AND THE FURIOUS FIVE
