Gladys Knight: Hip Hop is "Vulgar"

September 2009


During an interview for her upcoming film "I Can Do Bad All By Myself," by Tyler Perry, Gladys discussed her history in music; the ups and downs of the industry; her family, and took time to answer questions from fans. One of her fans asked how she thought hip-hop changed the nature of black music? Her answer is below:



" Well, it’s been good as far as giving young artists an opportunity to get out there. But, it’s been bad, in my opinion, as far as the quality of the music and the stories that they tell. It’s one thing to be raw about your history, but they took it to another level and it became vulgar. It has not elevated our industry musically, and it definitely has not elevated us as African-Americans, because we show disrespect for our partners, men and women. I believe we have lowered our self-esteem with these performances and presentations."




http://www.examiner.com/x...disses-rap

1st I LOVE Galdys


I wonder if she meant ALL Hip Hop ... Hip Hop overall

Some Hip Hop


what ...

Some, probably.

well, it is.

Mach said:

1st I LOVE Galdys


I wonder if she meant ALL Hip Hop ... Hip Hop overall

Some Hip Hop


what ...

Love is just like the faucet
It turns off and on
Sometimes when you think it's on baby
It has turned off and gone


Lady Day

Harlepolis said:

Mach said:

1st I LOVE Galdys


I wonder if she meant ALL Hip Hop ... Hip Hop overall

Some Hip Hop


what ...

Exactly!

There's ALOT of positive rap music that gets ignored sadly,,,and the kind that has been glorified these days are straight up from the plantation alley. At least Drake, Jay-Z(who's an influential force) are upgrading their level and I hope others take notice.

BUT....

Lets keep it real, isn't hip-hop a direct influence from the American system and HOLLYWOOD? I agree with her but lets not make hip-hop to be an easy target when Hollyweird is just as(if not MORE) racist, vulgar, misogynist and sexist.

Harlepolis said:

Mach said:

1st I LOVE Galdys


I wonder if she meant ALL Hip Hop ... Hip Hop overall

Some Hip Hop


what ...

Exactly!

There's ALOT of positive rap music that gets ignored sadly,,,and the kind that has been glorified these days are straight up from the plantation alley. At least Drake, Jay-Z(who's an influential force) are upgrading their level and I hope others take notice.

BUT....

Lets keep it real, isn't hip-hop a direct influence from the American system and HOLLYWOOD? I agree with her but lets not make hip-hop to be an easy target when Hollyweird is just as(if not MORE) racist, vulgar, misogynist and sexist.

This isn't the first time that Gladys has spoken out against vulgar,offensive music.In the early 90s,she was annoyed when she heard Silk's "Freak Me" on the radio.She made plans to start her own label which would showcase respectable artists."Our youth needs music that's more meaningful than "let me lick you up and down",she explained.

Hip Hop is a reflection of American Society. It's one of the few genres that truly tells it like it is. No sugar coatin "i wanna hold your hand" mess, it's truly the thoughts of the working class. Now I"m all for romanticism and love but don't blame hip hop entirely for this mess of a culture. You reap what you sow.

Well really hip-hop is the modernized version of the blues and blues music was just as vulgar.

She's exactly right. But she left out one thing....dull. It doesn't matter if some, part of, or a portion of shit hop is positive....ALL of it is dull.

vainandy said:

I'm in the minority, but I agree with Gladys. The advent of hip-hop has destroyed musicianship, innovation, and self-image. It's one thing to use ebonics in hip-hop lyrics; it's another thing when young people can't string together a sentence in standard English when they go on a job interview. The values espoused by most hip-hop celebrate criminality, the pursuit of money at all costs, drug culture, and violence.

There are always exceptions. Public Enemy is probably one of the most brilliant groups out there.

But most groups are not Public Enemy.

Some could say that rap music is the new punk rock, but punk rock never achieved the level of success and influence of rap. Black kids, white kids, even kids in foreign countries love hip-hop, adopting the clothing, speech, and music of American black youth.

If you were to defend rap music as an art form, which groups would you name and why? I'm too old to know about current rap-- The Sugar Hill Gang, Public Enemy, Rakim, Queen Latifah, KRS-1, Kool Moe D, Big Daddy Kane, Salt-N-Pepa, and LL Cool J, are the only artists that come to mind.

But this isn't the kind of rap that record companies are producing these days. We get endless images of 50 Cent, a former drug dealer who is shot several times, who even gets a movie biography made. The Lorenzo brothers adopt the name of "Gotti", an Italian-American mobster, and use drug money to help finance their record company that they call Murder Inc. Middle America sees Flava Flav on VH-1 and thinks that black men are a minstrel show, while no one ever hears about Chuck D.

I'm not saying that hip-hop is all bad. I'm not saying that all rap music is garbage. But music companies seem to have taken the worst elements of rap and celebrated them to where all rap has suffered.

Some people tell me I've got great legs...

vainandy said:

Vulgar is fine. The dirtier the better. There's a big difference in having explicit sex as the subject matter of your song than promoting being a thug or a criminal and using the word "nigger" in every other breath. But an even bigger crime than that, is eliminating real drums and bass and using those weak fisher price sounding drum machines. Not to mention that nothing ever gets past midtempo.

Vainandy, you are wrong about there being no funky hip hop.

Many productions from producers such as Battlecat, DJ Quik, Frewreck, Meech Wells, Dr Dre, etc. have a lot of funk (not just samples and interpolations, either).

ISF said:

Love is just like the faucet
It turns off and on
Sometimes when you think it's on baby
It has turned off and gone


Lady Day

ISF said:

vainandy said:

Hip hop isn't dull. Shit hop is dull. I invented the word to distinguish between the two because I do love lots of rap. However, most rap that I don't consider shit hop, a lot of people would call "electro", which would be incorrect because there was no such genre called electro in the early 80s when those songs were recorded. They were simply considered as "rap" and some people even called them "hip hop".

Shit hop is the slow to midtempo rap that just has a weak sounding drum machine on it with some talking on top of it. Sometimes they may even throw a sample on top of it but it has absolutely no funk, dance, or disco elements in the song whatsoever, strictly midtempo "head bobbing" music. Even folks like Tupac are shit hop. I never heard nothing ass shakable coming from him. I'm sorry, it's not up for debate because I invented the term so I set the rules.

kenlacam said:

vainandy said:

Hip hop isn't dull. Shit hop is dull. I invented the word to distinguish between the two because I do love lots of rap. However, most rap that I don't consider shit hop, a lot of people would call "electro", which would be incorrect because there was no such genre called electro in the early 80s when those songs were recorded. They were simply considered as "rap" and some people even called them "hip hop".

Shit hop is the slow to midtempo rap that just has a weak sounding drum machine on it with some talking on top of it. Sometimes they may even throw a sample on top of it but it has absolutely no funk, dance, or disco elements in the song whatsoever, strictly midtempo "head bobbing" music. Even folks like Tupac are shit hop. I never heard nothing ass shakable coming from him. I'm sorry, it's not up for debate because I invented the term so I set the rules.

I respectfully disagree with your assesment. As this is a public forum, it is open for debate "Danceable" does not equate to Hip hop. It is not even a requirement. As for Tupac, The Guiness Book of World Records lists him as the most successful rapper OF ALL TIME. Obviously somebody is buying his material. One has to understand his story and the background to appreciate his music, so if you do not, then I understand your ignorance of it. But regardless, ass shakable? How about "Gangsta Party", "California Love"are danceable so that dissolves that theory.

Unfortunately imeem no longer seems to have many full length tracks!

However, this is some funky hip hop: Suga Free, Kokane and George Clinton - Next Shit

Reasonably uptempo, too.

http://www.imeem.com/peop...next-shit/
[Edited 9/18/09 16:17pm]

Copycat said:

"It is better to travel well than to arrive."

Timmy84 said:

kenlacam said:

I respectfully disagree with your assesment. As this is a public forum, it is open for debate "Danceable" does not equate to Hip hop. It is not even a requirement. As for Tupac, The Guiness Book of World Records lists him as the most successful rapper OF ALL TIME. Obviously somebody is buying his material. One has to understand his story and the background to appreciate his music, so if you do not, then I understand your ignorance of it. But regardless, ass shakable? How about "Gangsta Party", "California Love"are danceable so that dissolves that theory.

That's not his tempo tho.

I agree with Gladys 100%, and if you believe she or myself is referring to EVERY SINGLE Hip Hop artist and EVERY SINGLE Hip Hop song, you are a fool! Since I have been on earth, I have never witnessed anything that affected the Black Community on such a large scale more than Hip Hop. Unfortunately, I believe we are at a point where Hip Hop Culture has replaced Black Culture and unfortunately the negative aspect of it has been the most prominent characteristic.

Hip Hop is not the cause of all things wrong in music or the Black Community, however the impact Hip Hop has had (particularly on the Black Community) CANNOT and must not be denied.
[Edited 9/18/09 17:14pm]

VelvetJ said:

Dumb sells better. Always has, likely always will. But I think even more so now.

If aiming higher were selling, record companies -- which are just profit centers, not educators -- would be on that like white on rice.

They'd even have to fire some of the remaining fools (racists) who couldn't stomach or understand the new, more enlightened culture (yes, even teenagers) that are no longer buying into "superman dat hoe" in such overwhelming numbers.

And, yeah, I know, some of this is just meant as fun. But a lot of this so-called fun is all the shit some can possibly conjure and that others will buy.

And, I'm with Gladys. I think it's more harmful to the Black Community, just as BET is more harmful because no other channel is called WET. And despite the ignorant programming coming from these majority sources, it's not associated with any particular race, even if most of it is consumed that way.

Gladys Knight: "Eh, yknow, everybody's talkin' bout the good ole days, right?
Ehhhverybody, the good ole days, the good ole days.
Well, let's talk about the good ole days."

Gladys Knight: "Can it be that it was allll so simple thennnn (-ah)"
Gladys Knight: "Can it be that it was allll so simple thennnn (-ah)"
Gladys Knight: "Can it be that it was allll so simple thennnn (-ah)"
Gladys Knight: "Can it be that it was allll so simple thennnn (-ah)"

[Edited 9/18/09 19:12pm]

Cinnie said:

Gladys Knight: "Eh, yknow, everybody's talkin' bout the good ole days, right?
Ehhhverybody, the good ole days, the good ole days.
Well, let's talk about the good ole days."

Gladys Knight: "Can it be that it was allll so simple thennnn (-ah)"
Gladys Knight: "Can it be that it was allll so simple thennnn (-ah)"
Gladys Knight: "Can it be that it was allll so simple thennnn (-ah)"
Gladys Knight: "Can it be that it was allll so simple thennnn (-ah)"

[Edited 9/18/09 19:12pm]

Cinnie said:

Gladys Knight: "Eh, yknow, everybody's talkin' bout the good ole days, right?
Ehhhverybody, the good ole days, the good ole days.
Well, let's talk about the good ole days."

Gladys Knight: "Can it be that it was allll so simple thennnn (-ah)"
Gladys Knight: "Can it be that it was allll so simple thennnn (-ah)"
Gladys Knight: "Can it be that it was allll so simple thennnn (-ah)"
Gladys Knight: "Can it be that it was allll so simple thennnn (-ah)"

[Edited 9/18/09 19:12pm]