MORRIS O'KELLY: Rappers Are Not Musicians
Bring back real music with real musicianship.

(Apr. 6, 2004) Part of being a writer is accepting the fact that often times you’ll have to stand alone in your opinion, unguarded by a mythical username on a message board or any type of pseudonym shielding you. Ostensibly there is nothing to protect you from the people you invariably will offend on some level. It’s the nature of the job.
But isn’t that the beautiful part of it all? If you’re not invoking emotion in a reader (positive or negative) then you haven’t done your job. So in that spirit, get ready to get your feathers ruffled, because I’m at it again.

Bring back real music with real musicianship.

I had a conversation with a colleague of mine in the entertainment industry and we discussed “who were the most brilliant musicians of our time.” We listed the usual suspects, but that’s not the point. Our debate became sidetracked when I said, “you can’t include any rappers in the discussion, period.”

Yes, I said it. If you want to have a discussion of the most brilliant MUSICIANS or musical minds of all time, rappers shouldn’t even be considered.

Are rappers incredible poets and lyricists? Yes. Are rappers some of the most talented wordsmiths or spoken word artists ever recorded? Yes. Are they some of the greatest selling ‘music artists’ of all time…yes.

Just don’t call them musicians. We haven’t had real music as a whole on radio for quite some time. Bring back real music…with real musicians. I’ll take any album of James Brown over an album full of James Brown samples, any day of the week.

The fact that an ‘artist’ may have an album played on the radio, sells 5 million copies or even wins a GRAMMY award for his ‘work’; that doesn’t qualify him/her as a musician. Don’t get it confused. Milli Vanilli had hits (and Grammys). Afroman had hits…or ‘hit.’ These are not the real yardsticks in measuring musical prowess.

Put it in other terms.

If the crux of your ‘music’ requires you to borrow directly (i.e. sample) from music pre-recorded by other musicians, how much of a ‘musician’ are you truly? If you don’t play any instruments in the creation of your music and you’re not singing either…how much of a musician are you…really? In the strictest of terms, you’re neither the creator of the melody or the harmony…so where is the musical contribution? In the old days, they credited that person as “Lyrics By.” The manipulation of samples does not equate to musicianship.

If we’re honest with one-another, we can agree that Notorious B.I.G. doesn’t have any big hits if he isn’t allowed to use the music of Mtume, Herb Alpert, DeBarge or Sylvia Striplin. Lyrical genius is praiseworthy, but lyrical genius and just a drum beat hasn’t had a hit arguably since Dougie Fresh and Slick Rick’s “The Show” back in the mid 80’s.

Sampling is not musicianship and lyrical artistry enhanced with sampling doesn’t equate to musicianship either.

Parallel: If I cut/pasted some of the greatest lyrics of Jay-Z and/or Tupac, then add a stanza of my own; does that make me a great rapper? Does that even grant me the title of rapper?

Absolutely not.

If ‘biting rhymes’ won’t qualify me as a great rapper, then ‘biting music’ surely doesn’t qualify you as a musician on any level.

There’s an old axiom in math, all squares can be considered rhombi but not all rhombi are squares. Meaning, there are rappers who are true musicians (DJ Quik, Wyclef, The Roots for example) but not all rappers are musicians.

Is it any coincidence that much of the greatest Hip-Hop music of all-time samples from the greatest R&B of all time?

No.

James Brown, Earth, Wind & Fire and Stevie Wonder sound great as a complete song or a modified sample. No surprise there.

Great music is just that, great music. The only difference is that much of Hip-Hop is dependent on this pre-recorded great music to survive…the same music they did nothing to create.

To be fair, it’s not just Hip-Hop. Pop music with the dominance of scantily-clad divas and boy-bands is not much more than an amalgamation of marginal singers with overproduced studio sound and dangerous pyrotechnic shows. We can’t even be sure if any of these people are truly singing anymore with all of the pre-recorded ‘background’ vocal tracks they use in their ‘live’ concerts.

Let’s be real, we can listen to Patti LaBelle sing with just a piano all night long and wait with baited breath for that moment she kicks off her shoes. Could you imagine Britney Spears with just a piano behind her?

Don’t expect it any time soon. Feel free to keep your shoes on Britney.

His Royal Badness, Prince played ALL of the instruments on his first studio album. Why, because he could. Stevie Wonder was too a MUSICAL prodigy. The adolescent couldn’t even see yet had mastered multiple instruments. Not a bad singer either as we all might remember too.

Donny Hathaway? I dare you to find another male singer who even approaches his vocal virtuosity…while also playing keyboards. Hathaway studied music at Howard University prior to becoming a professional.

I remember that Alicia Keys was classically trained, but I don’t remember hearing anything about Tupac knowing the difference between a chord progression, the key of G and the Mixolydian mode. Maybe I’m wrong and I’m sure someone out there (who thinks Tupac is living on some island in the South Pacific) will correct me if I am.

I know, I know, I just ensured myself of receiving 500 pieces of hate mail from the “Tupac Still Lives Fan Club.” But it won’t change my opinion…one that’s pretty solid in this case.

I’ve worked with virtually every music label and artists ranging from Janet Jackson to Scarface, to M.C. Hammer to Dré to D’Angelo; to even rock and classical. I’ve sat in on virtually every type of album and seen (heard) firsthand how just about every genre of music is made. I am unmoved.

Rappers (as a whole) are not musicians.

It’s too much to ask of me (someone who can competently play 10 instruments) to label someone a ‘musician’ who neither reads music nor plays any instrument during the creation of his/her ‘musical’ legacy. If history takes a different turn and sampling is both eschewed and outlawed, we can easily argue that Hip-Hop as a genre does not survive.

Ashanti does not have a hit song in ‘Foolish’ (or Notorious B.I.G. with “One More Chance” )if DeBarge wasn’t nice enough to record ‘Stay With Me’ back in 1986. I know that many may not even remember the DeBarge version, but its hook was sampled in its entirety.

Yes, VERY creative…

There are too many artists and songs to name who’ve made fortunes on the backs of Roger Troutman & Zapp, George Clinton and other funk legends with little added ‘creative’ input. That’s not impressive.

Of course this is all subjective, relative to a person’s tastes; but there are some objective facts that can’t be denied. MUCH of music today does not come to be if it weren’t for specific R&B songs created long before, like it or not.

Kanye West’s ‘Through The Wire’? Only because Chaka Khan serenaded us with ‘Through The Fire.’ Lyrical genius…maybe; but leave it at that. No ‘Through The Fire’ … definitely no ‘Through The Wire.’ Take away Chaka and you have a spoken word poem with rhythmic overtones.

Is that ‘musical’ creativity? Not really. That’s legalized theft. If it were a column they’d call it plagiarism. And if it were a screenplay it would be grounds for an intellectual property theft lawsuit. Yes, sampling is legal…

But under no circumstances should it be considered genius.

True musicianship is dead and music today has suffered considerably. Decades from now, radio will still extol the virtues of Stevie, Donny, Prince, Michael and other music legends whose successors have gladly imitated out of flattery, or sampled out of lack of creativity. True musical genius is never duplicated. You can sample it, loop it and even give it a new title, but it’s never duplicated.

Yes, there are ‘hot’ tracks out there, great songs to dance to and good music to put into your CD player. But musical genius? Hardly. Not if you have musical perspective in the sense of who came before the people on your radio right now.

This isn’t a slam against rap music or the stars that shine at the top, not at all. But far too frequently a misconception is passed along and far more credit is given than deserved. Rappers by and large are not musicians…and yes I said it. Some Hip-Hop artists are musicians, but definitely not the majority.

Bring back real music with real musicianship.

Morris W. O'Kelly is a freelance entertainment writer who writes content for entertainment personality websites and national media. Reach him at dark.gable@sbcglobal.net. For more, visit http://briefcase.yahoo.com/mo_kelly

I like that article

Very balanced and not bashing hip hop culture but commenting on musicianship.....
[Edited 9/1/04 10:24am]

I'm gonna take this over to Okayplayer and watch the fireworks

Excellent article....I agree 1000% !!!!!

Excellent article....I agree 1000 % !!!!!

good article.very fair

Rhondab said:

Yep, I agree completely. Good article.

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

It's obvious that not all musical artists are actually musicians.

It's less obvious though, that not all musicians are artists.

I have a friend who's a classically trained pianist. She can sit, read sheet music and follow the composer's notation, note for note - but she can't create. She can't conjure up melody, bass, rhythm or lyrics in her head. I find it very odd.

BinaryJustin said:

I too have found this odd in relation to the concert pianist/musician.

CynicKill said:

Nice observation.
I've always wondered what would happen if a gust of wind blew everyone's score off of their music stands during a Beethoven's 5th Symphony concert.



Guess that's why many music stands come equipped with paper clamps.

There is a difference between a technical musician and a creative one.
They both have their place however. The magic can happen when you have both types housed in one body.

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

theAudience said:

Ndeed!! I think about artists like Bernie Worrell, Branford and Wynton Marsalis, Herbie Hancock, Charles Stepney, Donny Hathaway,etc .... When you are classically trained, and also have the ability to improvise...I think That's when you are truly firing on all four cylinders! I'm sure It also helps to keep your ears open, though... by the late sixties Herbie Hancock was already adept at classical and jazz , but he was knocked on his ear when he heard Sly Stone!... He was amazed by Sly's approach to music, and wanted to explore that (which led to the Headhunters)...similarly, Miles Davis was already regarded as the ultimate musician , and he was floored by Jimi Hendrix (and Sly Stone), which led to In A Silent Way, Bitches Brew, Jack Johnson, and beyond...and I agree that while rappers are not musicians, Hip Hop culture has definitely made it's imprint as a wellspring for musicians young and old...
[Edited 9/1/04 12:58pm]

Harlepolis said:

wow. when i read the title i didn't think i'd agree. but i totally agree. rappers r not musicians..some of them r good poets (common, tupac, jay z, nas etc etc) but not many of them r musicians. and man if she aint knock me on my butt with that debarge line. i only knew a coupla songs by them and stay with me was NOT one of them (altho i did listen to it just not all thanks b to the interent and its really nice) i always thought that was ashanti samplin biggie..but then i probly shouldn't b too shocked right?

SquarePeg said:

I'mma go and see...I like fireworks

I've never understood why just ONE commercially hot rapper(Nelly,50) will not
find a musician and try and come up with something fresh and new,I'd actually
be into that,christ Nelly's new song samples FUCKING SUPERFLY!!! ENOUGH!

JAMIESTARR said:

Oops sorry for the mess!

I feel the same way about Alicia Key's "Fallin'". I'm thinking she's this classically trained pianist and she couldn't come up with her own keyboard progression for that song? Even if she had to listen to James Brown's over and over again until she came up with something of her own.

Thanks for the article. So I'm not the only one who is not afraid to speak the truth. I do not care if rap becomes 99% of all music played on the airwaves, it is still 90% garbage!

But for The Roots, The Beastie Boys, Madlib, et al., I agree with the premise of the article. Hip-hop artists are not musicians. End of discussion.

But, in a word: and?

I agree with the author. Genuine musicianship is not spotlighted as much and that is a very sad thing. Even many "soul" artists (a few of whom I like a lot) are singing over glorified samples. The music industry has co-opted the hip-hop sound and look because 1) it is presumably cheaper than hiring musicians, 2) kids gravitate to it.

Hip-hop has been corrupted by this phenonomenon. Not because the good stuff is getting to the masses. Because mediocre artists are blowing up, misrepresenting the genre and, most tragically, reinforcing stereotypes black folk have worked generations to overcome.

But I think these problems have created an unfair backlash against the genre itself. Once the kids get tired of the canned product that is hip-pop, musicianship will return to form. Hip-hop will return to the underground. And fans of music and hip-hop will be happy.

Hip-hop is not the problem.

paligap said:

Much dap.

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

Agreed, hands down. There's lots of value in rap & hip-hop, but it's degraded by stealing other people's work. The genre needs a good hard dose of originality.

I think that Public Enemy has genuine musical creativity. After all, they use collages of samples to create dissonant, abrasive soundscapes rather than just pirating the groove, melody and beat from a single song

There's not much in the article that I don't agree with, but should'nt he blame DJ's or " Technics Mechanics " as well? Just because one can dig in the crates, or go to a used wrecka stow and pick up The Jimmy Castor Bunch's " Big Bertha "," Troglodytes " and
scratch it three ways past Sunday, does that a musician make?
[Edited 9/1/04 20:41pm]

jacktheimprovident said:

The argument can definitely be made! Nation of Millions and Fear of a Black Planet were sonic masterpieces. I submit that "Rebel Without A Pause" remains just as if not more influential in music today as "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

namepeace said:

Exactly what I was thinking when I saw the title, but at least he elaborated on it, which is more than most people do who think they're saying something new when they say rappers aren't musicians.


I could be wrong, but I think there will have to be new, more restrictive sampling laws for hip hop to become underground again (most HIP HOP is underground anyway really). Because rap has become steadily more and more popular over the years since its inception, and its demise has been predicted by so many people who obviously ended up being wrong.

In the years since hip hop's heyday (late '80s thru early '90s) newly revised sampling laws have undercut a more compelling, creative technique of sampling, like what the Bomb Squad did with PE. I don't think it's a coincidence that since then most rappers swipe classic R&B rhythm beds wholesale to put their inane lyrics on top of it, a la Hammer, Puffy, et. al.

was tupac a musician or a poet? who asked us to catergorise rappers as musician?

Excellent article! My biggest problem with hip-hop (and much of today's R&B) is the constant use of samples.It's really annoying and creatively lazy.The new Nelly song borrows it's music/melody from not one,but two classic R&B songs....Teddy Pendergrass' "Come Go With Me" and DeBarge's "I Like It".How creative,huh? (eyeroll).

Wonderful article! I agree with it 100%! There's nothing I can really say that wasn't already said in the article.....once again, wonderful article!

vainandy said:

Great article, I agree with it 5000%

Supernova said:

You're right, the article did do a good job of elaborating on the point.

And I agree with your points above.

But an argument can also be made that sampling has actually revived interests in many artists, particularly R&B artists. Sampling is probably such a cash cow for artists now that you will continue to see it go on until the kids get tired of it. Hip-pop will go the way of disco eventually and these post-Biggie-Pac-Jay-Z video gangstas will be ridiculed by history.