First I want to say that I dont want this thread to turn into bashing a genre..but I want to ask the people that are into hip hop..what is it that makes this genre #1 so popular and #2 appealing to you..what do you get out of it. Now I must say that there are hip hop albums that I do think are masterpeices.."Soul Food" by Goodie Mob...."Great Adventures of Slick Rick",etc but the hip hop thats out today seems so uninspired...everyone is thugging or showing off their material things....now I have heard some good stuff coming from Talib Kwalei and Mos Def but what is the fascination with hip hop? I guess to me, it dont seem to take a lot of talent to do all the "thug posturing and gestures" and do all the "talking/rapping" that they do. I have ALWAYS been more impressed by someone that can pick up an instrument(s) and create music instead of creating a beat which always seems to be over emphasized in order to downplay the actual quality of the lyrics of the song..

then, why is it that everyone wants to talk about how hard they had it in the hood....to me that is so played out..everyone saying the same thing....its almost as if hip hop today is on an assembly line like pop music....look this way....say these things....stand this way.....wear this.....and you will be the next big thing sounds manufactured to me.....

your thoughts.....no bashing in the post please

A question that I would like to ask those of you who like hip-hop...


Do you really like hearing all those samples?? Most hip-hop songs today are based on samples and I find that to be really irritating.I grew up in the 70s,when nobody used samples....artists created their own music!

DavidEye said:

David Eye, this is what u have to understand..a lotta people that listen to hip hop dont know that they're listening to sampled songs...

I tried this out at my job once....I was playing "I wanna Be free" by the Ohio Players and someone was like thats Snoop Dog song....I guess Snoop sampled it on one of his albums..they had NO idea that the Ohio Players did that song in the 70's..same with Hurry Up This Way Again by the Stylistics....I think Jay Z sampled that song on his first CD and someone came up to me and was like who stole Jay Z beat....I was like WHATEVER...but the one thing that got me is when I was playing JUICY FRUIT by Mtume..someone went off on a rant about why they had stole Notorious B I G's beat and how much he hate sampling I thought that was so hilarious!!!!!

Do you have to get it?

Why not just appreciate what you enjoy.

subhuman09 said:

i you dont "get it" how can u appreciate it? I'm someone that like to dabble into a lot of diff styles of music but its like with hip hop..todays stuff..its like you have to lower your expectations musically to enjoy it..not all of it..but a lot of it like that song by Nelly "My Place".

DavidEye said:

not only that DAVIDEYE, I was watching STANDING IN THE SHADOWS OF MOTOWN recently and as some of those musicians was talking about their childhood, they were saying how back then, you was nothing if you couldnt play an instrument and play it well!! I wonder when did we lose the appreciation for instruments and playing one?

LoveAlive said:

I listen to a wide variety of music as well-but of what's in the mainstream don't you have to lower your expectations across the board and just find the artists that are worth listening to that might not have the same exposure?

Music always go in cycles, the batch you're not crazy about now will fade off and a new group will come in, some will have their careers pick up and then it all goes over again.

Is your need to dabble it in all getting in the way though of time you could spend listening to something more obscure to the MTV crowd, but something you'd end up enjoying?

It's always cool when someone wants to expand their musical taste and go outside something they like, but I think some things people just don't like.

LoveAlive said:

yeah,it's funny when young kids hear these hip-hop songs,they think they're hearing an original beat...lol...but those of us from the "old school" know exactly where that music and those beats are coming from.

LoveAlive said:

I wonder the same thing.

And you know it's not just the young listeners that have no clue, some of these twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings straight up have no idea! Samples frustrate me to the highes degree! I just want to scream "come up w/ your own beat" Where's The Roots when you need them...but that form of hip-hop won't get airplay or video play because they're not glorifying the crap "bling" on their wrist or the girls on their arm.

I like listening to the old-school R&B station, it's like a history lesson for a hip-hop fan. You hear all the samples you like, but in better songs.

Mainstream rap today is about acting tough and spending loads of cash - it's a fantasy for kids. You want good stuff, check out J-Live or the new Mos Def.

Thunderbird said:

Yea u right..mainstream rap is likened to the assembly line of the Britney's and Ashlee's aint no difference!!



BUSH SUPPORTS KILLING SOMEONE'S GROWN CHILD FOR NO APPARENT REASON!

Hip Hop nowdays is like Rock N' Roll was right before The Beatles came out--on it's last breath. Sure, there are a few creative and inspired Hip Hop acts out there. However, they don't get exposure on MTV or the radio. The reason for that does not have to do with quality-it has to do with marketability. Execs don't think the masses can handle new innovative "different" things-and they don't wanna come up with new ways to market it anyway.

Unless someone in Hip Hop breaks through with something bold and new, the P Diddy bling bling fake millionaire Chingy clones are going to keep repeating until it fades away completely. Rap isn't daring anymore-it's safe and it's marketable. Why would most groups apire to be different if they can make $$$$$ doing the same tired and "true" thing? They won't. Most of the acts that are pimped to the masses aren't nearly talented or confident enough to take risks like people like Prince do. C'mon now, is Sean Combs gonna turn down his endorsments and contracts and write slave on his face in order to be gain his creeative freedom? No. He doesn't care about music. He cares about making money, selling shit, and voting.

I enjoyed hip hop in the very early days when a lot of it was original (or at least sounded original) and the tempo was fast and for the dance floor. The rappers rapped in a clear voice that didn't sound like a damned thug. You could actually understand the words and with the fast beat, some of the raps were even tongue twisters.

I ask people all the time what they get out of today's hip hop. It's too damned slow to dance to. There's no substance behind the "talking", just a stripped down, slow ass beat that is slow enough to "talk" on top of with a sample mixed over it. People reply lots of times by saying "But listen to what they are talking about". Who cares? If I want a story, I will turn on the TV and watch "As The World Turns". Music is supposed to make you feel good and make you wanna move, not depress the hell out of you. All that loud ass "talking" sounds like a damned dog fight.

In the old days, you could turn a rap 12 Inch over and play the instrumental and it was just as strong as the vocal...you sure as hell can't do that now because there would be nothing but a beat and a sample.
[Edited 11/2/04 17:17pm]

DavidEye said:

I actually like hearing all those samples. It has helped me discover alot of old school acts in the process. Notice people who make new music without samples sound entirely unlike the 70s... and I mean the engineering processes and instruments used. We all know 70s music is the best Hip-hop (which as a culture began with records in the 70s) carries that tradition.