Public Enemy for me.

Both musicwise (mixing rock-elements and raw dance-music with hip-hop) and lyricwise (maybe a bit too one-dimensional 'millitant' sometimes, but definitely a fresh breath among all those rappers bragging about their 'hood, ego's and bling-bling).

NWA have made some raw hip-hop musicwise, but gloryifying gangsta-behaviour or even using it as some cheap excuse is a big NO for me.
[Edited 10/1/09 10:55am]

novabrkr said:

He really was. Ice Cube was the gangsta version of Chuck D, when he left, they all looked like clowns. Well most of them were anyways. Especially Eazy and Dre.

I loved 'em both. Public Enemy taught ya what the textbooks REALLY meant between the lines, while N.W.A showed ya what the streets was all about if you didn't get it from ya father, older brothers or bad ass cousins.

diamondpearl1 said:

That's the only good thing NWA did, lol But then again, the Geto Boys made me further realize it more than NWA did. Nothing has come out more REALER than Scarface's debut album! Real talk!

This is like asking "Miley Cyrus or Bell Biv Devoe?" I fail to see the connection. Unless it's just because both groups liked wearing black baseball caps.

Timmy84 said:

We all agree that N.W.A. did become a self-parody overtime.

But The Geto Boyz were always real. Even the sense of dark humor from Willie D & Bushwick Bill were more of a strength than a weakness. And Mr. Scarface definitely had a lot of stories from the streets to tell in his songs.

TonyVanDam said:

Yeah they were strength in numbers. Willie & Bushwick used to crack me up but Scarface was always SERIOUS with his.

TonyVanDam said:

Exactly...PE stayed more consistent, so they win this one hands down

PE.....music with a purpose.

Both groups had about as much rhythm as a Barbara Streisand album. In their early years, both groups were underground in my area because, when it came to rap, R&B radio in those days only played the funky jams (in other words, something that is actually music and worthy of airplay, none of that dull storytelling shit).

Back in those days, I used to buy records that I had never heard yet and take a chance that it might be good. I bought a lot of rap 12 Inches that way since jams from folks like 2 Live Crew, Gigolo Tony, or Afro Rican were mainly club jams and got little or no airplay due to all the Shitney Houston adult contemporary type stuff that was dominating the airwaves. I bought Public Enemy's first album thinking it might be good. Hell, that shit was more boring than Shitney Houston and I threw it in the trash. As for NWA or Dr. Dre, he should have stayed his ass in the World Class Wrecking Crew. At least they knew how to throwdown with jams like "The Fly" and "Bionic".

Vainandy,

Your Shitney Houston-trick is getting worn out.

The same goes for your 'apprecation' of mediocre artists like Rick James and Teena Marie.

Try something new, okay?

Damn, where did you live? Mister Rogers' Neighborhood?

Well, I prefer Public Enemy as a group, though I liked Straight Outta Compton & Cube & Dre solo albums as well.

I might say that NWA was more influential, but without PE I am not sure NWA would have been the same.

It's weird how PE seems to have lost all cred in the hip hop community, while maintaining it in the more mainstream music community.

I realize that they may not have near the talent that musical geniuses like Public Enemy or NWA have, but everyone can't be geniuses.

NDRU said:

That's because the hip-hop community never quite got them. But the mainstream understood. Why do you think Anthrax collaborated with them? Public Enemy nowadays perform mostly to enthusiastic white crowds. Then again they were always performing mainly to them. Their parents probably never understood their kids' fascination with Public Enemy (or even NWA) but the kids dug it anyway. That said, PE never gets acknowledgment for what they did to hip-hop. Without them, NWA, Pac and 'em wouldn't have existed. Real talk.

vainandy said:

You know P.E. sampled a LOT of James Brown's beats, right? So are you going to say James Brown is not funky?

BlaqueKnight said:

Now how's that for an oxymoron. I dance constantly to PE! BECAUSE of THEM, I knew more of James Brown's music. You're talking about a 5-year-old kid who didn't even know the names of the older artists but after hearing the originals, you realize how great PE was in their productions. Never a dull track. Hip-hop was RAUCOUS in its early years just like blues, doo-wop, soul and funk and rock and roll were.

As did so many of the other underground rap groups of the late 80s. It didn't sound funky at all. It sounded like a James Brown record that had a scratch in it and it just kept repeating that same section over and over. Then they added something that sounded like continuous grinding over the scratched record and then yelled out verses on top of that which made it sound even worse. I felt like I was listening to a dog fight.
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[Edited 10/1/09 12:27pm]

vainandy said:

Well this is where we differ. The James Brown samples made me dig the tracks.

I sense your sarcasm, but IMO Rick James is discofied funk with bad vocals, and... well... a lack of funk.
Definitely one of the most overrated musicians on the 'org'.

Public Enemy are better and have been more important then him, NWA is just a bunch of whiners going for ghetto-excuses.

[quote]

Riverpoet31 said:

Well of course. Thank God for disco. It made funk sound a lot less like jazz and a lot more modern sounding for it's day and changed it forever even after disco's so-called death. Everyone should have some sort of disco elements in their music or sit their ass down.



Well, of course they've been more important than Rick. They were dull and so is today's music. I wouldn't expect today's listeners to like Rick. They don't have the taste.
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[Edited 10/1/09 12:50pm]

I can live with Rick being called mediocre, because in most cases, I think he was, but Lady T? Oh no! Her voice alone lifts her up. That is someone who gets no props when she should, because hands down, she is one of the greatest vocalists ever

Vainandy,

Disco took the raw edge of funk, and turned it into superficial gay-music. But i am sure you don't mind about that...

Your problem is, that while we are living in the year 2009, you keep whining about Whitney Houston and Hip-hop killing your cheesy, watered down disco-funk of Rick James and Shalamar.

Just because you did come out of the closet during the early eighties, doesnt make Rick James 'special'.
The fact you keep hanging in that period shows how shallow and shortminded you actually are: a boring, annoying gay guy who doesnt know shit about music.
[Edited 10/1/09 13:01pm]

Both groups had about as much rhythm as a Barbara Streisand album.

Of course it did. What could be more better than gay? That should be every musician's goal.

I realize that disco hardening the gay music may have been heartbreaking to some people, but Miss Thang, you can still pull out your old Judy Garland records and play them.

I would say, keep making a fool of yourselve as some stereotype, Vainandy, while i keep listening to the music that touches me, wether its in the field of funk, rock, pop, worldmusic, folk or soul

See there, I knew you were secretly family. You're listening to music that touches you. Shit, you're gayer than I am. Hell, I'm just looking for music to make my ass move.
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[Edited 10/1/09 13:21pm]

vainandy said:

This is where i disagree with you Vain. 2 Live Crew shouldn't even
be mentioned when you talk about rap. They were just a plain minstrel
show even more so than the NWA days after Ice Cube. As far as who
was better NWA or PE. I definitely vote PE.
As far as the person talking that nonsense about Rick James
being mediocre,i shouldn't even address that shit. Some of Rick James lesser known songs like Moonchild,(which Mary J.Blige sampled for Love is All we need),When Love Is Gone, Spacey Love, Fool on the Street, Slow and Easy,
and 69 times are better than 75% of the bullshit you hear on the radio now.
D'Angelo could even come back and make 3 albums in the next 3 years and
still couldn't touch Rick James legacy.
[Edited 10/1/09 13:55pm]