A whole lot of it was original songs and grooves made with instruments from the ground up. It was actually funk but they were rapping instead of singing. When it stopped being funk, that's when it became shit hop.

Paris9748430 said:

It's not that black and white, Paris.

You are certainly correct that there have been drug references in music forever because drug use has been part of human culture since the dawn of time.

I think the issue being discussed here is one of context, that being the glorification of a destructive lifestyle and the creation of a genre of music where many if not most songs are paeans.

This represents quite an alarming evolution as drug references in music have tradtionally reflected the cultural context of the musicians.

The references have ranged from "wink, wink" euphemisms to social commentaries about the tragedy often associated with them.

Drug use has always been a double edged sword in modern culture. There's a thin line between use and abuse and its undeniable that many have been damaged by becoming too careless.

A quick mental inventory of my 45 years of buying and listening to all kinds of music reveals that "the dealer" has almost exclusively been portrayed in song as a purveyor of pain and suffering.

What's different nowadays is that the dealer is portrayed as a kind of hero with all his bling, benjamins, hos, top quality intoxicants, gats and bad ass rides.

This is what sells today and there is plenty of money being made by corporations exploiting it.

But at what cost? How many lives have been ruined by impressionable youth finding their role models in trap rap culture?
[Edited 10/17/09 9:06am]

Like I said earlier, the drug thing is bigger than hip-hop. It's not great it's glamorized as it is but then again the problem ain't the hip-hop IMHO. Or whatever the hell they wanna call themselves these days.

"Trap rap" sounds dumb.

Wait ‘til the Taliban releases insider music right from the execution dens. People be losing their heads to a beat.

Double stickered by the PMRC and totally banned, this tal-a-bop will be the illest shit ever!

Brendan said:

You see how silly it sounds too? Tal-a-Bop Rap will take Trap Rap out. And the world will put hip-hop away for good then.

I mean how silly does that sound? I'd just ignore that shit.

I listen to hip hop but haven't checked out any of Gucci's or Plies music. Also Chopped n Screwed isn't just for Trap music if I'm correct, it's most southern hip hop music like Paul Wall, Chamillionaire, Triple 6 Mafia et al.I like Cham & Triple 6 and I think with all forms of hip hop you got to see it like it's portraying like characters in a movie or like pro-wrestling kinda thing and not take it too seriously although I can see the point you're making though about negative stereotypes and everything. But if a label sees this type of music selling they gonna bring out more of the same.

As long as the law of supply and demand rules the music business, there will always be an outlet for this stuff. I don't believe in censorship in any way, shape, or form.

The supply is the constant stream of "artists" who want to peddle this nonsense to the masses as their way of reflecting a lifestyle they know of. The demand is created by these media conglomerates who force feed this "art" to the music buying public. As many have said, drugs are emblematic of a larger undertone in the society in which these guys come from.

As listeners who appreciate various kinds of music, we can tune in or turn off the things we find offensive, but if you allow censorship in the arts, it creates a slippery slope for the people in power to mute messages they may deem offensivem robbing us of free will to determine what we like and don't like.

thetimefan said:

And that's basically what's happening. It's just gimmicks, I can't take it seriously, I can understand what they mean by negative stereotypes but labels were never about promoting just positivity since the beginning of time. Even with some positive shit, you're gonna have something that pisses you off. I never really study the music the way some of y'all do. And I'm a fan of hip-hop. They're got their favorites, I got mine's.
[Edited 10/17/09 15:24pm]

Ting is we here on the org, no matter the difference in our opinions, are at our core thinking people.

We are awake enough to see the game and make our choices consciously.

Sad thing is most kids are not thinking at all but just being force fed this bullshit and shaping their personal values based on these fucked up identities.

This is tragic as far as my 60 year old ass is concerned. Wasted lives.

Can someone provide an example of this so-called Trap rap?

I mean even Master P was "making crack like this" on Ghetto D.

Never mind, just heard Gucci Mane "Trap House". Man, that shit ain't new. That ghetto crack-makin' music has been around since the late 90's at least!
[Edited 10/17/09 22:40pm]

I'm sorry but you people are just out of touch. Or maybe I'm biased. Because I live in dallas this shit is hot when it comes on. Everybody get to jiggin and what not. It's not that these are great musicians, it's that these ARE the dance songs of my generation, whether you like it or not.

Exactly, Sandino. I just don't get the conversation people have about hip-hop, even the current commercial hip-hop scene which I have a 50/50 thing about (to a certain degree), but to say trap rap is bringing destruction to the black community or even that certain hip-hop associated acts are "devil worshippers" and "freemasons" or that all forms of current hip-hop are "shitty" is just a generalizing tag on a genre that, believe it or not, has always been diverse. Three decades before "trap the rabbit on the hook" rap or whatever they wanna call it, there was songs that started off with "now put your hands in the air and wave 'em like you just don't care, lemme hear you say ho!" and folks who didn't dig hip-hop thought THAT was trash so you have to think about how each generation differs from the others. It's a generational gap, I honestly believe it is.

Timmy84 said:

Agreed,but alot of people have agendas..it is what it is

ernestsewell said:

Exactly..this guy hasn't been on this Earth long enough to know about Schooly D.....next

Brendan said:

I want to laugh SO bad, but I shouldn't.....Nope, that's not funny.....Gahh! I can't hold it in! HA HA HA!

Dude made this thread,but nothing about Rock,after he acknowledges drugs and rock is just as bad or worse.He's so anti drug in lyrics,where's the rock thread?He's stated various times how hip hop is received in his country.So Im surprised he even knows about chopped and screwed.I get it..I really really do

Does anyone remember a 90s rapper named AZ? He did the first verse in Nas' song "Life's a B*tch." If you haven't heard him, listen to that song. He had advanced vocabulary skills, and that's one of the greatest rapped verses I've ever heard. I guess his style is becoming obsolete now, 'cause except for older guys like Common, Nas, Mos Def, Q-Tip, and even Twista, I don't hear anyone young try to rap with meaningful words anymore on the radio today. Instead, I hear slow nursery rhyme lyrics like: "I hopped up out of bed, and went to the store. Ran out of milk, so I had to buy some more. Oh, and check out my whore." Darn Soulja Boy. You want something banned, protest Souljaboytellem. You don't have to protest Lil Wayne now since he's going to prison. And Plies and that Gucci dude don't need much attention. I don't see them ever becoming mainstream.

WaterInYourBath said:

AZ was the truth, and you're right,some of todays rappers rhyme corny.They use the vocab of a 8th grader and that's probably as far as they have when it comes to education.Lupe Fiasco is someone that has skills.Some of todays rappers have skills

SavonOsco said:

Oh yeah, I forgot about Lupe. Yeah, he's great and underrated. I haven't heard about him in awhile though. Maybe he's working on a new album. And now that Lil Wayne won't be making music for a good year or more, Lupe hopefully won't be overshadowed by nonsense like "Lollipop" this time, lol.

Bow Wow (regardless of his name, lol) is another young one that has the potential to be different, since he is skillful with elocution. Like Lupe, his voice is perfect for rap, and he's intelligent enough to think of clever rhyming lyrics. Unlike Lupe though, he's a conformist, and chooses to write songs only about the "greatness" of his money, cars, and loose women.

WaterInYourBath said:

AZ has dope rhymes. This is why I can understand why some ORGers get upset when hip-hop is dissed in general. Not ALL hip-hop is bad. HELL I'm a fan of hip-hop, I come from the HIP-HOP generation, HELLO! I mean it's frustrating...

Timmy84 said:

WaterInYourBath said:

Agree to everything you say,Bow Wow needs an Artist and Development person to help him deal with the transition from teen throb to a young man.Lupe is working on another album,so is Outkast..some real good Hip hop will be out soon.Hell,Mos Def's new album is the truth

Timmy84 said:

That's all I try to say to some of these orgers.Don't put all of hip hop in one pot,it shows their ignorance.If you don't like it?..I get that.But don't say it's all shit hop when u have The Roots,Outkast,Common,Mos Def.That's all I try to say on here

SavonOsco said:

Yeah it's like grandfathers complaining of the golden-era hip-hop back in the '80s, lol

Huggiebear said:

I'm confused, how is that different from any other form of rap?

funksterr said:

Good point

Huggiebear said:

Bad Point,because there are other forms of rap..not all of rap music contain that content.Underground/Neo Soul and similar form of rap present positive messages.It's unfortunate that you and others have no been exposed.If you need examples ,I'd be more than helpful to provide you with that

SavonOsco said:

No because rap is not music, its talking to a beat. It is a degenerative form of culture and we will leave it at that. Positive rap may exist, but unfortunately none it would hit the charts in this bling bling based culture

Huggiebear said:

You've told me yourself that your country was so conservative and that you was exposed to rap very late.And Ive said before that your opinions about my degenerative form of culture would be respected.If I wasn't watching this world series,I'd probably give you a barrage of facts to make you look pretty stupid.But rap IS a form of music,that old trick doesn't work anymore.Positive rap cracks thru the charts,but for us that support it and dig it.That's not important.You're the first person to say Prince don't need the charts.Positive rap doesn't either.Degeneration?..lol..commercial is over..game back on...

SavonOsco said:

You've notice the ones criticizing hip-hop come from very conservative spots in the country? Why is a horny whore like vainandy or Ms. Andrea as Harley called him (and he did call himself a whore) is in fucking Mississippi!? Hell Afroman live in Mississippi too.