What do you hate about Rap right now (T.R.O.Y. vent thread)

[Career Over Like Mike(NJJ)]

Regarding the sampling issue, it's more down to people spending more on videos/promotion and not wanting or being able to afford to clear beats within their budget and labels encouraging rappers to have as few samples as possible as it's a legal paperwork nightmare for them to clear them.

And then there's that a lot of old soul/funk/jazz artists don't like their music being sampled and used to make music that promotes negatiivity or includes cussing.

It probably also doesn't help that a good percentage of rappers are tone deaf and can't pick beats to save their lives either.

[Kelly Kel]

Beefs - beefs were fun back in the day but now nobody can take this sh*t seriously

Radio Shows - Rappers dont come through and spit (written or not) on radio shows anymore

Stretch & Bobbito dont have a show anymore

Yo MTV Raps is Over

the mindnumbingly boring content of 99% of music is making me ill

people like game blow up and big l died broke

Superstardom - i hate the way in last 6 or 7 years that the music has become such a commodity that
hip-hop stars have become pop icons

nobody makes a beat that makes u do that ugly face when you hear it anymore

rappers seem to be on assembly lines - duplicate carbon copies of the next man

crack - gets namechecked far too often

nobody in the public eye seems to be actually concerned with spitting anymore

[Kelly Kel]

actually how hard was KRS killin it on that album remember mortal thought that sh*t just amazes me every time i hear it - murders that primo beat as good as anyone ever has

Are you tired of lyrical liars, passing fliers

Wannabe MC's, but really good triers

Tripping over mic cords, getting you bored

A total fraud, this kind of thing I can't afford, so I

pick up the mic and kill it ill it top bill it

The pot is a skillet, where MC's get fried in it

You got beef chill it, blood I spill it

After seven long years of ripping the party and I'm still widdit

You call my name I don't think about suing ya

I come to the club with that BOOYAKA

Laughing while I'm doin ya the crowd is booin ya

Gimme one month, record for record on tape I'll ruin ya

Some likkle awl pon sound bwoy wan fi rule de city

His style is lookin pretty beats and rhymes are dibby dibby

Here comes the rootical ratical teacha

I'll eat ya defeat ya beat ya till ya stagger and ya teeth chatter

You'll be goin through convulsions as I flash data

Any rapper can be a decapitated rapper now what's the matter

You're full of more junk than a sausage

Let me show you what a real hip-hop artist

:shock: :shock: :shock:


DAM SORRY EVERYONE THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE BEST LP OF 90S THREAD!!!!!!!!!!!

[MD]

I don't like the idea of "hot producers" (no homo). It's made a lot of albums sound more like just a jumble of tracks - 1 Kanye beat, 1 Just Blaze, 1 Lil' Jon, 1 Timbo, etc.

Word to Move Free though. I'm sure in a few years I'll enjoy some of the releases I wouldn't even give a thought to listening to now.

[ScholarWenis]

- the fans

that is all

[DVS]

i hate that every other hook has some r&b trash in it regardless of the song's tone/mood, and more often than not it's some cornball[male or female]who can't sing for shit.

I don't like the idea of "hot producers" (no homo). It's made a lot of albums sound more like just a jumble of tracks - 1 Kanye beat, 1 Just Blaze, 1 Lil' Jon, 1 Timbo, etc.

think back to illmatic's production lineup...
3 primo beats
3 large pro
1 pete rock
1 qtip
1 l.e.s.

it should inspire production to be top notch from all directions, with every producer wanting his track to be the one everyone wears out on that lp.
you don't see artists taking the same pride in what they do anymore.
i'm all for diversity in producers, but not when all the beats wind up sounding the same or nothing is standout because everyone's trying to be the same thing; and/or when you don't like that main sound to begin with.
then it's altogether redundant.

and most of these superstar sucka ass mcs are corrrrrrny in interviews.

[locke cole]

2. rappers who are nice but boring on the mic.
examples being like jada, fabolous, dipset...etc, any rapper who just says the words in their flow, instead of.....barking them like ghostface setting it off on bring the ruckus, or biggie in gimme the loot.
they just don't sound like they mean what they're saying when they say it anymore, even with inflection, emphasis, whatever...zzzzzzzzzz

The same can be said of Tribe Called Quest.

This is probably my biggest complaint about hip hop right now, and for the past few years as well. My favourite album of all time is NWA's Efil4zaggin. That was three dope mc's tearing the mic to pieces track after track. People don't do that anymore. If I wanna hear mc's that sound like they have some passion in them I gotta throw on something from 10 years ago (not that that's a bad thing).

I think this is part of the reason that people liked the new Geto Boys record so much. When they were on the mic they had your attention and we all missed that feeling of hearing an mc that doesn't half-ass it.

Even the greats of today don't put heart into it (MF Doom, Jay-Z for example). Motherfuckers need to get rowdy again. I want people to have the heart of Juelz Santana but with good lyrics. Is that too much to ask?

[locke cole]

Why are the hardest beats out right now given to R&B hoes?

Toxic and that Blu Cantrell song spring to mind

[KRS-THUN ATTACK!]

2. rappers who are nice but boring on the mic.
examples being like jada, fabolous, dipset...etc, any rapper who just says the words in their flow, instead of.....barking them like ghostface setting it off on bring the ruckus, or biggie in gimme the loot.
they just don't sound like they mean what they're saying when they say it anymore, even with inflection, emphasis, whatever...zzzzzzzzzz

The same can be said of Tribe Called Quest.

Except that it can't. Thanks for playing though. Bill, tell him about his consolation prize.

[DVS]

^
tribe's style was more laidback and had a different vibe. they didn't exactly make hype music with a similar sound/content as the previous & above mentioned examples. bad example.

Even the greats of today don't put heart into it (MF Doom, Jay-Z for example).

although doom & jay both have records with mad heart... i get your point, but it's another bad example.

[Nl5H]

Diggedy Wrote:

This is what bugs me out.. When I was in Junior High, I found a walk man in the desk..What was the tape inside? Nubian's "One For All".. That's what the kiddies were listening to..

There are no 7th graders with a Dead Prez (just an example) tape in the walkman these days..

dawg kids don't even own walkmen anymore. now its all cd/mp3 cd players and ipod minis/ipods/mp3 player for the fortunate kids.

i mean it's true the times have changed. long ago people used to look through bmg magazines, and get anything that sounded cool (i used to be one of these cats) and my brother being 6 years my senior, giving me music to listen to. i mean he had eazy duz it, nwa, too short, 3rd bass, rob bass, beastie boys, run dmc, and all that shit on tape...granted he listened to mostly the popular stuff, he always would always listen to dope hip hop, and i would always listen on with him. i remember the first time i heard the wu tang 36 chambers, after the first few listens, i never understood the album (me being so west coast bias, and not on this 5% crazy wild style that the wu was on) , and didn't come back to it for like another 2-3 years when i really understood it.

i mean nowadays, people aren't on the look out for good music on their own. i mean its like listener's nowadays need the masses approval to like something.

and i'm tired of rappers who are waiting to be put on by someone else... get your own shit!

[waldo ptarmigan]

certainly some of the blame should be put on the younger crowd, but i think the question should become, how did they develop the attitude that old is bad? i believe that generations of people could be inter-changeable, which is to say, that if those same people were born when all you old school heads were, they would probably have similar tastes. ultimately, i believe, mainstream culture plays a large part in a generations development (socialization), and as these anti-systematic forms of music are created, our culture eventually learns how to best assimilate it. in this case, what we're seeing is a new generation of people growing up to a thing called "hip hop" which is actually the mainstream's definition of it because they don't live in the Bronx, and their only exposure is through MTV. at points during a persons life they can choose to accept the mainstream definition or get critical. in the case of america, where everything needs to be fast and easy, the overwhelming majority of people accept this definition, however flawed it may be.

if people aren't going to study the roots of our country past the textbooks they're given, do you really think they're going to study something that "bumps in the club"?

I agree with you on some of these points, and disagree on some others. It's definitely true that since we (as in people who grew up with hip-hop all around us) have been exposed in an entirely different way to hip-hop culture; namely, an over-saturation of the market and a glut of half-assed releases that are put out to sell as well as possible and only for that reason, we get a different view point than a lot of the people who post on here regularly. I agree with you on that. The problem is really laziness on the part of the fans, as well as the people who do have the knowledge to educate the younger fans.

I'm 20 years old. I listened to hip-hop when I was little, but not intensely. I remember when Digital Underground where popular, I remember listening to Christmas in Hollis a lot when it was fairly new, and I even remember Run DMC on the ghostbusters soundtrack. But I didn't really get into hip-hop until about 7-8 years ago. Does that make me a newjack? Sure. But I have tried harder than anything to educate myself, and I'm pretty damn sure that it worked as well as it possibly could. I definitely still lack a lot of the knowledge that a lot of the older cats have, but I learn more every day. Of course, I am definitely not the norm. I think a lot of people are not willing to learn about hip-hop roots for a number of different reasons. Sometimes it's boring to them to hear a more basic rhyme from early on, and other times they flat out have no interest.

I disagree with you on the point you made about our modern culture essentially assimilating what's presented to us out of necessity. Sure, it's easy for us to assimilate what's on MTV and completely neglect anything pre-Puff Daddy/Biggie. But wouldn't that neglect also count as a lack of assimilation of the culture? The problem is that people are only taking in what is easily available, which kind of gives them a skewed view of hip-hop, despite the fact that it is so prevalent everywhere.

It's the job of the older crowd to help educate the people that are willing to learn, and on a small level, that is done in T.R.O.Y. To give a more optimistic look at all this, I would say just look at this forum. It's all incredibly educational and entertaining, and it has given me more information than any book on hip-hop could give. Yeah it's on a small level, but it's definitely a start.

There is a lot that pisses me off about hip-hop today, but there is so much stuff out there that I still need to learn about that it doesn't bother me too much really. But then again, I'm one of the fans who wants to take the time to learn about older stuff, as are you. That being said, maybe I'm lucky, but it's been a long time since I've experienced any kind of newjack backpacker bullshit, and a short time since I've met a large amount of kids who are perfectly ready to listen to any older album and enjoy it.

(Side note: The last time I experienced newjack backpacker bullshit was at a Public Enemy show when this kid standing in front of me said Public Enemy sucked, and that they should bring a real rap group like Jedi Mind Tricks out. I almost socked him.)

This is really vague and poorly formed, but I think I more or less got my point across.

[Bring Back The Tempo]

I'm 21, was introduced to rap around the 90-92 period. I donno, I still consider myself a newjack. Got a lot to learn before I can become a full fledged rap scholar like some of the cats here .

:mrgreen:

[Rey Slo]

I'm 21 also, and I don't think you can place that much blame on the current rap fans.

The majority of people who buy hip hop albums aren't hip hop heads, they're just casual listeners.

Those casual listeners buy whatever you tell them. An order passed down from higher ranks.

So shit on placing the blame on my generation.

I'm not so sure the Gen X crowd would have done that great of a job of picking quality hip hop acts either if the industry was structured in the state it's in now.

[KRS-THUN ATTACK!]

Here's what I don't understand.


Alot of the olderheads make the claim that the newer crop of artists do no respect or acknowledge the schools that came before them.

Now, let's think about some of the biggest artists of the past five years.

Puff Daddy
Busta Rhymes
Snoop Dogg
Missy Elliot
Timbaland
Nas
Jay-z
Ludacris
The Neptunes
Mannie fresh
Kanye West
Just Blaze
G-Unit
Dip Set

Not only are these people reverent and fond of the music of the past, many of them are downright obsessed with hip-hop's legacy and have done everything in their power infuse some of the older sound, vibe, or spirit into their music.

What more you want, exactly?

[Nl5H]

Here's what I don't understand.


Alot of the olderheads make the claim that the newer crop of artists do no respect or acknowledge the schools that came before them.

Now, let's think about some of the biggest artists of the past five years.

Puff Daddy
Busta Rhymes
Snoop Dogg
Missy Elliot
Timbaland
Nas
Jay-z
Ludacris
The Neptunes
Mannie fresh
Kanye West
Just Blaze
G-Unit
Dip Set

Not only are these people reverent and fond of the music of the past, many of them are downright obsessed with hip-hop's legacy and have done everything in their power infuse some of the older sound, vibe, or spirit into their music.

What more you want, exactly?

excellent point, but most of those artists appeal to the general population, (well maybe not dipset) aka the mtv crowd, so i mean they aren't really listening to the lyrics and soaking -them in so much, its more about the beats with them.

[KRS-THUN ATTACK!]

^^the beats, the hooks, the titles and concepts have an old school vibe too, in many cases.

[Money Gripp]

I think the lack of imagination and creativity in hip hop is a huge factor in its current state of sucking. It is unimaginable that something as creative and fresh as say the first Tribe album or Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... could be released nowadays. And this criticism is not solely aimed at the maintstream because undergroup rap is almost as stagnant and conservative. I can't hate on any group or rapper that keeps their style solidly grounded in the past and I think there are some outstanding cats who choose to make tried-and-true boom bap. But I think the best hip hop music of recent years has also been the most innovative. Supreme Clientele, Black On Both Sides, Aquemini, The Unseen are just a few examples of amazing and state-of-the-art albums that explored uncharted territory while remaining 100% hip hop. It seems that most artists these days lack the talent and vision to take it to the next level, but lucikily there a handful of trailblazers that aren't satisfied with rehashing old formulas and keep comin with that next shit.

[Rey Slo]

lucikily there a handful of trailblazers that aren't satisfied with rehashing old formulas and keep comin with that next shit.

:mrgreen:

C'mon, lets all stop acting like this wasn't a thinly vieled DipSet thread anyway.

[Stoned Starks]

I disagree with you on the point you made about our modern culture essentially assimilating what's presented to us out of necessity. Sure, it's easy for us to assimilate what's on MTV and completely neglect anything pre-Puff Daddy/Biggie. But wouldn't that neglect also count as a lack of assimilation of the culture? The problem is that people are only taking in what is easily available, which kind of gives them a skewed view of hip-hop, despite the fact that it is so prevalent everywhere.

It's the job of the older crowd to help educate the people that are willing to learn, and on a small level, that is done in T.R.O.Y. To give a more optimistic look at all this, I would say just look at this forum. It's all incredibly educational and entertaining, and it has given me more information than any book on hip-hop could give. Yeah it's on a small level, but it's definitely a start.

you're absolutely right that there is a certain lack of of assimilation, but when you look at what isn't present anymore it makes sense why those parts are missing in the mainstream scope. this same thing has happened hundreds, possibly thousands, of times in american history; all for the benefit of the mainstream ideology. I agree with your second paragraph and probably should have mentioned that in my first post because it is such a critical part of finding out anything. at the end of the day, it's all about turning off channel zero and building like Brand Nubian.

[locke cole]

2. rappers who are nice but boring on the mic.
examples being like jada, fabolous, dipset...etc, any rapper who just says the words in their flow, instead of.....barking them like ghostface setting it off on bring the ruckus, or biggie in gimme the loot.
they just don't sound like they mean what they're saying when they say it anymore, even with inflection, emphasis, whatever...zzzzzzzzzz

The same can be said of Tribe Called Quest.

Except that it can't. Thanks for playing though. Bill, tell him about his consolation prize.

sure it can. It's why I've never liked a tribe called quest. they bore me

[nestle quik]

it can be said by a NEWJACK BITCH maybe

[Stoned Starks]

haha. saying that tribe is "zzzzzzzzzzzz" makes me wonder if you've heard "People's Instinctive Travels". that is one of the most engaging albums i've ever bought.

[cuntface]

I do think more blame needs to be placed on the younger listeners.

"blame"? for what? liking different music to you? how dare they.

i remember back in the mid nineties when boom bap used to routinely sell 2-500,000. now a good selling boom bap album does 50,000, total eclipse probably did about a tenth of enta da stage. if it's anyone's "fault" then i'd say it's more likey the few hundred thousand people who stoped checking for the music

[Bring Back The Tempo]

I do think more blame needs to be placed on the younger listeners.

"blame"? for what? liking different music to you? how dare they.

i remember back in the mid nineties when boom bap used to routinely sell 2-500,000. now a good selling boom bap album does 50,000, total eclipse probably did about a tenth of enta da stage. if it's anyone's "fault" then i'd say it's more likey the few hundred thousand people who stoped checking for the music

i'm cool with youngins listenin' to what they like but if they don't want to give the older rap a chance...then thats when i blast em and ratatatem! just buggin'. anyway, combo, how old are you?

[Reason]

2. rappers who are nice but boring on the mic.
examples being like jada, fabolous, dipset...etc, any rapper who just says the words in their flow, instead of.....barking them like ghostface setting it off on bring the ruckus, or biggie in gimme the loot.
they just don't sound like they mean what they're saying when they say it anymore, even with inflection, emphasis, whatever...zzzzzzzzzz

The same can be said of Tribe Called Quest.

Except that it can't. Thanks for playing though. Bill, tell him about his consolation prize.

sure it can. It's why I've never liked a tribe called quest. they bore me

Location: Ottawa.

[Reason]

people who claim that tribe didn't spit with inflections/emphasis/hype deliveries and that they are boring is what i hate about the rap game right now

but for real, honestly the best thing people like thun, bent, and lexus can do is educate the masses...and not just on some hip hop board. i don't know a fifth of what yall know but i do my best to throw on that fear of a black planet record or that buhloone mindstate or that illmatic when someone i get to know has only heard fight the power, me, myself and i, and street dreams

[Combo7]

I do think more blame needs to be placed on the younger listeners.

"blame"? for what? liking different music to you? how dare they.

No, blame for being little faggots that automatically resent any music that was made before the Shiny Suit Era and not even attempting to get into the older stuff.

Tempo, I turned 21 this past January. Now that I think about it, it may not even be "younger listeners" that are the problem, because there are plenty of people in their mid-twenties who fit the above description.

[Rey Slo]

Following with the point c-face was making:

[quote]Before I get into the Number One record in the country on down I would like to burn fire on the Hip Hop Nation for its lack of support for the Geto Boys. With 8 weeks into the charts, the Legendary Geto Boys "Foundation" have only sold a meager 132,316. Hip Hop is the only culture and music genre that does not give respect to the architects and label Legends "Old School". When Bruce Springsteen drops he sells out the box. Loyal fan base. Hip Hop is the most unloyal nation in the world when it comes to preserving legends. I

[Bring Back The Tempo]

I do think more blame needs to be placed on the younger listeners.

"blame"? for what? liking different music to you? how dare they.

No, blame for being little faggots that automatically resent any music that was made before the Shiny Suit Era and not even attempting to get into the older stuff.

Tempo, I turned 21 this past January. Now that I think about it, it may not even be "younger listeners" that are the problem, because there are plenty of people in their mid-twenties who fit the above description.

i understand yer rage bro but it's just music...all you can do is educate them and leave it at that. maybe they just don't understand as much as I don't understand Immanuel Kant when my philosophy prof teaches his theories to the class.