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Am I the only one that is through with mainstream hip-hop? How many times in a day can I be told to shake my butt?
I really through, even with my former favorite...The Jigga Man himself.
It's only so much of the "Money, Hoes, Cars and Clothes" I can take. I'm really done
I really through, even with my former favorite...The Jigga Man himself.
It's only so much of the "Money, Hoes, Cars and Clothes" I can take. I'm really done
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Unsu...
Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
05/28I through with bad poetry to bad music,bring back The Last Poets to show how it's done. -
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Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
05/28Yea I turned on the local mainstream radio station the other day and I was shocked at how wack shit had gotten in a short amount of time. I can't believe I was actually getting nostalgic for the 97 era with Puffy and Mase.
Also, is it just me or do all the beats sound like they were made on a casio or clock radio? Shit is real wack sorry. -
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Unsu...
Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
05/28A casio, you are being really generous, they all sound the same anyway, and what is up with the lyrics!
I am in the South (A.T.L.) and some of these songs they come up with out here are ridiculous, and what's even worse is that people are actually buying this crap. "You can neva eva eva eva eva eva get on my level ho" That is the chorus you can just imagine the ignorance of the song, in fact I think that is the whole song, I can't stand it long enough to listen and find out.
WHAT? OK! -
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Unsu...
Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
05/28white men in large glass offices with big cigars are standing around computer spreadsheets laughing all the way to the bank,and it won't stop till little Tommy calls Mrs Cleaver a 'ho and starts packing a nine -
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Unsu...
Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
05/28I know thats the truth, the white man gets paid off of all of the puppeteers! -
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Unsu...
Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
05/28and we play the white man,we know how to stop it,change the channel,walk pass the rack and pray,alot lot of prayer.
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Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
05/28mainstream hiphop is like tv for me. every now and again i check in to see what everyone ELSE is experiencing.
the beats are lame, the subject matter i can't even FIND a suitable word for, the mcs? puh-leez.
i was talking about this in nyc w/another dj buddy. apparently, if you want to be a professional dj there, you HAVE to own the mainstream ish.
i called it "hyper-black" music. whatever stereotype they're playing into in the song it's the completely over-blown version of it.
i don't understand why people listen and even REQUEST this music... urrbody in da club... -
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Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
05/28These are arguments we made, not just in '97, but in '92 and '86.
But, hey, The LA Dream team worked for *me*...
I actually really like the J-Kwon album. 17-year-olds who can really rap have an inherent drama to their stories. It's not his fault other MCs aren't promoted. Besides, the continuous soundscape of the album is wholly original. I'll burn you a copy, if you like. (Psyche!)
And I can make mixtapes off the indie artists I more passionately care for.
It's just silly to blame the artists for the Matrix they're caught up in. -
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Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
05/28And why is everyone acting like Kanye West didn't make an album this spring?
Like I keep saying, we have to be honest with ourselves if we really want to make inroads on our problems. -
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Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
05/29Cling blindly to the hope that the whole genre will soon get its next desperately-needed facelift, then breathe a sigh of relief. Intelligent artists cracks the top twenty in waves--it's just been low-tide for so long, you've despaired of even seeing deep blue again. At least we still have Common, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Saul Williams, amog others . . .
If I weren't a DJ I doubt I'd buy a hip hop album more than a half-dozen tiems yearly, but I know in my heart that a consciousness and conscientiousness will return to our music. We shook our asses to the music when it first broke out--MCs used to be simply hype men in the late Seventies, you know--and then we had "the Message." We got celebratory 'bout nothin' again, then came Kool Moe Dee. We shook our groove thang until Big Daddy Kane and Rakim came along. Then we took a break from thinking until KRS reinvented himself, Paris and PE gave us politically-fuelled rap manifestos while keepin' it hard, and the Native Tongues folks, Will Smith, and Hammer got popular with lyrics a little more insightful.
Don't give up! Thinkers surface every day in the game, and sometimes even the sheep who'd rather lose themselves in the beats are forced to sit up and take notice. -
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Unsu...
Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
05/30True we do have these few artist, but why are they the exception and not the rule? I will applaud Dave Chappelle and his show to get these artist noticed.
Yeah Kanye made an album this spring, and I do like it, but to me he had some of the same "music" we come to expect from the Roc-A-Fella family, so then again... -
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Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
06/01I feel the same way about hip hop music. I go through moments when I am wondering what I am listening to. I wonder why everyone seems to rap about the same thing. There are probably 4 to 7 quality albmums put put each year.
Rasinet...do you think the rhymes are wack or the music. Personally I love Kanye's album. I dig the music and I appreciate that he raps about stuff that other people aren't touching right now.
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Unsu...
Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
06/08Well I must admit I like Kanye as well, on the whole he did great so I guess that statement could be retracted.
I think the rhymes are stupid, I mean what are they just picking words out the sky, there are few artist who actually tell stories with their music anymore, and there are even fewer that tell stories that I as a positive, upwardly mobile black woman can relate to or even tolerate to listen to. I don't want to hear someone refer to me or any of my sistas' as a bitch or a hoe, in return I don't like to hear another one of my sistas' refer to herself as a bitch or a hoe, nor do I want to hear about how her p***y is so good that a n***a will want to give her all his money (which we know is not the truth). But anywho...I digress. The music is dumb too, all the beats sound the same it's like they just pass it around.
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Unsu...
Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
06/08A few years ago I made a conscious decision not to do anything that I would not do in front of family (brother, sister, mother, father, nieces, nephews, etc.).
Hip-hop was one of the first to go. Of course I don't mean everything but, I find the vast majority of it to be really negative. From the cursing to the n-word to the terrible references to women, and the rest... I can't handle it.
But in my opinion, its not just hip-hop. I remember first coming here from the Caribbean and listening to R&B. My siblings and I couldn't believe it. So much of the music was about "loving you," what we're gonna do tonight and the like that I wondered if people were crazy. How could anyone listen to that stuff for more than 5 seconds.
The nonsense on the radio began somewhere. It didn't come out of nowhere...
Music is subconscious programming. -
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Unsu...
Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
06/08OMGsh I totally belive you Sean, it has to be how else can you explain them putting such ridiculousness to a beat, and the way it sticks in your head, just like commercial jingles. -
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Unsu...
Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
06/08even R&B these days are formated into a sexual box, instead a life experience theme that all good music has in common. -
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Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
06/08R&B as I was educated by it, seems to have died a long time ago. Ashford & Simpson, The Brothers Johnson, Frankie Beverly & Maze... that stuff is gone. En Vogue came close. Toni Braxton came close. Chaka Khan is still givin it. Me'Shell NDegeOcello gives it. Jhelisa gives it. Carleen Anderson. Anita Baker.
But none of those artists, not even Chaka or Anita, gets the air-play of "bling*bling-spread your bootylicious cheeks-make your legs like butter-zip your thing down-let me work it-my nigga." -
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Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
06/08I'm noticing the lack of male examples in my previous post. James Ingram was the last solid male soul singer I can think of. Oh... and Luthor. Peabo Bryson went too poppy for me. Gregory Abbot wanted to shake you down, and that was it. Pretty much every one since sounds backstreet boys influenced... holding those nasally falsettos... got the nerve to try and moan a song.
Notable exception: Ruben Studdard... and that tall kid from the current American Idol season. He's got a great voice. -
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Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
06/08Whatever music, whether hip hop or R&B, is going to have its bad times. I think that the state of music is not what it should be or what I would like it to be. There has always been bad music. The thing that I need to do is find the music that I want to listen to. No matter how much the local radio stations drive me nuts with what they think is music. I feel like I have to on musical safari to make sure I enjoy what I am listening to. -
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Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
06/09my question is, if people object to the mainstream so much, do they seek out other stuff that's "bubblin' under?"
there's SO MUCH good music out there, folks! this is one of the things that's lost with the disappearance of the *record store.* the place where you can go in and someone says "hey have you heard <insert artist you're not familiar with>, i think you'd like it..."
there's so much music that gets put out, and much of it doesn't get the promotional money thrown at it that the big sellers do. i'll admit that underground hiphop can be a real minefield, but there's stuff out there that's worth a chance. i finally listened to this group called "time machine"--www.timemachinesound.com indie, and really nice stuff. j-live and asheru & blue-black of unspoken heard are pretty nice, too.
i'm surprised i haven't heard mention of any of the "nu-soul" artists--d'angelo, angie stone, erykah badu, omar (uk), dwele, musiq soulchild, jill scott...
do you just cut out music altogether? -
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This is the maximum depth. Additional responses will not be threaded.
Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
06/09Perhaps we should spend more time in this tribe, writing brief reviews of what we think is dope, rather than simply amassing lists of "greatest underground MC," etc.
I will maybe drop some reviews in here about some of favourites, including the first Black Star collaboration, Saul Williams' '00 release, Jurassic 5, Dilated Peoples, Sage Francis, KRS-One's self-titled mid-Nineties release, and so forth, and we can educate other and have even more passionate discussions together.
nu-soul, eh? What about Kem?
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This is the maximum depth. Additional responses will not be threaded.Unsu...
Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
06/09Personally, I've almost stopped buying music altogether - I buy maybe 1 CD per year. Its due in part to the quality of music but mainly its about the cost.
I remember looking at my CD collection one day and wishing that each one could be converted into a 10-dollar bill. I.e. my financial priorities were reorganzed.
Plus I have broadband at home. There are so many great music stations over the web - somafm, KCRW, KEXP, WFUV, WFMU, etc. - and Apple's iTunes makes it quite easy to listen.
Sean
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Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
06/09Can't agree more. Dilution of content and innovation is happening non just in hip-hop and R&B. How else to explain Britney and Jessica Simpson? Most of the so-called hip-hop stations are programmed centrally from Clear Channel anyway. Its about moving the product, coarse and boring as it might be.
The good news is some young kid is creating his/her reaction to all the drivel.
And mind you folks, this young person probably lives outside the US. Some of the most engaging hip-hop/R&B influenced music is coming from the favelas in Brazil and Cartegena, Colombia. I caught some Moroccans and Algerians "freestyling" in Arabic in Spain. Couldn't catch the words, but the flow was arresting.
Musical safari surf caravan anyone?
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This is the maximum depth. Additional responses will not be threaded.
Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
06/11I think it would be more appropriate to question the depth of the hip-hop audience than the music. Like Mos Def said "Before you ask how hip hop is doing, ask "How am I doing?". Jay Z and 50 cents sell a million records in a day with anthems about street violence , drugs and misogyny yet artists like talib, dead prez and the roots struggle to produce a gold record over the span of a year with material that is socially progressive. the real question is "What do we support as a community?". If we expect the music (and content) to get better we have to support real artists (which is not happening). We see the effects in our community every day. Is it that our ghettoes look like music videos or that music videos look like our ghettoes. Which came first, I can't remember.
Last I remember P.E. said "The other day I got a letter from the government. It said they wanted me for their Army or what ever. Picture me giving a damn, I said NEVER." Next thing I know its 2004 and rappers talk about money and hoes as Blacks and Latinos die in disproportionate numbers in Iraq and Afghanistan. -
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Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
06/11the thing that frustrates me is this, i feel like there's no forum to educate people about "quality" music anymore.
i used to manage a record store and i loved being able to turn people onto new music. record stores seem to be "dying the death" and i feel like no-one's particularly sad about that--except the former employees. you can't really turn people onto new music at most dj gigs, they seem to only want to hear stuff they already know--why??? -
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Unsu...
Re: Mainstream Hip-Hop
06/11I learned from my father that r&b had the same outlaw status as some of hip hop has now, with polite folks,except one thing most of it was all orginal,not sampling,covering a song was okay if there was talent behind. I agree with T Bird,if theres an artist with a story behind it, hip hop is an art form to keep,but if they'res a productor and bank driving the music it's trash.
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Hip-hop or Rap?
06/09because they do be two different thangs (I maintain, sometimes, Blackspeak is the BEST way to say a thing)
I love hip-hop... but I haven't been paying attention lately. I don't have a high-speed connection at the moment and to learn what's worth listening to from okayplayer would break my heart if I couldn't hear it and make up my own mind.
Now rap... I have a very odd relationship. You see, I am a singer. So, before Eric B. and Rakim made their album which sent the whole thing really off, I sang every song off The Big DM... one-oh-one... FM. I learned the Roxanne/Shante battles... but rap... you can't sing it... so I was out.
But I came back and I like some of it ("I'm a African" by Dead Prez is one of my favorite songs -- also like the work of Tim'm West)... I get strength from it...
but you know... the problem... the REAL problem... is MAINSTREAM hip-pop.
It ain't really for us although it is BY us.
Fuck... it's morning. The sun is up...
I'm gawn to bed! -
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Wait...
06/09Sylvester, y'all... Sylvester.
I'ma hafta start a post I might regret later in a second...
*frets*
Not this second! I hate hearing the birds knowing that they are glorifying the new day!
lol
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Unsu...
Re: Wait...
06/11It isn't hip-hop, its every major genre of music these days.
The music companies are sucking the soul out of the music. They don't care about talent or production value, they care about marketability.
Now there small labels that produce independantly put some great stuff out. Even the small labels that have major comany distribution are putting out some pretty good artists and albums, but the radio programming doesn't reflect that.
If you want good new music listen to what gets played on independant college stations or frequent independant record stores. -
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Is it me... but didn't it seem like music was better when people wrote their own shit?
For example, and I don't care what anyone says, I like Beyonce's album. She wrote it and it fits. Yes, it is pop music, nearly perfect pop, but it has a little something else, too.
I don't know when they decided you can't write your own music AND be marketable.
But really, I think it has something to do with how we buy...
BUT... I miss those days of Napster and AudioGalaxy... I miss those people who had all that cool music, new and old...
Fucking music industry. (yeah, real articulate that) -
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many pop hits weren't written by the performers at ANY period. the coasters, platters and even temptations didn't write their own tunes. motown had a stable of writers, as did most r&b and major labels. if you check the credits for most black music during the modern "classic" period (i.e., 60s & 70s) you'll see a lot of recurring names--holland/dozier/holland, bell/creed, hayes/porter, ashford/simpson, norman whitfield, and the corporation (motown.) even songwriting icons marvin gaye and stevie wonder covered tunes into the 70s.
it's all about who can get the "hit." if you're spending your money, do you want to gamble that a singer can write hits, or do you want someone with a track record of hits? -
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That's a damn good question.
I think I want artists, to be honest. I want folks who can make hits by telling me something that is true to them that might be true to me.
Like... Bilal's "Sometimes" -- when he sings that song, I believe him and it helps me get through the day.
I wanna spend my money on something real.
You see, I wasn't around for the coasters, the platters, et al. I was born during the death of disco (in 75)... what I like and remember about music... is mostly the music by singer-songwriters. THAT is the stuff I buy. I don't buy hits... I buy the words, the lives of singer-songwriters.
I mean... don't get me wrong... a Nina Simone cover of a song is so turned around in so many ways it's really HER song all over again... but if you looked at my music collection, if you listened to what I listen to when "this old world starts getting ME down" I turn to the singer-songwriter... some cut off an album that didn't sell well, but speaks to me.
Used to be, or used to seem to be, a record had both... hits and the more... meatier stuff. Now, they want every track to be a hit.
But nothing beats... listening to Laura Nyro, Carly Simon, Erykah Badu, tori Amos... hell, even Paula Cole give us their souls set to music.
That has to be the great hit...
And it pisses me off that that means so little. -
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<But nothing beats... listening to Laura Nyro>
you know she wrote tunes for a lot of people, right? "stoned soul picnic" by 5th dimension is hers... drag she's gone.
just as a "test" (no right or wrong answers, just seeing where you are) do you prefer d'angelo's "brown sugar" or "voodoo"--please forgive the assumption that you like him to begin with, but it seemed possibly safe. alternately, do you have a favorite me'shell ndegeocello record? which and why? -
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Actually, she wrote them for herself. However, the record companies felt they wouldn't catch on because she likes to change things (think of her as a latter-day Missy... changing beats and being cutting edge...)... so, she would make her records and they would auction off her songs to other people who would sing them and have success... but to listen to them... they don't have the soul of Nyro's orginal undertaking.
Yeah, I really, really adore her... I am a female-vocalist kinda person.
I like to LOOK at D'Angelo... I didn't get into him like eveyrone else did... I am really weird when it comes to male-vocalist... also, I didn't respect his "Prince" tribute... although, I did like, "Everybody Loves the Sunshine."
Me'Shell... So far, I don't have a favorite album... I love them all... (also, I am missing... three. *ducks the eggs* Plantation Lullabyes, Bitter, and the newest one -- I gotta feeling Bitter would be my favorite...)
Out of the two I know well (meaning I own them -- not have heard tracks from here and there)... probably Cookie... why? It hooks me... and just when I think I am wandering off, something like "Earth" comes along and drags me back.
Re: Nyro... if you are interested in her... I would suggest Eli and the 13th confession and New York Tendaberry -- in that order. -
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This is the maximum depth. Additional responses will not be threaded.thanks for the nyro recommendations--i love her songs, just haven't heard her renditions. so it sounds like she's a little "weird"--at least from the label's point of view.
for me, d'angelo is more than just him. i love the fact that he's really just doing updated SOUL. not r&b, but soul, with all the weirdnesses, and strange song structures... the playing on all the tunes is really tight.
"plantation..." is my fav me'shell. haven't heard enough of the new one. i think you would REALLY take to "bitter." her first record for me was like the first time i heard tricky--just SO different than anything else... i really love the "go-go" cut on "cookie"--i'm SO in love with that sound... -
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Erm - me...
www.myspace.com/kpknowledgeispower
www.kevthepoet.bravehost.com
I guess there's a thin line between ego and self confidence, same way there's a thin line between humility and lack of self esteem. But in this case there's no line between honesty and self promotion!
Let me know what you think (of my Hip-Hop AND my brief foray into philosophy...)
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