It's not a plague its just a new genre of music...I'm sure people called rock n roll a plague in the 60's, just because its effecting a wide range of people doesn't mean its necessarily bad. There are ignorant black kids and mexican kids too, but I mean come on if anyone sees a black kid bumping rap they dont think twice, if you see a white kid bumping rap and tyring to "act black" you'll probably laugh at him or at least think its odd, much like if you see a black kid bumping rock or punk. Also, it is a class in some schools in Oakland, thats a fact so you can't really dispute that. Ignorance is bliss, so if a white kid is running around blasting rap, though it may look odd....if he enjoys it, who really cares. There are lots of ignorant kids in the world...and music is a reflection of culture, so if one is enamored with a culture from which they don't belong, more power to them to be original.

 

But music evolves constantly and as new technology arrives the evolution grows.

This isn't always good, for an example you can look at rock music and you will notice that a majority of the bands out there have mediocre talent at best.

Rap music has always been on the lower end of the scale musically but it still takes talent nonetheless. Hip Hop on the other hand is the new jazz....I don't mean the crap they call hip hop that they try to sell you on the radio but true hip hop and turntablism.

 

I agree...rap on the radio is horrible. The so called "politically aware" rappers are the guys that I like...the roots, talib kweli, common, mos def, tupac, nas.

 

true, but there's a difference. Pop in a post '65 beatles album, or maybe something by the Grateful Dead. Whatever, there's a number of albums I can think of. And what are they about? Love, mind expansion, tolerance, acceptance, and harmony.

rap cannot say the same, with a world of Eminems and Dr. Dre's and things of the sort. But then again, I'm comparing two different era's. The 60-70s weren't all about the money. Todays music is.

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There are ignorant black kids and mexican kids too, but I mean come on if anyone sees a black kid bumping rap they dont think twice, if you see a white kid bumping rap and tyring to "act black" you'll probably laugh at him or at least think its odd, much like if you see a black kid bumping rock or punk.

But you don't see black kids bumping to rock or punk.

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Also, it is a class in some schools in Oakland, thats a fact so you can't really dispute that.

Don't get me started on how I feel about california. This is the same state that said God should be strickin from the pledge.

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Ignorance is bliss, so if a white kid is running around blasting rap, though it may look odd....if he enjoys it, who really cares. There are lots of ignorant kids in the world...and music is a reflection of culture, so if one is enamored with a culture from which they don't belong, more power to them to be original.

Music is more than just cool sounds.

it's expression, it's emotion, and its something that should go deeper than people allow it. When you have some guy rapping about how he busted a cap in 5 cops, or he killed his wife, or some stupid shit, you have people emulating it, even if not porpouslly, but none the less, it still happens.

why is it that more violent acts are done by minorities than by whites? not saying whites are better, cause they're not, but they're less likely to listen to this "hate" music. But nothings perfect. Fuck it.

 

 

There is a cultural difference, but there is more of a message in true hip hop than there is in most of the punk rock crap that I hear...forgive me of course, most of what I hear is stuff played on the radio, so I'm sure I'm missing out on the better stuff, but this is just what I hear from the punk rock genre. Eminem is a great rapper, his last 3 albums were horribly commercial, but his first underground album "The Infinite" is an unbelievable album.

I see alot of black kids bumping rock and punk, I know alot of black kids who do too.

More crimes are committed by minorities because of the disparity in average income. Crime is caused by poverty not by race or anything, and if you argue against that, you're either racist or ignorant. The "bust a cap" gangster rap is crap "music". Its not even music, its just shit. Most rap actually has a point...listen to "Quality" by Talib Kweli, "Black on Both Sides" by Mos Def, or "Don Killuminati The 7 Day Theory" By Makaveli(Tupac) if you want to see messages. Kids growing up in the suburbs with a middle to upper class lifestyle can't even come close to relating. When your growing up in the projects and in the ghetto you have stuff to talk about, things like poverty, drugs, violence, and alot of other things that most other people wouldn't be able to discuss.

 

I realize this, but I'm not a big fan of todays rock music, either. Granted there are few acts out there today that are worth a damn, I think the same can go for any genre of music, including rap, country, etc.

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Rap music has always been on the lower end of the scale musically but it still takes talent nonetheless. Hip Hop on the other hand is the new jazz....I don't mean the crap they call hip hop that they try to sell you on the radio but true hip hop and turntablism.

yeah, but in todays society, it seems few can realize this. My taste in music is very broad. I have a cd of almost every genre in my case. Not many can say the same. People miss out on good stuff

And thats the stuff that gets exploited and blown up. The stuff I'm talking about in this post. I guess I went out of context. Its most of the stuff that I'm talking about here, not all of it.

I agree, and this is comming from an ex punker.

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forgive me of course, most of what I hear is stuff played on the radio, so I'm sure I'm missing out on the better stuff, but this is just what I hear from the punk rock genre. Eminem is a great rapper, his last 3 albums were horribly commercial, but his first underground album "The Infinite" is an unbelievable album.

I think the biggest problem would be commercialization and the way record companys influence the artists works.

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I see alot of black kids bumping rock and punk, I know alot of black kids who do too.

the black culture is one I'm begining to learn. Here in san antonio, 55% of the city is hispanic. 35% is white. So, understand my veiws are a little biased, with all these mexicans with this "I think I'm black cause I'm ghetto" complex. But I work with this black guy, a very intellegent man, and started learning all kinds of shit. But all of thats rather irrelivant, really.... :blah:

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More crimes are committed by minorities because of the disparity in average income. Crime is caused by poverty not by race or anything, and if you argue against that, you're either racist or ignorant.

this is true, but given an enviorment surrounded by violence, be it on the tv, in a movie, on the radio, or in the home, it will still have an effect on said person.

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The "bust a cap" gangster rap is crap "music". Its not even music, its just shit. Most rap actually has a point...listen to "Quality" by Talib Kweli, "Black on Both Sides" by Mos Def, or "Don Killuminati The 7 Day Theory" By Makaveli(Tupac) if you want to see messages. Kids growing up in the suburbs with a middle to upper class lifestyle can't even come close to relating. When your growing up in the projects and in the ghetto you have stuff to talk about, things like poverty, drugs, violence, and alot of other things that most other people wouldn't be able to discuss.

good points :thumbup:

I think the problem here would have to be MTV

 

underground > mainstream

 

:werd: to the infinate

 

ok i gotta chime in on this one...

the music that's most sold in the world is pop, be it popular rap, country, rock, r&b, whatever. this music is produced to sell records, it's there for entertainment. very little popular music out there today complies with the true roots of the music. and it's not selling out, it's being successful in a market industry.

ok so where rap comes in, it has a bad image associated with it because the media and the popular rap culture depicts violence, drugs, sex, etc. combine that with a general perception of inner city problems and it's easy for people to see rap as harmful.

let's take popular punk and rock music. most songs are about lost love or not fitting in. this appeals to a much different audience and it's therefore not seen as harmful, just popular music.

i've recently met krs-one, an amazing artist and leader working to promote inner city improvement, and conscious knowledge of problems, not buying into fads, respecting your roots, etc. when i saw him speak, the crowd was 400 strong, 1/3 black, 1/3 white, 1/3 asian. everyone was there to hear a not just another rapper speak, but a man with more than a "shoot em up" image and goal in mind.

ok i'm rambling and lost the point. rap music isn't ruining the youth or anyone. it provides an image that kids think is cool. look at james dean's effect on the youth his movies and image. people are going to buy into what they think is cool, and sadly, this tends to be a negative effect when it comes to the glorified sex and violence that popular rap music depicts.

note the uses of the word popular, as this in no way reflects the good that music from talib kweli, nas, mos def, the roots, etc does. they promote consciousness, bettering of social conditions, etc. it's all comes down to the listener becoming engulfed in the music's image.