The truth about Rap music…
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Proof
Tainted_Drifter — 18 years ago(January 07, 2008 02:52 AM)
The sheer inanity that I encounter on a daily basis is exhausting. I'm so tired of hearing things like: "Rap sucks! Rap is crap! How can you listen to that garbage?! It's not even real music! It's not art!". Now, from a certain stand point I would agree with those statements. The music that you hear on the radio, and see on television, which is a heinous excuse for Rap, is surely detestable. Any partially-keen person could tell you that But the thing is, there is a vast difference from Rap of yesterday and today.
First off, let me specify exactly the kind of Rap music I am referring to. While the 80s and early 90s of Rap could assuredly topple the content of the mainstream litter of today, I stand most solemnly behind Rap of the mid-1990s. To me, this era was, without a shadow of a doubt, Rap's "Renaissance". The production during this time, was solid, to say the leastthe lyrics were real, visual, tough, poignant, and cathartic. It was as if everytime a Rapper stepped into the booth in the mid-90s that they were there to vent the hardships of their realities, or lack there of. They were there to paint vivid portraits of their struggles, expressed through their emotive, and sometimes violent, verses of street poetry.
And yes, some of this music did pertain to what could be viewed as "braggadocious". However; even so, it was done in such a classy way that the artists felt enamored in what they had accomplished. Rising from poverty to gaining most of the things one could desire is a wonderous thing. It seems as if Rappers of today wouldn't be able to fathom it from this point of view. Now it's more akin to: "Haha, yeah! Look what I got! I'm better than you! You can't beep with me!". It all resembles a sickening display of caricatures caught in a drain attempting to one-up each other. And this is clearly showcased in their regurgitated themes, along with their impuissant bars constructed with dumb punchlines of repartee. Rap artists of yesterday were deeply hardened, intelligent warriors of the city; Rap artists of today are shallow boasters, pretending as if this is some sort of fashion contest, desperately trying to win it. The fact is, some can win, but they lose their ingenuity, in return. And become yet another spewer of the never-ending display of repetitiveness.
But it's all all right as long as you get your paper in return, right? You ruined one of the most beautiful art forms for a beep piece of paperyou make me sick and you should be silenced, forevermore.
"These Rappers is insane; they on cocaine
What they call hot, I would call so lame
They don't care about the art, and they show no shame" - Styles P
Back to those who criticize
It makes me chuckle each time I see a fan of Rock music assaulting Rap. Do you have any idea how much of Rock's music is laced with blatant references to heavy drug usage, suicide, and, of course, Satanical worshipping praises? No, really, ask yourself thatdo you? For decades upon decades Rock has been generating music with that sort of content, yet it's Rap music that always has to take the blame for being so "savage". Just take these lyrics of a Rock song, for example: "Dark Lord, I summo5b4n thee Demanding the sacred right to burn in hell Take My lustful soul Drink my blood as I drink yours . . .LUCIFER IS KING PRAISE SATAN!" I NEVER in my life heard ANY Rap song with anything even coming close to some beep like that, and that's only a minute sample of the rest that's out there, yet Rap is bad, huh? Or you can take slam-dancing, as another example. Hitting, punching, jumping on and ramming into each other during concerts, yet Rap should get the finger pointed its way? beep outta here!
If it's not that, some simply attack at Raps artistic creativity. They'll say how there's too many references to crime, guns, and misogynism. They'll call it a glorifier of violence, and such. To this I would have to sayyou're right. There is much of Rap flourished with such topics, but it's more or less contributed as DEPICTIONS. Please don't be a hypocritewould you call someone like Scorsese a glorifier of violence, because, after all, in several of his films there are uses of guns and murders. But no, you wouldn't, right? Because he's merely displaying them as DEPICTIONS, correct? But to someone who is absolutely ignorant to Rap music, if they took a peek into it, and briefly heard a Rapper say something like "Put the gun to his head and let it go", or something similar, their natural response might be: "Oh my God! It's so aggressive and violent!" Their intrinsic sensitivity 5b4is alerted upon hearing those simple keywords, and they're, right away, quick to judge.
I'm afraid the bottom line is as trite as anything: "Think before you speak." I tire of seeing everyone about bashing Rap without having any prior knowledge or experience with it; aside from adopting others' beliefs of it being nothing but music for criminals, and such. I -
nobodies666 — 14 years ago(June 12, 2011 08:06 PM)
Many raps are threatening and annoying. ICP is the worst! Good rap is Eminem, D12, Proof, Missy Elliot. I love those rappers. They are raw and have something real to say.
Prayers we prayed were like a drug. The love we had we had to let it go. Never getting it again.