[kj] rap ;-(

[Alexander Smith]

Having worked at MTV News for a year and a half, I have to say that  
99% of contemporary Hip Hop is indefensible crap. Stuff like T.I.,  
Ludacris, the Clipse, Young Jeezy, Jay-Z, Nas, Diddy and 50 Cent ---  
all complete bullshit.

That said, I still like a bit of the "classic" stuff, notably Public  
Enemy (first three albums are great), LL Cool J and Run-DMC. Beyond  
that, every now and then I'll hear a great track -- something like  
"Bouncin' Back" by Mystikal, which sounds like Hip-Hop-meets-Tom- 
Waits. I've liked a lot of Busta Rhymes' earlier stuff ("Whoo Ha,"  
"Break Yo Neck"). Even "Get Low" by Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz  
featured some amazing, layered production (despite the fact that the  
message was deplorable, albeit certainly no more so than, say, "Bring  
On the Nubiles" by the Stranglers or "I Kill Everything I Fuck" by GG  
Allin).

My problem with most of today's hip hop is this: everybody's rappin',  
but so precious few have ANYTHING TO SAY.

I can't identify with playas and hustlas. I have no interest in  
bling. I don't give a damn about "keepin' it real." I don't think  
being a "pimp" is something ANYONE should espouse or aspire to. In a  
nutshell, most Hip Hop has NOTHING TO OFFER and NOTHING TO SAY.

This wasn't always the case, though. In the mid-90's there was a crop  
of Hip Hop groups -- De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, A Tribe Called  
Quest, etc. -- that were actually progressive and were taking the  
genre places it hadn't been before. Of course, they all fell by the  
wayside, and the lowest common denominator crept back in.

I can't imagine anyone less interesting or talented than 50 Cent.  
Honestly, I so cannot fathom it. I hate Kanye West as a person  
(conceited fuck), but "Gold Digger" was indeed a great track.

I still love the Beastie Boys, but they're almost a genre unto  
themselves, at this point.

Anyway, that's my two cents.

Alex in NYC

On Aug 2, 2007, at 6:04 PM, bongo wrote:


> NWA are worth a listen... esp the track 'express yourself'

> but yes... most rap is crap

>

>

>

> On 8/3/07, Stephen Robinson  

> <heiferboy at robinsonworld.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:

>> "Niggers would fuck the word fuck if the word fuck was fuckable"

>>

>> in many ways they did it all, by 1970....

>>

>>

>>> The Last Poets were great!

>>>

>>>

>> --

>> I wrote this on my Amiga One runing OS4, now with screen dragging

>> http://os4.hyperion-entertainment.biz/

>>

>>

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>

> -- 

>

>

> "due to a lack of trained trumpeters, the end of the world has been

> postponed indefinitely..."

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