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Tatu :: View topic - The official rap thread

Links: Eminem If anyone here likes rap (and I know people here do) which rapper/rappers got you interested? For me it wuz when nelly came 2 LA, down hurr, and his sho wuz da heazy fo shezzy!

Nelly iz tha greatest rapper evurr!!!!

U & Urrbody gots ta C im lyve! Im just fuckin around everybody.

It was 1994 I was introduced to rap by my then 9 year cousin, when he got me edited versions of Straight Outta Compton (N.W.A.) Strictly 4 my N.I.G.G.A.Z (2pac) Bacdafucup (Onyx) Ready To Die (Notorious B.I.G.)and Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) by the wu-tang clan (obviousily) for my 7th birthday. Fast Forward to now.

I now have all these cds mentioned above (unedited) as well as a fat ass collection of 90s rap spanning 1990 thru 1999.

90's rap: some of the best music ever made. Last edited by Kefka on Sat Jul 03, 2004 4:08 am;

Edited 2 times in total

I don't like rap music very much,but I like a few of Eminem and 50 Cent's songs.Black Eyed Peas are good too,but i'm not sure if they're rappers or something else.

All rappers should be shot for producing the worst music there is out there [right along side country music] I absolutely despise it.

Just MOST of TODAYS rappers should be shot, not all of them.

I agree on what you said on country singers though.

Its all superfical degrading simplistic garbage.

^amen. here. watch me press some buttons on this here synthesizer.

Hoorah. and "off tha beat" hook for you to write rhymes to.

I've yet to hear one rap song that was truly composed and written with thought;

On both parts lyrics and music. given, i am no way saying that all rap is complete crap.

However, 9.9 out of 10 times, most rap videos are all about showing as much skin and dry humping as possible without getting knocked off daytime television.

And i must say, it truly disgusts me. i must say though, Nas and Tupac, as well as the BEP have shown me that there is a small fraction of dignity in this genre.

Its not much, but it manages to show up sometimes. [bah.

I definitely just rambled on.

But i really get hung up about rap.

I dont understand where the enjoyment of it comes from....i mean....most of them aren't even pleasant to listen to.]

No one here likes rap, not even true, hardcore, street credible rap?

Everyone has their opinion, its alright with me.

I can understand that you people dont like HIP-POP though, thats good. Last edited by Kefka on Mon Jun 14, 2004 4:05 pm;

Edited 2 times in total

So true. Honsetly I don't get how people can find this entertainment.

Most videos are so degrading to women, making them seem like dogs to men.

And as Megan said lets reveal as much skin as possible but be able to show this on day time television. [off topic] And big whoopidy freakin do if 50 cent has gotten shot 9 times, some people just can't aim, bet you if he got shot in the head he wouldn't live to tell of the 10th bullet wound.

I love Hip Hop but only in it's purest form...most of the crap that gets produced these days is just JUNK!

All them old Wu-Tang cutz is still the best!

Nas was great...great Poetic M.C, but that foo has'nt come out with a solid album in awhile now.

Jay-Z still spit flows out like a genius...but his commercial stuff ain't nuthin compared to the underground tracks he makes. I like some of that "Hardcore" stuff....but so much of it is just bullshit these days that you can't really tell if the artist is spittin out truth or just "pre-maneufactered rhymes with a beat in the background" You noticed that 90% of the M.C's out there gotta have like 5 million guest artist on their albums to even remotely produce 1 good single? Don't get me wrong My heart's still for Hip-Hop but the recent amount of crap produced just makes me wanna puke.

There?s no difference between "street credible" rap and hip-hop.

It does nothing but perpetuate stereotypes and shallow materialism.

Black people, if you want white people to stop stereotyping you then stop stereotyping yourselves damnit.

"Black people, if you want white people to stop stereotyping you then stop stereotyping yourselves damnit" That was beautiful!

I dont have anything against blacks, but Neravine, you are godamn right on why whites stereotype blacks.

Since when is rap a solely black type of music? I have rap music from all over this planet.

Totally unassociated with what you two are talking about. You judge a wide variety of music based on your dislikal of American gangstra rap.

It was started in america by black people, if I'm wrong then I dont give a shit.

The only rap I've heard in america is black so mabye I'm biased, but as I said, I dont really care.

What's the use of expressing an opinion if you have not a clue whether it is right? History of Rap Hip Hop (Cultural Movement) Hip hop is a cultural movement that began amongst urban (primarily, but not entirely, African American) youth in New York and has since spread around the world.

The four main elements of hip-hop are MCing, DJing, graffiti art, and breakdancing.

The term has since come to be a synonym for rap music to mainstream audiences.

The two are not, however, interchangeable - rapping (MCing) is the vocal expression of lyrics in sync to a rhythm beneath it.

--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_hop Hip Hop (Music) Hip hop music is related to the griots of West Africa, traveling singers and poets whose musical style is reminiscent of hip hop.

Some griot traditions came with slaves to the New World.

The most important direct influence on the creation of hip hop music is the Jamaican style called dub, which arose in the 1960s.

Dub musicians such as King Tubby isolated percussion breaks because dancers at clubs (sound systems) preferred the energetic rhythms of the often-short breaks.

Soon, performers began speaking in sync with these rhythms.

In 1967, Jamaican immigrants such as DJ Kool Herc brought dub to New York City, where it evolved into hip hop.

In Jamaica, dub music has diversified into genres like ragga and dancehall.

--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_hop_music Parallels with Rock Rap originated in the mid-1970s in the South Bronx area of New York City.

The rise of rap in many ways parallels the birth of rock'n roll in the 1950s.

Both originated within the African American community and both were initially recorded by small, independent record labels and marketed almost exclusively to a black audience.

In both cases, the new style gradually attracted white musicans, a few of whom began performing it.

For rock'n roll it was a white American from Mississippi, Elvis Presley, who broke into the billboard magazine popular music charts.

For rap it was a white group from New York, the Beastie Boys.

The release of their albums was one of the first two rap records to reach the billboard top-ten list of popular hits.

The other significant early rap recording to reach the top-ten, "Walk This Way" (1986), was a collaboration of the black rap group Run-DMC and the white hard-rock band Aerosmith.

Soon after 1986, the use of the samples and declaimed vocal styles became widespread in popular music of both black and white performers, significantly altering previous notions of what constitutes a legitimate song, composition or musical instrument.

-- Unknown Author Hip Hop Timeline http://www.b-boys.com/hiphoptimeline.html Graffiti [...] History Rap music originated as a cross-cultural product.

Most of its important early practitioners?including Kool Herc, D.J.

Hollywood, and Afrika Bambaata?were either first- or second-generation Americans of Caribbean ancestry.

Herc and Hollywood are both credited with introducing the Jamaican style of cutting and mixing into the musical culture of the South Bronx.

By most accounts Herc was the first DJ to buy two copies of the same record for just a 15-second break (rhythmic instrumental segment) in the middle.

By mixing back and forth between the two copies he was able to double, triple, or indefinitely extend the break.

In so doing, Herc effectively deconstructed and reconstructed so-called found sound, using the turntable as a musical instrument. While he was cutting with two turntables, Herc would also perform with the microphone in Jamaican toasting style-joking, boasting, and using myriad in-group references.

Herc's musical parties eventually gained notoriety and were often documented on cassette tapes that were recorded with the relatively new boombox, or blaster technology.

Taped duplicates of these parties rapidly made their way through the Bronx, Brooklyn, and uptown Manhattan, spawning a number of similar DJ acts.

Among the new breed of DJs was Afrika Bambaataa, the first important Black Muslim in rap.

Bambaataa often engaged in sound-system battles with Herc, similar to the so-called cutting contests in jazz a generation earlier.

The sound system competitions were held at city parks, where hot- wired street lamps supplied electricity, or at local clubs.

Bambaataa sometimes mixed sounds from rock-music recordings and television shows into the standard funk and disco fare that Herc and most of his followers relied upon.

By using rock records, Bambaataa extended rap beyond the immediate reference points of contemporary black youth culture.

By the 1990s any sound source was considered fair game and rap artists borrowed sounds from such disparate sources as Israeli folk music, be bop jazz records and television news broadcasts. In 1976 Grandmaster Flash introduced the technique of quick mixing, in which sound bites as short as one or two seconds are combined for a college effect.

Quick mixing paralleled the rapid-editing style of television advertissing used at the time.

Shortly after Flash introduced quick mixing, his partner Grandmaster MelleMel composed the first extented stories in rhymed rap.

Up to this point, most of the words heard over the work of disk jockeys such as Herc, Bambaataa, and Flash had been improvised phrases and expressions.

In 1978 DJ Grand Wizard Theodore introduced the technique of scratching to produce rhythmic patterns.

-- unkown author, 19?? DJ Kool Herc Kool DJ Herc, the godfather of hip-hop, was a Jamaican-born DJ who moved to the Bronx in 1967.

With his unique playlist of R&B, soul, funk, and obscure disco, Herc quickly became the catalyst of the hip-hop way of life.

The kids from the Bronx and Harlem loved his ghetto style, which gave birth to the concept of the B-Boy.

The B-Boy -- or beat boy, break boy, Bronx boy -- loved the breaks of Kool Herc, and as a result soon created break dancing.

These were the people of the hip-hop culture.

While Pete DJ Jones was #1 for the black disco crowd in NYC, Herc and the B-Boys were the essence of the hip-hop movement, because of they lived the lifestyle.

The way they danced, dressed, walked, and talked was unique, as opposed to most of the disco artists and fans of the time, who were not as in touch with the urban streets of America.

[...] http://rhino.com/Features/liners/72851lin.html Sound Systems As Steve Barrow (author of The Rough Guide to Reggae/Blood and Fire Records) writes in the sleevenotes, Jamaican deejay music is the source for all Rap music: From Count Machuki talking over records on Sir Coxsone's legendary Downbeat Sound System this style would eventually travel to America when the Jamaican-born Kool Herc began playing at Block parties (a version of the Kingston Soundsystem parties) in the Bronx.

Cutting up rare-groove classics for the first B-Boys to rap over, Hip-Hop was born and the DJ music that had started on the early Soundsystems of Kingston would go on to conquer the world!

[...] Breakdance When DJ Kool Herc performed to Breaks at crowded venues, such as the Hervalo in the Bronx, he would shout loudly 'B-Boys go down!' and this was the cue for dancers to cut and jump their gymnastics.

Even today nobody is quite clear what Kool Herc meant by his phrase.

Some suggest B-Boys stands for 'Boogie Boy' while others insist it means 'Break Boy'.

The later has become the favored choice.

But who were the original B-Boys and where had they learned their skillz?

Again the answer is fairly straight-forward.

They had simply adapted what they had been doing on the ghetto streets.

[...] Afrika Bambaataa Urban spaceman Afrika Bambaataa and producer Arthur Baker, plus musician John Robie, were the trio behind a musical revolution called "Planet Rock", Bambaataa's 1982 single with Soul Sonic Force.

Following the impact of "Planet Rock", UK groups made Electro-boogie pilgrimages to Baker's studio in Manhattan: Freeze's "IOU" rocketed jazz funk into the infosphere but more significantly, New Order's "Blue Monday" launched indie dancing and sold massively on 12".

Also breaking and robot dancing, the acrobatic and simulated machine dances that drew many adolescents into the alien zone of black science fiction.

Bleep music was one consequence of this.

Hardly adequate to describe and encompass the protozoic chaos of New York Nu Groove, Detroit Techno, Chicago House.

Next came techno.

-- David Toop for Wire magazine [...] Spoonie Gee [...] "Spoonie Gee cut "Spoonin' Rap", on 'Sounds Of New York, Usa' records, one of Peter Browns many labels.

It also appeared on an album on 'Queen Constance' records called "The Big Break Rapper Party" and was remixed and re-released in 1984 on 'Heavenly Star' records.

"Spoonin' Rap" was like a diamond in a pile of rubble in Peter Brown's recordings, usually classics of low-budget incompetence, e.g.

Label says 33 on a 45 recording, raps out of time, drummers losing the beat, and sound like your dad's garage...Spoonie Gee shone through as a real talent. written by Jeff Slattery (slats@uclink3.berkeley.edu) [...] Todd Terry It was into this exciting and transitional environment that a young, would-be producer walked up to Vega and handed him a cassette.

"This guy came up to the booth and said, 'My name is Todd Terry.

I just wanted to give you these new jams.'" The night was drawing to a close, so Vega had a quick listen to the track that was about to turn Terry into New York's hottest house producer.

"I was like, 'Wow!

This is powerful!'" With its quick-fire sampling techniques and harder beats, 'Party People' introduced an edgy, hip hop aesthetic to the Chicago house sound, and Vega wasted little time in securing a reel-to-reel copy.

"There was an instant reaction on the dance floor," he remembers.

"I was playing 'Party People' six to nine months before it came out, so I got everybody into that sound." [...] Homophobia [...] [...] What hasn't changed is the gap between rap and house, an antipathy which exists between these two forms of soul music.

[...] According to Frankie Knuckles, this goes to the core of attitudes towards gays, especially amongst the black community.

"The fact that house got started in the gay clubs makes it tough for some of them to deal with it." This is about more than musical taste;

For Frankie, it goes to the core of the future of minority groups in the US.

And, ironically, it's rap, with all of its violence and too-frequent lapses into intolerance and homophobia, that has pushed things along. Enjoy!

Records [...] Enjoy was Bobby Robinson's label.

This Harlem label had been home to saxophone legend King Curtis, and in 1979 it put out its first hip hop record, "Rappin' and Rockin' in the House" by The Funky Four (Plus One More).

[...] Peter Brown Peter Brown found our studio by accident in a newspaper ad.

When Brown showed up for that first recording, he was literally dressed in rags.

The next time he showed up, he was wearing full fur covered pimp regalia complete with a beaver skin hat and was driving a brand new Lincoln Continental.

He kept overdubbing different rap groups onto the same music tracks.

It was pathetic. --- Frank Heller [...] Related Pages George Clinton, Peter Brown Electro More surprisingly, Kraftwerk had an immediate impact on black dance music: as Afrika Bambaataa says in David Toop's Rap Attack, "I don't think they even knew how big they were among the black masses back in '77 when they came out with 'Trans-Europe Express.' When that came out, I thought that was one of the best and weirdest records I ever heard in my life." In 1981, Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force, together with producer Arthur Baker, paid tribute with "Planet Rock," which used the melody from "Trans-Europe Express" over the rhythm from "Numbers." In the process they created electro and moved rap out of the Sugarhill age.

- electro Reggae Modern day rap music finds its immediate roots in the toasting and dub talk over elements of reggae music.

In the early 70's, a Jamaican dj known as Kool Herc moved from Kingston to NY's West Bronx.

Here, he attempted to incorporate his Jamaican style of dj which involved reciting improvised rhymes over the dub versions of his reggae records.

Unfortunately, New Yorkers weren't into reggae at the time.

Thus Kool Herc adapted his style by chanting over the instrumental or percussion sections of the day's popular songs.

Because these breaks were relatively short, he learned to extend them indefinitely by using an audio mixer and two identical records in which he continuously replaced the desired segment. In those early days, young party goers initially recited popular phrases and used the slang of the day.

For example, it was fashionable for dj to acknowledge people who were in attendance at a party.

These early raps featured someone such as Herc shouting over the instrumental break;

'Yo this is Kool Herc in the joint-ski saying my mellow-ski Marky D is in the house'.

This would usually evoke a response from the crowd, who began to call out their own names and slogans. As this phenomenon evolved, the party shouts became more elaborate as dj in an effort to be different, began to incorporate little rhymes-'Davey D is in the house/An he'll turn it out without a doubt.' It wasn't long before people began drawing upon outdated dozens and school yard rhymes.

Many would add a little twist and customize these rhymes to make them suitable for the party environment.

At that time rap was not yet known as 'rap' but called 'emceeing'.

With regards to Kool Herc, as he progressed, he eventually turned his attention to the complexities of djaying and let two friends Coke La Rock and Clark Kent (not Dana Dane's dj) handle the microphone duties.

This was rap music first emcee team.

They became known as Kool Herc and the Herculoids.

[...] http://www.daveyd.com/raphist2.html http://www.geocities.com/matthew_robison/hiphop.htm Scratching Rap is where you first heard it [sampling] --Grandmaster Flash's 1981 "Wheels of Steel," which scratched together Queen, Blondie, the Sugarhill Gang, the Furious Five, Sequence, and Spoonie Gee --but what is sampling if not digitized scratching?

If rap is more an American phenomenon, techno is where it all comes together in Europe as producers and musicians engage in a dialogue of dazzling speed.

[...] Grandmaster Flash Rap is where you first heard it [sampling] --Grandmaster Flash's 1981 "Wheels of Steel," which scratched together Queen, Blondie, the Sugarhill Gang, the Furious Five, Sequence, and Spoonie Gee --but what is sampling if not digitized scratching?

If rap is more an American phenomenon, techno is where it all comes together in Europe as producers and musicians engage in a dialogue of dazzling speed.

[...] 10 Hip Hop Myths Dismissed "There is a difference between hip hop and rap music." "Hip Hop is Black music." "Rakim is the greatest MC of all time." "Biggie Smalls was assasinated by the FBI." "Rap music started in the Bronx." "There are no gay hip hop artists." "Hip Hop is threatened by corporations." "The best hip hop music was made in the 1980s." "No one in hip hop has a sense of humor." "Hip Hop is dead." Being that hip hop is such a poorly documented culture, it is understandable that subjective opinions and false myths run amok.

Now, a fact is a fact.

And a fact can be backed up with unrefutable evidence.

But what I have collected here are a bunch of rumors, hearsay, and subjective opinions which are often presented as facts.

I have collected, what I think are the most blatantly false "myths", and given my perspective on them.

The purpose is to reexamine commonly accepted beliefs within the hip hop community.

--Eric Nord for http://www.stinkzone.com/writing/hiphop_myths.html, accessed May 2003 CDs Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below (2003) - Outkast[Amazon US] [FR] [DE] [UK] At a time when experimentation is taboo in most overground rap, that?s all Outkast seem intent on executing.

Firstly, this double CD has no cohesive link, other than the fact that it sounds like a pair of solo albums stitched together to demo exactly how Andre?s yin works to augment Big Boi?s yang.

Andre 3000?s Love Below disc rates as the more eclectic of the two, given that he?s turned in his emcee credentials to become a full-on funk-soul-jazz vocalist who mostly sings about items of love ("Happy Valentine's Day"), carnal lust ("Spread"), and female adoration ("Prototype").

Minus the big band schmaltz of "Love Hater" and cheesy cover jobs ("My Favorite Things"), Andre?s disc is sick (meaning great).

As is to be expected, the Big Boi disc is less arty, more gangsta and worldly, and features the less-progressive guest raps of ATL crunk purveyors Lil?

Jon and The Eastside Boyz ("Last Call") and Jay-Z who rhymes the hook on "Flip Flop Rock".

Unlike Big Boi, Andre keeps his collabos to a minimum, once crooning alongside Norah Jones on the cool yet sappy "Take Off Your Cool", and once with Kelis.

Boi fulfills his Dungeon Family duty with flying colors by flipping some dirty southern up-tempo raps over electro beats on "GhettoMusick".

By the time Cee-Lo sermonizes on "Reset", Speakerboxx and Love Below rate mostly as majestic and inspiring, with the remaining 23 per cent being just plain incredible --Dalton Higgins, Amazon.com Hip-Hop From The Top: Part 1 - Various Artists [1 CD, Amazon US] 1.

Skanless Hip-Hop from the Top Mega-Mix 2.

Rapper's Delight - The Sugarhill Gang 3.

Breaks - Kurtis Blow 4.

Sucker D.J.'s (I Will Survive) - Dimples D.

5. Request Line - Rock Master Scott and the Dynamic Three 6.

What People Do for Money - Divine Sounds 7.

Adventures of Super Rhyme - Jimmy Spicer 8.

King of the Beat - Pumpkin 9.

Message - Duke Bootee 10.

Friends - Whodini 11.

One for the Treble - Davy DMX 12.

Pure - Captain Rock [...] Kurtis Blow Presents The History of Rap: Vol.

3 [Amazon US] 1. Rock Box - Run DMC 2.

Friends - Whodini 3.

Five Minutes Of Funk - Whodini 4.

Jail House Rap - Fat Boys 5.

Roxanne, Roxanne - UTFO 6.

The Bridge - M.C.

Shan 7. Rebel Without A Pause - Public Enemy 8.

Criminal Minded - Boogie Down Productions 9.

Raw - Big Daddy Kane 10.

It Takes Two - Rob Base & D.J.

E-Z Rock 11. Vapors - Biz Markie 12.

Just A Friend - Biz Markie Kurtis Blow Presents The History of Rap: Vol.

2 [Amazon US] 1. Rapper's Delight (Short 12' Version) - Sugarhill Gang 2.

Funk You Up (Short 12' Version) - The Sequence 3.

Rappin And Rocking The House (Album Version) - Funky Four Plus One More 4.

Christmas Rappin' - Kurtis Blow 5.

The Breaks - Kurtis Blow 6.

Monster Jam - Spoonie Gee Meets The Sequence 7.

Jazzy Sensation (Short 12' Bronx Version) - Africa Bambaataa & The Jazzy Five 8.

Feel The Heartbeat - The Treacherous Three 9.

The Message - Grand Master Flash & The Furious Five 10.

Starski Live At The Disco Fever - 'Love Bug' Starski 11.

One For The Treble (Fresh) - Davy DMX Kurtis Blow Presents The History of Rap: Vol.

1 [Amazon US] 1. Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose (In The Jungle...) - James Brown 2.

Get Into Something - The Isley Brothers 3.

Melting Pot - Booker T.

& The M.G.'s 4. Listen To Me - Baby Huey 5.

Scorpio - Dennis Coffey & The Detroit Guitar Band 6.

It's Just Begun - The Jimmy Castor Bunch 7.

Apache - Micheal Viner's Incredible Bongo Band 8.

Hum Along And Dance - The Jackson 5 9.

Love The Life You Live - Black Heart 10.

Theme From S.W.A.T.

(Extended 7' Version) - Rhythm Heritage 11.

Dance To The Drummer's Beat - Herman Kelly & Life 12.

King Tim III (Personal Jock) - Fatback Band The Best of Enjoy Records [Amazon US] 1.

Superappin - Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five 2.

Love Rap - Spoonie Gee 3.

Body Rock - Kool Moe Dee 4.

At the Party - Kool Moe Dee 5.

It's Magic - Fearless Four 6.

Move With the Groove - Disco Four 7.

Funk Box Party - Masterdon Committee 8.

Feel the Heart Beat - Kool Moe Dee 9.

Just Havin Fun - Doug E.

Fresh 10. New Rap Language - Treacherous Three 11.

Rockin' It - Fearless Four Enjoy was Bobby Robinson's label.

This Harlem label had been home to saxophone legend King Curtis, and in 1979 it put out its first hip hop record, "Rappin' and Rockin' in the House" by The Funky Four (Plus One More).

[more on Enjoy Records] Tribe Called Quest - Anthology [1CD, Amazon US] In their decade of existence, A Tribe Called Quest weren't rap's biggest hit makers, but their signature numbers indeed fill this CD with style, eclecticism, and laid-back but deliberate flow;

Indeed, the group's stature seems to have grown since its 1998 breakup.

The continued importance of their music and ideals for many hip-hop fans will only be enhanced by Anthology's 18 tracks (Q-Tip's recent hit "Vivrant Thing," from the Violator album is a bonus track).

Those unfamiliar with Tribe's achievement should have their heads and booties set into motion by the fellas' many moods, from the playful "Check the Rhime" and "I Left My Wallet in El Segundo" to trenchant commentaries such as "Description of a Fool" and "Sucka Nigga." And with its inclusion here, the somewhat rare and all-the-way out "If the Papes Come" will doubtless reestablish itself as an underground favorite.

--Rickey Wright Books Vibe History of Hip Hop (1999) - Alan Light [Amazon US] In his introduction, founding Vibe editor Alan Light justifies the magazine's 300-page hip-hop chronicle in historical terms, noting that while less than 15 years passed between Elvis's first single and Woodstock, it's been two full decades since rap busted out of New York City street parties via the Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight." It's a righteous point, and the multi-author Vibe History indeed deserves to be filed next to The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll.

Like that book, Vibe's serves both as a fact-heavy primer and a passionate critical missive aimed straight for fans' hearts.

Here we find all the contradictions of a pop-culture phenomenon: art and a hope for immortality rolled into a brightly colored form whose practitioners, even the most politically driven, demand to get paid.

Or, as Charles Aaron writes in his essay on KRS-One, the rapper "has never failed to passionately contradict himself--footnotes, bibliography, and dope beats included." Those contradictions may not make the culture go, but as with rock's, they help make it both more frustrating and more fascinating.

Whether reminiscing about the future shock of first hearing Run-D.M.C.'s "Sucker M.C.'s," gnawing at the tragic knots at the heart of Tupac Shakur's story, or celebrating women rappers, hip-hop movies, and dancehall reggae, these chapters do what the best music writing should--educate, excite, and lead the reader to the record racks.

--Rickey Wright, amazon.com Rap Attack 3 - David Toop [Amazon US] "All music has a history, shameful or illustrious, but for a 14-year old chilling out in Playland, white nylon anorak with the hood pulled tight and maybe a pair of Nike kicks with the tongues pulled out, what matters in the mini-phones plugged into the Walkman (or one of its cheaper variants) is the post-NASA - Silicon Valley - Atari - TV Break Out - Taito - Sony - Roland - Linn - Oberheim - Lucas - Speilberg groove." That's David Toop on the "electro" music of the early '80s--just one of many subjects handled with real sensitivity and street smarts in _Rap Attack_, a classic text now in its third edition.

A musician as well as a writer, Toop conveys the magnitude of hip hop's revolution in sound--combining the musique concrete of Edgar Varese with the urban frenzy of a Bronx social club at 2:00 a.

M.--but also its verbal genius, a lineage extending from the griots of Northern Nigeria to "doin' the dozens" to Kool Keith.

With a dry wit and the erudition of a walking pop-music encyclopedia, Toop tells the tale of the amazing homegrown phenomenon that by 1998 "had overtaken country music to become America's biggest-selling format." --Tom Moody for amazon.com Hip Hop America - Nelson George [1 book, Amazon US] Although it's been part of the cultural soundscape for over 25 years, hip-hop has been the focus of very few books.

And when those books do pop up, they tend to be either overtly scholarly, as if the writer in question has just landed on some alien planet, or a bit too much like a fanzine.

If there's anyone qualified to write a solid, informative, and entertaining tome on the culture, politics, and business of hip-hop, it's Nelson George.

A veteran journalist, George is one of the smartest and most observant chroniclers of African American pop culture.

Much as he broke down and illuminated R&B with his acclaimed book The Death of Rhythm and Blues, George now tackles hip-hop with the clarity of a reporter and the enthusiasm of a fan--which is fitting, because George is both.

A Brooklyn native, he began writing about rap back in the late 1970s, when the beats and the lifestyle were not only foreign to most white folks, they were still underground in the black communities.

Hip Hop America is filled with George's memories of the scene's nascent years, and it tells the story of rap both as an art form and a cultural and economic force--from the old Bronx nightclub the Fever to the age of Puffy.

Highlighting both the major players and some of the forces behind the scenes, George gives rap a historical perspective without coming off as too intellectual.

All of which makes Hip Hop America a worthwhile addition to any fan's collection.

--Amy Linden or amazon.com DVDs Style Wars (1983) - Tony Silver[Amazon US] [FR] [DE] [UK] Some call it tagging, some call it writing, still others call it bombing--it's all graffiti.

Whether it's art or not is another matter, but it's undeniably illegal.

Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant's historic PBS documentary Style Wars tracks the rise and fall of subway graffiti in New York in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

At the peak of its popularity, graffiti was as much a part of B-boy culture as rapping, scratching, and breaking.

The filmmakers present a sympathetic, but well-rounded portrait of their subject through extensive interviews with taggers--notably Seen, Kase, and Dondi--art collectors, transit authorities, and even Mayor Ed Koch, who would eventually put the hammer down.

Along the way, they documented the burgeoning breakdance scene, with a focus on the world-famous Rock Steady Crew.

The soundtrack features selections from Grandmaster Flash, the Treacherous Three, and other tagger-approved icons of old-school hip-hop.

--Kathleen C. Fennessy The Freshest Kids - A History of the B-Boy (2001)[Amazon US] The subtitle couldn't be more accurate: A History of the B-Boy is a comprehensive look at the world's "freshest kids." This lively documentary isn't about hip-hop or hip-hop culture as much as about an integral part of that culture.

B-boys are defined, variously, as "breakboys" (the original term) and "breakdancers" (the more widely known one).

These "kids," many now in their 30s, helped to shape hip-hop's look and spread its gospel.

The narrative traces their evolution from the South Bronx 1970s to media-crazed 1980s--when they were featured in movies from Wild Style to Flashdance--to today, as the phenomenon has returned to the underground while remaining as popular as ever (as exemplified by footage from Germany, Japan, etc.).

The old and new school are on hand to explain and to praise the b-boy;

Everyone from rappers like KRS-One and Mos Def to breakers like Crazy Legs and Ken Swift.

--Kathleen C. Fennessy for amazon.com Wild Style (1982) - Charlie Ahearn [Amazon US] [T]he cult movie that captured the essence of the new sub-culture that was happening in the the Bronx, New York in the early 1980s. Wild Style is a slice of hip hop history with appearances from old-skool hip hop artists such as GrandMaster Flash, The Rock Steady Crew, Fab 5 Freddy, The Cold Crush Brothers, Rammellzee, Double Trouble and Grand Wizard Theodore. Scratch(2001) Doug Pray [Amazon US] In the language of hip-hop, the MC raps on top of the beats.

The DJ--or turntablist--supplies the beats.

Doug Pray's lively documentary is a tribute to these unsung heroes of the "scratch." His approach is neither dry nor academic and is designed as much for the masters of the form as for the fans.

Pray was also behind Hype!, which focused on the Seattle scene in the 1980s and 1990s.

In his 2002 follow-up, he travels as far back as the 1970s (DJ Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa) and roams the U.S.

From New York (Gang Starr's DJ Premier) to the Bay Area (DJ Shadow, Q-Bert).

After watching the film and grooving to the beat, you're likely to wonder if there's a soundtrack to accompany it.

Fortunately, there is--Bill Laswell, producer of Herbie Hancock's seminal "Rockit," is behind a compilation featuring many of the same artists celebrated in Scratch.

--Kathleen C. Fennessy for amazon.com [...]

*reds the first sentance then stops* Nope, dont care.

To me rap is black, I've never seen anyone else preform it so I really dont fucking care if theres rappers all over the world of all different colors blah blah blah.

Doesnt matter.

I translate: I can't be bothered to look into any subject, I just have a blind opinion. This thread is about whether or not you like rap music.

You don't know whether you like it, because you can't be bothered to take a few minutes of your time and listen to a few samples of music outside the narrow musical field called gangsta rap.

Oh what? Is euro rap going to be better than american?

Is japanese rap (HA) going to have more depth?

It doesnt matter where your from or how you rap, it doesnt matter because rap in any form is garbage.

By the way I spent 2 weeks in poland last year and all they had on MTV there was polish rap, I couldnt even understand the lyrics and it was Abysmal. It doesnt matter where your from or who you are, Rap sucks.

No, they were white, mainly because I didnt see one black in all of poland, I never said "only blacks rap".

Only an idiot would take my post that way, now I'm not calling you an idiot oh great and mighty one, (I am calling you that from now on) but, said idiot, whoever he may be, would have to be pretty damn thick headed to think I said that. I associate Rap with black people because 99.9% of all the rap I've ever seen was done BY black people, the others are either a fluke or so bad I didnt count them.

That is why Quote: : I have rap music from all over this planet.

Totally unassociated with what you two are talking about. You judge a wide variety of music based on your dislikal of American gangstra rap. Widen your views a little.

There is more out there.

Why? Rap is garbage, it doesnt matter what the lyrics say or how it sounds, its not music its trash.

Because you might encounter something you do like. And it can be that it's not rap, but by widening your view it might also be that you stumble on some crossover music genre or something totally different that totally rocks in your view.

Point taken Laurenz. But its still sh1t :p To me, even the classic Rap never really caught my liking.

It's just like a form of rythmic talking .

How extremely complex and oh why don;t you impess me even further with your impression of sign language dyslexia wikka wikka.

Sure some of its clever but audio wise it's rather boring.

And always will be thanks to the criteria it holds true to. Hip-hop is slowly degrading itself along with the general stereotype [it has created] for mass consumption.

Next we'll be waiting for songs that come in prepackadged "happy meal contraceptions " :o What I strongly dislike are those who claim they lik Hip-hop but have never listened to Run DMC or anything of the sort.

If you're going to be a genre fan, good lord practice what you preach & not just classifying yourslf a fan bcause you like whats on the freakin radio! Also I dislike it when a channel tries to sell an un-original band under its own sub-genre [ eg cheap-accessory-gangsta-rap-funk ::breaths:: See my point ].

Point one. You actually have to play good music for a start.

Two, you still have to play good music .

Earn respect before fame . [ ya off topic spam, you adore it don't lie]

I think all musical genres have something good to offer.

I don't like commercial rap, that's for sure, but I "like" true hip-hop.

Yeah, I wouldn't bother listening to a lot of it because it just doesn't appeal to what I like to hear, but I did find a few artists I liked.

Tupac ( ) but more so J-Live.

Although it has been so long since I've heard his music I don't even know whether I would still like it.

The only rap that I consider good..is the beastie boys, but even their lacking as of late /done

I'm quite into instrumental Hip Hop.

Stuff like DJ Shadow and Fingathing are really good and fine examples for shoving in the face of people who say that "hip hop isn't music" the narrow minded cocks

Linkin park, been there done that.

Turns out Rock Rap is fine as long as they have real vocals to abck ti up and they arent singing about bitches an ho's.

I think the Beastie Boys are a good example on how wide the genre can be. And when you start with Sabotage, it's already totally different from NWA and all that gansta rap.

Take the non-rapping tracks on Ill Communication, is that suddenly not rap anymore?

In that respect the Beatie Boys created a genre of their own, they totally widened the genre at least.

Take Aglio E Oglio...

Is it rap? Is it punk?

Metal? Word'up for Ice-T: music is music and I feel sad for anyone who listens to just one kind of music The Beatie Boys accoustic performances show that rap does not just come out of a beatbox.

And before anyone tried to argue that the Beasties aren't a credible rap group on the grounds of their skin colour or whatever then the above can alos be applied to groups like the Roots, they play all their own instruments and all the rest

I like some rap, simply because I'm pretty open on liking just about any garbage I hear (after all, I wouldn't be a t.A.T.u.

Fan if I didn't hold that view, apparently ).

Though I have to agree with Neravine and I'm fully aware of the fact that rap is not stricly "the brother's" music, but anyone refering to it as that is asking to get labled. In a lot of cases, this is simply too accurate to say to people.

IM INTO RAP and to quite a level it started with EMINEM and WILLSMITH but now i love almost all hip hop...

I really do!!! weird...

But yah and i can actually write good rap lines and lyrics...

Ive battled online if that shows how sad i once was...

And still am, but yah, i can rap...

Better on paper than verbally but im workin on it...

The only good music out there is classic rock, blues and jazz.

If you disagree with me, that's a damn shame because it only proves your taste in music is void of taste to begin with.

Everything else is pushing buttons on a synthesizer or butchering a guitar with power chords whilst screaming and rattling the brain with a form of dance(?) called head-banging.

There is no adeptness in mainstream music today, with slim exception to the rule.

Rap can be good but rarely do you find any rap that's any good.

Occasionally you'll find a rap song with depth but its getting increaingly rarer nowadays (not that it was ever prevalent).

Geez what a complex you have.

Everybody has an opinion and you are to respect that. In your view classical music as you state it is pushing buttons on a synthesizer or butchering a guitar with power chords whilst screaming and rattling the brain with a form of dance(?) called head-banging.

.

My first memory of rap is when I first got MTV.

It was in the 5th grade, and (it maybe a little later after I got MTV) I remember watching Dr.

Dre's "Keep Their Heads Ringin'"...

But I don't, and it's not a complex.

It's a fact: there is good music and there is bad music.

Most everything is bad music . Last time I checked classical music did not involve synthesizers, nor did it involve guitars or a bunch of hob nobbing jackass moshing in Carnegie Hall nor is it mainstream .

"Everything" is not inclusive in this situation and if you had read more carefully, you would've realized that I was talking about mainstream pop and rock, not classical.

I thought what I was talking about was fairly clear, but alas, it was not.

You talked about music without any further definition.

So yes, you were totally unclear. And while being totally unclear, you decided to state your opinion as fact instead of opinion.

There is no definition of good and bad music, there is only taste. And the only fact is: there is no arguing about taste.

Back on topic here... Well I have 2 older brothers...so when I was little I used to listen to whatever they listened to cause I didn't have a cd player...my oldest brother went to a high school out of our area, he went to a high school with mainly hispanics/blacks...so he got influeneced by rap a lot!...I guess it was sort of a revenge for him cause he went to Private Catholic Academy's most of his life...anyways...Here are some of the ones I remember hearing and actually liking their songs... -Snoop Dogg- Especially my oldest brother, he was a huge fan of his -Vanilla Ice -Yep, Ice Ice baby! -Kriss Kross- Does anyone remember them?

I think that's how you spell it -Wu Tang Clan -Notorious BIG -Tupac (is that how you spell that?) -Actually now that I think about it, I used to listen to a lot of gangster rap from Compton back in the early 90s...I don't really like it now but I did listened to it...BTW- I love The Fugees are the considered rap? Now I like some...I like -Jay Z (especially when he does stuff with Pharell) -Snoop -Eminem sometimes -50 sometimes They're cool but I don't own any of their CDs...I really love Jay Z though, he's great, I would buy his music! -Madonna

Discussion Title: The official rap thread
Title Keywords: Tatu  View  topic  official  thread 



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