How Can We Make Rap/Hip-Hop Music Better???

[TVD]

Hip-hop is whatever you want it to be. But how long will ppl want to hear the same old subjects over and over? And on top of that, why can't some ppl pick up a hip-hop CD without cringing at the lyrics forcing themselves to listen only to the beat.


And for the record not all hip-hop is black vs white, can't count how many times ppl end up talking about that when talking about hip-hop. Plenty of white MC's and producers too so avoid blanket statements.

As of this writing, I'm still looking of a white girl with some serious rhyme skills!

And some asian girls too.

[stale bread]

two turntables and a microphone
respect it or leave it alone
resist exploitation
have purpose
look at it like any other music
don't look at it like any other music
don't listen to anybody
if what you do doesn't come out hiphop so what just do what you do you might not be meant to make it and doing what you do is more important anyway
understand that nobody complains about the drums on steve vais albums, take that same understanding and apply it to hiphop
decide within yourself if it is more of a musical genre or cultural artform and let that ethos be your guide.
most of all know that hiphop is good enough already you just
don't know about it, blame the stations, labels, and program
directors for trying to hide it from you because they'd rather sell you a beeper, rims, and a pair of shoes.

[xoxos]

i might be off the mark here, but noticing thst your location is "dirty south" usa, maybe hip hop would be better for you if it wasn't a genre that was developed and is maintained by black people in their fight against white oppression?

. . .

That is the dumbest thing I've ever bore witness to.

yeah, it does sound pretty stupid until you see your best friend shot to death by cops just because he happened to be black, 16, and parked behind a bank.

then you can't laugh it off so easily, huh.

tell me, what's it feel like to be stupid and have a big mouth?

[CskaTorpedo]

I need some very good ideas. Help me out!!!

How about giving it back to black men?

EDIT: Seriously, we have gone from a positive forum for angry black youth to corperate sponsored lackey's telling us what to value, and devalue.

[TVD]

I need some very good ideas. Help me out!!!

How about giving it back to black men?

EDIT: Seriously, we have gone from a positive forum for angry black youth to corperate sponsored lackey's telling us what to value, and devalue.

I still waiting for corperations to give back rock&roll!

[Armadillo]

i might be off the mark here, but noticing thst your location is "dirty south" usa, maybe hip hop would be better for you if it wasn't a genre that was developed and is maintained by black people in their fight against white oppression?

CORRECTION:

Hip-hop is maintain by the people who are still buying the gerne:

20%---a combination of blacks, latinos, & asians in general.

80% (and counting)--- of white people from around the world as well as America.

Seriously ? Where do you get those numbers from?

[AudioWhore]

Use Sugarhill Gang 'The message' album as a template and work from there


grandmaster flash.

Im pretty sure grandmaster flash is a member of sugarhill gang... i got the album. heres the track listing:

Sugarhill Gang - the message (the best of)
01-the message
02-white lines
03-step off
04-pump me up
05-its nasty
06-jesse
07-message 2
08-the adventures of grandmaster flash on the wheels of steel
09-rappers delight
10-eight wonder
11-hot hot summer day
12-showdown
13-apache

Love that album.. Such an uplifting, funky party vibe. Warren G, Snoop Doggs ealier stuff (doggystyle), Coolio, Tupac, Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Public Enemy are still some of my favs..

[atomic_(no)afro]

In terms of where hip-hop should be going, I feel that in order for the genre to stay vibrant the sound has to have a natural progression from one style to another. So in the 80's, we had electro and old-school east coast rap, in the early 90's we had the Gangsta rap of NWA, Ice-T, and 2Pac (Obviously, this is a gross over-simplification). At some point however, the spirit of the genre was lost by manufactured and crass marketed hype, and more importantly, the innovation that was seen in the early days of hip-hop was slowed by commercial pressure to stick with trusted formulas. Of course, that's why the rise of underground hip-hop in the late 90's into today happened. An important note is that although much of the modern underground harkens back to a simpler time before money f**ked hip-hop up, the best looks to the future and tries to improve upon existing trends. So in the underground we have the clean digital electro beats of Prefuse 73 and other IDM-hop producers, as well as the subtle blending of styles seen in the works by Aesop Rock, Hangar 18, Eydea & Abilities, Foreign Exchange, and Rob Sonic. I believe the future isn't with the "Old Skool", but rather a melding of the symbolism and aesthetic appeal of that time, with the darker attitudes of gangsta era hip-hop, made with the technology available to today’s producers. Folks don’t want another Whodini, Afrika Bambaataa/Soul Sonic Force, Kool Moe Dee, or Grandmaster Flash. They want artists that speak to them about the time that they are living now, and that’s where I feel the music’s going.

ATA

[enviso]

Im pretty sure grandmaster flash is a member of sugarhill gang... i got the album. heres the track listing:

Sugarhill Gang - the message (the best of)
01-the message
02-white lines
03-step off
04-pump me up
05-its nasty
06-jesse
07-message 2
08-the adventures of grandmaster flash on the wheels of steel
09-rappers delight
10-eight wonder
11-hot hot summer day
12-showdown
13-apache

grandmaster flash wasn't in sugar hill gang. you might have a "best of" sugar hill -the record label- because he was on sugar hill records, but as "grandmaster flash and the furious fve", not as a member of "the sugar hill gang"


i can't get enough of that song "white lines"
:)

[enviso]

i like kool keith.
i admire his immaturity.

i don't think he is the direction of hip hop. but i like him.

[opiadream]

Rap isn't supposed to be about the backround music, but could be made better with better music. Vocals in rap are supposed to equate more to percussion than to a melodic instrument. Thats one way I think about it at least. It is mostly a form of poetry with flow to a beat.

unfortunately when the poetry is the kind of lame and tired same old same old that is 95% of rap
it makes you not want to listen to much of it

[splattabreakz]

blah

[opiadream]

and stop worrying about 'us' making it better, 'us' ain't gonna do shit. if you want something to change it's up to you.

good point

[mr.me]

and stop worrying about 'us' making it better, 'us' ain't gonna do shit. if you want something to change it's up to you.

good point

Indeed!

[Stupid American Pig]

since sampling is now too expensive for the most part to use on a widespread basis, musicians need to get back in to the picture. The producers role needs to be more project management than that of composer, arranger and engineer.

One reason Doctor Dre has maintained consistency is with studio musicians. However I feel that even Dre's music could use more variation and better songwriting. Now the bulk of what he is doing is using musicians to create 8 bar segments and then arranging them, when he should be writing complete songs with bridges, transitions, breaks, fills and variations.