I hate rap "music" because it's all about glorifying criminal behavior

[Orrex]

Discuss.

on edit: Okay, I confess--this was a bit of a fishing expedition to prove a point for myself, so I'd like to recant and say that, no, I don't hate rap. I actively dislike a lot of what's popular and overplayed on the radio, but I certainly don't hate the genre overall.

Thanks to all who replied, though!

[cwydro]

1. Well.

That may be.

[reyd reid reed]

2. To be fair...

not all of it is. I don't especially care for the genre either, but it's not all negative.

Just a lot of it.

:hi:

[JanMichael]

3. Most is except for Boots Riley and the Coup.

And Rage Against the Machine.

And Spearhead.

[Redstone]

8. Is / was Boots Riley the guitarist for Parliament / Funkadelic? If so, he's goddamn good.

Redstone

[Starbucks Anarchist]

9. You might be thinking of Bootsy Collins.

Different guy.

[Redstone]

10. Yes, I was. Thank you for the info.

Redstone

[Fran Kubelik]

12. you beat me to it.

:hi:

[Starbucks Anarchist]

13. Hey there!

:hi:

[Fran Kubelik]

11. I think you are thinking of Bootsy Collins

He plays bass.

[Redstone]

16. Those guys sure knew how to put on a show and get FUNKY, didn't they? Are they still around?

Redstone

[Fran Kubelik]

20. I am pretty sure they are.

George Clinton is like Keith Richards...he has taken so many drugs he will be preserved forever.

[Redstone]

25. And alcohol is the best preservative of all, yes? Besides, Mr Clinton is WAY too fucking

weird to die on us. I may not like all of his music (though I like some of it a LOT), but I do have to admire him for being one of those one-of-a-kind musicians. Yes, indeed.

Redstone

[ghostsofgiants]

23. No, that's Bootsy Collins, but Boots Riley is great too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jf_8pHCqf4

[Deja Q]

4. .

IBTL! :D

[Redstone]

5. When we were kids in the 1950s and 1960s, the music was about things we could relate to:

romance, heartbreak, cars, the fucking lousy war, all that stuff.

But how is it that the white suburban kids can relate to the "urban gangsta" drug-dealing pimp gang-banger bling bling pop a cap on that mothafocka nigga bitches & Ho's crap that makes up so much of rap "music?"

I don't get it.

Redstone

[bumblebee1]

28. These same white suburban kids would be the same ones

who would get upset if some white rapper released rap songs declaring white suburban women as ho's and bitches. Maybe that should be the parents of these same kids. I have a better idea: lets drop those same suburban kids of in the hood and see how they make out. There wouldn't be a pair of clean underwear on any of them after five minutes.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

6. Then you haven't heard the good stuff.

[Fran Kubelik]

7. You are wrong.

:shrug:

[Deja Q]

14. The truth is in the middle.

Some rap is about the musician telling the world how great (s)he is.

Some rap is about glorifying depraved things.

Some rap is far more decent; outcrying social injustices or imploring unity.

I have no idea what draws people to the depraved, but I find the latter (usually found in 'old school' rap such as Queen Latifah, Public Enemy, et al, surprisingly poignant. and almost NEVER about inciting violence. Quite the contrary; they were singing in defiance of the violence. And if the parental advisory was due to the message being sung, and/or the occasional use of "ho", "F***", or whatever, we won't ever know.)

[Ann Arbor Dem]

15. agreed!

:hi:

[Fran Kubelik]

24. Same can be said about all sorts of music.

Also - some rap is just plain goofy, just like some pop music.
Some rap is all about love, just like some pop music.

[AlCzervik]

17. there is plenty of good to go along with the shit, public enemy, NWA, tribe called quest

social commentary, social injustice and sometimes just some killer beats.

[ghostsofgiants]

18. I hate idiots becuase, well, they're idiots.

And they're sure to come out in droves in this thread.

For the record, El-P's "I'll Sleep When You're Dead" is probably the best album to come out this year so far.

[MadHound]

19. Actually that can be applied to old school country, folk, rock, reggae, etc

What with the taking drugs and shooting people and beating women and hangings and bloodshed and all.

Listening to music is sometimes what you bring to it. If you expect it to be about glorifying criminal behavior, well, there ya go, that's what you're going to find.:shrug:

[Susang]

21. Flames, flames, go away

Come again some other day!

[asthmaticeog]

22. So you also hate old 40's gangster noir films?

:eyes:
fucking jackass

[idgiehkt]

27. .

40's hell, what about 'The Godfather' movies, and all those. I can't stand that stuff but they are viewed as classic films. As long as they aren't musicals, then they'd be 'rap', lol.

:rofl:

[Orrex]

26. Thanks, everyone!

Please see my edit it the OP.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

29. I pity you.

:shrug:

[Orrex]

30. Huh?

:wtf:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

31. Well, let's see...

First, you seem to be unable to seperate art from real life. Saying rap glorifies crime is like saying Jimi Hendrix glorifies shooting his old lady, or Moby Dick encourages whaling, or French Impressionism encourages myopia.

Secondly, like somebody else upthread said, you don't apparently have a problem with gangster noir, Godfather, or any other violent/crime based works of art. It seems isolated to rap. Which indicates that your problem with rap isn't really that it's "all about advocating crime." Gee, I wonder what it could be.

Thirdly, you apparently don't even listen to the stuff, since you seem convinced "it's all about advocating crime."

[Orrex]

32. From the late-night edit of the OP:

on edit: Okay, I confess--this was a bit of a fishing expedition to prove a point for myself, so I'd like to recant and say that, no, I don't hate rap. I actively dislike a lot of what's popular and overplayed on the radio, but I certainly don't hate the genre overall.

With this in mind, your objections sort of fall apart IMO.

I admit that it was a bit underhanded of me to post my original comment without the disclaimer, but I was hoping to generate exactly the kind of appropriate responses that I got.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

33. Really?

Because I think my objections still stand.

[Orrex]

34. How so?

Here's the progression as I see it:

Me: I hate rap for an artificially contrived reason.

You: Therefore I judge that you don't know anything about rap (plus a litany of attendant complaints)

Me: Well, I don't actually hate rap, as I indicated in my edit.

You: My objection still stands.


Care to help me out here?