Why the bias AGAINST Hip Hop?

Sorry ATS for being off topic, but everyone needs to listen the new Slayer song

Rap/HipHop is just a product, like canned beans, soap, Happy meals or automobiles.

Promoted by old White, Jewish A&R men on the top floor of some office building that don't care about art, music, personalities or anything else except demographics.


PowerSlave nailed it. It's all about money.

The music is just the vehicle to sell a phony life style, fashion and all the other accoutrement's that are hung on hip hop.

It's all hype and no real substance like all pop culture.

Gangsta....Riiight

That battle video is class

uk.youtube.com...

Phi-Life

rap is art. just read up on the history and how it began if you don't already know. Rap HAS got so crappy lately for one reason, RECORD COMPANIES. Just listen to independent hip-hop and you'll see what i'm talking about. the beat may not sound as put together, the audio may be crappy, but the creativeness within the music is what defines it. Now i'm guessing the older and even younger people who despise rap have not heard true hip-hop, they've probably heard it flipping through the channels or radio. Most of the stuff playing on the play list is not true hip hop, it's a sorry excuse for hip hop. It's not about the money, cars, clothes, being in the v.i.p., the girls, all the places you've been. hip hop is supposed to be about telling a story with words, painting a picture. All most of them do now is brag about what they (the record company) bought and how they're gangster and how they "do it for the hood."
They're making it about getting hood rich, and this generation is buying and following that example, that is why there is bias towards rap today.

Hip hop is not music...it's bad "poetry" usually about drugs, rape, violence, getting "over on the man" ...it has no beginning, middle or end...just long sentances that ryme at the next breath...that is, at least what I've heard on the public channels...it also seems to be about baggy clothes and crotch grabbing...never did get that.

I heard some that made sense once, wasn't about murder or gangs, etc....actiually had a positive message...but I don't think it caught on.

turn on the radio and turn it to a hip-hop station. Listen for an hour and keep a tally of how many songs have negative messages and how many have positive (or neutral) messages.

Now turn it to a rock station and do the same.

Look at your results, and there's your answer.


But really, look at the big names in the hip-hop industry. Lil Wayne doesn't have a single song that's not about drugs or sex, Lil Jon doesn't have any songs that aren't about sex, Ludacris, T-Pane, Akon, all the same story.

I don't hate hip-hop, I like some of it, but there is no denying that it is, except for a very small minority, without positive content.

Also, it is entirely unoriginal and lacks anything resembling musical skill, and I would guess that plays into people not liking it.

reply to post by wiseone11


www.youtube.com... - Atmosphere - Guarantees

www.youtube.com... - Immortal Technique - Tell the Truth (a must see anyone who doesn't like Dubya)

Mainstream Hip hop is dead beyond measure. The stuff you hear and see on the radio or MTV is just commercial garbage. Take a listen to these two artists, they just might make you think twice about hip-hop.

You can't call rap and hip hop music because there aren't any musical instruments involved. No melody, no harmony, no musical composition or structure whatsoever, Just nothing but oral chaos.
The Retardic Attempt at Poetry aka RAP, many times doesn't even go in sync with the fancy beat that drives the angry madness,
That's why I personally think it sucks, nothing racial about it.

Im pretty sure that Ludacris gave the answer that you are looking for in the movie "Crash" you should check it out


MessOnTheFED!

It just doesn't SOUND good to me. No racism- I love rock (negro blues roots), R+B, jazz (again mostly black roots). Hip Hop and Rap just has crummy sounding vocals and little if any melody.

I don't like most hip hop, that's a personal choice based on my own tastes, I do have problems with certain rappers and the content of their music as I don't relate to the lyrics, I often don't enjoy the typical beats used but then I love rap, if done well to beats I can appreciate, I enjoy a combination of rap and metal for instance and rap and sampled breaks (eg The Prodigy).

Its all about personal choice and tastes when it comes down to it. I must admit though I have heard many many fans of the original hip hop saying that the pioneers of the music would be spinning in their graves if their heard what was about today, I don't know the music well enough to say. Oh and I often find it hard to completely blame people for bad mouthing hip hop when a fair amount of it seems to support gangs and related problems, just remember rock has had its problems as well, Rammstein for example was blamed for columbine and that's just one example of rock being blamed for things and being bad mouthed.

I have seen some pretty ignorant post in this thread but that is to be expected. As someone said before, the honest truth is race and social status but that is changing. Real Conscious Hip Hop has soul and heart. It has a message, not of slapping B**ches and H**s or popping caps, but of the times we live in and the situations that we are all facing. Just because music doesn't suit you because you are biased in one way or another does not mean that the music is bad. I can name a few artist who speak truthfully and many ATSers would agree if they were to listen to the message that they offer. Anyways, this really doesn't belong in ATS but more BTS but whatever. As far as some places to start looking:
Dead Prez
Paranoid
The Civilians Military
Tech Nine
Flobots
Nas (sometimes)
and that is just the hip hop but if you want the more rock/punk I would go with:
NOFX
Rage against the Machine
Greenday (some)
and the list can go on. If you are really looking for music that is revolutionary or for the movement, you are not going to find it playing on your local radio stations because that is a conspiracy in itself... but we won't get into that one right now. I hope I have been of some help. To all a good night

Originally posted by worldwatcher
Want the honest answer as why there is a bias against hip hop??

Race and social status. Nuff said.

That's a bit of a milquetoast answer.

Some of us prefer music that doesn't put the emphasis on the vocal line and lyrics.

Guess my race and social status.

How can anyone honestly think it's to do with 'race' or 'social status'?
For god's sake... it isn't so hard to understand why. The message or lyrics for me doesn't even make up half of what I find appealing in good music. I don't listen to music to have someone's opinions or ideologies shoved in my ears. I listen music simply to enjoy the music. Perhaps we just haven't forgotten what real, good music sounds like -- even though it's becoming increasingly rare to have good artists these days that are able to produce such.

In all these years still VERY few, if none, have even come close to consistently producing the quality of music that the Beatles and Pink Floyd did in their days. Until then, I'll just keep listening to them.

[edit on 3/1/09 by Navieko]

Hip hop is the most unintelligent music out there.These people can't seem to wear a hat properly and haven't figured out to buy a belt like the rest of us.I think it glamourizes all the things that are wrong with society but does it in a way to make it look cool...like cappin someones arse with an ak.
I have made ALOT of music in my time and have got to say that sampling a beat is really really easy and takes no skill.
I am not sure if these hip hop dudes play any musical instruments but in my opinion maybe they should try instead of sampling a beat to a nursery rhyme.
Hip hop is the most dumbed down form of music there is.

Hip hop is the name of a scene. Dancing, DJs, turntablism, dress styles, graffiti. It's a lifestyle that varies slightly across the world. I think guys are confusing rap music with hip hop.

On top of that they're mistaking the big names like Jay Z, Kanye West, P Diddy, 50 Cent as representing rap music. A lot of young kids might look up to them, but the hip hop scene just sees them as mainstream a**holes. Getting a another famous a**hole on the next cut and having it pushed through by MTV and major radio stations doesn't warrant the boasting they do Referring to the people that buy the CDs as 'customers' is too arrogant.

That level of rappers has more in common with stadium tour rock bands asking for yellow M&Ms and special water for brushing their teeth with. Ego merchants.

The best hip-hop/ rap music is less well-known. It doesn't get the airplay and the guys that make it work hard and never get to retire. They tour and interview, but don't put out that Gangsta crap that appeals to MSM. Try Cunninlynguists, EMc, Buckshot and Wonder, Skinnyman, Roots Manuva, Aesop Rock, Copperpot for starters. No gangsta or guns, no drugs or bitches. Just good tunes and clever words.

The race and the class thing?! Definitely. As the media pushes all that Gangsta bulls*it and makes $$$$$, it's laughing. Rap makes billions. At the same time it provides a circus for people that hate it to look in in distaste and tut tut at the 'blacks'. When 50 Cent or other dumb MTV star is seen on Cribs with dozens of guys that look like gangbangers, when the pool is full of semi naked models and they're all 'screwfacing' the cameras? It's not real. They all get paid by his Record Company and go to their own homes.

That's my opinion anyway Another part of the explanation that nobody has mentioned is the language. When my Dad heard me listening to Ice T's Original Gangster as a kid, he damn near fell over to hear the F&*@ word 20 times in a minute He could manage Iron Maiden, GnR, Megadeth and such, but rap is still a no go area.

Originally posted by DrumsRfun
Hip hop is the most unintelligent music out there.These people can't seem to wear a hat properly and haven't figured out to buy a belt like the rest of us.I think it glamourizes all the things that are wrong with society but does it in a way to make it look cool...like cappin someones arse with an ak.
I have made ALOT of music in my time and have got to say that sampling a beat is really really easy and takes no skill.
I am not sure if these hip hop dudes play any musical instruments but in my opinion maybe they should try instead of sampling a beat to a nursery rhyme.
Hip hop is the most dumbed down form of music there is.

Yeah but realistically it's not just Hip Hop that's unintelligent it's all genre's of music that get turned into the cash cow fad. Look at the indie kids who only play three cords through a song not exacatly genius or skillful is it.

While i despise mainstream hip hop and rap personally I love hip hop artists and rappers like Immortal technique, MF Doom, Atmosphere etc. who aren't really noticed. They're albums are intelligent and standout.

Once something get's noticed then it's doomed to a long life of poor imitation, catering to the lowest demoniators and mediocrity and in this day and age lol.

reply to post by Kandinsky

I'm gonna put the same thing I put on the Other Hip-hop thread.

People that say hip-hip is damaging America are really the same as a lot of ATSrs saying the news is damaging America. The thing about finding true hip-hop is that you have to look past the mainstream, just like the dang news. Everything you hear, actually I wanna just go ahead and say the majority of what you hear on the radio and watch on MTV and BET and other "rap" out there is really contributing to the negative name that comes with hip-hop.

Progressive hip-hop is hardly heard on the radio. People just don't credit hip-hop to music now a days, but the art of sampling and turntablism has everything to do with timing rhythm, and a keen taste in past melodies ranging in funk, jazz, soul, and rock.

Just like looking for "good news" you have to search for the "good hip-hop" and I encourage people to listen to shows like "subsoniq" on XM radio.

Listen to the lyrics and sounds of artist/ hip-hop groups like "the procussions", "Dj spinna", "crown city rockers", "the foreign exchange" , and "People under the stairs" are very different than the mainstream. These guys are a part of the underground and progressive movement of hip-hop, and focus on whats fun, funky and true and not what sells for popularity's sake

Everyone needs to stop generalizing to a definite reason. Its like saying New Yorkers are arrogant or Athiest are immoral. Hip Hop can be everything that rock "represents" but you can't take specific situations and generalize them for the entire genre.

reply to post by juveous

You're right enough. People who don't like rap, don't know that it's full of genres. UK hiphop has grown it's own identity in the past few years, it's almost all underground because we're a small country and it's a small scene
Try 1Xtra on the BBC. Semtex, Ace and Vis and Mista Jam play hiphop. Ronnie Herel is more dancehall.

Originally posted by FritosBBQTwist
Why the bias AGAINST Hip Hop?

- It isn't 'bias' ... it's taste.
- Hip Hop is lame and tasteless IMHO
- It's a matter of personal choice.