is rap real?
David Paul Beaudet
RAP BASHING? NOT REALLY....
Ok, send me as much pro-rap mail as you wish, or letters condemning my
viewpoint, but I have to question rap music in general. I am not against what I
consider good rap (positive messages, creative beat, etc..). What I really
don't like are lyrics that influence young teens to be violent or take up arms
against their aggressor, etc. It seems that much of rap today focuses on being
better than everyone else, like it's a huge ego trip, bad-ass attitude or
something. Also, how much talent really goes into making rap music? Come on
now... I've heard so much rap that has the same beat as something previously
written, or songs that draw heavily on classic rock melodies (ie: vanilla ice
stealing from Queen). Vanilla Ice even denies this!!!! PM Dawn does admit that
they use others' melodies, and that is good.
It seems to me that the best way to create a positive self-image (which
is what rap's goal is ultimately headed), is to see more creative music (and
lyrics) from the artists. I liked rap music when it first came out (doug E
Fresh & company); it really was FUN to listen to. But, in my opinion, rap is
wrapping itself up!
- constructive critism encouraged
Andrew Studer
Remember rap dancing? Spinning on your head etc etc? I don't know if
it's prevalent in the States still, but here in Oz it's largely
forgotten.
Not the same with the music though, which was big in '84 or so, went
through a short lull, and then exploded in a big way.
I'm not exactly a big rap fan (progressive, believe it or not) but
there are a few comments I can make to the "is rap worthwhile or a
waste of time" type of question.
1) "All they do is sample other people's music".
Big deal. The avant garde musique concrete mob were heavily into
taking sounds from the real world. To me, today's use of sampling is
no different. It's clever, it's great fun (hey, I've got a sampler,
I know), and there's a lot of room for creativity in there.
2) "But where's the music? It's all just talking over a rhythm track".
Well, often yes. But, then again, what's wrong with spoken word stuff?
Besides, IMHO, the "musical" element has been a lot stronger in rap
in the last year or so (no, I can't think of any examples, I'll work on
it).
3) "But it's all about violence and killing people".
This is one I hear a lot- popular with the media (along with "heavy
metal makes you commit suicide"). To me, there's sort of a perverse
hidden connotation here- that if rap music were abolished, then
suddenly all the Afro- Americans would be happy and not at all upset
at being poorer and having less opportunities.
The same thing's happening in Oz (although the context is a bit
different). Aboriginies are expressing there feelings more and more
through music- folk, dance, whatever. To me the better question is
"Why are so many rap artists singing these songs? Why do they strike
a chord in the community?
I don't know, it all starts getting rather political rather quickly,
but I personally feel that- black anger or not- rap has enough musical
possibilities to be around for a long time.
The only vaguely negative comment I would make is that rap musicians
seem to lack the "scholarship" that marked other cultural inventions
of this century, like bebop? When mastery of your instrument was
implicit in your being able to play the style? I'd like to see
a move from the production side of things to a more performance sort
of thing (I suppose this applies to straightforward dance music as
well). Are there any people doing this sort of thing?
Just a few thoughts.
AS
John Richard Murphy
First rap about violence is not going to make them go out commit
agressive acts. That's something inherient in their personality. That
trait may make a person like the music, but the music does not create
the violent trait.
Second, just because rap musicians sample beats does not negate
the fact that it takes alot of talent to create a good rap song. What
is the diffrence from taking a sample( or many samples as the case may
be) from a song(s) and reagrranging it in a creative new format then
taking notes and scales and making a song with them. As a matter of
fact, I think sampling beats is more creative, because it's newer and
has much more potential for inovation that some of the same old played
out rock scales. Talented producers such as the bomb squad, use so many
samples and beats to construct a song, that is similar an entire
symphony with a varitey of arrangements and instruments. Rap is new
music that is constantly changing and invovating itself, for that reason
it's gonna be around for a long, long, time.
And for all suckas who throw a 'dis on rap.....
STEP OFF!!!!!
Darin M Powell
> Second, just because rap musicians sample beats does not negate
>the fact that it takes alot of talent to create a good rap song. What
>is the diffrence from taking a sample( or many samples as the case may
>be) from a song(s) and reagrranging it in a creative new format then
>taking notes and scales and making a song with them. As a matter of
>fact, I think sampling beats is more creative, because it's newer and
>has much more potential for inovation that some of the same old played
>out rock scales. Talented producers such as the bomb squad, use so many
>samples and beats to construct a song, that is similar an entire...
<some lines deleted>
I used to dislike rap (a lot) 'cause I thought sampling was
nothing but a ripoff. But after listening for a while, I
changed my mind. Artists like Hammer and VanIce give sampling
a bad name by looping one big sample and using it. But the
Bomb Squad et. al. do some AMAZING stuff, ripping little bits
out of songs and using them in strange places and in unusual
juxtapostions. I read an interview with Hank Shocklee where he
said the key to good sampling is not taking an obvious part of
a song and using it again (i.e. using a horn hit from one song
as a hort hit in your own) but taking something and using it
DIFFERENTLY than it was used in the original (i.e. looping a
small 'bite' into a melody)
I don't know if anybody out there reads much english/american lit,
but there is an interesting literary precursor, of sorts, to
sampling. the poet T.S. Eliot, in works such as "The Waste Land"
did a kind of "literary sampling"
He took obscure lines from Shakespeare, from other greek poets and
writers, from Wordsworth, and from Italian and French poets, and
added them into his work. Reading "The Waste Land" requrires hundreds
of footnotes, 'cause every word and line refers back to or is taken
from somewhere else. The poem is kind of a patchwork of other stuff,
used to create a new poem. Scholars reading Eliots work would recognize
the lines he had "sampled", and understand the references.
Hmmm....
>
> And for all suckas who throw a 'dis on rap.....
> STEP OFF!!!!!
I agree with this 100%....
WERLING
All I really gotta say, is if ya don't like it, don't listen to it!
Kids will NOT listen to this stuff and break your windows. If they
break your windows, they were pissed off already.
Now go take a long hot bath and relax.
--
Andrew Werling awer...@nmsu.edu Pffff!