What portion of your musical collection features rap?

[anthony]

I got a couple of Beastie Boys records. That is about it.

[LouieB]

Blondie - Rapture

Kirsty MacColl - Walking Down Madison

Couple of Gil Scott Heron tunes

That's it.

So probably 0.000001, since I have about 500 gb at this point.

I don't consider any of this rap, but that's just me. It looks like you are batting .000 on the rap scale.Kudos to you.....

 

LouieB

[KevinG]

I don't know what you would call a lot of "rap" aka hiphop but I have in my collection and tend to listen to fairly often

 

Atmosphere (23 Albums)

Beastie Boys (6 Albums)

Blackalicios (1 Album)

Blockhead (1 Album)

Childish Gambino (2 Albums) - Prolly my favorite right now

DangerDoom (1 Album)

Del Tha Funky Homosapian (1 Album)

DJ Abilities (1 Album)

DJ Danger Mouse / Jay Z (1 Album)

MC Honky (1 Album)

MF Doom (10 Albums)

Spearhead (5 Albums)

Murs and Slug (1 Album)

Old Dirty Bastard (3 Albums)

The Perceptionists (1 Album)

Talib Kweli & Madlib (1 Album)

 

So that 60 albums out of 1060 or 5.66%

[Mr. Heartbreak]

I don't consider any of this rap, but that's just me. It looks like you are batting .000 on the rap scale.Kudos to you.....

 

LouieB

I can live with that.

I forgot Dumb All Over by Frank Zappa, which should fit in the same category as the others.

I got called a racist on here a few years ago in a rap discussion, so I think I should bow out before I say anything else about how much I dislike this genre. Only thing I dislike almost as much is opera.

[LouieB]

I can live with that.

I forgot Dumb All Over by Frank Zappa, which should fit in the same category as the others.

I got called a racist on here a few years ago in a rap discussion, so I think I should bow out before I say anything else about how much I dislike this genre. Only thing I dislike almost as much is opera.

You and me too brother. I think I like opera more, but not much.

 

I have also gotten into those discussions here and admittedly there is some rap I can tolerate and Public Enemy had lots of social commentary involved which gives it some interest to me. But so much of the rest is just a bunch of crap cobbled together by folks who borrow beats, samples and simply can not sing and have nothing to say. Most have to hire someone else to fill in the vocal chorus' that sometimes grace some of the numbers.

 

I have had a free download of Das Racist on my iPod for about a year and I have come to like it quite a bit too, but while they skewer alot of mainstream culture and alot of it is pretty clever, they also treat women as objects in many of their lyrics. They should be called Das Sexist I suppose.

 

It's okay not to like this stuff I think. I just wish other artists didn't think that they need to rap to stay current. It sounds dumb. I don't deny anyone their freedom of expression. It's all good, but it just isn't something I enjoy listening to most of the time.

 

LouieB

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

I have also gotten into those discussions here and admittedly there is some rap I can tolerate and Public Enemy had lots of social commentary involved which gives it some interest to me. But so much of the rest is just a bunch of crap cobbled together by folks who borrow beats, samples and simply can not sing and have nothing to say.

without getting into the fact that sampling can be as valid and creative an artform as writing songs on a guitar, this is basically as true about rock as it is about rap. you cant judge entire genres on their worst examples. it will require a little digging to find the truly great hip hop stuff, just like rock or jazz or whatever.

 

theres nothing wrong with disliking the whole genre, thats just lazy criticism

[Tweedling]

I bumped this ancient thread because thanks to my son, I now have three Rap CDs in my collection.

Guess which ones.

I'd say

Wiz Khalifa

Drake

Lil Wayne

[Albert Tatlock]

You mean none of you have this?

 

[Mr. Heartbreak]

theres nothing wrong with disliking the whole genre, thats just lazy criticism

Not really. If you don't think you like jazz, are you going to listen to a ton of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny G, Chuck Mangione, Eberhard Weber and John Abercrombie just to be sure? I have heard more than I care to of just about all the major rap stars, and then when people tried to "open my mind" to the "greats" of the genre, I also tried listening to Public Enemy, The Roots, Lil Wayne and The Beastie Boys. I hated every single second of it. Why should I torture myself just to make sure I really, really dislike something? I have already proven to myself beyond a shadow of a doubt that I'm not "lazy" for not delving further and further into something I find utterly without merit.

[bleedorange]

Not really. If you don't think you like jazz, are you going to listen to a ton of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny G, Chuck Mangione, Eberhard Weber and John Abercrombie just to be sure? I have heard more than I care to of just about all the major rap stars, and then when people tried to "open my mind" to the "greats" of the genre, I also tried listening to Public Enemy, The Roots, Lil Wayne and The Beastie Boys. I hated every single second of it. Why should I torture myself just to make sure I really, really dislike something? I have already proven to myself beyond a shadow of a doubt that I'm not "lazy" for not delving further and further into something I find utterly without merit.

 

I think you misunderstood that sentence and what Shakespeare was referring to.

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

Not really. If you don't think you like jazz, are you going to listen to a ton of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny G, Chuck Mangione, Eberhard Weber and John Abercrombie just to be sure? I have heard more than I care to of just about all the major rap stars, and then when people tried to "open my mind" to the "greats" of the genre, I also tried listening to Public Enemy, The Roots, Lil Wayne and The Beastie Boys. I hated every single second of it. Why should I torture myself just to make sure I really, really dislike something? I have already proven to myself beyond a shadow of a doubt that I'm not "lazy" for not delving further and further into something I find utterly without merit.

no, thats not quite what i meant. disliking the whole genre isn't lazy criticism. if you've given it a fair shot (which you seem to have done) then thats fine. youre right, at a certain point there isnt much sense in digging deeper. my beef is that louie's criticism is exactly what you could say about the majority of any genre, and doesnt really say anything about why hip hop beyond public enemy hasn't done much for him. objectifying women is a reasonable qualm, but hip hop is far from the only place you'll find that, and its far from the only thing rappers talk about

 

so just for curiosity's sake, why did you hate every second of what you heard? honest question here. im not the biggest hip hop fan by any means, but there's a great deal of it that i love dearly and have a hard time picturing someone not enjoying.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

I'd say

Wiz Khalifa

Drake

Lil Wayne

lol

 

Jay-Z/Kayne --- Watch the Throne

Outkast --- Stankonia, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

Jay-Z/Beatles --- The Grey Album

[Tweedling]

 

lol

 

Jay-Z/Kayne --- Watch the Throne

Outkast --- Stankonia, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

Jay-Z/Beatles --- The Grey Album

Good taste.

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

lol

 

Jay-Z/Kayne --- Watch the Throne

Outkast --- Stankonia, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

Jay-Z/Beatles --- The Grey Album

not a bad batch

 

you could do better with jay and kanye albums though, if you're interested. late registration is probably kanye's best, and the blueprint or the black album for jay.

 

although i kinda prefer the grey album to the black album, so thats a good one to have

[Mr. Heartbreak]

so just for curiosity's sake, why did you hate every second of what you heard? honest question here. im not the biggest hip hop fan by any means, but there's a great deal of it that i love dearly and have a hard time picturing someone not enjoying.

I guess I did misunderstand the intent of the original sentence.

I am not sure how to answer your question. If you ask why I don't like cucumbers, I will have to tell you I just don't like the way they taste. Doesn't really answer it, but what else can I say? I don't like anything about it. I prefer singing. Some of the music itself is okay - not great, just okay - but as soon as the rapping begins, it's like ice cold water in my ears. Actually, more like poison.

But really, this thread should not be about me and my lack of love for the genre. I just chimed in, since other non-rap fans did too. If you dig it, enjoy! I'm out of here.

[LouieB]

without getting into the fact that sampling can be as valid and creative an artform as writing songs on a guitar, this is basically as true about rock as it is about rap. you cant judge entire genres on their worst examples. it will require a little digging to find the truly great hip hop stuff, just like rock or jazz or whatever.

 

theres nothing wrong with disliking the whole genre, thats just lazy criticism

You are right. And I think i contradicted myself by saying I actually do like some of it (see other postings.) Rap is inescapable really. Unlike jazz which no longer is played hardly anywhere and where you have to actually seek out the music, hip hop is ubitquitous; it is in movies, TV, commercials and all over the radio.

 

But unlike jazz, you really don't have to dig to find really incredible stuff. Put on any album by Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Sonny Rollins, Eric Dophy blah blah blah blah, infinitium and you will find great and very skilled music. Jazz musicians don't intentitionally steal other people's work. Yes some of it is certainly formulatic, admitedly. Alot of it sounds alike. But the lazy criticism isn't that rap sucks. It's that the content of the vast majority of rap sucks, particulary the entire intent and particularly the lyrics. A clever turn of phrase is a joy to behold in rap. Poetry can be found anywhere but the vast majority of rap is doggerel. By contrast jazz musicians, even the most commercial and bland are still trying to create something beautiful and enduring.

 

Rap is a very different kind of music than jazz. Partisians of any genre can't be talked out their interest in it and those who hate it also can't be convinced. (Joe Seigel who has run the Jazz Showcase in Chicago for 60 years hates folk music. Go figure.)

 

Anyway I need to go read what Mr. Heartbreak has to say.

 

LouieB

[LouieB]

lol

 

Jay-Z/Kayne --- Watch the Throne

Outkast --- Stankonia, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

Jay-Z/Beatles --- The Grey Album

Oh yea, I own the Grey Album and the Outkast quadruple LP which i have never listened to, but heard some of it on the radio. Neither of those qualifies as great music, even while they are interesting in some ways. The Grey Album is simplly a mash-up of other people's work, that while clever is hardly great art. I give Danger Mouse plenty fo credit. The two Gnars Barkley albums are quite good in general, but what gets them kudos are the great songs and Cee-Lo's actually ability to SING and put across a great song.

 

So unlike Mr. Heartbreak I actually own a small percentage of rap albums I guess. But they rarely are played (except for the previously mentioned Das Racist who pops up on my iPod fairly regularly.) But unlike KevinG I am not doing the math, but I figure it is well below 1% maybe .0001%.

 

The fact that Kanye West is a world class asshole keeps me from ever giving him more than a cusory listen, which I have.

 

LouieB

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

again, content in any lyrical music form can be terrible and offensive. there's a whole lot of misogyny in a whole lot of legendary rock and roll songs, do you avoid listening to them or write off the genre because of it? if rapping as opposed to singing makes the difference (which i can totally understand. for me rappers are just like singers in that some have voices i can listen to and some cant) in whether you like the music or not, that makes sense. but the content argument doesn't really hold much water, because there's plenty of rap that doesn't objectify women or violence, or even use profanity at all. the lazy part is assuming thats not the case.

 

rap may be inescapable, but the best and most powerful of it isn't, and thats my point. it seems like you're judging a great deal of it on the awful crap that sells millions these days, when that doesn't speak for the whole genre by any means.

 

and you're confusing sampling and stealing. they aren't the same at all. yeah there are examples of producers ripping off someone else's music in a lazy fashion (again, in other genres as well), but there are also examples of producers taking bits and pieces of someone else's music, adding their own contributions, and forming a new sound. anyone can take a full instrumental track from another song and rap over it, but thats not what sampling is about. pauls boutique by the beastie boys is one of my favorite albums of all time, and each song is composed of dozens, even hundreds, of music samples. its about tweaking and layering sounds in the same way using guitar bass and drums is, and it requires just as much creative vision to accomplish. sampling, when done right, is a beautiful thing, and calling it stealing is just wrong. yeah there are cases of lazy producers just stealing other people's work, but there are also cases of using the art of sampling to create sounds no one could have envisioned, and push music into strange new places just like the electric guitar or any other technological innovation. even the grey album isnt "simply" a mash-up of other people's work. that would imply danger mouse just took jay z vocals and laid them over beatles instrumentals, when in reality there's more to it than that. just as i can listen to a lot of jazz and enjoy it but not quite get why, you apparently can't see the vision and talent required to accomplish something like the grey album or pauls boutique.

 

speaking of jazz, i would suggest you give a tribe called quest a listen if you havent already. "the low end theory" is a landmark in hip hop, and pop music in general, and it's so deeply rooted in jazz i think you might enjoy it. hell, ron carter even plays bass on it. in exchange for his playing, q-tip (who has one of my favorite rapper voices. very pleasant and smooth. easy to listen to) promised not to use profanity on the album. theres a lot of respect between jazz guys and rap guys, im honestly a little surprised you're so opposed to rap music. a lot of great hip hop comes from a great love (or at least knowledge) of jazz music.

 

again, im not trying to make rap lovers out of anyone. there are just a lot of criticisms of the genre that bug me

[LouieB]

All that is true. I am not opposed to rap, that's an exageration. Like I said, there is plenty I have heard and enjoy and I have heard Tribe Called Quest and The Roots, etc, all of which do have some jazz roots to be sure. I like sampling too, to an extent. But as far as misogeny goes, rap took that to an extreme you don't find in any other genre including early rock and roll, blues or whatever.

 

Ultimately it is really just a question of what anyone wants to listen to on a regular basis. I just don't have the interest in listening to rap more than I do, although I do like to occasionally turn on the college stations and hear techo of various sorts. So while it makes up a fairly small amount of my record collection and I find much of it kinda stupid, hey whatever you dig is fine. (Somehow I never really think of the Beastie Boys as rap either. I have one of their eariest CDs and I would hardly call it rap. That whole thing about cookie puss is kind of funny actually.)

 

I personally can't undertand folks who don't like jazz, but that is just me. Maybe it is more fun to just talk about this shit than anything else. Unlike older genres, rap is relatively new, has a spotty history and has some fairly objectionable aspects (by some artists), which is sort of undeniable. But I would certainly agree that there are some talented folks out there, making some provocative and not stupid rap. It's just that there are a whole lot who are. So many rap videos are so stupid it is beyond belief really, I mean nothing socially redeming at all, although if there weren't serious in their intent they could be construed as social commentary, I just don't think many rap artists are engaging in that kind of artistic depth however. And the actual violence that has occured between the various rap factions, even to this day, hasn't really been seen in other musical genres. You don't find west coast and east coast jazz musicians offing each other, or history of blues artists from Mississippi vs. Chicago shooting each other. (And before someone brings up the demise of musicians in personal disputes, I want to head that argument off at the pass. Certainly musicians have been killed for messing with someone elses woman or some such thing.)But again these guys show a definite passion I guess.

 

LouieB

[tinnitus photography]

Kool Keith deserves a home in everyone's collection.

[smells like flowers]

Tiny percentage, but made up of:

 

De La Soul

Jurassic 5

Brand New Heavies

 

Definitely jazz-influenced stuff. White people's black music.

[lost highway]

About 5% of a big collection of LP's, CD's and mp3's.

 

The big winners are:

 

Jay-Z

The Roots

Mos Def

Wu Tang

Blakroc

Talib Kwali

Tribe Called Quest

Calle Trece

[PopTodd]

As long as we're naming our rap reps, I'll see if I can think of them all:

• Danger Doom

• Beastie Boys

• Paris

• Public Enemy

• Eric B. & Rakim

• De La Soul

• Gorillaz

• Outkast

• Arrested Development

• Jay-Z (a guest spot on one song on a Raphael Saadiq album)

• Ice-T (one song on the Tank Girl soundtrack)

 

And probably a few more that I don't have in my iTunes, but just on CD.

 

Oh, and:

KIDS THESE DAYS

(their new album is being produced by Jeff Tweedy, if you can believe that!)

[GtrPlyr]

I have about 30 rap records in my collection (De La Soul, Run-D.M.C., Beasties, Tribe Called Quest, Public Enemy, Sugarhill Gang, Spearhead, Arrested Development, Dr. Dre, Guru, Grandmaster Flash, Basehead...) As a percentage of my total collection though it would be around 0.4%. I almost never listen to rap, when I do it's the older stuff. Most of the newer stuff I hear just leaves me cold.

 

My collection, from biggest percentage to smallest would be: Rock/Pop, Soul/R&B, Country/Folk/Roots, Jazz, Blues, Reggae, Classical, Comedy/Spoken Word, Rap/Hip-Hop.

[Lammycat]

There's tons of good rap/hip hop. Jay-Z's Dead is a fun mash-up album. Put's the Black Album lyrics over various GD tunes. I get a kick out it and it sounds good.