Never cared for rap myself. The closest thing I get to it is Mindless Self Indulgence. It's just got a musical style to it that I don't care for and I'm kinda picky about what I listen too.

i personally think new school rap is a plain heap of trash. i prefer old school rap that has a positive message, not people talking about, shooting,killing, doing drugs, all that other crud. im african american and every time i tell some one i listen to alot of besides rap they stare at me like i nuked america. i just cant stand rap. and for some people who listen to it , its a crying shame.

I don't blame people nowadays for hating rap music. The stuff that has been popular for the past 10 years has been HORRIBLE for the most part. Complete garbage.

That said, I do enjoy rap music, but 99.9% of the rap music I like was released before 2000

If you want to listen to some great rap music listen to some stuff that was released in the 90's or late 80's a lot of great rap albums were released during that time.

Where to begin...I've had a lot of different construction and warehouse jobs where the radio is on all day, and some of the time the station is on classic or alternative rock, and

sometimes on rap. I cannot tolerate rap, to me, it sounds retarded, especially when I'm working. Rap slows me down at work because I cannot understand what they're saying, so

it just sounds, I don't know, unintelligent.

tRIUNE : You should find a better word than "retarded."

The reason you may not understand it is due to the use of slang (I'm guessing you're referring to that). I remember in my literature class we were discussing the diction used by rappers. It can be comparable to the language used by the writers a few hundred years ago (like Shakespeare). It's meant to be hard to understand. The writers back then used so much symbolism, metaphors, strange syntax, among other tools to create very (almost artsy) civilized writing. The language used in rap is to cater to a certain audience as well. That audience understands it.

Many rappers did not grow up in the same stratification socially as say you or even me. Most are not even in the lower class/middle class/upper class; they're out of the loop. Their everyday lives can be much more miserable. Different things are valued here. Education and proper English are not among them. That is not to say that they are unintelligent, many people have risen from the depths (even in Rap) to do great things. What is often valued here can be heard in much of the lyrics.

A big trend that has been going on for about two decades has been the glorification of the gangster/ghetto lifestyle. Some musicians in this genre try to create a facade (numerous), others try to paint a grim reality (Nas, specifically Illmatic), many others brag of the fruits of such a lifestyle and leave out the negatives of the individual associated with it (numerous). Not all rap centers around this however, there are many musicians who use the Rap/Hip-Hop sound in their music (many that would not even be considered Rap to untrained ears).

The style of Hip-Hop based music lies in its reworking of past works, use of a break beats (and other samples), rapping (but not always), and pretty much goes from there. There's this sub-genre of Hip-Hop called Trip-Hop that is pretty much Hip-Hop but more England based and the focus is more on the Hip-Hop sound than on the usual Hip-Hop lyrics. That's a good starting place in my opinion for those who are interested and haven't opened up to the music created and popularized in NY.

Rap is music that best speaks to me.Artist like Lil Wayne,Drake,50 cent and Eminem are some of the best rappers of this Generation.

Ive never really cared for it myself.They never sing about things I can relate to.

Rapping is nothing but a trashy way to express yourself (well not all of songs are trashy).
Either way, everyone can rhyme and beatbox(my opinion on the beatbox thing and possibly on the rhyming ) so it is really pointless.

becerra95 : Have you seen what the real rappers and beatboxers can do? I'd like to see you attempt http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foEU2WHdOzA or this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjYobyChFqo.

I don't like your binary thinking and oversimplification of a culture that you fail to understand. Bob Dylan couldn't sing, read music, or play instruments particularly well, and yet he is one of the most praised musical artists of the 20th century. It's not just natural talent (which no one really possesses). Bob Dylan was revolutionary in his songwriting; that's the thing that really set him apart from other musicians. Before him, no one wrote their own lyrics and if they did, they weren't as serious or as heartfelt.

According to your argument -- since obviously everyone can rap and beatbox -- everyone can also sing and play instruments too. That doesn't mean that they can sing or play well though. I'm serious, make your own music and see how far you get with that attitude. If it's so easy I'd like to see you try.

It's one thing not to like a certain kind of music, it's quite another to criticize others who have spent their whole lives honing their skill(s) and look down upon those who don't live a lifestyle like your own. You think people wanted to live in the ghettos and witness urban decay before their very eyes? I'd like to see how positive you can be when everyday you live in a place like Newark. Expression in any form is better than staying quiet and killing each other.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlCrc4HKb_4
Dangerous Mindz by Gravediggaz


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE_AZkAf7MY

All Alone(No One to Be With) by Slick Rick

Doomsday Productions is another great one to check out.

KlawedFlaw : I'm already a big fan of RZA which includes his work with Gravediggaz. I also like Slick Rick's 80s output. I'll check this out though. Thanks!

NotJon :

'It's not just natural talent (which no one really possesses).'

I don't think it's really fair to say no one has natural talent. I never had a single singing lesson in my whole life until college, but I've been singing at the same level as Celine Dion since I was three years old. I couldn't even read then.

Kerubi (as you can tell by his user picture) is a great artist. He's also never had a day of training in his life. But when he was old enough to hold a pencil, he was drawing ten times better than everyone he knew, even the adults and he was basically still an infant.

Some people are naturally good at the beat boxing thing, but anyone can do it if they try hard enough. I think that's what becerra95 was getting at.

XxChaosxX : Every skill needs to be honed. Some people may have a head start or more of an interest/intent on being successful, but everyone needs practice. I too have gotten compliments for my art, however, I got that way through practice. I'm sure that Kerubi did not draw as well as he did for his user pic at age 3. I'm sure he had plenty of potential which already seemed evident in comparison to others, but he still improved and I am sure is still improving. You don't need professional training to be good. I majored in art for 4 years and took many art classes but those didn't really help me improve. What I did to become a better artist was practice practice practice, draw draw draw, and try to become better than my peers. The urge to self-improve made me better.

No one is born anything. Some things are often replicated and repeated over and over as a child until they become a habit and feel natural. I guarantee that you will never find someone who made it big say that they got to where they are without practice and dedication. We all are influenced by different things as children. I saw cartoons and was told to make a gift for my Mother's friend's son. Boom. I took a real interest in art (although, the ball began rolling in Kindergarten). Babies are blank slates is what I am getting at.

(Sorry for the sandwich posting.)

Growing up I had a very negative and stereotypical opinion on rap. Mostly because the type of rap music you hear on the radio has no message and is just an excuse for high school kids to strip half naked and inappropriately dance with one another. That being said, I was introduced to a group called Epik High (which before reading this I actually made a poll about in the music forum). They are a Korean rap group, who I have spent a lot of time listening to. Having only mild knowledge of the language I had to use lyrics pages and subtitled music videos to see the meaning behind each song.

After listening to them I quickly gained an interest in rap which I had never really had before. It's not only in the lyrics however. You can tell an excellent story without the help from a good melody or beat. In my eyes there are so many good rap artists and songs where the words flow in such a way, against a beat and/or music, that not only does it inspire my body to move to it but adds emotion to it. When I listen to rap I feel many different things from different songs. You can feel their excitement, their anger, their frustrations, happiness. I've personally grown to love the genre. That being said, most of the rap I listen to is not in English. While there are extremely talented english speaking rappers, I find that some languages flow so easily on their own that you don't even need to understand the words to enjoy the song.

I love rap. Its my favorite type of music. Lil Wayne and Drake are my favortie rappers.

While rap does include loads of foul language, many other types of music do as well. I hate the hypocrites that dislike rap because of its dirty language, when I hear multiple rock songs that do also. I'm not saying all rock does have language, but a majority of the songs I have heard did.

Anyway, I like rap because its a good genre to get someone hyped up. Plus, the beat in most of the rap songs are really good to listen to.

Some good, alot of bad, all in all, I do not like Rap. I personally prefer more rock and metal, or even classic. There is some that I like though.

I don't care what nobody says I like rap music. It exprsses my feelings toward some people. Like the song no love my lil wayne. It expresses my feelings to the people I hate. And one more song Not afraid by eminem. Those are the two songs that expresses my feelings.

mr.keys : No Love is actually by Eminem, but featuring Lil Wayne. It is a good song regardless though.

It's not even about expressing feelings, rap is just great music.

dwade441 : I know who made no love I'm just saying I like lil wayne's verse. And yes it do express feeling. Yeah your right about it being great music.

I don't like rap music but i like it a hell of a lot better than country music.