Rap music on high-end speakers

Sean, you have posted several times at length on this topic. While I am in total agreement with your observations about the generational aspects of what is music, I disagree with your characterization of the people who produce and listen to rap music. You call them "ghetto gangsters". It is well known that the majority of buyers for rap are white, non-urban teenagers. Wal-Mart is the biggest seller of rap. The thug-life image of rappers is in some cases absolutely correct, but for the majority, or the average rapper, are we so unsophisticated as not be able to distinguish between the marketing image and the real person? For instance, do you really think Sly Stallone is "Rambo"? The buying public demands that their recording artist "keep it real" and ambitious, smart young black males are only too willing to oblige. Is this a modern form of the black-faced minstrel? Maybe, but a more interesting question is why does American society want to see young black men as thugs? Sean, you claim to see urban reality as you drive through low income areas on your way to work. What you see is real, but it's only a limited view of a very complex picture. You see the boyz on the corner, but do you also see the men taking public transportation to their factory jobs?

I was living in NYC when rap music first started to gain national exposure. At the time, it was a joyous music filled with the positive vitality of the city. It was young people (primarily men) talking loud and being bold as only young men can. The Sugar Hill Gang would go up against the Furious Five to see who had the best rhymes. There was a simplicity and earnestness about the music that reminded me off Chuck Berry/Buddy Holly and other early rockers. But around '81/'82 along came crack cocaine and everything changed.

Rap music is the dominate music genre of the past 20 years. It's rhythms and rhymes have diffused throughout American culture. As with any trend, it has positive and negative aspects. If you're seriously interested in reading a comprehensive overview of rap/hip-hop, I would suggest Nelson George's "HipHop America" (Penguin Books).

BTW, rap has an intimate connection for vinyl audiophiles. During the darkest days of analog (late 80s, early 90s) when it appeared that the whole world was going CD, it was 12" rap/hip-hop/dance music that was the major force in keeping vinyl alive in America.

As to my comments about "ghetto gangsters", some truly are and some aspire to that position.

Most buyers of rap / hip-hop are "wannabe's" and have no idea about the economic / social situations that many of these performers sing about / have to deal with. I think that Jello Biafra / Dead Kennedy's summed up a similar situation quite well in a tune called "Holiday in Cambodia". When these "wannabe's" get a taste of the REALITY that these people have gone through / still go through, they no longer "pretend" to live or "envy" that lifestyle.

As to "promoting an image" and only the gullible believing it, talk to Tupac about that. He may have been the best at "playing" the part. At least, i think so... Sean
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I also like many types of music. I have a very good HiFi system on which I enjoy my favorite recordings. I listen to Metallica, Kid Rock, Motown, 50's Frank Sinatra, Maria Callas, Chili Peppers, R&B and funk, Dylan, and many other artists and types of music. It depends on the mood I'm in.

Somebody once said that there are only two types of music, good and bad. It is up to each of us to decide. Unless the Taliban or some other fundamentalist sect take over the country you are free to listen to what you want. Some people like steak, some people prefer salad. Which is "correct"?
I grew up in the 60's. We heard the all the same complaints. "It's noise, he can't sing, they can't play, it's not "real" music etc." Now of course that rock/pop music is considered great.
If the music lasts long enough or you die young (Hendrix, Lennon, Marvin Gaye, Joplin, Cobain) society looks back and says how great you were. Remember Van Gogh never sold a painting in his lifetime. Jackson Pollack was called "Jack the Dripper", now he's considered by many America's greatest 20th century painter. Ever read old reviews of John Coltrane's playing with Miles in Down Beat magazine? Everybody else in Miles Davis's group was great but Coltrane, "why does he always play all those wrong notes?"!
When Hendrix was playing in the late 60's all you'd ever read was how he was a big showman and sex symbol, very little was ever said about his music. John Lennon, he was considered mostly a confused if not well meaning dupe of Yoko Ono. Politically naive and should have stayed with the Beatles. Etc. etc.
When you get older, I'm 49, you'll see that many things in life repeat over and over.
Now about the audio equipment to play hip-hop, rap.
You want a good clean powerful system that reproduces the full audio range. Bottom to top.
For speakers. Either you need to buy full range large speakers or a good subwoofer such as a Rel or Hsu Research with good speakers that reproduce the rest of the frequecy range without coloration. I would look to Neil Grader's writtings in The Absolute Sound magazine for further ideas about components and system that play a wide variety of music as he is someone who listens to many types of music (mostly pop and rock along with jazz and classical). Many other audio reviewers listen only to classical and vocal works. Systems that my sound great reproducing an orchestra or jazz group are not going to be optimized for Dr Dre productions or Rage Against The Machine for that matter.
Good luck. Happy listening!
HowardC

Sean - perhaps I misunderstood your earlier posts, and I thank you for continuing to clarify. It seems as though you do recognize that the generalization of modern hip hop artists is a convenience and largely a product of marketing hype and an increasingly disillusioned youth culture. More, it sees like you agree with the notion that the form isn't inherently unlistenable, but perhaps it's most well known ambassadors are. These were really the points I wanted to make. To me, music has always been a gateway into new cultures and ideas. As such, what I listen to tends to range from European electronic exotica like Mouse on Mars to the excellent songsmithing of Leadbelly. One thing that I have observed is that there are plenty of bad music and plenty of bad music fans in every genre. And that's fine, but if you really want to hear what any music type has to offer you must be willing to wade through the crap (or better yet, find a reliable guide who's already familiar with the form). To dismiss anything before really giving it a shot is just cheating yourself.

Can anyone answer this question: Why I was the only one who brought a 'mundane' recording to the Frank Van Alstine Show at the Chicago Audio Society meeting? Everybody else played 'audiophile grade' recordings...

The music was from "Lo mato si no compra este disco." (I kill him if you don't buy this record.) Album by Willie Colon/Hector Lavoe--Caribbean gangsta music from the 70's. I happened to play an instrumental fusion piece that Van Alstine stopped after about two minutes! This recording, nonetheless, is my reference recording to test system performance. Lots of trombones, fast percussion, bass and a world class singer. I used it recently to test and set up some Bob Regal feet Deano sent me to try on my 'new' Melos SHA-3 preamp. I described the improvements to him and emailed me that I was hearing right. That I had entered 'Audio Nirvana'. So much for a non audiophile recording of gangsta music.

Aguirre, you're right on the money. I've always said that most music in all genres is crap. That one needs to weed out this crap to get to the real good stuff; preferably to find a guide to point out what to buy.

In conclusion, I think being an audiophile gets a bad rap because it is associated with certain attitudes, behaviors and types of people. Just recently I went to an 'upscale' high end store in downtown Chicago to buy a piece. What a bunch of snobs! Did they think they were impressing me? I just wanted to get out of there fast! I heard comments like: "To get a good preamp you have to spend at least five thousand dollars." Is this going to attract people to audio? Hey, they want you to quit before you even start...or at least humilliate you before you move on. Like forcing me to demo the piece I wanted with some Tchaikovsky. Hey, I've sold audio at two stores: you ALWAYS ask the customer what he/she wants to hear. What was the point of this geek trying to force me to hear Tchaikovsky? Educate me, perhaps? What a shame...