Orpheus: we just want to know if you are a "lover" or a "hater." :)
When will rap music be less mainstream?
First time I heard MC Hammer’s song many years ago, I like the rhythm and thought it is quite unique. After that, all kinds of rap music pop up. I never thought rap music would be mainstream for such a long time in US. If you look at the music award ceremonies, you will find it being flooded with rap music. Sometimes I am not even sure rap can be considered as song because you don’t sing but speak. Now you start to hear rap music in some other languages like Chinese, Japanese and Korean that don’t sound good in rap format. It would be interesting to hear rap music in Italian.
Time will tell if a song is good or not. A song is good if somebody want to play it for their loved ones on the radio 20 years later. I can’t imagine someone will play a rap for their beloved one 20 years later. Just curious if any A’gon member keep any rap collection?
Besides rap, I also have a feeling that the music industry in general is getting cheesy now. American Idol show gets huge attention while lots of singers perform at the bar or hotel can easily sing better than the idols. The show also asked Barbara Streisand if she watched the show and who was her favorite idol. What do you expect her to answer? People said Justin Timberlake is very talented singer/songwriter. I know him because I saw lots of headshot of him on commercials and magazines, but can you name any popular/well known song from him?
Time will tell if a song is good or not. A song is good if somebody want to play it for their loved ones on the radio 20 years later. I can’t imagine someone will play a rap for their beloved one 20 years later. Just curious if any A’gon member keep any rap collection?
Besides rap, I also have a feeling that the music industry in general is getting cheesy now. American Idol show gets huge attention while lots of singers perform at the bar or hotel can easily sing better than the idols. The show also asked Barbara Streisand if she watched the show and who was her favorite idol. What do you expect her to answer? People said Justin Timberlake is very talented singer/songwriter. I know him because I saw lots of headshot of him on commercials and magazines, but can you name any popular/well known song from him?
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I stopped listening to "main stream" music once I discovered Dave Dixon on WDET (Detroit) many years ago. He turned me on to such a diversity of good music - I am forever grateful. I so enjoyed his eclecticism and sharp wit - I miss him to this day. Don't follow the lemmings! Seek out what you like. Main stream be damned! |
Bongo Forget the Bay Area - I am off for a few months to the land of big bums and Bossa Nova....so if you should ever find yourself down that way just pop me an email. Hey, there is a whole new sound breaking loose from the favela's down there - Baile Funk. It is electronic music and has been around for a while, with its roots in Miami Bass and it takes a bit of getting used to - real raw and gritty sound with great hard core parties with huge walls of speakers and all those skinny gorgeous mulatos getting real nasty to it and a vibe similar to the early rave warehouse party days. You put your life in your hands going in there unless you are well connected. DJ Diplo is into that sound now and has even brought some of the acts to the states. On his first adventure into one of the parties in Rio he was greeted at the door by a bunch of 15 years olds, big blunts hanging out of their mouths, AK 47s slung over their shoulders and strapped up with hand grenades. One kid had a hottie bent over on the dancefloor and was doing lines of the devils dandruff off her ass! Anyway, it is sweeping Brasil like crazy now and it is becoming relatively mainstream. It is at the point where a DJ in a regular cub just needs to drop a funk track and the roof comes off the place. I plan on hitting up a real favela party on this trip. My guess is it is going to be the next big thing here within a few years. |
I was driving yesterday listening to K-DAY LA and they had a little 1989 to 1991 thing going. This is still a great jam - Hip Hop Hooray And this one changed the game - Me Myself and I |
TT: nachos and Two Buck Chuck and the exciting sounds of Seals and Croft, Bread, Al Stewart and the Osmonds. What really could be better? Finish it up with "Aretha Franklin and some fine Columbian" like Steely Dan. Mjmch: thx. I like underground stuff, like the many side projects of Dan the Automator. |
Bongofury I guess they are all off the computer and checking out all the great music we turned them onto. As for me, I am just chilling at home listening to loads of great music from the 70s mixed up with a healthy dose of Mahler and Beethoven. You should swing by - there is wine and cheese......it's absolutely craaaaaaazy! I have been off sticking my clueless nose in on technical gear threads once in a while - not nearly as fun as this one has been. Must dash, my favorite Donny Osmond CD has just come on. |
Accept the bare fact that rap is just another ORIGINAL ART FORM contributed to america by African Americans. The myriad of forms concieved is staggering, close your ears to it out of ignorance, or because you'd rather stay where you're at. Jazz, rock and roll, rap. They all share a common thread. There's a big world out there. Don't pigeonhole a form that you haven't even explored. It makes you sound ignorant. For the record, my music collection contains everthing but mainstream country, pop, and rap. That leaves a LOT of room for those forms of music, I just don't like the production of the top forty crap. The fact that the majority likes the stuff doesn't make them stupid, or me smart. In the end your simple opinion doesn't negate the fact that hip-hop and rap are still here, popular as Elvis, and old squares can't get with it. Don't get me started on that kanye west character!!! |
I hear you. Not to say that taking the music away will take the gangs away. Being a sociology major I know better than that. However, one must remember that music is cultural thus a part of ones environment. They do go hand in hand. Nonetheless, my statements are based on the attitude which one acquires when exposed to certain rap music. Btw...I'm not going to church...that was total sarcasm on my part as that is what many people do after all other attemps at something fail. Though I don't 'practice' religion...I think your views on sending your son to church are a bit paranoid but you parent the way you feel is safe for your children. There are so many threats in society today and some more probable than others. Exposure to negative gangster rap or is that gangsta' rap...is far more probable than your son or mine for that matter being violated by a church member. |
Before you get religious and start praying remember, Choral music is way more likely to lead to shame and irreversible damage - just ask a choirboy. If you are under twelve just watch where you are kneeling when you start praying a whole bunch. That genre and environment is rampant with all the negative terms you just mentioned - lawlessness, lack of decency, shame, irreversible damage - who is their hero? It all has little to do with the material and everything to do with the environment they grow up in. Take the music away and the gangs will go away? This is like saying watching the Soprano's is is going to cause a crime wave. I would feel much safer sending my son to a hip-hop concert than to choir practice - and I mean that. |
When will rap become less mainstream?...not sure but I'm seriously considering getting really religious/faithful and start praying a whole bunch. I honestly feel it is the first genre or style of music that has caused irreversable damage to many young listeners that just happen to grow-up being exposed to and listening to it. I'm a teacher and have watched the effect it has on behavior and I'll tell you first hand...it's not pleasant. I am not racial nor biased...just calling what I have witnessed. I undestand fully that the younger generation have come by this naturally as it's what they are growing up on music wise and I feel it's not only a shame but sad. Sad because the artist are looked upon as heroes or someone to be admired when there is so much negativity associated with most of the material. Negativity that influences lawlessness and what is decency. Glad I grew up in the 70's. |
Time for a classic from Houston(caution: explicit lyrics) and the LA response. |
Hey Bongo - how's it going brother? Got home last night and went through my CD binders by genre and decided to pop in a little hip-hop (I have been on a jazz thing lately). Oh, the word-play - love it. "The cops and the choppers come to box me in but i've got knowledge of self that's stronger than any cage they can lock me in" Taleb Kweli "The Beast" Love it! |
Hey Bongo, Sorry, I forgot to get back to you re. Donovan's b.day bash at Yoshi's. I am guessing you are coming up to SF for that?? I have to fly out to Spain tomorrow or it would have been great to catch you for a beer and a laugh. I will only be away for 4 days but when I get back I will be scurrying around to get things out of the way as I am taking off out of the country for a couple of months in a few weeks time. Looks like a nice venue - never been there and only found out tonight they had even opened another Yoshi's in the city. Anyway, if you make it up have a great time, and keep the break-dancing to a minimum Big Pappa. Phat Tommy |
For Bong & Thomas, only the classics will do - "Yeah, baby ... when it comes to females, Cosmo ain't got nothin' to do with my selection. 36-24-36? Ha ha, only if she's 5'3"." |
Problem is, coming back from somewhere like that you can't help notice the disproportionate amount of women with faces that look like Oakland booty, at least out here in the sticks where I live right now. I think the movie "Deliverance" must have been shot here. My next door neighbor has about two teeth, less hair than me, a wonky eye and a face like a sumo wresters ass....and I think she has taken a liking to me - yikes! Yep, it feels like I have just fallen out of a dream back into a reality nightmare. How much does a one way ticket to Rio go for these days? |
Hey Bongofury and Darkmoebius Forgot to mention all the budget bling I brought you back from Brazil. Anyway, just before I headed to Rio airport I had to go by the jewelers to pick it all up. I had us all killer big pendants made up too - all genuine imitation gold. Mine was ready just before I headed to the airport - the chain links are the size of alligator eggs and the medallion is close to the size of an old 45 record. I was so happy when he handed me mine. I looked down at it and was ecstatic when I saw the words "PHAT TOMMY" sparkling in all its iced-out glory. On yours Darkmoebius, I had him bling it out with "DA MOEBSTA" and for Bongofury - "BIG PAPPA". We are going to look great at the Rocky Mountain Hi Fi Show (or whatever they call it), we won't be able to beat the girls off. Wait a minute - are there even girls at these things? There has to at least be a couple of cleaning ladies....don't you think? When my taxi reached the airport I was wearing so much bling they had to transport me into check-in on one of those airport wheelchairs. I checked my luggage in and the girl said my bags were too heavy and informed me that each of the three bags could only weigh 70lbs. I asked how much I was over and she said each case was 350lbs.... and it might be a problem. I explained that they were full of bling for my charity - The Phat Tommy Phoundation and I was going to give it to all the poor kids in my hood and the rest would go off to Haiti. This brought a tear to her eyes and she put a hand on her stomach and leaned slightly forward in the wounded soldier stance and told me what a wonderful man I was. Personally I think she was star-struck and attracted to me and all my bling. It was pretty obvious she had never been in the company of a middle aged man wearing a pin striped suit and so much bling before. Anyway, she let it slide and I told her I would give American Airlines a plug on my next number one rap record, no sponsorship money necessary. All I could think of as I walked away was how much money I was going to make off all the bling selling it for top dollar to the kids in my hood. I had about an hour to kill before my plane took off for San Fran so I decided to get my limp on and and do a few laps of the concourse to give all the airport girls a chance to check me and my bling out and hopefully hound me for my number, or at least an autograph. Now I'm not saying I am Brad Pitt, and maybe my hairline is receding a bit, ok, more than a bit. In fact if it recedes any more I will have no hair left on my arse. However, I did go to the trouble of having the remaining three inch strip of hair that goes horizontally from ear to ear made into corn rows and chicks dig it. After about 35 laps and no numbers I was finally approached..........by two plain clothes guys. The first one looked me and my medallion up and down, flashed his badge and said "you must be Phat Tommy", to which I replied "oh yea, and you must be Albert f***** Einstein, or did your little sidekick Sherlock Holmes over there figure that one out for you" Needless to say within the hour I was laying on the top bunk sleeping with one eye open in case big Bubba decided try anything funny. Oh well, maybe it is right what they all say about us hip-hoppers ending up in jail for 1-99, but as far as I am concerned it was nothing more than a targeted profiling case simply because I had a couple of rap CDs on me. Needless to say, next time I fly I am wearing my Stetson and Wranglers and the only music I will be carrying will be "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy." That song has such "greatness." Well guys, I guess you can tell I'm bored again tonight, plus I know Dmob always gets a kick out of my idiocy. |
Entrope That's all it takes - a little experimenting and an open mind and you will never look back. With regards to hip-hop, just look beyond the radio and you might be pleasantly surprised at what you will find. Like any music you will have to do a bit of digging before you find some diamonds in the rough. I am going through the same thing with jazz right now. I always had a pre-conceived idea that this was a very pretentious genre and after several months exploring I still find I don't like a lot of it, but the stuff I am liking has made it all worthwhile and about 80% of what I have bought in the last 8 months has been jazz. A little reading on the history of a particular genre is also a great way to perk up your interest and I find it makes the listening more enjoyable too. |
Bongofury Your breadth of musical knowledge never ceases to astound me! Just checked out Zack Brown on Wiki and see they have 3 Grammy awards pending and are the first band to go to number one in the country charts with a debut since Heartland did in 2006. Seems like a good guy alright with his charity work too. Zack's eleven brothers and sisters must be proud. |
You can find magic in almost any music genre. This year, I have been listening to two African acts from the country of Mali which are heavily rooted in rootsy blues guitar. The albums are by a blind couple, Amadou & Mariam, and a wonderful group called Tinariwen. You can see the direct relationship from Africa to the US Bluses tradition. I don't speak their native tongue but the music has real power and emotion. In the end, this should be the attraction of music. America has produced five American music forms that are unique to these shores, Hawaiian, jazz, blue grass/country, gospel/Soul and hip-hop. All were "outsider" music and all have their succinct charms. I love many of the newer alt country artists. These Americana groups include Calexico, Dave Alvin, the Felice Brothers,Hill Country Revue, Jenny Lewis, Lambchop, Lucinda Williams, Maria Taylor, Neko Case, Okkervil River, Shelby Lynne, Steve Earle and Wilco. Really nice recordings from an audiophile perspective. |
I threw country out since the thread had thrashed around hip-hop & rap quite a lot. I am finding respect for excellence in musicianship, writing, arranging, and vocal performance in all genres as I grow older and less willing to move from my chair. My trouble is the traditional view of "music" that I hold prevents me from recognizing those things in most rap and hip-hop music that is thrust upon me at redlights. Take your shots but note I said the problem lies with me. |
