I think that anything you listen to deserves high fidelity reproduction, whether you consider it music or not. You'll enjoy it more with a good system. That's my opinion.
That said, if the content has no melody, then it's not music. Melody is the substance of music; no melody, no music. Simple as that. If you want to get technical, harmony and rhythm are outgrowths of the melody, which is the core. You can have only chords and a repetitious drum beat, but that's like having an empty box with nice wrapping paper.
Of course, you could call anything you want music. That's in the realm of opinion. I can call my cat a dog, but that doesn't make my feline a canine. I hope we can agree that you wouldn't call a building with no foundation, no roof, crooked walls and a few doors and windows a good house. It may be where you live, and you have every right to love it as your home, but that doesn't make it a sound structure. Strumming chords is not a song; repeating a rhythm on drums is not music. That's not racist, rigid, opinionated or narrow-minded. It's just fact. And it still allows you to enjoy someone speaking rhythmically over an ostinato rhythm in high fidelity. |
It's a form of white privilege to assert that in a racially biased society, the USA, that something is not about race. You are using your whiteness to deny non-whites the legitimacy of their experiences. The issue of race has been one of the defining issues in US history since the early 16th century. To deny this is to be the equivalent of a Holocaust denier. Whether it was minstrel shows, blues, jazz or R&B it was generically referred to as "race music" which was only taken seriously after it was appropriated and crossed-over by white performers. So when someone claims that rap/hip-hop is not even music, whether they intended it or not, they are continuing a century old tradition of marginalizing black performers which can legitimately be seen as a form of racial bias. Sometimes the phrase "it's not about race" is the real inflammatory statement.
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Why don't you give it a try rather than writing multiple stupid posts about the subject? Ill even lend you a CD…or better yet a record. |
jond, if someone suggests rap is not music (but rather some other performance art form) it's not necessarily a knock. And even if someone finds it annoying or offensive it has nothing to do with their stance on race. You're reading things into this that are not necessarily there. In a real debate or a court of law what you're saying would fall flat. If you simply want to inflame others who aren't paying attention to the facts then you are on the right track.
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@lowrider57 yup financially the surburban fan is the key. They spend more on concert tickets fashion and media as a whole. A lot of the rap entrepreneurs have figured that out and maximize this opportunity. Rap is in arenas now more than ever. It's more lucrative than ever because of the grandkids of the baby boomers who children moved out to suburbia to start their families. 12 to 25 year old Caucasian fan bases are the financial key to the recent success financially of the rap genre. Look on YouTube and see who is sitting at the front row of the concerts. It's not the 13%of African American population. About 5% of African Americans can't stand rap so it's not the 8% that's left that drives rap. It's primarily Caucasian suburbia as well as rural America. |
taters,
yes, African Americans listen to this type of music. But I think you'd be surprised at the number of young white males and females who listen to Rap and Hip Hop. And the white suburban kids most certainly have more money to spend on it.
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Mr. Taters is on a roll with his seemingly innocuous, but essentially rhetorical questions. Is Mr. Taters obsessive, perhaps? Might he actually be a closet Rapper? Kinda like those preachers and politicians who fling fire and brimstone at whatever they purport to find abominable. And then they are found out.
But if so or not, to what end? Or does Mr. Taters have some peculiar agenda?
My questions are not meant to be rhetorical although some may find them to be so. |
Jond,
You claim African Americans mostly listen to this type of music. But Calvinj who has also started a couple of these rap threads says it's mostly suburban white kids that listen to this kind of music.
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Who really cares they can buy Magico Q7Mk2 its ok with me. |
OK Jond I see your point. |
Let's see its his second thread devoted to why rap is either not music or not worth listening too in just a few days plus he brought up the exact same subject in a totally unrelated thread. Now I didn't call it veiled racism, I said "its beginning to smack of veiled racism" and quite frankly given the relentless trashing of music that is largely produced by and listened to African Americans, it does make you wonder. Or at least it does me sorry if that offends anyone or if my reply was to strongly worded. I wish there could be more tolerance in the world of music and of people.
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How is tater's question veiled racism? It's a valid question he's asking about whether accuracy is important to music that generally uses computer generated, often bloated sonics, low quality samples, high compression and is optimized for a club environment. I know Rick Rubin has an audiophile system and cares about sound quality, and I'm sure Russell Simmons and jz have elaborate systems as well. |
I'll say one thing for you Taters, you know how to rankle the mob. Agent provocateur!
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Lots of bass is definitely an attribute. Audiophiles like bass as well right, as long as there is some quality to go with quantity? Rap/Hip hop recordings are fertile grounds for that and sometimes other unique audio treats as well resulting from sampling and mixing other recordings into the new one. It can be rewarding sonically but still hit or miss like most things. Depends what floats your boat.
You need a good system though that can go loud without distorting, clipping, compressing, etc. to get best results. Sound familiar? Producing lots of quality bass is hard work. Underpowered, undersized systems will be challenged. I suspect if they can do the job well with a variety of rap/hip hop, there is a good chance that it will not break a sweat with most of the rest ever. That's almost always a good thing.
I feel my system is much better overall for using rap/hip hop music to help evaluate it as well as all the more traditional stuff that people have used for this purpose over the years.
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I think it's a different concept of high-end with a definite boost of the extreme frequencies. Look at the Beats headphones which were popular but which no traditional audiophile would want any part of. But mine is an outsider's view, so take it with a grain of salt.
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True that some rap is produced very well and is a unique listen on a good hifi. Try it you might like it. "The Eminem Show" by Eminem is a good place to start.
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Taters,check out Everlast. I really dig his music. The recordings are... in and of themselves... superb. When I first heard his stuff,I was hooked. |
You could try to say the same thing about Punk Rock.
There will always be some segment of the population that will wake up in the morning and scream "F#%K YOU!!!" to the rest of the world. They tend to write, play and produce their music accordingly..and anyone can listen to it however they wish. It’s a free country. I like it that way.
Cheers! |
We listen to the type of music we like, whatever the genre. There are some members that listen to Death Metal, Rap is produced a hell of a lot better than that.
I’d say the only reason not to listen to Rap on a high-end system is due to the extremely compressed digital. On the DR scale, Rap/Hip Hop is the most compressed music I’ve seen. (Some have an average of 4 or 5).
I can’t enjoy listening to any type of music when it’s severely compressed.
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Oh, I'm sorry the high end country clubs don't let rap lovers in? Or do they if you can do the whip and the nae nae. Lol.
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Because we listen to jazz, blues, pop, r&b and sometimes it mixes all together. There are some people who don't always fit into the rap/thug checkbox. I respect rock, jazz, blues, Latin Jazz etc. etc. Lightnin Hopkins" Blues Hoot" Duke Pearson "The Right Touch" two albums that would blow most others away. Actually my two favorite albums. Blues and Jazz. The line up for musicians on the Right Touch is a whose who of great musicians. Ask a lot of rock bands and the respect for Lightnin Hopkins is legendary. Some of the hip hop guys listen to other things. It's called musical versatility. You should try it one day. Some of us know more about genres that what's been played on the radio the last 3 years. If I comment on it I have listened to it extensively on my high end system.
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Taters at this point isn't that just about enough on the subject? It's beginning to smack of veiled racism at this point. Music is music and people listen to whatever the hell they want. Let it go.
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Come listen to rap and hip hop on my system and hear for yourself. |
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