Is Rap a valid musical form?


This has been way more than the progression away from tubes to SS!

Believe the world of Hip Hop has been around and evolving for around 5 decades.

And for most of that time I have dismissed and avoided that world and its “music”.

So angry, offensive and abrasive. Just a bunch of rhythmic yelling.

I believe my former thread was titled “Why Rap?”.  Through that discussion and somewhat of an understanding that this must be a new art form that engages and entertains millions if not billions. That and a long standing belief that if a type of music or a particular artist attracts many, many fans there must be substance and quality there. Even if I personally don’t particularly like it there must be something there.

Rap and the Hip Hop world was always so foreign and culturally untouchable.

Then my Rap thread and several others at that time got me rethinking my perspective and I watched a video of a group of student performance musicians at Juilliard all exclaiming their fascination with a Rap artist named Kendrick Lemar and his “masterpiece” “To Pimp a Butterfly”. I bought the double LP. Trying to listen to it turned out to be difficult because of my old view of Rap and that of the world of Hip Hop. But it was also becoming clear that this was truly something of significant interest. However, I just listened to the two discs only once-with some difficulty.

Today, after several weeks, I hesitatingly pulled the album out again. And to my surprise and actually delight hearing it with fresh ears it grabbed me and would not let go. I immediately heard the brilliance of a multi faceted, and to me, all new experience in sound. Not unlike great 20th century or progressive Jazz it evolved from section to section with a plethora of fascinating, yes musical, experiences. Tonal, atonal, percussive, rhythmic, breathing combined with incredible, energetic tongue twisting strings of mostly unintelligible words. And not merely angry yelling.

Sure, a ton of F bombs but words that don’t flow over you like lovely other genres but invade the psyche and don’t let go. Not particularly pleasant but gripping and interesting in its complexity. Words delivered with such power and drive which acted as a rhythmic counterpoint. It was impossible to turn away or turn off. 
And speaking of turned off, the experience was the opposite of that. Stories of life undeniable human. Yes, driven by bitterness, anger and raw emotion. Impossible to  dismiss it as not deeply felt.

I do think “To Pimp a Butterfly” is unique. But I also believe that there must be much more in this Hip Hop world that has deep musical interest. Some time ago I heard Drake on SNL perform a song that was amazing though not really Rap. Rather an advanced and unconventional musical form. I hear similar musical threads throughout “Pimp”. I did get a CD of Drake. “Scorpion”. I also could not absorb it in my first listen. I look forward to the next, fresh listen. I did try to hear several YouTubes of some very successful Rap artists. They mostly lacked the interesting musical themes threaded through. “Pure Rap” with just the rhythmic words-not my cup of tea. But a musically valid form none the less.

 

 

mglik

@mglik *G* "I come in peace, I mean no one no harm." ;)

It's been rumored there are those amongst us that follow my...'train of thoughts', however derailed it may interpreted by others.

But the suggestion
of an impression
Of the motive
to insert in
an emotive
Tweaks m'brain
beyond the membrane...

*EDM insert*

Sorry...been in some state like this for 70.5 yrs.  A habit that's a bit hard to 'recover' from....

I'll just go sit in the corner with my back to it, and just observe for awhile... ;)

*good natured tease* (nothing more, nothing less...*S*)

@mglik 

But hey, I too am happy that this thread has not devolved into some quasi political diatribe. This is what happened to my several past attempts to start a thread about my desire to understand and enjoy Rap.

It took me a long time to abide it.
If I may make a few suggestions.

  1. There is a wide swath of what maybe considered rap.

 

Here are some things I enjoy:

  • “The Streets” album “A Grand Don’t Come for Free”. The album is laid out like an opera where each song are the parts of a whole story. And in that sense it is very good. The last song is brilliant with a rewind to offer two ways to end the story.
  • “Immortal Technic” “Mistakes” is a song worth a listen to (IMO).
  • I think group “House of Pain” may be considered rap. And I suspect that a bunch of Irishmen out of Boston also somewhat brought rap towards a larger following

A more recent finding was this: Whether it is spoken word, or rap… well… I am not too sure.
 

 

@mglik Stoked that you gave Kendrick the chance he deserves. Curious to know if you have listened to any of his other albums and if so, what you think of them. Definitely check out the album by Anderson .Paak, titled, ‘Ventura.’’ Lots of live instruments used in his recordings, he grew up playing drums and playing at church a lot, hence a bit more R&B flavor to his mix of rapped and sung vocals. He’s even won a couple Grammy awards over the years. 

@audiocaseevan 

I just listened to a couple of Kendrick’s videos and want to buy that album that was on the Billboard charts for 400 weeks. Think that was something like M.aad.

The little that I just heard was less complex than “Pimp” but still had a musical thread that evolved and resolved. And his rap is very musical in its rhythmic beat.

Certainly not monotonous.

I too thought of the music of John Cage. Very avant-garde. I think he has a piece that is 4 minutes of silence. And there is much 20th century Classical that stretches the boundaries of what is music.

I really liked the Bliss N Eso. Rap very integrated into a familiar musical structure with acoustic instruments. I would like to hear more of them.

I did listen to all suggested videos and artists. The Elvis Costello was a lot of fun.

In my personal stretching of my musical experiences I have gotten heavily into David Bowie. Had always seen him at arms length as an almost bizarre character.

But now listening to his YouTubes I am drawn to his deeply charismatic vibe and highly sophisticated, progressive work. 

@holmz - I was just listening to The Streets a couple of nights ago - his first album, 'Original Pirate Material' is also excellent.... I got to see him perform here in San Francisco about 10 years ago or so...