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Rapping is Illegal in Utah
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The answer to all of these posts is Street Sweeper Social Club.
I suppose it's all in what you value and what you abhor. For instance, I find the waffle house to be a quaint little backwards step in human evolution, but we coastal elitists are usually prone to such presumptions.
Oh, and for the record, I've been listening to EPMD's Strictly Business album all week.
that's cuz black people are illegal there as well.
joking aside, i've been to utah.. great place.
I'd listen to rap all day before I listen to any punk or death metal. Even Soldja Boy, and God knows I cant stand him.
- Feb 27, 2005
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That's only because it's obvious you don't appreciate the use of chili as a condiment.
the rap industry (record companies) supressed the MC Hammers and Kool Moe Dee's and the like and eagerly promoted "gangster" rap...think about it, the only current "clean" rapper that's heard regularly is Will Smith (there may be more but I'm unaware of them)
People that support any genre of music being banned are ignorant about that genre of music, that's all. There's copious amounts of intelligent, well-composed rap/hip-hop, just as there's intelligent, well-composed blues, country, rock, metal, punk, etc.
All you are doing by saying you want to ban X genre is openly stating that you are ignorant of it beyond what you see in the news and hear on the radio, and that you are unwilling to explore the possibility that you may, in fact, be wrong in your assumptions.
So either open up your minds and be willing to accept that despite the fact that it may not be to your taste, there's still good hip-hop (as with any genre, there's mountains of garbage for the few gems that exist)... Or, go away and be ignorant dolts elsewhere. Such closed-mindedness is something to be ashamed of.
And for those of you willing to take a chance and look into hip-hop for the true artists and innovators, simply ask and we will be more than happy to help you explore what you so casually write off as 'crap'.
/rant
All you are doing by saying you want to ban X genre is openly stating that you are ignorant of it beyond what you see in the news and hear on the radio, and that you are unwilling to explore the possibility that you may, in fact, be wrong in your assumptions.
So either open up your minds and be willing to accept that despite the fact that it may not be to your taste, there's still good hip-hop (as with any genre, there's mountains of garbage for the few gems that exist)... Or, go away and be ignorant dolts elsewhere. Such closed-mindedness is something to be ashamed of.
And for those of you willing to take a chance and look into hip-hop for the true artists and innovators, simply ask and we will be more than happy to help you explore what you so casually write off as 'crap'.
/rant
I don't know about all that. MC Hammer was pretty popular in the day as was Kool Moe Dee. They for the most part predated "gangster" rap. When it started it was more about telling a story about life during the crack epidemic is South Central. Then of course everyone jumped on that bandwagon and made it all really suck.
Really when it comes down to it, the music industry (which is why it's dying) has gone down the drain and only really supports "safe" music without any real content. This is pretty much true for most genres. I've pretty much given up on listening to Clearchannel (which represents a majority of the radio markets throughout the US).
As a fellow coastal elitist, I've got to disagree...
Waffle Houses are fantastic. They serve waffles, all the time! What's not to love? Unless you're slyly trying to pass off the sentiment of a wonderful Bill Hicks bit as your own...
Yeah...Ray, same here in north Orange County, Ca. All hispanic crews.. pretty laid-back too. Totally normal situation here. But most of them are kids that grew up here, with VERY California accents and "teenisms". . .
In Georgia (yes, we are a costal state), the Waffle House is a revered staple. Speak for your Arnold-loving self
That's why I find myself primarily listening to the college radio stations lately (WREK GaTech and WRAS GSU). I was surprised to find that I like some current music -- corporate radio/TV had lead me to believe that it had all gone to teh suck. I'm looking at you Black Eyed Peas.
I'm gonna go ahead and throw it out there that there are artists of pretty well every genre of music that glamourize drugs, and violence. Obviously you see gang culture supported more within rap, but I can think of examples of songs by country, funk, punk, metal, and pop artists that make light of drugs and violence.
That's just silly. Like people already said; if you watch mtv or listen to mainstream radio and take it as the absolute truth on what every genre is about, it would be really hard not to hate rap. Or pop. Or metal. Or punk. And so on.
What comes to talking with rhyming words.. It's not easy to do well. It's easy to do badly. Just like playing bass badly is very easy. In fact, anything done well requires a lot of skill. It doesn't matter whether we're talking about playing bass, cooking, driving a car or painting. Doing all these things really well requires skill, practice and talent. Being one of the best rappers on this planet requires just as much practice and talent as being one of the best bass players. I can play bass. I can also write lyrics. I can even try to sing. But I couldn't rap to save my life. If it was so easy, I would've already made a couple of millions doing it.
And I used to hate rap as a teenager. I thought it was just basically bunch of half-wit teenagers braggin about the rims on their cars. And I got to say, I'm really glad I discovered this marvelous art form that has so much to say. Better later than never.
You seem to be opining, not presuming.
I'll have to take your word for it on the WH; I've never visited that particular establishment.
Uh...sorry guys...my two cents are as follows:
1. Ticketing people for being stupid, I agree with. But, I say ticket the adults. Teenagers generally do stupid things and don't know any better. Had I been the cop on the beat that night, I would have just sent them home.
2. RAP is NOT music. The basic elements of music are melody, harmony, and rhythm. If all three components are not present, I don't call it music. You may have a bass/synth and drum beat in the background, but it still isn't music. If there are keyboards or effects in the background of the RAP-it still doesn't qualify. Give me the key you're playing the rap in. Uh huh. Yeah. Find a rapper you're going to gig with and say,"Hey, what key you do that in?"
Still don't believe me? Try finding the sheet music for any rap song. There is no harmony or melody in the RAP itself. I have been saying this for years, and I think this argument has merit. Ban it? It's never going to happen. It would be cool if most of the rappers didn't have to use profanity in any of their lyrics. But, that's hoping for a LOT of change.
As far as these teenagers are concerned, I hope that this event is their first and last "offense". Would hate to see them become "criminals".
1. Ticketing people for being stupid, I agree with. But, I say ticket the adults. Teenagers generally do stupid things and don't know any better. Had I been the cop on the beat that night, I would have just sent them home.
2. RAP is NOT music. The basic elements of music are melody, harmony, and rhythm. If all three components are not present, I don't call it music. You may have a bass/synth and drum beat in the background, but it still isn't music. If there are keyboards or effects in the background of the RAP-it still doesn't qualify. Give me the key you're playing the rap in. Uh huh. Yeah. Find a rapper you're going to gig with and say,"Hey, what key you do that in?"
Still don't believe me? Try finding the sheet music for any rap song. There is no harmony or melody in the RAP itself. I have been saying this for years, and I think this argument has merit. Ban it? It's never going to happen. It would be cool if most of the rappers didn't have to use profanity in any of their lyrics. But, that's hoping for a LOT of change.
As far as these teenagers are concerned, I hope that this event is their first and last "offense". Would hate to see them become "criminals".
What an incredibly narrow view of music. This is not a question of "believing you" it's a question of agreeing or disagreeing. There's no facts to believe or not believe..just a whole lot of narrow opinion. By sticking to your rigid view of music you're eliminating lots of musics besides rap, many in the experimental genres but not all. You're eliminating certain songs from some artists but not other songs from the same artists. It's just an incredibly simplistic view of music that is hard to believe coming from other musicians. Well, actually not that hard to believe when I think back to all the arrogant things I've heard some professional musicians say over the years (Wynton Marsalis comes to mind). Not only is your view narrow, it's also incredibly elitist. Because there is no sheet music then it's not music? Because a rapper can't tell you what key he is in then he must be ignorant and not a musician right? There have been many great musicians who have gone through life with the inability to read music or create sheet music for their songs. Rap is an urban form of music that comes out of a specific tradition where life knowledge was valued over book and classroom knowledge. It's much like field hollers, the blues and many other forms of music that have come out of the African American tradition and have gone on to heavily influence most popular music. Please do not attempt to classify entire genres of music as "not music" in one big swipe of your brush simply because of some piddly personal bias.
bc
Bryan R. Tyler
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Your argument fails on a multitude of levels though. There is countless amounts of music that rely on just one form of music. African drum music- just rhythm. Solo acoustic guitar- just melody. Didgeridoo music. Indigenous Chinese music. Missing the elements you "require." Heck, just solo singing is usually just melody. Monk chants can be strictly harmony. Music has existed for thousands of years just fine without following your rules. Where do you get the idea that music has to follow the rules you're making for it now? And while I do know of rappers that can tell you the key they're in, knowing the key you're in has nothing to do with making music. Nor does having sheet music. Show me the rhythm sheet to show me the rhythm and chord sheet to show me the harmony of the tune I was singing to myself in the shower this morning. You're not going to find them nor be able to make them. That has no bearing on the fact that music was still being made.
Also, I've gotta say you've either heard extremely little rap or simply haven't been listening very well if you think most of it has no melodies or harmony.
