15 Great Rap Songs
by James Hudnall
Since there was some controversy here over the merits of hip-hop (aka rap), I thought I would throw in my two cents.
It’s not my favorite music. I’m more into jazz and classic soul (and lots of other music, as well), but it definitely has value. There are plenty of great rap tunes. So here’s a list of a few off the top of my head. Many of these are old. I’ll admit I prefer the old-school stuff. The older music was more fun or told a story or had a sense of humor. The newer stuff does that on occasion, but most of the time it’s lazy and tired. But then hip hop is getting rather long in the tooth. Musical styles tend to get tired after awhile. I suspect a new generation will find their own musical style since rap is almost their parent’s music now.
But I don’t think rap is all bad. In fact, you’d be amazed at how conservative some of it is. A lot of hip hop, believe it or not, is full of life lessons and morality. It’s not all about killing cops and prostitutes. Let’s look at some of rap’s highlights.
1. Beastie Boys – Intergalactic: Making an electronic hip hop jam that also parodies Japanese monster movies (in the video), this is a classic that I regularly like to bust out now and then. Just pure fun.
2. LL Cool J – Mama Said Knock You Out: Ladies Love Cool James did a lot of fun party songs before coming out with this song, which was meant to compete with all the gangsta rap that was taking over the charts. He showed he could do angry as well as the others. But LL Cool James is a very level-headed guy who’s very family oriented. This is a great workout song. I also like how he weaves some video game references in it.
3. Young MC — Bust A Move: Really fun song which tells nerds how to pick up girls.
4. Tone Loc – Wild Thing This was a huge hit in its day, an infectious party jam that has a nice sense of play to it. His other hit, “Funky Cold Medina” was also amusing.
5. Eric B and Rakim – Paid in Full: A song about how working for your money is a more righteous path than being a crook. It also mixes different styles and is the first song i know of to use the term “dead presidents.”
6. Tribe Called Quest — Scenario: Guest starring a very young Busta Rhymes, this is a fun one where a bunch of rappers free style off each other. The CD it comes from is full of good jams. These guys were great.
7. Grandmaster Flash – White Lines: A classic anti-drug song from one of the earliest hip hop stars. His other song “The Message” is another classic. The song is a little corny, but it’s oddly fun and amusing despite it’s theme.
8 . Public Enemy – Fight the Power: These guys were black militants. The song is very activist. But despite the part where they diss Elvis and John Wayne, I think it’s a great tune. Very catchy and I happen to agree with the basic premise. Don’t let the man hold you down. They did another one called “Burn, Hollywood, Burn” about the depiction of blacks in cinema.
9. Cypress Hill — Rock Superstar: This is a lot more current than the others, though it’s a few years old. It talks about how fame is a very short treadmill and it can be over fast. So don’t let it go to your head. A very smart tune.
10. Eminem – Lose Yourself: I know Eminem gets a lot of flack from conservatives for his dark humorous lyrics, but he’s one of the best rappers and an extremely clever lyricist. This song from his movie “8 Mile” shows just how clever his lyrics can be. It talks about how hard his character’s life is.
11. Will Smith – Summertime: Smith is a huge movie star, but he started out as a major crossover talent in music. He helped make rap acceptable to whites. He has written a lot of fun songs. This one is an early tune that captures the feelings of summer. A very nice one to relax to.
12. Queen Latifah – U.N.I.T.Y.: The Queen has since gone on to acting and singing, but this one delivers a beatdown to all the male rappers who use the “bitch” and “ho” slang in their songs. She tells them to knock it off.
13. US3 — Cantaloop: I love this one because it uses the excellent 60’s jazz number “Cantaloupe Island” by Puncho and his Latin Soul Brothers as its background. It’s a nice, easy tune to groove to.
14. Digital Underground — Humpty Dance: These guys (which included the late Tupac Shakur) only had a couple hits, this being the big one. But I find it pretty hilarious. The lead singer sang wearing Groucho Glasses.
15. Linkin Park — In the End: This is one of my favorite tunes by Linkin Park, from their debut album. They more or less dropped the rap part of the their songs on their latest CD, but this one is kind of an updated version of “Time” by Pink Floyd.
There are plenty more I could think of, but we could be here all day. What are some of your faves?
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169 Comments
Argh! I meant to add this one too. Kung Fu Fighting by Bus Stop. <a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri3kU7nZN-g” target=”_blank”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri3kU7nZN-g
This is a rap song that actually expands an existing classic and brings in the original singer, Carl Douglas. Kind of the way Aerosmith's career was revived when Walk this Way was covered by Run DMC <a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8A0rhVG91U” target=”_blank”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8A0rhVG91U
Anyway, I really like how both songs expand on the original material and do honor to the original artists, unlike so many rap songs that just
swipesample the music.I'll second "Bust A Move". I saw a Young MC show in Portland, OR years ago. Good stuff.
How about "Rapture" by Blondie or Rapper's Delight by Sugar Hill Gang.
Tribe Called Quest was/is? a great rap group. They also hooked up with the Beastie Boys. "The Low End Theory" is one of the best rap albums of all time.
I'm partial to Krush Groove style rap. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sijukKn4p8 Sheila E. , Run DMC, Fat Boys, JJ Fad, and yes even the Beastie Boys.
So here is the score: 10% of us that frequent Big Hollywood love rap. 10% of us that frequent Big Hollywood hate rap. The other 80% don't care one way or the other.
Put me in the 80%.
Sorry to be old school, but there's only one – ONE – rap song worth a damn: "Rock Island" by Meredith Wilson.
Digital Underground also had "No Nose Job." It was the reason he was wearing Groucho glasses and fake nose. He's broken his nose and didn't want to have it fixed.
50 Cent had a great message song about a guy who's life was heading in a bad direction. He was busted, served his time and went home to his wife and child. The last scene in the video (a reprise of the opening) shows the man holding his child while looking out the window. The police arrive and arrest someone accross the street.
James, you are correct in that the old school rap was fun to listen to. Even the music was original with sampling limited to sound events or short riffs. Like most second and third generation styles of music, those that come later take shortcuts that drains the essense of the original. What was once fun, happy and positive has turned dark, angry and full of negativity. That's my three-and-a-half cents.
Oh no! not this sh!t again!
Ahahaha Linkin Park
This is hilarious, more please
My favorite Will Smith rap song is his remake of "Just The Two of Us" (link below). Eminem's "Lose Yourself" is the only song of his I've ever listened to, but I do enjoy listening to it now and then.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjheiI0BFqg&fe...
There's plenty of crap-rap–just as there is plenty of crappy country, crappy rock and crappy <fill in the blank with pretty much any other kind of music>. Pretty much the only rap I cared to listen to growing up was Will Smith's, with a smattering of other clean rap artists besides. While I'm Catholic, I can barely stomach the overtly "Christian" rap, though. There, I said it.
James, you're right about Eminem. He has some dark and sick stuff, but he's also very clever and has had some really fascinating songs.
The song "Stan", for example, is really interesting because he uses true irony (unlike Alanis Morrissette) and tragedy to point out how wrong it is to obsess about a rap star. (Apparently, Dido's song "Thank You" sold like crazy after he made "Stan".)
He's also really good with twisting words. My favorite in that regard if "Without Me" where he says, "Sometimes it seems everybody only wants to discuss me, so this must mean I'm discussting."
Hilarious news – old white man! Ancient as these tracks are –none of these 'rap' artists want anything to do with getting street cred from the GOP !!!
As usual with Republicans — who always live in decades gone-by…then claim established, approved and safe 'art' as OK for their tribe, after it has gone beyond being mainstream — almost all of these songs are 15-30 years old !
Linkin Park is from over ten years ago ~ and it is the 'newest'.
It is wildly apparent you guys all sit around a table and attempt Spin Control — even on your own stories!!! —
thinking you're going to re-connect with a hybrid Rap-publican who does not exist, after that idiot kid Ben Whoever wrote his 'Rap is Crap' article here.
Word up – you failed!!! And Cantaloop? ha, what a stretch!
Arsenio Hall reruns are on Youtube – sooo get down!!! Funnier still, when these songs WERE new…
the GOP was getting down to Billy Joel — while inner cities across the US were pummeled with crack cocaine!
YOU are the CELEBTARD of the month, bro' Hudnall!
I've always been partial to Naughty by Nature's Ghetto Bastard, though its a very depressing song. I also liked some of the early gangsta rap. Back in the day it seemed like less of a celebration of the gang lifestyle. You got the feeling they were speaking from the heart telling you about the bad things they had experienced. You might not like it but its the truth. I didn't get the sense it was a lifestyle to emulate. Now, it seems like a 'hey kids, I'm a gang banger and its SUPER AWESOME! Try this at home!' kind of thing.
I wouldn't call Linkin Park rap per se though they have elements of it from time to time.
House of Pain- – "Jump Around". . . next to 3rd Bass, one of the best early/mid 90's white rap acts. (Sorry, still gotta hold it down for my baby daddy Pete Nice)
Common – -"Come Close"… one of the best 'black love' songs in the last 10 years. And the video is very nice.
TLC "Waterfalls"..it's universality and tragic backstory make it a song that can potentially change lives.
Salt-N-Pepa "Wattaman". . .a song that praises good men…
Queen Pen "Girlfriend". . .underrated, and the reaction to it highlighted the homophobia that lurks underneath. And who doesn't like a game changer?
*MissQuinn*
Thanks for the hate bomb there mr. leftoid. Did it feel good to get all that viscous hate of the eville rethuglikkans off your chest? Good good.
"thinking you're going to re-connect with a hybrid Rap-publican who does not exist…"
__________________________________________________________________
They do exist!! Need proof? http://www.hiphoprepublican.blogspot.com/
Also, I don't think anyone is spinning anything (unless you include phat jamz….whaaaat?), it's called a DISCUSSION. Besides, it's shame that you think that none of these rappers would not want to be affiliated with a group that cares more about the content of one's character than the color of one's skin or the beat he brings.
My Contribution:
Gangsta's Paradise- Coolio
Mo Money, Mo Problems-Puff Daddy, B.I.G. and Ma$e* (or what I like to call, Great Expectations, revisited)
**another useless bit of information–Ma$e dropped out of the rap game to be a preacher–but a real preacher, not like MC Hammer.
Rap isn't even music, it's bad ryhming done with attitude and the attitude is the most important part of it.
If rap is music that would make square dance callers freak'n musical geniuses only without the bullets and the use of the word beyotch.
Ease up on the hate. Apparently we can't have our own opinions here. You do know that Ben "whoever" was challenged on this very website twice. As for the rest of your nonsense I'm not going to bother.
So if some one listens to old music they don't have any cred?
Since much of rap and hip-hop contains samples of old songs, i think your point falls a little flat.
You need to give all us square old guys a little slack. I mean this whole talking to minorities things is just so hard. And their music, man, it just takes so much out of us. before you know it they might just start running for congress. or going to the same schools as us!!!!
That said i could list all kings of music by all kinds of artists from all kinds of eras and genres that i might place in a favorites list. Most of it is old. As it turns out there is a lot more old music than new music to pick from. If 10 years as you put it is the definition of old, then there isn't all that much new stuff out there.
I think Apache (Jump on it), anything by sugar hill gang, and the wikki-wikki song are tops on my list. And I still like Bug Butts just like Sir Mix a lot.
OH, wait those songs are like 30+ years old OH NOOOOOO!!!!. (Spinning fade out)
Shaggy's got a great song called "Hope" too.
Sorry guys, don't like it. None of it. Yeh, I'm old and I like Motown.
Actually the more I think about it the more I think the new troll Obamabot Central Command has sent us has somehow managed to stumble on a good point. ((Btw, does anyone know what happened to Tehstupid? Is our little man back in Remedial Troll Training? Is he trolling another board? Hopefully our little trooper is doing okay!)) And that point is the relative suckage of new rap as compared to old school rap.
This is something that has bugged me for quite awhile. Back in the day when rap was relatively new, it seems like it was much more open to experimentation than it is now. You had rap hybrids like rap-jazz, rap-metal, etc etc. Each rap artist had their own sound and mix and flavor and all that. Then the great Gangsta Rap purging happened, and now it all sounds … well… kind of the same. There's a little variation but does anyone think that PM Dawn, DeLaSoul or some of the weird old rap groups could ever get a record deal now? (Not that that's a bad thing where PM Dawn is concerned) Also, even within Gansta Rap, a lot of it just seems so stupid and cartoonish these days. They somehow just don't have the same vibe or feel as the old school guys.
When I think of good or innovative rap, I keep thinking back to older groups. It just seemed so much more inventive and experimental and open to new voices then. Am I alone in this? I don't think this is just old fogey-ism. I like plenty of contemporary music. Just not most rap these days.
"I'm the King of Rock
There is none higher
Sucker MCs
Should call me Sire
To rule my kingdom
You must use fire
I won't stop rockin'
Til I retire"
Gotta get some Run DMC on that list.
And another thing…the best rap song ever: the Incredible Biz Markie's "Just a Friend."
Good Lord, sir. Think of the brain cells.
Re: Shaggy:
I just hope Merrilee Rush and the Turnabouts were compensated.
word
Back at ya. "You got what I need."
Not that it even qualifies as "good", but there's the train wreck of a song by Biz Markie called Just A Friend. It's like a bad car accident, you don't want to look as you drive by but you just can't help it. Or maybe a dog so ugly, it's cute. Anyway, I had forgotten about it 'til this conversation. For the adventurous it's on YouTube. It's awful, but it'll be stuck in your head for days.
Except for "Hey Ladies", anything off of The Beastie Boys' "Paul's Boutique"
"Passing Me By" by Pharcyde
"Hits from the Bong", "Insane in tha Membrane", "Ain't Goin Out Like That" by Cypress Hill
"Bring The Noise" by Public Enemy (though just about everything they did is the bomb). If you want to get political, I think "Burn Hollywood Burn" would be the perfect theme song for this sight. "Polly Wants a Cracker" cracks me up, too.
"I'm the Man" by Anthrax
"Peter Piper" by Run DMC
"The Whole World" by Outkast
"Express Yourself" by NWA. "I Ain't The 1" is pretty funny in a chauvenistic kinda way. ("You're thinkin' Lobster/I'm thinkin' Burger King")
Just about anything off Dr. Dre's "The Chronic" (though all they did was just rip off P-Funk beats)
There's more, but these fly off the top of my head.
I had that song stuck in my head for weeks when it first came out. A train wreck is a great way to describe it.
From the same era, I was always partial to "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mixalot.
Some of us aren't men. Btw, there is a whole world of music out there. You should try it. I like lotsof stuff, but if you think the only stuff that has relevance is stuff released tomorrow … well you must still be in high school.
I thought one of "Big Hollywood's" core tenants was to discuss Hollywood AND the entertainment industry from a conservative point of view?
I've only given the whole "rap is crap" thing a passing glance since it doesn't interest me, but the discussion strikes at the reason this blog/news site was formed. Hence, it "belongs" here in my opinion.
Or the song's writer Chip Taylor.
Yeah, I've always wondered how rappers get away (or got away) with so called "sampling". I'm sure Juice Newton had to pay to redo that song in the 1980s.
Wasn't it the Chiffons that successfully sued George Harrison over My Sweet Lord sounding like He's So Fine?
One of our local TV sports cast departments glommed onto Woomp There It Is each basketball season changing it to "Hoops" There It Is.
I'm a white 22 year-old college graduate from Chicago's South Side, and am a fairly hardcore conservative, yet I listen to everything from Rap to metal to classical. I think that saying a type of music is crap without even listening to it is bullsh*t. I agree that sometimes the lyrics for rap can convey a negative message and stereotype, yet we by no means should single out the genre. All that said, this is a short list of songs that I can have on repeat on my ipod that shouldn't 'offend' anyone with the lyrics:
Lupe Fiasco- Superstar
Kanye West- Homecoming, Good Life, Through the wire
T.I.- Live your life (as much as T.I. can be called an idiot for his skirmishes with the law, this song actually has a pretty positive message)
The Game feat. 50 Cent- Hate it or love it
Ludacris- Southern Fried Intro (simply to everyone that thinks that rapping doesn't take talent, I defy most people to think they could do this in Karaoke)
Matisyahu- King without a crown (He's an Orthodox Jewish rapper)
Those are just a few, I can make a much, much longer list. It's a shame that lyrics can have an effect of some people, but to me they're just words. I'm not about to go sling rock cause 'Rich Boy' talks about it in his song "Throw Some D's," nor would I say go on a diatribe declaring "F*ck this world" like the metal group Slipknot does in their song "Surfacing." Music is just an expression of what one would perceive as art. If we treat it as more than such, then we empower these celebrities to push things such as political agendas…and let's be honest here, celebrities like Will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas (huge Obama supporter if you've been living under a rock), have absolutely no legitimate credibility to shill political ideology in my mind.
That's right.
There were a couple of others I can think of: Huey Lewis v. Ray Parker, Jr. (I think) for "I Want a New Drug"/"Ghostbusters," and Bowie/Queen v. Vanilla Ice for "Under Pressure"/"Ice, Ice, Baby."
Tom Waits (one of my very favorites) successfully sued GM for using a voice sound-alike in a TV ad. It wasn't one of his songs, but the court ruled that the ad purposely mimicked his unique vocal patterns.
Public Enemy was the first concert I saw, which might seem odd for a suburban white kid from VT. Then again it might not. Anyway, Chuck D gave a talk at UVM the night before the show, which I attended. I was impress by him. I never understood his associations with Farrakhan or Prof. Griff, which seemed to indicate a latent anti-semetism but he never came across that way himself. But the point of his talk was that commercial success is not a bad thing. It allowed him to do what he loved and continue to spread his message, which was primarily self-reliance. I wish he didn't get into the segregationist stuff as much as he did but I at least appreciated his conservative stance when it came to capitalism.
My guilty pleasures in the rap world are Gettin' Jiggy Wid it and The SHoop Song.
" A lot of hip hop, believe it or not, is full of life lessons and morality. It’s not all about killing cops and prostitutes."
Agreed. the former description is gangsta rap and in the words of Eddie Griffin, (paraphrasing) Gangsta rap is an oxymoron. The code of a gangsta is silence and if you're a rapper, You talk too damn much. Watch his Voodoo Child stand-up. It rocks!!
Not a big rap fan, but as a song, I do really like Gangster's Paradise by Coolio.
And Amish Paradise by Weird Al, which I can't believe I just admitted.
I wouldn't have a rap record or CD in my house. Give the British Invasion stuff or good or pop and rock.
Also classic country.
Left out the ME.
"It is wildly apparent you guys all sit around a table and attempt Spin Control "
You could not be more wrong.
If there was any attempt at spin control, this argument would have been over long before anything was published here. To the contrary, this discussion has been right out in the open, so everyone could participate. Big Hollywood IS the table we're sitting around.
And everyone is welcome at our table, even the ignorant and unmannered.
Which is why you're here.
>%14. Digital Underground — Humpty Dance: These guys (which included the late Tupac Shakur)%<
Tupac isn't dead!
Okay, I don't like P. Diddy, I didn't like the movie. But, at the risk of having tomatoes thrown at me….I really liked the song "Come With Me" from the Godzilla soundtrack. In fact, the way Puff Daddy sampled from Led Zeppelin, to me, gave it more a more powerful sound than in the original song.
Fortunately, Jimmy Page was involved and performed for the track, so it's a little easier to forgive myself.
Anthrax- I'm The Man
You have politics on the brain. This isn't even a political discussion. And I am not a Republican. I am an independent. Always have been. As long as you keep thinking in terms of Dems vs Republicans you miss the big picture of what's really going on out there.
any of the beastie boys early stuff was just fun, not-too-serious, party stuff. run-dmc also from that era was good fun as well. i wore out 2 cassette copies of licensed to ill
back then
James, Gotta get ya some early NWA…. there was some real great sounds and production outta those dudes.
You cannot not include "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-a-Lot.
I thought about listing that one. I like that song. It's deliberately bad, BTW. It's meant to be funny. That's the thing I like about older rap. It had a sense of humor.
'Life is a rock but the radio rolled me' is a great rap song from 1974………..
But it is too fun to listen to when you are dressed up in a costume of black and gold chains thinking about getting another tattoo and thinking of busting a cap
'Life is a rock but the radio rolled me' is a great rap song from 1974………..
But it is too fun to listen to when you are dressed up in a costume of black and gold chains thinking about getting another tattoo and thinking of busting a cap
I usually don't like song covers as much as the original song, but Run DMC handled Aerosmith's Walk This Way pretty well.
I prefer motown too, as I said in my piece. But my point is, it's not all bad. Some of it is actually amusing
Thank you! I love when people mention how ironic it is that Alanis doesn't know what irony is!
The point of thsi article is to show that it's not all as you describe. I am not a rap fan, but even so, I do see there are some good rap spngs. There are a lot of conservative rap songs, believe it or not.
They don't get away with it. They have to pay for the songs they sample. There were laws that were passed in the early 90s, I believe. But it actually goes back to the 50s and Dickie Goodman, a comedy guy who made these songs made up of samples (Most famous was Mr Jaws). He started the sampling thing and his songs started the legal proceedings against sampling.
OK, now nobody pass out please. I thought that Eminem did one of the funniest Michael Jackson jabs, ever!
Yep. Again. Lorda mercy.
How about "Hip hop hippopotamus?"
Thanks for providing the link…I like what I see.
Six Mixalot, Monsta Mack. Great lyrics. He even mentions Rush Limbaugh!
I despise "Rapture". It's one of those songs I go out of my way to avoid.
How about one by a truly great NON-rap artist: "White and Nerdy" by Weird Al Yankovic?
I think (but I'm not sure) that they even have to get permission to sample now.
Tim, you have to admit, this is all pretty cool. Not to rehash my previous comments, which began with you and Ben going back and forth, Michael Wilson jumping in with his two cents and now Hudnall's post…I love what is happening here @ Big Hollywood. We need more of this. Great stuff everybody. Keep it up.
And yeah, although I enjoy many of JH's picks, I'm stickin' with Blackalicious/Gift of Gab as my current favs.
I think (but I'm not sure) that they even have to get permission to sample now.
By the way, The Stones have been on both sides. They ripped off K.D. Lang's "Constant Craving" when they did "Anybody Seen My Baby" and their song "The Last Time" got ripped off by The Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony."
Didn't 50 Cent do that?
Come on one of the best rap lines, you can really hear him taunting the others with this line.
"She's my little deuce coupe, you don't know what I got!"
Why does a rap track have to be conservative to be good? Do you really need your personal political convictions validated in every piece of media you consume?
Isn't "great rap song" what they call an oxymoron?
Wow! Mr. Jaws. I forgot about that. I had a 45 of that ("little vinyl record" for the kids in the audience).
Flight of the Conchords.
The intersection of "rap" and "great songs" is the null set.
Went to a RUN DMC show in the later 80's. It was, er, ah,not to bad. Casualties were low, fun level high. I've been to numerous Aerosmith shows, much more my taste in music.
Darn, I was hoping to get you to admit that you are indeed an afficiando of gangsta rap! I was waiting for you to rattle off 50's entire catalog.
Homey don't play dat.
Agree. Run DMC greatly improved what was merely another piece of run-of-the-mill, arena-rock radio filler.
Most covers are pretty lame, and some are true abominations (Quiet Riot's "Cum on Feel the Noize," Michael Bolton's "When a Man Loves a Woman").
Covers that are better than the originals:
Al Green's "How do you Mend a Broken Heart"
The Stones' "Just My Imagination" (the ONLY rock cover of a Motown tune that beats the original)
Jason and the Sorchers' "Absolutely Sweet Marie"
and the best ever:
Johnny WInter's "Highway 61" — 11+ minutes that will leave you exhausted…
"admit, this is all pretty cool'
No, it's REALLY cool.
How about when John Fogerty was sued for copywrite infringement of a song he wrote? ("The Old Man is Down the Road"/"Green River").
I love "White and Nerdy." Good stuff.
Hey James Hudnall,
Since you like jazz and rappers honoring original artists, you might like the Gang Starr rap song 'Jazz Thing', in which they cleverly paid tribute to many giants in jazz.
Since you like comedy, you might like Gang Starr's clever, funny rap songs Love Sick and X Girl to Next Girl.
BTW, thanks for the tidbit on Chip Taylor. I must add that to my bank of useless trivia!
Yeah, I have a CD collecting all his songs from the 50s-80s. He started out with something in the 50s about flying saucers. It was pretty amusing, and he did a bunch since then on things like the Energy Crisis and Watergate, etc. The last hit he had was Hey, ET
"Life Your Life" also begins with a dedication to all the soldiers in Iraq, which you'd think would win some points around here. Great song.
When Tom Waits sued for having his singing imitated, I wondered why no one said
'But Tom, you've often sounded like you're doing your best imitation of Louis Armstrong!'
How about 3rd Bass? Sort of a po' man's Beasie Boys. This is from "Product Of Your Environment":
Now you perp the role
The role of Frank Nitti
He ain't a hero 'cause he landed on the roof of a Chevy
There are some great Christian rappers – T-Bone, Grits, Tobymac, Cross Movement. Hip-hop with a higher goal.
When one of the Stones's kids pointed out how their new song stole from KD Lang's song,
The Stones promptly gave her a co-writing credit on their song and cut her in for a share of royalties.
BTW, their song (Anybody Seen My Baby?) has a rap interlude which is (to my ears) incoherent gibberish; a stinking blot on an otherwise winning song/recording.
(I mighta liked that bit just fine if the rapper coulda bothered to enunciate adequately).
If Satchmo gargled with battery acid…
Oh yeah, that reminds me of another reason for my minimal appreciation of rap:
Lyrics which focus on what a great rapper the rapper is. How boring (and childish).
It makes me imagine a parody in which a classic-style crooner sang a whole song about what a great singer he is, better than all the other singers, and how much impact his singing has on his audience, etc.
That would be ridiculous, right?
Yeah, I know, as Chris Rock said to white critics of rap "It's not for YOU."
Okay, so then why is it often inflicted upon me & others by having it blasted out of cars everywhere?
Classical music isn't for everyone either,
but how often do you hear one fan forcing his Vivaldi or Beethoven recordings on everyone around him?
check out George Leite's Catholic Rockers Podcast from sqpn.com If you look at the list of episodes in itunes, there are some decent indie Catholic rap/hip-hop artists featured.
anyway, Its a good podcast. Mr. Leite prides himself in not playing stuff that just sounds like your local Christian radio station.
Someone with the skills and software could do that. I'm sure there's someone at BH that could do this.
NWA …Not my favorite..
Yo Huxtable,
This toy ass white dude is only speaking for himself. His list and his whole essay is an insult to hip-hop no matter what side of the aisle you're on. This here Republican lives in the NOW and reps real hip hop. Any hustla who understands basic economics is a fool to not be a Conservative/Republican. Let me point something out to you. In its current form (by and large) Hip Hop focuses on the acquisition of wealth and the image of the big time CEO/Hustla (EG: Hova). Richness and massive success are the ideal, right? I don't hear any of them talking about giving it all back to the community. What I hear, and what I champion, is the idea of accumulating wealth for yourself through your individual dopeness.
Now ask yourself playa, does this attitude reflect the Democrats or the Republicans? Spin on that pimpin'.
Oh and one more thing… how many Hip Hop songs today glorify the drug trade? 99%? Inner cities were certainly pummeled by crack, but who was on the streets selling it? Who turned the sale of drugs into an art? Republicans?
I fully agree Cantaloop is a mad stretch. That song ain't even hip hop. And Linkin Park? WTF
And where is De La if we're gonna dig in the crates? AND HOW CAN NAS NOT BE ON THIS LIST!?!?
My problem with rap is not completely with it's content, it's primarily the fact that it's considered music at all. If anything it should be classified as poetry. I could read a nursery rhyme with a drum beat in the back ground but it wouldn't make it music.
Wikki Wikki song? You mean "Jam On It" by Nucleus? Its old, but it stands the test of time. Unlike freakin Cantaloop which was wack when it came out!
Amen to that.
Let's put it this way – the average nihilistic gangsta rap lyrics are about as anti-conservative as you can get. Conservative isn't always about politics; sometimes it refers to just plain social values too. And while I would say that a rap song doesn't have to conform to my personal politics to be good because I listen to plenty of liberal rock bands and songs (I just tune out the lyrics mostly or my mind finds ways to make the words conform them to my worldview, especially today; The Hand That Feeds is a good one when you think about Obamatrons and Dems), I do think I need there to be a certain level of something beyond just lyrics of straight personal gratification and destruction for a song to be good in my mind.
I'm not sure about Mr. Goodman, but The Beastie Boys "Paul's Boutique" was another album built from Samples that got the laws tightened up. A lot of what you hear in today's hip hop is not an actual master sample, but rather an interpolation. You still have to pay the copyright holder, but you don't have to clear the master side. Its a much easier license.
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