A Music Thread

[Al B. Sure!]

Some early 2pac:




2pac as part of Digital Underground:


Can anyone ID the movie that that music video was for/from? Hint, it starred Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, and John Candy.

[Al B. Sure!]

Sloww, check it:

http://www.cracked.com/article_17625_7-songs-from-your-grandpas-day-that-would-make-eminem-blush_p1.html

Nothing but explicit violence in this song:


"When I get a rhythm of this rusty black handle razor;
you're gonna be booked out for an ambulance ride;
Cause I'm gonna cut A, B, C, D on top of your head;
That's gonna be treating you nice like mama you ain't gonna be dead.
I'm gonna cut E, F, G right across your face;
H, I, J, K, that's where runnin' bound to take place;
Cut L, M, N cross both your arms;
You'll sell an' peddle gal your whole life long;
Cut N, O, P, Q that's gonna be trouble too;
Cause I'm gonna grab you mama and turn you every way but loose;
Cut R, S, T to hear you cry;
That'll be the last time tears a run from over your eyes;
Cut U, V, W on the bottom of your feet;
That'll be the last time you walk up an' down 25th street;
Marking cross your bosom with X, Y, Z;
When I get through with this alphabet;
You'll quit your messing with me."

[Al B. Sure!]

See, Sloww, blues singers used to get criticized for talking about raunchy topics and violence.

I find it interesting and hypocritical that you can hate even gangster rap for talking about similar concepts. Granted, some people like AAHZ's stuff, that's all they talk about but when you look at a 2pac, he was about the full picture... one second he would be rapping the type of stuff you hate but then the next, he's talking about inspirational stuff. 2pac rapped about what was going on, what people were seeing and dealing with, and how he felt. That it's modern day blues should be obvious.

Don't forget how much old time blues was violent and raunchy.

[Al B. Sure!]

Speaking of which, it is the 14th anniversary of Tupac's death. A tribute is in order:








And 2pac freakily making a video about him being murdered mere months before his murder:


RIP 2pac

[Al B. Sure!]

OK, I should amend my statement. I hate Gangsta Rap, but Social Issues Rap isn't bad. I don't see myself listening to it a lot, but I don't hate it.

See that's tricky, too, because 2pac was the epitome of gangster rap but he also made many songs like this:

[SlowwHand]

OK, I should amend my statement. I hate Gangsta Rap, but Social Issues Rap isn't bad. I don't see myself listening to it a lot, but I don't hate it.

[Al B. Sure!]

Sloww:

How about this slower paced one about abortion?

[Al B. Sure!]

It looks fine, but I can't understand the words, for the most part. Too many Who and other concerts. It looks relevant. Much more so than other videos that I've seen here.

Sloww, what you need to understand is that rap is just a medium. You can make any sort of music or talk about anything through that medium. You saying you like anything but rap is like saying you don't like anything in which people sing or anything in which a guitar is played. Rapping is the medium. The thing is, it's a medium that has evolved directly from and alongside the music that you like, which makes your disgust with it inconsistent. That's why I pointed out Nas' Bridging the Gap song with the Muddy Waters' "Mannish Boy" in the background and featuring Nas' father, a jazz/blues musician. Nas is making the modern day version of the music his own father made.

I think you have the same bias that so many people your age have and that's with the former popularity of gangsterism in rap. Much to the chagrin of people like AAHZ, that sort of rap has been dying for almost a decade now. AAHZ is freaking out seeing some of his favorite rappers rapping about new and different ideas (like the born-again Cassidy rapping about the New Testament or Saigon rapping about being a father). It pains his Wigger sensibilities to see rap return to its pre-gangster era.

As for the understanding of words... that's just because you need to get used to the faster pace of lyrics when talking/rapping compared to singing. That's another thing. Common didn't use much slang in that song or anything (and note no curse words) it's just he's rapping at a speaking pace.

I bet if I had an acapella of that, you would have no difficulty understanding him.

[SlowwHand]

It looks fine, but I can't understand the words, for the most part. Too many Who and other concerts. It looks relevant. Much more so than other videos that I've seen here.

[Al B. Sure!]

Sloww:

What rappers are you hearing? AAHZ's type?

What do you think of things like this?

[SlowwHand]

That's pretty cool. It sounds like the times. If this is Rap, it was when Rappers still had class.

Sloww,

Rap from 1956:



That song was also re-done by the Coasters a few years later.

[Thoth]

Anne Clark - Our Darkness

(C0ckney may like this one )

[C0ckney]

albert that's some interesting stuff there, and it certainly makes a nice change.

you have to be careful though in making statements like blues = rap, because of a few similarities. nothing is created in isolation, because if someone decides they want to make music, then obviously they will have heard music before and been influenced by that. artists borrow from each other all the time, they hear something they like and decide to incorporate it into their work. this happens in all creative industries, not just is music of course.

to give some examples, you can see the influence of disco in trance music, of dub in techno or of free jazz in post-punk. clearly there are some similarities and you can often hear what the artists making trance, techno and post-punk were listening to when they made their music. however, to go from this to saying that giorgio moroder was making trance music, or that lee 'scratch' perry was making techno, or that albert ayler was making post-punk, doesn't stand up to scrutiny. in the same way, to say that rap = blues is a massive stretch.

[C0ckney]

aaron - endless song

[ZEE]

.