Is anyone else sick to death of Southern rap?

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I miss quick wit. I miss multi-syllable words. I miss tight beats.

Every third song on Hot 97 now has the same three-note synth line and either T.I., Lil Jon or someone who sounds exactly like one or the other of them.

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Thursday, 29 June 2006 00:47 (nineteen years ago)

I am internally evolving entirely
Extensive eclectic expression eloquently
Instantly innovative, Courageously creative
I'm driven, this God given gift it comes naturally to the native
Not a need for the dramatics or the systematic
Simplicities, strictly science and mathematics
The mastermind of the mighty mystical and magical moves
And metaphors manifests masterpieces
Thoroughly fury through the inner mind's eye establishes this syn-thesis
Of these innermost, insightful, intriguing interpretations of extreme intelligence
My commonsense is no co-incidence
Caution: competitors approach carefully
I'm able to see
Rare ranges of distance, I expect respect
There's no tolerance for negligence, never
You'll forever
Feel the wrath of the pure and powerful poetry, permanently
Pre-meditative, political, critical, compellin, story-tellin
Defining desire, faith fuelin the fire
Brilliance, ?? philosophical, psychological willingly waging warfare,
Withstandin, commandin, demandin the listening ears to hear what God's forcin
Instead endorsin education. Equality, not hate
Just revolution of the mind state
Note mere words but emotions
Which is essential, influential provin my people's potential
Militancy, innocence, insight, listen to God then write
Since my birth date I been tight!

- Cee Lo, "Big Ole Words"

― 100% CHAMPS with a Yes! Attitude. (Austin, Still), Thursday, 29 June 2006 00:58 (nineteen years ago)

Obv. I'm using "Southern rap" as a shorthand for the kinds of Southern rap that actually get major radio play. I'm aware that there are other kinds of rappers from the South. Thx.

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Thursday, 29 June 2006 01:04 (nineteen years ago)

Well, see, your mistake is listening to the radio and expecting anything good to come of it. I only know HOT 97 by reputation, since I live very far away, but aren't they pretty much responsible for the dumbing down and blinging up of NYC hiphop as well?

― 100% CHAMPS with a Yes! Attitude. (Austin, Still), Thursday, 29 June 2006 01:13 (nineteen years ago)

But for most of hip-hop's history there have been plenty of good radio-ready songs at any given time. Course I guess there's the danger of forgetting all the crap ones from the past and imagining a certain past era as a golden age.

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Thursday, 29 June 2006 01:19 (nineteen years ago)

And there still are plenty, just not many coming from the South it seems.

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Thursday, 29 June 2006 01:21 (nineteen years ago)

yes, i am sort of sick of southern hip-hop, but mostly in the sense of bouncing off of it for a long time. david banner, slim thug, paul wall, lil wayne, all ludacris since "back for the 1st time" etc none of it seems to "stick" for me (notable exception is T.I. but even his albums can be really frustrating)

it seems like the only way to really "get" southern hip-hop is going to be through mixtapes and i don't really know how i can get my hands on those.

― the fuckablity of late picasso (vahid), Thursday, 29 June 2006 01:21 (nineteen years ago)

i feel like i can hang w/ 3-6 mafia but at this point they seem as "after the fact" as outkast.

― the fuckablity of late picasso (vahid), Thursday, 29 June 2006 01:23 (nineteen years ago)

For the record I don't like Cee-Lo's rapping much (his singing is great though!)

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Thursday, 29 June 2006 01:23 (nineteen years ago)

"So many doubt 'cause I come from the South
But when I open my mouth, all bullets come out"

― max (maxreax), Thursday, 29 June 2006 01:27 (nineteen years ago)

I mean, are you really sick of "Southern rap"? Or are you sick of "Snap Music" and "Crunk"?

― max (maxreax), Thursday, 29 June 2006 01:28 (nineteen years ago)

Wow, I think Luda's still improving. Maybe my taste for him is just mellowing, but I used to only be able to take him in singles and guest-shots. Now I can listen to whole albums. They're not great albums, I admit, but I can listen to 'em all the way through. Same with Bun.

I never really did feel the crunk stuff, though.

― 100% CHAMPS with a Yes! Attitude. (Austin, Still), Thursday, 29 June 2006 01:28 (nineteen years ago)

Luda has some great songs.

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Thursday, 29 June 2006 01:30 (nineteen years ago)

see i've been to the record store three times in the last month, spent 20 minutes looking hard at a $9.99 used copy of "carter ii" and just ended up putting it back. i guess i'm just jaded ... maybe not sick of southern rap but i can't really see myself putting down 10 bucks for one single, three hot tracks and 45 minutes of filler and skits.

― the fuckablity of late picasso (vahid), Thursday, 29 June 2006 01:30 (nineteen years ago)

i haven't even been able to LOOK at ludacris w/o a creeping sense of disgust since "chicken'n'beer". jeez, what a shitty album.

― the fuckablity of late picasso (vahid), Thursday, 29 June 2006 01:31 (nineteen years ago)

I mean, are you really sick of "Southern rap"? Or are you sick of "Snap Music" and "Crunk"?

-- max (maxrea...), June 28th, 2006.

Well, pretty much yeah -- the latter.

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Thursday, 29 June 2006 01:31 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, me too. What're you gonna do, though? It's not like NYC/LA/anywhere else is producing music that's, like, really worth hearting.

― max (maxreax), Thursday, 29 June 2006 01:33 (nineteen years ago)

hearing, that is.

― max (maxreax), Thursday, 29 June 2006 01:33 (nineteen years ago)

True.

I remember reading that large numbers of black people are moving back southward, and combine that with cities like NYC becoming increasingly unafforable, maybe there's your explanation?

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Thursday, 29 June 2006 01:36 (nineteen years ago)

Regardless of that, more African-Americans have always live in the South as opposed to the East/West/Midwest. So I guess that's part of it.

― max (maxreax), Thursday, 29 June 2006 01:38 (nineteen years ago)

all ludacris since "back for the 1st time" etc

oh yeah, totally, bro. 'Word of Mouf' is a TERRIBLE album, lol.

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Thursday, 29 June 2006 03:02 (nineteen years ago)

How is this thread any different from the "Is anyone else sick of hip-hop?" thread that Tracer started a month or two ago?

― deej.. (deej..), Thursday, 29 June 2006 03:06 (nineteen years ago)

Let's have another thread about that genius David Banner

― 333333333333 (33333), Thursday, 29 June 2006 03:12 (nineteen years ago)

The word "southern" is in it.

― max (maxreax), Thursday, 29 June 2006 03:12 (nineteen years ago)

this one is pretty solid

Lil Jon Needs To Fall Under A Truck

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Thursday, 29 June 2006 03:15 (nineteen years ago)

Ugh that thread has me awkwardly and self-consciously trying to defend enjoying Mystikal by saying my enjoyment was 'ironic' which was retarded and inaccurate.

― deej.. (deej..), Thursday, 29 June 2006 03:20 (nineteen years ago)

The one dk linked to i mean.

― deej.. (deej..), Thursday, 29 June 2006 03:20 (nineteen years ago)

It's less, "I'm sick of Snap & Crunk" as much as it is, "I wish KDAY would play a song that isn't by a rapper from below the Mason-Dixon line."

― max (maxreax), Thursday, 29 June 2006 03:22 (nineteen years ago)

Also to the dude who posted Cee Lo lyrics, that song came out 4 years ago.

― deej.. (deej..), Thursday, 29 June 2006 03:24 (nineteen years ago)

Do you guys have a rapper you wish you were hearing?

― deej.. (deej..), Thursday, 29 June 2006 03:24 (nineteen years ago)

Seriously if we have to talk about rap, can we at least do it in a thread where we're not required to defend the genre's vitality at every moment? i.e. the thread vahid just started.

― deej.. (deej..), Thursday, 29 June 2006 03:25 (nineteen years ago)

x-post Ice Cube-circa-1990? Or is that one of those things that makes me an asshole?

I don't mean anything besides the radio stations honestly play a lot of Southern stuff past the point of listenability--not that I hate Snap or Crunk but that if I hear it one more time I might actually stab someone.

― max (maxreax), Thursday, 29 June 2006 03:26 (nineteen years ago)

"This is Southern, face it
If this too simple, than y'all don't git the basics."

― max (maxreax), Thursday, 29 June 2006 03:33 (nineteen years ago)

If you're feeling it, you're feeling it. If not, you either
a) have given it an honest try and don't like it, which you shouldn't feel bad about - you can't like EVERYTHING
b) You haven't given it an honest try and are just hating - give it a listen and check back
c) Used to like it but have had enough of an extensively exposed style of music, and are thus "sick to death" of it
d) hate black people

― Big Loud Ape Mountain (Big Loud Mountain Ape), Thursday, 29 June 2006 04:48 (nineteen years ago)

where are you living you still hear alot of crunk on the radio???

― j blount (papa la bas), Thursday, 29 June 2006 05:40 (nineteen years ago)

you say motherfuck me nah motherfuck YOUUUUUUU

― rtccc (mwah), Thursday, 29 June 2006 09:44 (nineteen years ago)

FUCKING HATE IT WHEN THEUY KEEP RHIMING "MOUTH" AND "SOUTH"

― jinx hijinks (sanskrit), Thursday, 29 June 2006 10:32 (nineteen years ago)

deej - Of course I didn't pick my example because it's tearing up the charts right now. I chose "Big Ole Words" due to the spoken coda: "Ain't nobody say niggas from the south can't rhyme!" which seemed to be what Berman was getting at.

― 100% CHAMPS with a Yes! Attitude. (Austin, Still), Thursday, 29 June 2006 11:40 (nineteen years ago)

I suppose I could've thrown some Bun or Luda or whatever out there instead, but that's a long time favorite, and frankly, one of the most astounding technical verses I've ever heard.

― 100% CHAMPS with a Yes! Attitude. (Austin, Still), Thursday, 29 June 2006 11:42 (nineteen years ago)

"Is anyone else sick to death of Southern rap?"

From the responses on this thread, I gather that the answer is, FUCK, NO, dude. We all love Southern rap. The more stripped-down, slow and stupid, the better. Plus when they all get together and say "yea-ah", like, a billion times in one song. That's dope.

FUCK, YES.

― fuckfuckingfuckedfucker (fuckfuckingfuckedfucker), Thursday, 29 June 2006 11:45 (nineteen years ago)

I think what's actually the subject of complaint are some of the governing production styles on commercial rap radio, not really "the south" - I, too, am sick of that one keyboard patch & vocal filter, but it'll pass

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Thursday, 29 June 2006 12:17 (nineteen years ago)

whether dudes will finally get bored with talking about pimps & whores is another question though, and one that isn't regionally bound

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Thursday, 29 June 2006 12:24 (nineteen years ago)

Hey, remember when everyone was bitching about Master P yelling "Huuuuuh!" all the goddamn time?

― 100% CHAMPS with a Yes! Attitude. (Austin, Still), Thursday, 29 June 2006 12:25 (nineteen years ago)

i am not sick of it.

― Bea Arthur - Lost COmic GEnius ? (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 29 June 2006 12:33 (nineteen years ago)

Me neither ...

― O'Connor (OConnorScribe), Thursday, 29 June 2006 13:10 (nineteen years ago)

one that isn't regionally bound

Isn't it more bound to the presence of pimps and whores in the hood?

― deej.. (deej..), Thursday, 29 June 2006 13:40 (nineteen years ago)

I guess alternately we could have a discussion about the particularities that make commercially prominent southern rap unique and whether or not they might be too limiting and if other particularities that make rap pleasurable are being missed out on by dint of the south's prominence, and which particularities those are.

― Eppy (Eppy), Thursday, 29 June 2006 13:51 (nineteen years ago)

deej do you think the pimp-n-whore quotient in rap is really reflective of the overall population in black neighborhoods? you don't really, do you?

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Thursday, 29 June 2006 14:19 (nineteen years ago)

"it's just representing reality"

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Thursday, 29 June 2006 14:20 (nineteen years ago)

America remains at heart a nation of romantics I guess

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Thursday, 29 June 2006 14:20 (nineteen years ago)

I'm sick of it, but it's not like I can tune it out. Even in my own house I can hear cars go by, bass thumping, with Lil Jon telling me to snap my fingers. Not like I'm playing it myself, though.

― trees (treesessplode), Thursday, 29 June 2006 14:27 (nineteen years ago)

you don't really, do you?

No I don't, but you know "world's oldest profession" and all i don't think its gonna stop being a subject of discussion in circles where it is a day to day reality.

― deej.. (deej..), Thursday, 29 June 2006 14:31 (nineteen years ago)

I mean of course certain subjects are going to be overrepresented in music, thats the nature of entertainment. I recall a Village Voice article about how shitty it was that crack rap was big even though crack was largely dead in NY (not taking into account that drugs are hardly dead nationally, and at least here in Chicago crack and heroin flow relatively freely, blue lights or not) and observing that the subject of deadbeat dads among rappers was a 'non starter.' At first I'm like, 'well yeah duh' but really there are a number of tracks that talk about that (3-6's "Baby Mama" off the choices soundtrack was what I listened to on my way to work today).

I more or less agree w you that anything that reduces ghetto living to charicature is shitty, but the best performers are transcending that right? I'm mad at the prevalence of shitty pimp rappers. TT, do you like Suga Free?

― deej.. (deej..), Thursday, 29 June 2006 14:44 (nineteen years ago)

should say I'm mad at the prevalence of shitty pimp rappers, not as mad at pimp as an archetype because that does have a potential to make moving/interesting music. TT do you like Suga Free?

― deej.. (deej..), Thursday, 29 June 2006 14:46 (nineteen years ago)

speaking as a big proponent of The Dirty since Soul Food, I will concede that it does seem to be stuck in a rut as of late. Of course, I've been lazy w/r/t to new music and busy with boring stuff like work/ life so I've been getting most of my doses from the two mainstream hip hop stations here in town. Shame on me.

― Will (will), Thursday, 29 June 2006 14:47 (nineteen years ago)

being sick of southern rap would be like being sick of b-b-q. impossibibble!!

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 29 June 2006 14:48 (nineteen years ago)

That T.I. album is soooooooo good. And Da Musicianz album too. I would dig more, but i'm so rapped up in entrails these days what with the metal reviews and cleaning up scores of bloody floors at da hospital.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 29 June 2006 14:50 (nineteen years ago)

shorter this thread: MY REGIONAL RAP SCENE OF TWENTY YEARS AGO WAS THE BEST REGIONAL RAP SCENE

― Haikunym (Haikunym), Thursday, 29 June 2006 14:54 (nineteen years ago)

not if yr from minnesota...altho MC Skat Cat was nice.

― M@tt He1geson, Rendolent Ding-Dong (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 29 June 2006 14:59 (nineteen years ago)

Most of the whores in NYC are Asian and in Queens now.

― Eppy (Eppy), Thursday, 29 June 2006 15:16 (nineteen years ago)

i am not sick of it.
-- Bea Arthur - Lost COmic GEnius ? (wt...), June 29th, 2006 6:33 AM. (dubplatestyle)

Me neither ...
-- O'Connor (oconnorscrib...), June 29th, 2006 7:10 AM. (OConnorScribe)

awww, twue luv

― flëétwøöd måçk (jaxon), Thursday, 29 June 2006 15:39 (nineteen years ago)

i also never really thought half the rappers talking about pimping had ever actually pimped before, it was just a metaphor of masculinity

― flëétwøöd måçk (jaxon), Thursday, 29 June 2006 15:40 (nineteen years ago)

Are you guys really hungry to listen to more Dem Franchize Boys tracks? Not that I didn't love "White Teez" and like "Lean Wit It," but it gets boring after a while.

I don't hate it in like a "NYC roolz the South is killing hip-hop" (b/c obv. neither of those things are true; T.I. has the best rap album of the year, Lil' Wayne is coming hard, I actually like the Chamillionaire song a lot even if I do hear it 17 times a day &c) just in a--I'm kinda fuckin bored of DFB/D4L, etc.

― max (maxreax), Thursday, 29 June 2006 15:50 (nineteen years ago)

it's been nearly a year since i heard d4l on the radio with any frequency and longer since i heard crunk. are you people posting from earth-2 or something? can we get someone complaining about the omnipresence of g-funk or hip-house next?

― j blount (papa la bas), Thursday, 29 June 2006 16:08 (nineteen years ago)

I snapped on the radio for the first time in ages yesterday and the first thing I heard was "Snap Yo Fingers" if that's evidence of anything.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 29 June 2006 16:17 (nineteen years ago)

I for one am totally sick of all the hip-house on the radio!

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Thursday, 29 June 2006 16:18 (nineteen years ago)

Suga Free gets a great groove, love that sound, but seriously the pimp metaphor/archetype/whatever is about as appealing to me as the prototypical Emo Boy Who Has Been Hurt By Love y'know - as soon it comes up, my satiety-meter goes "fuckin' whatever" - naturally I agree that great writers/performers/what-have-you can use whatever source material they choose to exploit their talents, but the last compelling pimp narrative I heard was on the second Digital Undergroud album

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Thursday, 29 June 2006 16:24 (nineteen years ago)

Blount,

I was back in Atlanta a couple weeks ago, and was surprised at how little Southern hip-hop I heard on the radio. Up here in Boston they still play "Lean Wit It Rock Wit It", "What You Know", and "Ridin'" like every hour; in ten days of listening to the Beat and V103, I didn't hear any of those songs more than once. Whenever I ask my brother-in-law, who's 19 and lives in Calhoun, about a song that's getting heavy airplay in Boston, he tells me that it's old and they don't play it down there anymore. So I'm thinking Atlanta radio is maybe ahead of the curve on this shit.

― barefoot manthing (Garrett Martin), Thursday, 29 June 2006 16:27 (nineteen years ago)

roffle at 'snapped on the radio' - 'snap yr fingers' = this summer's crunk's dead anthem (maybe someday the radio stations on earth-2 will catch up?). i do sorta wonder why indie dorx feel compelled to start a thread EVERY MONTH about how they don't like hip-hop and it's not their fault it's cuz hip-hop's dead really none of the other people in their office like it as much anymore either. are yall looking for a medal or something? you're hardly the first old fuxx to not like hip-hop (i recall reading somewhere andy rooney doesn't care for it). i always love the huge inconsistencies too (someone linked a hilarious/pathetic example of this from john darnielle's site yesterday where he simultaneously blasted 'today's hip-hop' and praised in contrast the new 'dr. octagon' record for (weak) electro beats and heavy princess superstar presence. which is like blasting alito for being too conservative and then wishing he could be more like scalia)(ie. what else is new - proudly defensive/quarantined/irrelevant/hypocritical 'today's indie rock' at a glance right there). i can't wait to see what july's version of this thread looks like!

barefoot manthing probably otm

― j blount (papa la bas), Thursday, 29 June 2006 16:44 (nineteen years ago)

the last compelling pimp narrative I heard was on the second Digital Undergroud album

So pimping is passe, is what yr saying?

ts: "pimp rap just reflects reality" vs. "pimp rap died in '92"

― deej.. (deej..), Thursday, 29 June 2006 16:48 (nineteen years ago)

i like the snap songs on the radio. it might get old over the course of an album. but it's pretty cool. the "dinkiness" of it is appealing in a way....

― M@tt He1geson, Rendolent Ding-Dong (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 29 June 2006 16:53 (nineteen years ago)

i think the new suga free album is good

― max (maxreax), Thursday, 29 June 2006 16:55 (nineteen years ago)

also hasn't the pimp-rap paradigm been replaced/overtaken/edged out by a set of "hustler/dealer" tropes? despite hustle & flow which i suppose wasn't all taht popular in the end anyway.

― max (maxreax), Thursday, 29 June 2006 17:06 (nineteen years ago)

I became sick of Southern Rap in 1992. My feelings about it have gone up and down since then.

― PappaWheelie 2 (PappaWheelie 2), Thursday, 29 June 2006 17:09 (nineteen years ago)

hustler/dealer thing has been bigger for ages, but I think you can have the same argument about it. It doesn't make much difference. I like what Jeff Chang said about the whole weird critical embrace of 'crack rap':

"i don't object to the fact that crack rap exists, nor that some of it is aesthetically, uh, dope, i object to critics or progressives praising or denouncing it like it doesn't intersect with reality."

― deej.. (deej..), Thursday, 29 June 2006 17:11 (nineteen years ago)

Here's more of the comment from his blog. I think this works for pimp rap too.

the stuff that makes me uncomfortable is the fact the d-boys are still on the same corners on the next block over like 10-20 years later and it's getting worse this spring i'm certain. i give 5-1 the majority of the critics who like crack rap don't have this problem walking to the post office everyday.

at the same time, a common line from hip-hop progressives is this one: there shouldn't be more crack rap because we settled a long time ago that crack is wack and no one smokes that anymore. which is just plain bullshit.

btw i'm waiting for the first rap about the joys of crystal meth. what do you mean it hasn't crossed over yet?

at the same time, crack rap gives the same voyeuristic thrill it did 10-20 years ago to the same voyeurs. when it gets too grimey and real, they won't be on it anymore, will be the first to be denouncing it.

but that's confusing art and life, i think.

i don't object to the fact that crack rap exists, nor that some of it is aesthetically, uh, dope, i object to critics or progressives praising or denouncing it like it doesn't intersect with reality.

i think i'm in the silent minority on this one. i don't come to the conclusion that it all ought to be destroyed. nor do i come to the conclusion that we should throw a parade for the undiscovered geniuses of crack rap.

― deej.. (deej..), Thursday, 29 June 2006 17:14 (nineteen years ago)

"but the last compelling pimp narrative I heard was on the second Digital Undergroud album"

hahaha! touche!

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 29 June 2006 17:20 (nineteen years ago)

Jeff and I write from the exact opposite of the spectrum it seems. He's seemingly always looking at Hip-Hop from a socio-econic societal standpoint, whereas I see trends in rap based simply on marketing new hit records to mimic the last hit record.

My theory on the extended stay of Pimp rap (et al) is based on age, oddly enough.

People my age were so fucking into Star Wars and it's fallout (Battlestar Gallactica, etc) that when Planet Rock came out, so it spoke to us. We were kids. Too Short however seem to be overstepping the 1977-1982 Star Wars thing to play an early 70's Blaxploitation character and live out the fanatsy of Iceberg Slim. He did this as early as early as 1984 (although he went somewhat unnoticed until Freaky Tales hit the streets in 1986).

Point is, Too Short is older than I am.

So when Freaky Tales influenced Ice T's post Starr Wars material (6 in the Mornin'), that influced Dr. Dre and compnay's post Star Wars material (Boyz in the Hood), which influeced Geto Boys, Snoop Dog, etc.

Shoot em up movies with a central badass will always appeal to a larger audience than Sci Fi or My Dinner with Ali Shaheed Mohammed.

― PappaWheelie 2 (PappaWheelie 2), Thursday, 29 June 2006 17:22 (nineteen years ago)

but how many rappers who claim to have slung really have? im sure that crack-rap represents a certain facet of reality but part of the nature of those tracks is the way the rappers play w/ appearance/expectations vs. reality vs. "reality" etc. not that, say, rick ross would ever admit to being a second-rate hustler b/c the "knowing the REAL noreiga" thing is important to his image, but how many rappers really were dealers, and how exactly is the audience dealing w/ that? i don't know that jeff is necessarily saying anything all that new--basically, some crack rap is great but its a lot more complicated than just "who gives a shit about artist morality"

the world is what it is, right? there's a lot of inner-city residents addicted to crack (albeit fewer than 10-20 yrs ago), and theres still ppl selling it to them. most of the people selling crack, tho, aren't rappers, and i think most of rap's audience recognizes that rick ross is boasting rather than speaking the truth. not that it makes it any better/worse but let's not pretend that every rapper who raps about dealing has been out with a sac in his hand (obv several have dealt)

― max (maxreax), Thursday, 29 June 2006 17:23 (nineteen years ago)

haha QUANNUM NERD DOESNT LIKE POPULAR THINGS SHOCKER

i'm just kidding, i love chang, he's just being wishywashyboring here. no one likes 'crack rap' because it's 'crack rap', they like it if it's good (T.I., 'the harder they fall,' curtis mayfield) and don't if it's not (most music in all genres)

― Haikunym (Haikunym), Thursday, 29 June 2006 17:24 (nineteen years ago)

but how many rappers who claim to have slung really have?

1986-1991 = 5%
1991-1996 = 50%
1996-2006 = 95%

I doubt the details are are 100% accurate though.

― PappaWheelie 2 (PappaWheelie 2), Thursday, 29 June 2006 17:25 (nineteen years ago)

the last compelling pimp narrative I heard was on the second Digital Undergroud album

Also this can't be true cuz Get In Where You Fit In came out in '93

xp Matt isn't that what Jeff is saying?

― deej.. (deej..), Thursday, 29 June 2006 17:26 (nineteen years ago)

well he's not ("btw i'm waiting for the first rap about the joys of crystal meth. what do you mean it hasn't crossed over yet?", "the fact the d-boys are still on the same corners on the next block over like 10-20 years later and it's getting worse this spring"), but he is ("but that's confusing art and life, i think. "). hence the wishy washy

― Haikunym (Haikunym), Thursday, 29 June 2006 17:30 (nineteen years ago)

Oh wait never mind.

Matt I don't think Jeff is the one being wishy washy; I'd say there are more than enough boosters of 'crack rap' who see it solely as a 'style' or 'aesthetic' choice, and then there are people who criticize all 'crack rap' for its negative effects on society or whatever, and both seem detached from the reality of crack's existence, the where/why/hows that rap comes from.

― deej.. (deej..), Thursday, 29 June 2006 17:32 (nineteen years ago)

Not to say that no black people smoke meth, but it's pretty widely regarded as a "white boy drug". (America! Where race politics even dictate what cheap drugs we smoke!)

― It's Rodney, poised and rational! (R. J. Greene), Thursday, 29 June 2006 17:39 (nineteen years ago)

oh every country's drugs are dictated by race

― Haikunym (Haikunym), Thursday, 29 June 2006 17:47 (nineteen years ago)

I didn't know such a thing existed.

As a boring aside, I was walking through the store today between the Rock/Pop aisle and the Funk/Soul aisle. What caught my eye was an image of Bootsy Collins and just above was the sign reading Funk/Soul. It occured to me then that genres are just racist divisions in music. Only begrudgingly do whiteys accept black artists if they candycoat whitify themselves enough. Eminem and the Beastie Boys are in Rock/Pop, but MC Hammer is in Rap next to Mos Def.

― John W. Smoke, Jr. (Uri Frendimein), Thursday, 29 June 2006 17:58 (nineteen years ago)

current status of mind: blown

― M@tt He1geson, Rendolent Ding-Dong (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 29 June 2006 18:02 (nineteen years ago)

That's some fucked-up store you got there, John.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Thursday, 29 June 2006 18:06 (nineteen years ago)

Virgin Megastore!

― John W. Smoke, Jr. (Uri Frendimein), Thursday, 29 June 2006 18:28 (nineteen years ago)

I was on my way to the Ska/Reggae section to get some Desmond Dekker. I wonder if any white ska bands were in that section. Nope, I don't wonder, actually. I doubt it.

― John W. Smoke, Jr. (Uri Frendimein), Thursday, 29 June 2006 18:33 (nineteen years ago)

music marketing in america has always been racially segregated. is this really a surprise to you?

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 29 June 2006 18:39 (nineteen years ago)

No, I said it was "a boring aside."

― John W. Smoke, Jr. (Uri Frendimein), Thursday, 29 June 2006 18:41 (nineteen years ago)

yeah but come on Eminem in the rock section is some bullshit

― Haikunym (Haikunym), Thursday, 29 June 2006 18:42 (nineteen years ago)

If I had my way, record stores wouldn't have seperate sections, except for maybe Classical. Too many arbitrary distinctions. I hate how Tower has an "Oldies" section, especially when half the artists that might fit in that category are in the "Rock/Pop/R&B" section. James Brown and the Temptaions in different sections makes no sense.

― It's Rodney, poised and rational! (R. J. Greene), Thursday, 29 June 2006 18:52 (nineteen years ago)

I am impressed we've managed to make it to a more cliche'd topic than 'rap is boring right now.'

― deej.. (deej..), Thursday, 29 June 2006 18:52 (nineteen years ago)

Deej OTM.

― It's Rodney, poised and rational! (R. J. Greene), Thursday, 29 June 2006 18:53 (nineteen years ago)

Deej is totally OTM in many way (and sometimes I praise him for sticking with ILM through these thin times). Imagine:

Is anyone else sick to death of EastCoast / MidWest indie?
Is anyone else sick of German techno?

These other genres are being talked about with a degree of warmth and detail that make ILM's conversations about hip hop look, well, silly.

― paulhw (paulhw), Thursday, 29 June 2006 21:00 (nineteen years ago)

oh god, not this again

― PappaWheelie 2 (PappaWheelie 2), Thursday, 29 June 2006 21:01 (nineteen years ago)

"Is anyone else sick to death of EastCoast / MidWest indie?"

wait, where are these threads? (maybe I'm just not paying attention, I listen to less and less "young guys with guitars" music as I get older)

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 29 June 2006 21:05 (nineteen years ago)

the problem is all the money in it now...high production values and good drugs ruin everything... sensational was never the same after he stopped using his walkman headphones as a microphone... go back to the dj screw mixtapes and become happy...

― xe non (xen), Thursday, 29 June 2006 21:06 (nineteen years ago)

go back to the jam pony express mixtapes and become happy

― PappaWheelie 2 (PappaWheelie 2), Thursday, 29 June 2006 21:09 (nineteen years ago)

Go back to disco and become happy.

― deej.. (deej..), Thursday, 29 June 2006 21:13 (nineteen years ago)

hah!
http://www.mixtapeallstars.com/product.asp?id=304

― deej.. (deej..), Thursday, 29 June 2006 21:14 (nineteen years ago)

(see track 25)

― deej.. (deej..), Thursday, 29 June 2006 21:15 (nineteen years ago)

Go back to ragtime and be happy.

― It's Rodney, poised and rational! (R. J. Greene), Thursday, 29 June 2006 21:20 (nineteen years ago)

(see track 25)

oh shit; meta-mixtape

― PappaWheelie (aka Ike Spodermang) (PappaWheelie 2), Thursday, 29 June 2006 21:22 (nineteen years ago)

No, to the thread title.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Thursday, 29 June 2006 21:25 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, but John, didn't you just discover southern rap a month ago?

― PappaWheelie (aka Ike Spodermang) (PappaWheelie 2), Thursday, 29 June 2006 21:32 (nineteen years ago)

i really did start liking southern rap in the last year or so, to the point where i'll listen to whole CDs and stuff....the bun b mixtape kinda sealed it for me....i guess i was too struck in my ways before, always like east coast lyrical type stuff, but finally (finally! duh!) started to "get" how cool the flows and rhythmic stuff they do and the way they twist their words is so cool....although i did really like "another day, another baller" by south circle a long time ago, that was my one southern rap anomoly.

― M@tt He1geson, Rendolent Ding-Dong (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 29 June 2006 22:05 (nineteen years ago)

hey speaking of southern hip-hop on the top 8 @ 8 tonite there were 3 jazze pha songs (yall hate him too?) and then that 'eeny meeny miny mo' song with the synth-kazoo - who does this?

― j blount (papa la bas), Thursday, 29 June 2006 23:58 (nineteen years ago)

We need some rap with some Desmond Dekker horns/sounds/beats. That reminds me: whatever happened to the melodica? We could use some of that in rap, too. Oh, you know what else? We could use some joy in rap that isn't a goofy 3 ft. high and rising cartoon (although I love that album) or a wacky-hip jackoff session (beastie boys). You know, real happy joy. In rap. That's not jaded or sexually oriented.

― John W. Smoke, Jr. (Uri Frendimein), Friday, 30 June 2006 02:11 (nineteen years ago)

I don't know if I'm tired of Dirty South/screw/crunk or if my two local hip-hop stations just overplay everything to death. "Ridin" and "Ms. New Booty" were awesome the first hundred times. Play some reggaeton, like that Daddy Yankee hit that I heard maybe three times on local radio. Play more from New York (I haven't heard shit lately, and even during that 50 Cent run, I was more likely to hear him on Top 40) and the West Coast (Too Short only gets on K104 and 97.9 with Kelis) just to break up the monotony, please.

The Houston rappers have a much shorter shelf life than the rest of the South - Mike Jones, Paul Wall, Slim Thug, all OK in small doses (or together on one song), but none of them have the lyrics or voice to go for long. (And the production is boring). Coincidentally, that's 60% of what I hear on the radio.

Lil Wayne's "Hustler Musik" is probably the single best song I've heard this year, but it's not like much else on the radio.

― milo z (mlp), Friday, 30 June 2006 02:19 (nineteen years ago)

Really? Whenever I hear "Hustler Musik" , I simply can't get over how tired (not in the sense of "I've heard this a million times before", but in the sense of "the performer sounds like he needs a nap") it sounds. Weary F. Baby.

― It's Rodney, poised and rational! (R. J. Greene), Friday, 30 June 2006 02:34 (nineteen years ago)

-- John W. Smoke, Jr. (joh...), June 30th, 2006.

― 333333333333 (33333), Friday, 30 June 2006 02:45 (nineteen years ago)

Thanks for repeating myself. Less work for me.

― John W. Smoke, Jr. (Uri Frendimein), Friday, 30 June 2006 02:49 (nineteen years ago)

New York stations are definitely still playing plenty of crunk/dirty-south. Every time I turn on the radio it's either Snap Yo Fingers, Ridin' Dirty, or that Yung Joc song, all three of which are in the current Hot 97 top 10. The only reason I care at all is that I actually have to drive a fair amount for work. They do also play some decent Dancehall and that Jay-Z/Beyonce song isn't bad.

BTW Hot 97 played a new Nas song today which is fucking fantastic. I am psyched.

I'm don't mean to moan "the state of hip-hop" - the shit is cyclical for sure.

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Friday, 30 June 2006 02:53 (nineteen years ago)

I miss quick wit. I miss multi-syllable words. I miss tight beats.

There's this guy named T.I. you should check out.

― Sym Sym (sym), Friday, 30 June 2006 03:03 (nineteen years ago)

Meh.

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Friday, 30 June 2006 03:04 (nineteen years ago)

Pappa: you are a silly thing.
And we some Tennessee Ti'AAAAANS
Ain't we some Tennessee Ti'AAAAAAAANS

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Friday, 30 June 2006 04:25 (nineteen years ago)

I don't know if I'm tired of Dirty South/screw/crunk or if my two local hip-hop stations just overplay everything to death. "Ridin" and "Ms. New Booty" were awesome the first hundred times.

They play screw music on yr radio station? "Ms. New Booty" was ever awesome?

― deej.. (deej..), Friday, 30 June 2006 04:30 (nineteen years ago)

i was alright with it! anyone got that to my 'eeny meeny miny mo'/synth-kazoo track plz? also is there any joy on 3' high and rising that's not either jaded or sexually oriented (usually both)?

― j blount (papa la bas), Friday, 30 June 2006 06:37 (nineteen years ago)

A Little Bit of Soap?

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 30 June 2006 15:43 (nineteen years ago)

j-live had "satified" that used an augustus pablo melodica sample

― M@tt He1geson, Rendolent Ding-Dong (Matt Helgeson), Friday, 30 June 2006 15:50 (nineteen years ago)

Hah that album was alright. I don't think I like him though, he's like if my elementary school teachers decided to rap. No coincidence he is an elemntary school teacher.

― deej.. (deej..), Friday, 30 June 2006 16:07 (nineteen years ago)

about half was cool, satisfied was a great single, but yeah overall it felt like class.

― M@tt He1geson, Rendolent Ding-Dong (Matt Helgeson), Friday, 30 June 2006 16:11 (nineteen years ago)

two years pass...

being sick of southern rap would be like being sick of b-b-q. impossibibble!!
― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, June 29, 2006 10:48 AM (2 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

― :) Mrs Edward Cullen XD (max), Tuesday, 25 November 2008 15:16 (seventeen years ago)

im sure theres good southern rap under the radar that i never hear but i dont know if i can be bothered to look. ditto for east coast underground guys maybe but im even less inclined to go and search for more joel ortiz types. there was one really excellent dj scream mix cd i had a few years ago hosted by the ying yang twins that had a lot of underground southern stuff that wasnt exactly earth shattering but had some amazing beats and cool flows on it but ive lost it. :(

― titchyschneiderMk2, Tuesday, 25 November 2008 18:56 (seventeen years ago)

lol me talking abt j-live on a southern rap thread

― eatin' mangos in trinidad with attorneys (M@tt He1ges0n), Tuesday, 25 November 2008 19:06 (seventeen years ago)

what an awful thread

― BIG HOOS enjoys a cold mindbeer (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Tuesday, 25 November 2008 21:57 (seventeen years ago)

three weeks pass...

http://www.damagecontrolradio.org/graphics/NY2007/QuitHatingBLOG.jpg

― Uncle Shavedpipecock (and what), Tuesday, 16 December 2008 22:06 (seventeen years ago)

dear God get me back to the south ASAP

― J0hn D., Tuesday, 16 December 2008 22:13 (seventeen years ago)

i think its time for bun b to retire.

― titchyschneiderMk2, Tuesday, 16 December 2008 22:16 (seventeen years ago)

titchysuggestBn2

― beggin-ass keith (The Reverend), Tuesday, 16 December 2008 22:17 (seventeen years ago)

staying on topic, i did listen to crunk juice today and thought that lil jon should be up there with dr dre.

― titchyschneiderMk2, Tuesday, 16 December 2008 22:20 (seventeen years ago)

seriously though, why is it so sacrilegious to suggest bun needs to take a holiday? i swear he burnt himself out with all those cameos while pimp was in jail and has never quite recovered.

― titchyschneiderMk2, Tuesday, 16 December 2008 22:21 (seventeen years ago)

I would strongly disagree with that statement, which isn't to say everything he's done since is fire, but he's pretty consistent in his high hit-to-miss ratio.

― beggin-ass keith (The Reverend), Tuesday, 16 December 2008 22:25 (seventeen years ago)

the thing with bun is that most of the time, as long is his voice is on a track in rapping form it doesn't really matter what else is going on. this is why titchy is wrong

― the usic man from the hilarious ilx message boards (J0rdan S.), Tuesday, 16 December 2008 22:51 (seventeen years ago)

"as long is his voice is on a track in rapping form it doesn't really matter what else is going on"

bun prob thinks the same. which might explain why trill and trill 2 were so ho-hum.

― titchyschneiderMk2, Tuesday, 16 December 2008 22:53 (seventeen years ago)

II TRILL IS NOT HO HUM

― surfboard dudes get wiped out, totally, Tuesday, 16 December 2008 23:10 (seventeen years ago)

it isnt great but i dont get why u would want a legend to stop rapping

― K DEF FROM REAL LIVE (deej), Tuesday, 16 December 2008 23:14 (seventeen years ago)

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