Why is there such snobbery towards Hip-Hop?

[wooty]

I like some kinds of rap, I can handle certain rappers or songs with messages in them, I just cant stand this "gangsta" rap stuff. Its like I love Eminem and DrDre, but dont like it when they collaborate. I know it sounds weird, but it was that kind of gang mentality that killed Tupac and biggie smalls.

That and the rappers whos music vids have a fat guy surrounded by scantily clad barbie dolls, just comes off as pretentious and doesnt appeal to me.

 

[wooty]

I like some kinds of rap, I can handle certain rappers or songs with messages in them, I just cant stand this "gangsta" rap stuff. Its like I love Eminem and DrDre, but dont like it when they collaborate. I know it sounds weird, but it was that kind of gang mentality that killed Tupac and biggie smalls.

That and the rappers whos music vids have a fat guy surrounded by scantily clad barbie dolls, just comes off as pretentious and doesnt appeal to me.

 

[SwimmingRock]

Man, it's like, the majority of popular music in any genre is usually shit, you know? And maybe I've had too much to drink, but it seems to me that people are mostly exposed to the really shitty variant. Hell, I used to hate hip hop too when I only knew the "bitches and bling" variety. It took Sage Francis to show me there was good stuff there. But, like with rock and electronica and every other fucking genre, it's buried under a mountain of pure shit.

Aside from that, I don't know the age groups on the Escapist, but I know it's 13+. One of the things I remember from high school is the most basic social distinction being rappers/rockers. As has been mentioned, the Escapist seems to have a metal-heavy membership, so maybe this carries over. Or maybe I'm oversimplifying. Always hard to understand others, you know?

 

[Hazy992]

Now I LOVE Hip-Hop, it's one of my favourite genres and I listen to it probably every day. So it frankly pisses me off when some people (and I must stress, SOME) start saying that rap isn't real music or that it isn't worth their time, thinking they're better than those that listen to it.

Now I know some rap has its problems, like Lil Wayne and 50 Cent being derogatory to women and the sheer idiocy of the Insane Clown Posse, but how can you lump that nonsense with the golden age rap of Public Enemy, Grandmaster Flash and the like or the more alternative stuff of Tyler The Creator or Immortal Technique? Hip-hop is a valid art form just like other genres of music.

I've even heard some people (including here on The Escapist) say that rap, by definition, isn't music at all! Webster defines music as 'vocal, instrumental, or mechanical sounds having rhythm, melody, or harmony.' Hip-Hop clearly hits these criteria.

BTW I'm not a Hip-Hop elitist or anything like that. I listen to loads of genres; Punk, Metal, Soul, Funk, Pop, Dubstep, D'n'B, Grime. If it sounds good I'll listen to it. It just annoys me that people are so harsh and dismissive of something I love so much.

TLDR; why are people so dismissive of Hip-Hop? It's a legitimate genre of music, and a legitimate art form.

Possibly because of the modern hip-hop "artist"'s penchant for stealing (aka sampling) music from respected and well known/established artists and using it as their own. This denotes a lack of talent in that regard, esp. when they go and change up all the lyrics but keep the same beat/rhythm. It takes talent to cover a song in the genre of your choice (e.g. King of Pain by Sting covered by Mudvayne) but to steal the music and write your own lyrics on top of it just smacks of lack of talent.
Also that a good portion of modern hip-hop artists have ignorant or narrow world views and the subsequent rub-off on modern youth is one that makes me sad for the future.
I grew up with great hip-hop/rap artists who had real messages in their music, but today's artists have no message, just bragging rights.

Oh no I agree, a lot of modern hip-hop is just awful. I only really listen to alternative stuff if its modern. Although now and then something good will break into the mainstream.

 

[Naeo]

Double post screwup.

 

[The Diabolical Biz]

Sup brother! As a massive fan of 90s Hip-Hop I hear exactly where you're coming from (Illmatic is my favourite album of all time), sometimes these forums can be ridiculous. All I see is people who clearly have never listened to a Hip-Hop song in their life and simply base their opinions of it from some kind of already-ironic stereotype, bizarrely.

I second that! 90's Hip-hop is amazing (although I'm ashamed to say I've not listened to Illmatic).

Go do that now. It takes a couple listens to sink in, but it's only 40 minutes long and once you've got it...

Bam.

Gonna hit YouTube now Although I have heard NY State of Mind before and liked it (Saints Row 2 has an amazing soundtrack).

Memory Lane (Sittin' In Da Park) is my favourite track of all time.

Enjoy...

 

[Hazy992]

Is this Grime? Cause I like Grime as well

i find it hard to keep a track on the labels. i thnk it could be. Hip hop with distorted guitars etc? all i know is he's awesome.

Grime's a genre that originated in East London and it's kind of a mix of garage and hip-hop. It's a lot faster than hip-hop at about 140bpm:

 

[w9496]

I like a small selection of rap, but I really like hip-hop. You know, Run DMC and the like. It is a viable genre, but it seems alot like country. You can write one decent song, and just be forgotten about right after your big hit.

I think most people that hate on rap/hip-hop just lump it all into one category. The Sugar Hill Gang is NOT in the same genre as Public Enemy.

 

[Freaky Lou]

Immortal Technique? Really? You call that the "golden age of rap"? Have you heard the song Dance with the Devil by Immortal Technique? It's about rape/incest. smh

Well, he already told you that he wasn't referring to Immortal Technique as part of the "golden age". That said, while Dance With The Devil is indeed about incest/rape, it's not a sleaze song; not in the slightest. It is presented as an emotional, sympathetic story about very brutal things.

 

[Hazy992]

Sup brother! As a massive fan of 90s Hip-Hop I hear exactly where you're coming from (Illmatic is my favourite album of all time), sometimes these forums can be ridiculous. All I see is people who clearly have never listened to a Hip-Hop song in their life and simply base their opinions of it from some kind of already-ironic stereotype, bizarrely.

I second that! 90's Hip-hop is amazing (although I'm ashamed to say I've not listened to Illmatic).

Go do that now. It takes a couple listens to sink in, but it's only 40 minutes long and once you've got it...

Bam.

Gonna hit YouTube now Although I have heard NY State of Mind before and liked it (Saints Row 2 has an amazing soundtrack).

Memory Lane (Sittin' In Da Park) is my favourite track of all time.

Enjoy...

That is a damn good song!

 

[The Diabolical Biz]

Sup brother! As a massive fan of 90s Hip-Hop I hear exactly where you're coming from (Illmatic is my favourite album of all time), sometimes these forums can be ridiculous. All I see is people who clearly have never listened to a Hip-Hop song in their life and simply base their opinions of it from some kind of already-ironic stereotype, bizarrely.

I second that! 90's Hip-hop is amazing (although I'm ashamed to say I've not listened to Illmatic).

Go do that now. It takes a couple listens to sink in, but it's only 40 minutes long and once you've got it...

Bam.

Gonna hit YouTube now Although I have heard NY State of Mind before and liked it (Saints Row 2 has an amazing soundtrack).

Memory Lane (Sittin' In Da Park) is my favourite track of all time.

Enjoy...

That is a damn good song!

The final verse...damnn! Gets me every time.

 

[AWAR]

There is some rap with as much meaning to it as actual poetry. I recently came across this and it almost made me cry..

 

[Vigormortis]

why are people so dismissive of Hip-Hop? It's a legitimate genre of music, and a legitimate art form.

I actually full-heartedly agree with you. Hip-hop and rap are true, legitimate forms of expressive music. (i.e. art) They are a form of poetry, really.

The issue I think most people have, and it's a valid if over-exaggerated one, is that most of it is derogatory, needlessly controversial, and demeaning towards women or other groups. Not to mention most of what's around today is, well, garbage. It's lost any semblance of relevance and musicality. (and yes, rap of yesteryear, and some of today, have quite a bit of musicality to it. examples of just few and far between now. which is true of most music forms.)

I'm not a huge fan of the genre as a whole anymore, but there are still a few rappers around who are still true to the form. Take Aesop Rock, for example. These guys are fantastic. There's a good level of musicality to their songs as well as an exquisite flow of lyrics with real meaning.

 

[Hazy992]

Problem is, the majority of it sucks ass.

There have been some great hip hop artists, its just not my genre of music, but what you hear nowadays... Man, I cant even remember the last time I heard a great hip hop tune that was made in the last 4 years. Can you, OP?

To me, its a long dead genre of music. For every good guy theres 50000 Lil Waynes. Sorry to get all elitist on you, but the ratio simply isnt as appalling in other genres.

Uh, what about this?

And besides, even if you can't think of any modern hip-hop songs that are good, you can't just dismiss the entire genre,

 

[Jazoni89]

I admittedly am not a huge fan of Hip-Hop, but I can appreciate the genre, because I'm a fan of it's derivative form Trip-Hop. Which is pretty much Hip-hop beats, scratching and samples, but minus the rapping and distastful lyrics that are associated with the genre. Instead replaced with mostly echoic Female vocals, it's really good stuff, and I recommend the genre for people who are not big on the rapping part of Hip-Hop.

Here's some choice favourites.

Spoiler

 

[Yokai]

There are a couple of rap and hip-hop songs I like. The genre has potential, but it's so ridden with egotism, misogyny and "thug life" nonsense that in general I stick to genres of music that I find more enjoyable. I like my music to be more than shameless self-plugging. Again, I'm well aware that's only a portion of the genre, but it's significantly more difficult for me to pull songs I like out of the inevitable crap.

I admittedly am not a huge fan of Hip-Hop, but I can appreciate the genre, because I'm a fan of it's derivative form Trip-Hop. Which is pretty much Hip-hop beats and scratching, but minus the rapping and distastful lyrics that are associated with the genre. Instead replaced with mostly echoic Female vocals, it's really good stuff, and I recommend the genre for people who are not big on the rapping part of Hip-Hop.

Here's some choice favourites.

Spoiler

Trip-hop is great--I can't get enough of Massive Attack.

 

[Thistlehart]

I tend to split Hip-Hop and Rap into separate genres.

I don't like Rap because there's not much to it but someone speaking in rhyme to a rather bland beat-track in the background. The best I can give it is that it's like unrefined poetry with an odd meter and a lot of bass. And speaking of bass, it also doesn't help that most of my exposure to Rap comes from people blasting it out of their cars with a sub-woofer that vibrates the chassis. Not appealing in the slightest. In fact it mostly pisses me off.

Hip-Hop, though, I can enjoy. At least there's more melody to it and I can pick out actual instruments beyond a thumpy, crappy bass-track. It actually sounds like music to me. There are more sounds that are working together to support the vocals, and the vocals, while still very rhythmic and staccato, work well with the music.

I would say that most people look down on Rap because of the rather unpleasant gangsta rap scene that is associated with it. That may be unfair, but that's the most visible face of the genre in most cases.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I think you mean RAP, not HIP-HOP.

That's actually a British distinction. In the US, it's all rap; hip hop is just an outdated term for it, and anyone using it past the mid to late 80's winds up looking too white to live.

OT: It's because people don't know how to listen to it. Seriously. It's not that 99% of all music is crap so much as 99% of people don't bother to learn what parts to listen to in types of music they didn't grow up on. Metal heads have the same stigma; people used to listening to pop bash it because of the vocals, when in metal, the vocals are just another instrument in the mix -- and can be melodic, harmonic, or even rhythmic instruments depending on the singer's style and how they fit in the mix. Rap is the same way -- people are listening for a melody, when it's really about the words and the beat. Oh, and I'll add to it that pop is about getting a driving beat and a catchy melody going, so that people can dance. A lot of internet music elitists don't get that.