Why is there such snobbery towards Hip-Hop?

The Diabolical Biz

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Also, the view towards Hip-Hop that many here seem to partake of is also recognised within the genre, check out this (hilarious) song by one of my favourite artists (who I'm seeing in December!):

 

Mallefunction

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Stilkon said:
ztara said:
I'm personally put off in a large way by the self glorification. The stance toward women is a big deal too, something i can't really set to one side.
...Pretty much this. I'm starting to get into rap, and I've noticed that it's the likes of Public Enemy and N.W.A.: guys who actually had something to say about their socioeconomic standing. These days rappers all seem to use the same messages (including "I am more famous/richer/tougher/well endowed than you).

That being said, why isn't there more philosophical rap? I mean like a rap equivalent of Tool, Meshuggah or TesseracT. I'd try it.
As a woman, I DEFINITELY don't want to constantly hear about these fuckers 'bangin' dem hoes'. To me, it's just not appealing whatsoever. I've been told by some of my non-white friends that it's about the beat and not the lyrics, but I am totally unable to separate those two parts of a song. Besides, in my eyes a song with good lyrics and no beat has failed as a song, thus vice versa is also failure in my eyes.

I have heard some good Rap and Hip Hop, but it's honestly hard not to judge a genre by what is most popular. After all, those artists are the flagships, the representatives of the popular culture.

However, I will give Rap and Hip Hop this: ALMOST all genres now (least in the top 40) are about the singer's AMAZING life spent partying, how hard it is to be rich, how amazing it is to be rich, etc. People are obsessed with celebrity culture right now because they all want to be famous to. Our music reflects that.

As for the racist thing, I honestly doubt that is the case. I think it's more about the culture (which isn't really based on race anymore) that it seems to present (i.e. current popular culture)

For me personally, I am a huge fan of jazz. No matter the mood, give me a good sax number and I WILL dance.
 

Raven's Nest

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Jazoni89 said:
Indeterminacy said:
Jazoni89 said:
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
Hmm. I'd never really looked into Trip-hop as a genre; just kind of thought of its various artists under the chillout umbrella. Seems like there's some homework for me to do here.
Some trip-hop artists are classed as lounge and chillout that's true, such as Frou Frou (Imogen Heap), and The Supreme Beings of Leisure.

This is a good place to start.

http://rateyourmusic.com/genre/trip+hop

There isn't much on the net for Trip-Hop sadly enough, it's one of those relatively unknown and unappreciated genres of music.
I do love me some trip-hop. I think it has a far larger fan base in the UK and europe though.

My drummer even toured with Massive Attack back in the 90's. Something he never fails to mention every week lol.
 

Hazy992

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Raven said:
Hazy992 said:
Raven said:
Hazy992 said:
Raven said:
Hazy992 said:
I've noticed on here that people are saying 'I don't like it because o~f what they rap about, they all rap about the same thing', but this is incredibly naive. People are generalising hip-hop and ignoring all the truly great stuff out there. You wouldn't say all rock lyrics are the same so I don't know why its OK to do so for hip-hop.
Because behind every stereotype is an unconfortable truth... 90% of the hip-hop or rap music considered popular, is usually shallow and unintelligible. Sure hip-hop has produced a few diamonds in the past... You can't say as a genre it plays on its strengths all that well.
But again that's just the top 40 stuff. Its not representative of the entire rap scene and to say it is is just unfair
Except its not unfair. That's the most popular form of hip-hop... songs about Bitches, ho's, guns and gangstas.
You'll have to square with that I'm afraid. Real artists and fans who know what good music is don't feel insecure about what label their music is given. Just keep supporting the bands and artists you love and promote them and not try pursuade others that not all hip hop is crap. You will never convince the (opposing) mainstream otherwise...
Exactly, its the most POPULAR. It's not the genre's fault that the most popular songs are the worst examples of hip-hop. That's the fault of the record-buying public.
And its the fault of hip hop artists for choosing to produce what seems like a very large proportion of crap. You can't blame the record buying public for that.
A lot of this comes down to record labels as well. The big labels aren't gonna sign someone who's a bit out there as they're not willing to take the risk. They're gonna sign 50 Cent and Flo Rida as that gets them a quick buck. If record labels gave alternative artists a chance and actually got them some exposure then people's views of hip-hop would be vastly different.
 

Charles McGuffin

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It's because Hip-Hop is less about the "music" but the lyrics. And for that I can read a book and don't need a, most times, repetetive DnB loop.

That's why I prefer oldschool metal and classic.

It concentrates more on the sounds made by the instruments.
 

mega48man

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why is there such snobbery towards hip hop?

kanye west and that one clique at school that's super ghetto and the loudest group in the cafeteria (you know who i'm talking about) that's why.

but don't worry, maybe in a couple years when some really good artists and rising stars like kid cudi make a huge best seller hit that tops coldplay, or when a pop artist does the same thing, maybe everyone's view will change more or less then.
 

SUPA FRANKY

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How can anyone ot like hip-hop? I mean, I can understand if its not your thing, but don't you like songs that get stuck in your head? Hip hop has songs like this:


 

trouble_gum

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Hazy992 said:
*snip*

Exactly, its the most POPULAR. It's not the genre's fault that the most popular songs are the worst examples of hip-hop. That's the fault of the record-buying public.
And because its the most popular variety, it's the one which most people will come into contact with, ergo, it's the one they'll most likely form an opinion based on. For much the same reasons that Black Metal is associated with murdering each other and burning churches, hip-hop and rap are associated with bling; hos, 'gangstas' and black people shooting each other.

Unfortunately, this is something of a negative feedback loop; that stuff shifts units and creates a drive to release more of the same, which only serves to reinforce the stereotype and the poor perception many have of the genre(s).

Personally, I just don't like rap. I'll relent a little on stuff like Rage Against The Machine, Bloodhound Gang and some Beastie Boys tracks. But generally, I just can't listen to someone rapping without finding it musically grating. Fear Factory's "Back The Fuck Up" makes me cringe, Eminem bores me and I had the one Papa Roach album I bought off my CD player before the first verse was done (the lyrics "my name's Coby Dick, Mr. Dick if you're nasty / gonna rock the mic with a voice that's raspy" made me wish for nuclear holocaust). I find the bombastic style and self-aggrandising lyrical content unpalatable and there's just something about most of the genre(s) delivery that I find aurally unpleasant.

I generally like bands I listen to have a lead singer who can sing. They don't always have to be classically trained opera singers, and my definition of "sing" is pretty darn loose when it comes to Rock/metal, but rap/hip-hop tends to be spoken rather than sung and...well...I just don't like that. It's irrational, but there you go.

:ramble off:
 

winter2

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Rap is such a mixed bag for me. I'm a huge fan of 90's and early 2000 rap, but I can understand why some people would have problems with it. I guess it just comes down to personal taste and I'll leave it at that.

Public Enemy's Terrordome is the one rap song that really turned me onto the genre. Awesome song from an awesome album.
 

quantum mechanic

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I think the general question of why people don't like hip-hop has probably been answered already, so I'll just say I'm not the biggest fan because I have difficulty making out what the lyrics are in many genres (some disconnect between my ears and my brain just won't let me make out the words sometimes), but since hip-hop and rap often have really fast vocals, this exacerbates the problem. I just can't understand what they're saying most of the time, so I sort of tune out. Good beats, though.
 

Hazy992

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trouble_gum said:
I generally like bands I listen to have a lead singer who can sing. They don't always have to be classically trained opera singers, and my definition of "sing" is pretty darn loose when it comes to Rock/metal, but rap/hip-hop tends to be spoken rather than sung and...well...I just don't like that. It's irrational, but there you go.
But not liking it because you simply don't like the fact they don't sing is a legitimate criticsim.
 

Raven's Nest

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Hazy992 said:
Raven said:
Hazy992 said:
Raven said:
Hazy992 said:
Raven said:
Hazy992 said:
I've noticed on here that people are saying 'I don't like it because o~f what they rap about, they all rap about the same thing', but this is incredibly naive. People are generalising hip-hop and ignoring all the truly great stuff out there. You wouldn't say all rock lyrics are the same so I don't know why its OK to do so for hip-hop.
Because behind every stereotype is an unconfortable truth... 90% of the hip-hop or rap music considered popular, is usually shallow and unintelligible. Sure hip-hop has produced a few diamonds in the past... You can't say as a genre it plays on its strengths all that well.
But again that's just the top 40 stuff. Its not representative of the entire rap scene and to say it is is just unfair
Except its not unfair. That's the most popular form of hip-hop... songs about Bitches, ho's, guns and gangstas.
You'll have to square with that I'm afraid. Real artists and fans who know what good music is don't feel insecure about what label their music is given. Just keep supporting the bands and artists you love and promote them and not try pursuade others that not all hip hop is crap. You will never convince the (opposing) mainstream otherwise...
Exactly, its the most POPULAR. It's not the genre's fault that the most popular songs are the worst examples of hip-hop. That's the fault of the record-buying public.
And its the fault of hip hop artists for choosing to produce what seems like a very large proportion of crap. You can't blame the record buying public for that.
A lot of this comes down to record labels as well. The big labels aren't gonna sign someone who's a bit out there as they're not willing to take the risk. They're gonna sign 50 Cent and Flo Rida as that gets them a quick buck. If record labels gave alternative artists a chance and actually got them some exposure then people's views of hip-hop would be vastly different.
Remind me again who signed 50 Cent to their record label?

Oh yeah Eminem and Dr Dre (both of which I have respect for).

Like it or not, its the artists who make the genre. I thought eminem was the freshest thing to happen to mainstream rap music in years, and he is still relevant and influential now. Yet he championed morons like 50 cent, who in turn dragged the entire rap scene lower in the eyes of the general public. You have to take the good with the bad. But artists like 50 and florida just end up popularising the bad at the expense of the good. Its them you should be mad at not people who might be put off by the first 10 rap records the radio plays them and decide not to delve deeper... id say it was fair enough they dismissed it.
 

BonsaiK

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Hazy992 said:
why are people so dismissive of Hip-Hop?
People are dismissive of things that they don't understand. Rap music has musical rules that are not widely understood, even by many fans and educated musicians. It's the same reason why people are dismissive about pop music, opera, sumo wrestling, synchronised swimming, and so forth. To the casual observer who has no real interest, these things often look daft. To someone educated in that context, they take on a lot of meaning. Don't hold your breath waiting for rap to be understood. Metal is a lot older and is only just about to break that cultural barricade. When Ice Cube gets to retirement age you can probably expect some change around about then, but he's the same age as me and I'm not ready to retire yet.

Oh and to clarify the difference between "rap" and "hip-hop", because not many people in this thread know what they're talking about and are spreading incorrect information:

Rap = a vocal style. Also a musical style, where rapping is involved.

Hip-hop = a cultural movement that encompasses rap music AND breakdancing, beatboxing, DJing and certain grafitti styles.

The words are semi-interchangeable, but not completely. All rap is hip-hop, but not all hip-hop is rap. Make sense?

Further education:

 

The Last Parade

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because of the huge amount of sampling from other songs before hip hop and NO credit was given 98% of the time let alone royalties
 

Doctor Glocktor

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I don't like hip hop/rap for two reasons;

1. I've only heard mainstream stuff, because I generally don't like the genre enough to look deeper into it. Because of this, I've only been exposed to fucktards like Lil' Jon and Eminem.

2. The people that I've encountered who listen to are just the goddamned worst; the whole 'wannabe gangsta' culture that this stuff has spawned is awful, just awful.

Also, how the fuck does Chris Brown keep getting work?
 

Jazoni89

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Raven said:
Jazoni89 said:
Indeterminacy said:
Jazoni89 said:
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
Hmm. I'd never really looked into Trip-hop as a genre; just kind of thought of its various artists under the chillout umbrella. Seems like there's some homework for me to do here.
Some trip-hop artists are classed as lounge and chillout that's true, such as Frou Frou (Imogen Heap), and The Supreme Beings of Leisure.

This is a good place to start.

http://rateyourmusic.com/genre/trip+hop

There isn't much on the net for Trip-Hop sadly enough, it's one of those relatively unknown and unappreciated genres of music.
I do love me some trip-hop. I think it has a far larger fan base in the UK and europe though.

My drummer even toured with Massive Attack back in the 90's. Something he never fails to mention every week lol.
You would think so, but no.

Most of Trip-Hop's popularity spurred from the US believe it or not, that's why America makes all of the more newer Trip-Hop stuff (mostly in the noughties) like Daughter Darling, Thievery Corporation, and all the stuff from Ninja Tunes to name a few. It declined in the UK at least a decade ago, so it was kinda short lived here.