I have heard some very good rap, although I have heard more bad. Mostly I find a lot of it one dimensional, the emotions behind most seem to run the gamut from anger to rage and back.
"Yeah, you hate everything, we get the picture." *yawn* "Now go away little boy you're boring me." would be what I would say to most of them.
Will Smith is one that understands that. While it maybe "bubblegum rap" it still has a wider range then 90% of the stuff out there.
Rap will not come into it's own (IMHO) until it loses the "gangsta" bit. The problem is that anger is the most accessible emotion that you can reach with beat. Hitting other emotional buttons takes more work.
"Rap will not come into it's own (IMHO) until it loses the "gangsta" bit. The problem is that anger is the most accessible emotion that you can reach with beat. Hitting other emotional buttons takes more work."
It has come into it's own. But you're right, the "gangster" thing seems to go on and on, despite the fact that it is more played out and passe than anything I have ever seen. The stuff that I hear on the radio and that is on MTV. (I don't watch MTV, but I assume it's there) is just so devoid of creativity it's just sad. And one main reason for this is that a rapper gets big, then what he does is bring all of his no talent friends from the neighborhood, makes them his "crew".. then here comes each one of THEIR "solo albums" in rapid succesion, to flood the airwaves with more of the same "bling bling" garbage and rented Ferrari's and Limos used for the videos.
(You sold 200,000 copies and now you've got a helicopter than you drink champagne on with a bunch of girls in thongs? Sure pal.)
That's another reason I like Em. Never a "gangster".. self depreciating at times and has often been quicker to point out his own shortcomings than somebody else's. Hits on every emotion, although in the beginning there was a lot of anger, but his was real and he explained it with detail and sharp clarity that I had yet to hear in all my years of watching the music business run it's course, nor have I heard it since? (Maybe Tupac was close, he was "gangster" rap, but very tallented, nonetheless and also didn't limit his emotional output to mere "ghetto rage")
Em's place is not on the streets, his place is in the studio. That's where he shines, that's where he belongs.
I predict that after this album, he will continue to run his record company and become a mogul of music, getting into rock and other types of music. He has good business sense.
Bones