In Reply to: HIP Hop is Crap posted by 2 Gear on November 4, 2004 at 10:12:35:
First off...I'll restate the big 'yawn' as this has been beaten into the ground.And secondly, it isn't just "anyone" that can properly pull off the role of DJ or MC. Like it or not, a certain intangible quality...a certain presence and charisma is necessary to transcend the legions of wannabes. That aside, I'd probably agree that most popular hip-hop will qualify as rubbish. Same goes for a large majority of popular 'rock', popular 'pop', popular 'country', etc. etc. Fortunately, what is popular and marketed represents, at best, a fraction of a percent of the music that is actually out there. Unfortunately, most people aren't avid music geeks and will never gain and/or justify the ambition or dedication that it takes to dig past the veneer, thereby basing their opinions of any music idiom by what's on the radio, commercials, MTV or otherwise passively encountered media.
Now I'm definitely NOT a hip-hop fan (although I love a lot of the early '70's deejay reggae and dub recordings that set the precedent)but after pretty much dissing the genre for a long time, I have become aware of some of the indie and 'underground' hip-hop recordings and have begun to appreciate some of the sub-genres that fly under the ambiguous banner of hip-hop. I would refer people to the website of Aquarius Records, an on-line/storefront retailer in San Francisco that specializes in extensively mining obscure and eclectic genres where they can check out the extensive listings under the hip-hop category and review the many sound samples. They're a little TOO enthusiastic about hip-hop in my opinion, but it's a good resource to check out. They cover a lot of ground...from the mainstream to the hopelessly obscure.
Bryan K.,
Music Lover & President-elect of C.C.A.C. (Concerned Citizens Against Cilantro)
Edits: 30/50/01
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Follow Ups
- Re: HIP Hop is Crap - centurymantra 10:06:30 11/08/04 (0)