Feeling like I already spent my fuel on prior recommendations for last.fm and Unheard Beethoven, I've been doing some mental digging about what I could add to the topic. What I came up with is:
James' Rap Recomendations!
Wherein James Gives Rap-Artist and Track Recommendations With Brief Explanations of the Merits of Each, And in the Order They Surface in His Mental Soup
Yes, I'm reviewing some favorites from "That Genre With the Heavy Beats and All the Obscene Language"
- Ice Cube - It Was a Good Day - Ice Cube is not the most versatile, or flamboyant rap artist, his style is fairly stable and representative of rap of the early to mid nineties. However, this particular track is a delightful romp of imagination based on the premise of what it would be like to have a good day when you live in south-central LA. The wishful thinking is universal, if the setting isn't, as exemplified by this bit of verse:
Picked up a girl been tryin to f*** since the 12th grade
It's ironic, I had the booze she had the chronic
The Lakers beat the Supersonics
It is comical, well-written and not burdened with an annoying, repetetive chorus. - Eminem - Rock Bottom - Eminem is truly a talented individual. I am a fairly decent mimic and I often judge an artists interestingness by their ability to foil my attempts at mimicry through sheer complexity and nuance. Norah Jones and Emmylou Harris come to mind. Eminem has a rapid-fire delivery, interesting rhythms and a seemingly supernatural ability to string together rhyme and slant-rhyme. All of which make it extremely difficult to mimic him convincingly. Take this example of slant-rhyming 'oranges':
There is no denying that my weenie is much bigger than yours is
Mine is like sticking a banana between two oranges
Why you even doing this to yourself, it's pointless
Why do we have to keep on going through this, this is torturous
My point is this
The highlighted words may not sound the same in the reading, but you should hear him rap them. - Dr. Dre - The Watcher - "Thing's just ain't the same for gangstas". At least we have it on Dr. Dre's authority. The master of G-Funk gives the impression he's surveying ages in this reflection on a career in the music industry. 20 years in the music industry is, relatively speaking, ages. But Dre's lyrics always tend to convey the impression that the author has a broader view on the world than his peers. He delivers well-engineered lyrics with one of the most indelicate voices in the business, making an odd presentation that somehow works, perhaps due in large part to the inventive, moody tracks he raps over.
- Jay-Z - Dirt Off Your Shoulder - Snap! Crackle! Pop! That's Jay-Z. Besides a dope moniker, Jay-Z has, and delivers the goods. Early in the track you hear him shout something like: "You're now tuned into the mother*****in' greatest!" And follows with a track that stops you from arguing. His theme is one I had to look up in the Urban Dictionary, but it really wouldn't matter what it meant, you can't help but get caught up in his energy. The track is somewhat techno and his vocal style is kind of breathy, which adds to the effect of him sounding like he's working out really hard.
- The Game - Hate It or Love It - Again, reflections on life in the bad part of town, but this time by an up-and-coming artist, albeit with loads of help from Dr. Dre. This track is sweet, the lyrics blend a world-weary, reflective attitude with a slightly angry one and a track that blends brass, soulful vocals and more in an unusual and very slick way.
Bonus Tracks with no explanation: Nas - I Know I Can, Tupac Shakur - Momma's Just a Little Girl, Snoop Dogg - Gin And Juice
All of these artists have plenty more top-notch tracks.
9 comments :
Will's album recommendation... Tribe Called Quest- Midnight Marauders..."I like my beats hard, like three day old shits" great album.
Hey, I thought way back there somewhere you mentioned that this was a 'family' blog. Talented though these rappers might be, their lyrics still aren´t great fodder for the tykes.....
I do find it interesting that they will do most anything to make a buck as long as it´s somebody else´s child listening to their stuff and paying their bills. Perhaps not these guys. All I know is Madonna made her bundle by giving more than one parent cause for worry and now her kids can´t watch the devil tv or read anything that hasn´t passed by her censorship. What´s good for the goose obviously isn´t good for the gander. Nice double standard capitalism. I love these holier than though types who will hide behind their 'right to make a living'. Yeah. Shock away, just let us know you´re only shocking us to make money off of us, or our kids.
I think the phenomenom of saying whatever to make a buck isn't limited to the rap genre...I tend to find most commercial stuff pretty bad, it seems how you look is more important than actual talent. But corporate music shoves these artists down the kiddies throats and they seem all too excited to consume...many of these artists couldn't win a HS talent show IMO...but back to rap.
I lost interest in it after it also became "big business"...I have no problem with shocking lyrics, because some of these artists coming from shocking backgrounds and their music reflects it, not for shock value IMO but because it hides a thinly veiled rage... I respect that. However as the message has become muddled and the airwaves saturated with "biters" it seems more about portraying some phony image for the sake of being outrageous.
My taste in rap/hip-hop tends to be the older stuff; Tribe, Wu-Tang, Goodie Mob..and even older stuff GM Flash, Sugar Hill Gang, RUN-DMC, Public Enemy....
Is what these guys have to say any worse than Bob Dylan proclaiming "Everybody must get stoned"? (though I would argue he is talking about the biblical term of getting stoned) or AC/DC talking about their "Big Balls" ?
Personally I think kids/people should be exposed to a wide variety of music, it is easier to sort out the crap that way...no matter what and how they are saying it.
I am still enjoying the sounds of Leanord Cohen, recommended to me by the owner of this blog many years ago.
As a result I would take seriously his choice of RAP music if I listened to RAP. But I fear it may never reach the air at my house because I am not yet tired of Leonard. If you have never heard "I'm Your Man", "Angels of Mercy" or "Joan of Arc" by Cohen, you have probably not lived.
Jay-Z is a great recommendation! I like the work he did with Linkin Park as well, although many people thought it was a sell-out by both artists to mix genres, but music is about creativity - sometimes it is good and sometimes it isn't.
Tom
I fail to see how the amazingly well written reviews of the rap music mentioned here disqualify this blog for family.
I have never liked rap. I would put rap as a genre as close to the hate category as I could possibly think of music. That said, and biased though I may be, these well crafted reviews make me want to listen to Eminem and The Game to see what could make someone want to write about them so carefully.
Well done James, your music post addressed the subject matter of music while mine merely invoked a vehicle.
Hey, don´t shoot the messenger. I only know that somewhere back in the archives much milder language was admonished with the "this is a family blogsite" remark.
"...don´t shoot the messenger."
Couldn't have said it better myself. :)
Okay, listened to about an hour of Pandora.com radio station starting with Rock Bottom by Eminem.
After the first 5 they all sounded the same but there were two in that first group that sounded good.
Just Lose It by Eminem - lyrical and an eclectic and entertaining mix of "old" and "new" rythyms
Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check by Busta Rhymes - funny and unique "woopdie doo" (up and down) style that I enjoyed.
I want to go back to my Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker please.
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