The Rap Thread!

Post Reply New Topic

As a child of the '90s, I grew up on the wave of gangsta rap that just about everybody else at my school was listening to at that time. It started a lifelong love for the genre, even if I still think a lot of the macho lyrics are stupid.

I started listening to rap in the '80s, with Run-DMC and the Fresh Prince. The stuff the kids was listening to when I was younger, I was listening to also.

Then the '90s came around, and I started bringing home CDs that really freaked out the rest of my family. My stepfather told me that the only album he would not allow me to purchase was the 2 Live Crew's As Nasty As They Wanna Be. Then I brought home the Geto Boys, and that was enough to make him regret making that statement. ^.^

My favorite rap artists are as follows -

Run D.M.C.
Ice Cube
Eazy-E
Dr. Dre
The Geto Boys
The Beastie Boys
DJ Quik
Tech N9ne
Eminem

Yeah, I know, all of this is horribly mainstream, but I enjoy it anyway.

So, this thread is for all of those who appreciate rap.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyWYc7ZmJ2M[/youtube]

I've never had a taste for gangsta rap, but rap as an art form is very important to me.
Here's a song I made: Dollhouse.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMDgGbwBm1M[/youtube]

His voice his beautiful when he's rapping and singing! 'Nuff said!

I always liked the NWA related rap music. It's one thing good about being a 90s teenager.

By the way I went to an "Ice Cube" show last year(2011) here in my town in central Oregon. It was the first rap concert I'd ever been to. The rapper WC was also there, and they did a few Westside Connection songs.

I have a really hard time differentiating between rap and hip-hop so I'm sorry if these fall more into the latter.

Public Enemy
MF Doom
Run DMC
Dr. Octagon
The Sugarhill gang
A Tribe Called Quest
Immortal Technique
The Beastie Boys
Wutang Clan
Dr.Dre The Chronic

Rap is a vocal form involving speaking rhytmically, usually over music, usually with an emphasis on rhyme and/or other lyrical techniques. "Rap music" is a general term describing any music where the main vocals are in rap form.
"Hip-hop" is a term that could refer to any of a number of different things depending on who's saying it. Some consider it to be a genre of music, others consider it to be an art movement consisting of certain art forms (breakdancing, rap, DJ:ing/turntablism, sample-based musicianship, aerosol painting, beatboxing, et.c.) and aesthetics, some consider it to be a philosophy of using artistic expression as an alternative to violence, some consider it to be a style of fashion, some consider it to be a style of dance, some consider it to be a lifestyle, some consider it to be synonymous with anything vaguely related to rapping, some consider it to be dangerous and some consider it to be dead.
So, basically, rap is really easy to identify objectively, whereas hip-hop is kind of subjective.

those are all rap in my book.....but i don't include the term hip hop in my book =P

anyone like mf grimm?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSHZmwgx5xs[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDP_hr0JoCQ[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9xATkzvTqo[/youtube]

he used to rap with mf doom...and i used to talk to him on myspace back when it was big...and back when it was primarily about music. =(
(But the fact that he is down to earth when you talk to him is pretty cool)

i delete my music every few months....so sometimes i have really good rap...other times im just downloading random stuff and have a few jems...but my memory is bad and so i can only really recal what is at my fingertips on my hard drive.

a few i have and enjoy right now...

lords of the underground
dj shadow has great beats...but some lame raps on his records a lot of the time...but if your into beats....and a few good raps on there.....
goodiemob has some decent stuff
cyne has some decent songs

These are some real good rap songs. Lately i been listening to these first two songs from Gang Starr. Real intellectual talk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH3hrtp1T84 Moment of Truth - Gang Starr
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT4jQld_FiE Code of the Streets- Gang Starr
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j0Nw9BylZo Lord Knows & If i Die Tonight - Tupac Remix
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gJii4L6Ae0 Shed So Many Tears - Tupac Remix
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRtBgB1nCaU I Ain't Mad at Cha -Tupac
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHWmPI7zpjY They Wanna Bury Me - Tupac
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIN4FSmsa_c Never Had a Friend Like Me - Tupac
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1Y79quJoi4 Someday - Scarface
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbQEI4Wt70w Seen a Man Die - Scarface
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVGpYFjweT8 - Make Your Peace - Scarface (awesome)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0Vk0EL-r8g Smile - Tupac and Scarface
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP1PXRiVoJw I'll C U When u Get There - Coolio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-dLwbnqgF8 The Firm - AZ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y1Emb7Jyks Don't Sweat The Technique - Eric B and Rakim (Real wicked old school!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TN-kDEKxF0 I Ain't No Joke - Eric B and Rakim

INSTRUMENTALS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=935sPACZqT4 The Secret - AZ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qFW1HPr02E New York - Bloods vs Crips
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLXgnq_e_QI GTA San Andreas Theme (Really nice bass)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDcwxeSWMWY Bedroom - David Holmes (instrumental sample of Lord Knows and If i Die Tonight)

coolio
em
drake
weezy
juvenile
big pun (RIP)
fat joe
diddy ( what ever he calls himself today)
Nicki Minaj
snoop
jermaine depri
dr dre

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7qaLXEnrUE

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXmXR98d7T4[/youtube]

California Love by 2pac and Dr. Dre Rocks!!

G-Funk all day every day...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MWtbIZrP8k[/youtube]

I consider myself pretty open-minded with music and enjoy some works of rap. My favorite hip-hop artist still is 2Pac and while I can't relate exactely to the situations he presented in his music, I can definetely relate to the emotional side.

i've just recently started getting into rap and hip hop. It's a really exciting genre and there are so many styles and subjects to choose from! (so very dorky to say it that way, but whatever) I've noticed that I tend to gravitate toward (mostly) white artists. I don't know if that's from some internalized racism or an identification with lyrics that more closely reflect my experience. Right now I'm more interested in the discovery, I'll worry about sorting through all the unconscious motivations later

2 of my current favorites:

POS - Audition Mantra
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kV8Aa9U2JsE[/youtube]

Grieves - On The Rocks
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D1g2g9aCZc[/youtube]

edited to change my selections