hock u know my views on it i totally agree with u on the 50 cent deal and shit like that they suck they dont have ne opinions or ne thing and u know that i think like tu pac and the other guys u like i think do have tremendous talent but i am dissing the stupid ass gangster rap like 50 cent and dr dre and them the ones who rap about pointless shit but tupac has messages in his music wich i respect casue that man did have talent but also these r just people sharing there veiws on rap like i have u have ur right to dis rock if u want and i hope people dont come down on u but seiously they r just veiws bro, catch ya later
There is a differance between Rap And Hip-Hop.
Here's my viewpoint...
RAP is one of the basic elements of HIP HOP. Artists on the radio don't "hip hop," they "rap." So in my eyes, Kweli, Mos Def, Nelly and Fabolous are all rappers.
As far as Nelly and Ja Rule and all these other mainstream artists go, I don't feel I can say whether or not they're hip hop because I didn't invent hip hop, so I'm in no position to say "he's not hip hop" (with the exception of Ja Rule - I think we can all agree that he's pop). But I do feel completely comfortable calling certain rappers garbage and insult what I feel the culture of hip hop should be (like Clue and Kay Slay, who call themselves hip hop dj's but can't even actually "mix" a tape or cut up a record, and rappers who give the impression that the culture is all about monogomy and chemical dependency). If Baby Birdman wants to rap all day about all the money he has and the revolving doors of women in his house, then whatever...IF that's reality (which it's not). True Hip hop is about reality, and all these cars and diamonds are NOT. Therefore, he's lying and decieving today's youth and giving them pipe dreams to senselessly smoke on.
But the real beef with me comes with the A&Rs and media. The biggest problem I have is that there's no balance on radio and tv. The waves are consistenly flooded with the same artists and content. Now I'm also not saying I want The Roots and Mos Def on the radio and tv all day long because there'd still be no balance. All I want is for them to get the same light and opportunities as everyone else. There's different strokes for different folks, so I don't expect everyone to dig Black Star and KRS-One like I do. But I'd like everyone to get the opportunity to become aware of the versatility of hip hop. I want everyone to be able to hear the more positive and intellectual side of the culture.
So that's where most of my hate comes from. It's nothing personal with Nelly, it's that I'm damned sick of hearing him, and I'm damned sick of people shunning hip hop because all they see is diamonds, drugs, fast women and fast cars. Ignorance pisses me off, and that's what these big labels and corporations are handing out on the corner.
I'll just sum it up with a quote from KRS-One...
"RAP is something you do, HIP HOP is something you live."
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If you want to know more about the history of Hip-Hop check out:
If you want to know the differance between Hip-Hop and Rap, then check out a movie called Brown Sugar. You should be able to catch it on HBO this month.
Brown Sugar (2002)
CAST:
DRE - Taye Diggs
SIDNEY - Sanaa Lathan
CHRIS - Mos Def
REESE - Nicole Ari Parker
KELBY - Boris Kodjoe
FRANCINE - Queen Latifah
SIMON - Wendell Pierce
REN -Erik Weiner
TEN - Reggi Wyns
MEGHAN - Melissa Martinez
YOUNG SIDNEY - Aaliyyah Hill
YOUNG DRE - Marc John Jefferies
OLDER WOMAN - Venida Evans
TRISH HOFMANN - Rosalyn Coleman