I guess it's how one can generalize Rock into nothing but screaming. And of course we know that's not the case. Hip-Hop took a turn right after NWA came out and was real with the bad side of living and all, then many more followed and while we still got good rhymes from the likes of Tribe Called Quest, it gradually evolved into what we have now.
The problem is that emcees can flow about killing and get money for it, and people are excepting it. So as long as this method of making money works, these late emcees will continue this pattern. Probally scared to be diverse and change, with fear of backlash or whatnot. Not wanting to ruin the resume they made for themselves. Basically digging the hole that they forced themself into.
The Old School style in the eighties and early nineties was great. I still recall Rakim's "Go See the Doctor", telling people in this great rhyme to be careful who you sleep with. But nowadays the main public is getting fed on how good it felt when [insert] got his [insert] sucked. What a huge turn.
There is still good artists out there, but they're sadly being shoved away without a say by what the main public is able to see when they switch on MTV. Doubt I'll see De La Soul on MTV anytime soon.
I think one of the problems with a lot of rap is that the DJ is being forced to pull too much of the weight for too little of the credit. Think about it-- in your average rock band, the singer may be the centerpiece (although the guitarist often challenges that role), but he's got a good three or four guys at least backing him up on the instrumentals. In rap, all too often a single DJ is expected to provide all of the rhythm and melody that you'd normally need a drummer, bassist, guitarist, etc. to provide, with predictable results: stale, repetitive instrumentals caused by one guy trying to do too much. (Obviously there are exceptions to this, rap bands like The Roots in which the instrumentals include several live instruments, but I'm just speaking in general.)
Hate to keep tooting their horn, but I think this is a big reason that Jurassic 5 is so great. With two DJs, they can work some actual old-school-style scratching in there instead of just the same old looping beats. It keeps things fresh and interesting. I think one of the marks of a great hip-hop group is when you can hear an instrumental version of one of their songs and never get bored.
Heck, what HAPPENED to scratching in hip-hop? It used to be almost as big a part of the music as the rapping, the hip-hop equivalent of rock's guitar solos, but nowadays all the attention goes to the MCs and you're more likely to hear a nice DJ scratch solo in a metal song than a hip-hop song, at least on the radio.
I used to love rap and r&b. Dru Hill (older stuff), Blackstreet, 112 (the older stuff), 2Pac, BIG, Jermaine Dupri were some of my favorite artists. I don't know what happened but I can't stand most of that music now.
to make money, music has to be mainstream. to be mainstream, music has to have cheesy, repetitive lyrics. the question I'd like to ask is how do usher and a lot of rappers get bashed so much when everybody seems to love green day? green day is as popular as ever with their worst album ever... "I walk alone I walk alone I walk alone I walk alone"... how many times is that repeated?No offense to anyone, but I use to be an avid fan of greenday and I just think their current album is so cliche, so once again sorry if I offened anyone. The rap that's getting attention is the worst rap out there. it's the same with all music. originality and creativity usually don't make it to MTV. they look for what's catchy. (like the flavor of the week Lindsay Lohan, with possibly the worst two singles I've ever heard in my life)
Mainstream rap is to good rap as Taco Bell is to homemade Mexican food made by a nice grandmotherly old lady who's been perfecting her cooking technique for a good forty years or so.
Now, if you've listened to Jurassic 5's "Quality Control" or Deltron 3030's self-titled and you STILL profess to dislike rap, there's no hope for a reconciliation between you and the genre. I've seen it happen. But I've seen someone's mind get changed after finally being exposed to quality much more often.
Sorry if any of that post offended anyone....Holy crap I write a lot x_X;