Should trap music be it’s own genre? Recent Post Malone success gives relevance to the debate. (1 Viewer)

[Officer Pete Malloy]

DJ Kool Herc or GTFO

https://goo.gl/images/FopKL7

 

[rockaction]

The one thing that I think is hard for old 40 year-old white guys to get is that one's ability to actually rap rap doesn't really matter anymore. Lyricism has fallen by the wayside.  

Run The Jewels and their string of sell-outs and tour with Lorde wants a word with you. 

eta* But your point is taken, and astute as usual.  

 

[mr. furley]

I think my biggest problem with today’s rap, coming from a white guy born in 77  who grew up in the golden age of rap with Big Daddy Kane, Eric B. & Rakim, EPMD, public enemy and then later; Pac, Biggie and J, and everybody in between like; Wu; De La Soul, black sheep, Tribe , you name it… These new dudes are just putting out some #### that gets popular and it’s almost like it’s by accident. It’s like guys like Post Malone are shocked that they can make a killing doing this bull####, you can see it in their interviews that they are even shocked at this ####. Then because these guys make money they justify their art like they’re good. I see all these comments saying to the people who are hating on these guys is, so what he dropped out of high school and he makes boatloads of money, that makes them successful. 

'75 here. same boat.

i read a story about this guy where he said he tried metal, punk, country, rock, pop.... and just kept going until he got to hip hop because he saw how much money people were making without having to spend a bunch of time building up a following by touring.

he's just a sycophant and a bloodsucker

miserable. the faster he disappears the better.

 

[Ilov80s]

'75 here. same boat.

i read a story about this guy where he said he tried metal, punk, country, rock, pop.... and just kept going until he got to hip hop because he saw how much money people were making without having to spend a bunch of time building up a following by touring.

he's just a sycophant and a bloodsucker

miserable. the faster he disappears the better.

Or he’s a talented guy who at 15 was auditioned for what went on to be a pretty successful band. He plays guitar, he has a wide array of musical influences and idolizes Bob Dylan. He’s no more a bloodsucker than any other young pop star. 

 

[drpill]

Or he’s a talented guy who at 15 was auditioned for what went on to be a pretty successful band. He plays guitar, he has a wide array of musical influences and idolizes Bob Dylan. He’s no more a bloodsucker than any other young pop star. 

He may be talented but if what Furley claims he said is true, it's pretty cynical and reflects an opportunism that has consumed much of hip hop and robbed it of a lot of its original authenticity. It's not his fault that the genre has become a marketing-driven corporate machine, of course, but it doesn't make it less accurate.

For my part, I don't know if I've ever heard his music so I can't really comment much, but it sounds like he's riding the same wave to success that Iggy Azalea, Macklemore, etc have. I see why guys like J. Cole worry about the future of hip hop being "completely white" when the industry is getting a taste of how marketable artists like this can be.

 

[Ilov80s]

He may be talented but if what Furley claims he said is true, it's pretty cynical and reflects an opportunism that has consumed much of hip hop and robbed it of a lot of its original authenticity. It's not his fault that the genre has become a marketing-driven corporate machine, of course, but it doesn't make it less accurate.

For my part, I don't know if I've ever heard his music so I can't really comment much, but it sounds like he's riding the same wave to success that Iggy Azalea, Macklemore, etc have. I see why guys like J. Cole worry about the future of hip hop being "completely white" when the industry is getting a taste of how marketable artists like this can be.

Very fair points. There’s certainly a long history of white people taking traditionally black music and using it to become the leading figure of the genre. That’s a whole different thread itself.

 

[mr. furley]

Or he’s a talented guy who at 15 was auditioned for what went on to be a pretty successful band. He plays guitar, he has a wide array of musical influences and idolizes Bob Dylan. He’s no more a bloodsucker than any other young pop star. 

hip hop is too insular and dedicated to ever fully accept someone who said "oh, look, i can make a lot of money by doing this even though i really don't even like it... i'll just play this part until it wears off and then i'll go make a country album."

i would consider anyone that makes music for any reason other than that they love it and are driven by it, to be a bloodsucker. music is a pure expression of oneself. it's a part of a person. it comes from the soul. 

pop stars, to me, are people who just want to be famous by any means. they don't care if it's joining a boy band, frosting their tips and singing to 11 year old girls. they'll do anything just to be on tv/radio. modern, purposefully, pop music is bland, flavorless, soul-less music generally.

hip hop, especially, is a pure expression of angst and pain.. or joy and love. imo, it shouldn't be co-opted by people who see it as a money grab opportunity because they can shapeshift on youtube and get views.

i think of it similar to anything that gets popular. there are the people who were there at or near the beginning to whom it really matters. a lot. they live and breathe "it". then as whatever "it" is grows, more and more casual people are drawn in... they aren't fully invested.. they don't care about what came before.. they only want "it" to fit what they want right now. their numbers grow until they overwhelm the core audience.... and the they ruin what once made "it" great... before moving on to the next interest/fad.

for me, i was one of 2 or 3 hip hop fans in elementary & high school (the other 2 being my brother and his friend who was half in/half out). people didn't even rate hip hop. nobody cared and if they did it was to mock me for listening...making up "raps" that were flat insulting and racist, etc. then Snoop hit and those same people were like "rap is a joke... i like country.... except Snoop... i love that guy... he's a real gangster guy"

and slowly those Snoop only fans found Dre, too... and then Tupac... and Eminem.... but that was the only hip hop they listened to. otherwise they were largely listening to country & rock & metal. it meant hip hop grew exponentially as lots of casual fans caught on to a couple big artists and it drove expansion... but those same people drifted back to country & rock & metal and left hip hop behind when a new Eminem album wasn't playing at the bar.... and their friends wanted to go to a Tom Petty concert.

guys like this Post Malone dude are the casual leeches that will move on when the luster wears off and the well drys up. then you have guys like Rakim, or Chuck D and Flav who are 50+ but still touring and playing small shows because they live and breathe their passion.

also, i'm old, super protective of hip hop and i realize that 13 year old's don't, and probably shouldn't, care about any of this.  

 

[Ilov80s]

There’s a lot to chew on there. I’ve got a lot of thoughts and may come back to it. 

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Run The Jewels and their string of sell-outs and tour with Lorde wants a word with you. 

eta* But your point is taken, and astute as usual.  

True, and our buddy Terrence Thornton  is having a pretty good run too. There are still a few.