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Sweet. I want to hear that song on the radio! blaugh

I like rap... stupid, crappy rap. It has no value whatsoever, but it is simply hilarious.

But I love really good rap/hip-hop. The fact that you wouldn't give Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common, Rakim, Outkast, or Immortal Technique a listen because they do the rap/hip-hop thing hurts me inside. There is a difference between rap and hip-hop, but I never have quite discerned what it is... I have a feeling you all are also lumping the two together.

Mos Def is brilliant. You might have noticed him in the film adaptation of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. And 13 Blocks. Among others. He is an amazingly clever rapper. He spits the truth, as they say.

Talib Kweli also spits the truth; he even had a great collab album, Blackstar, with Mos Def. It brings me great happiness. His music has socially redeeming qualities, carries a good message, and you can dance/bob your head to it.

Common is liquid gold. He was in Smokin' Aces, as well. His flow is so smooth, it just... wow. He also spits the truth.

Rakim also has an amazing flow. He's just sick. He's a bit older than the aforementioned, and I am fairly certain he is considered hip-hop. Rage against the Machine did a cover of his song "Microphone Fiend" on their album Renegades.

Outkast... come on, you guys should know this.

Immortal Technique is just wickedwickedwicked. I say it three times together for extra emphasis. This man can rip it up, and he also has a message. These things I love, if you couldn't tell by now.

Also, I could not help but notice the whole offensive material flag going up...

Common is relatively clean. Mos Def is... eh, not offensive. Talib gets angry from time-to-time. Immortal is... very angry and non-apologetic. Not for the light-hearted. Rakim is also relatively clean.

But to paraphrase Immortal, rap and hip-hop evolved from the tribal music of Africa. It was something of an attempt to recapture that purity of culture that was lost. It is a platform for the oppressed to express their anguish. Think of it as grunge and angsty rock with something worthy of compliant (by the way, I love grunge and angtsy rock, but still). Common and Immortal really explain it better than I ever could... see "The Corner" by Common or Revolutionary, Vol. 2 by Immortal Technique. The point there are difficult things happening around them, and they choose to speak about them. But because Talib has a song about the traps young African-American women fall into (boys, alcohol, drugs, and boys), you are going to completely right off him and his genre? Well, we should do the same Byron and Shelley and Catullus and Vergil and Homer and... you get my point. Life is not pretty; art (and music) reflect this.

The point is they are not the Dre's and Snoop's and Lil' Jon's that we often associate with rap/hip-hop. They are not just rapping about bitches and hoes, forties and blunts. They have something to say and a right to be heard.

Egads. So, there's my rap/hip-hop rant...

...and for the record, I will listen to anything at least once before making a judgement. So, yea, I like a lot of everything.

Wuff. And here I thought I was being an a** about it. I will have to check them out.

eek That's a long list of people I gotta listen to next month xp I'll be sure to check at least one of them out.

Have you guys heard remixes etc. of asian songs? (FYI. when I say asian, I tend to mean Indians and other mid easterns...) Some of those are really cool. I would refer them to you....but it's not like you'd understand a word anyway XD

neutral Good point... I'll try and find something suitable

I love any song or artist that can evoke emotion. = 3

Speaking of emotion, I just heard Muse's "Endless" from "Absolution" and it made my heart beat heart