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Thread in SLAM about the tsunami rap got me thinking, what makes a person a good rap artist?

A rapper doesn't seem to need good singing voice, doesn't need to be able to play an instrument and if they're like a lot of singers don't need to write their own songs.

So what are the requirements for being called a good rapper?

Getting shot. The more times, the better.

Sadly, I am completely serious here. I once read an article praising some rapper over 50 cent because he was shot 7, not 5 times.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Be a jackass 'hood-type sellout. That's how it worked for all of them.

I'd say a good, catchy hook, and something other than that wanna-be thug voice that just about every rapper has nowadays.

For commercial success, it's a whole different story. There, it's a matter of how many boobs, expleitives, and blurred-out clothing logos are in the videos. That stuff sells like hotcakes in the 2-5 democraphic.

If you can make up creative rhymes and say them to a repetitive bass or instrumental tune playing in the background i'd say that qualifies you as a rapper. As far as I can tell, how good of a rapper you are is primarily based off how well you can rhyme words, especially if you can do them smoothly and on the fly without ever getting stuck trying to think.

(Of course it would probably help if you dress yourself up as a "gangsta" or "In da hood" type as well since that what the image of most rappers seems to be)

Belongs in AMP.

Nothing. Ever. Rap sucks.

Rap these days seems to intail either having a bass beat more repetative than an Aphex Twin song blasting away while a guest performer sings the majority of the lyrics, or a "remix" of the song which is little more than a re-arranged version of the original song, lyrics intact, with a drum machine playing in the background while the "rappers" go "uh-huh", "yeah", and repeat the chorus.

Therefore, I define all good "rappers" as actually being hip-hop artists.

Oh, and... Linkin Park are rappers. They actually write their own music... but I'd prefer it if they just followed the above formula. JESUS, LEARN TO PLAY SOME INSTURMENTS! WE DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR SKILLZ WITH FROOTY LOOPS!

1. Good sense of rhythm and good rhythmic vocabulary.
2. Good flow/groove. If they can't groove, #1 means nothing.
3. Good command of language (I'd count slang as part of this.)
4. Able to blend with other instruments/loops/turntables.

Rogue 9 wrote:Nothing. Ever. Rap sucks.

There is something redeeming in all types of music. All types.

Zaia wrote:

Rogue 9 wrote:Nothing. Ever. Rap sucks.

There is something redeeming in all types of music. All types.

True. This is where we get into the realm of the "Is talking about raping somebody's mother over a drum beat really music?" discussion.

Rogue 9 wrote:

Zaia wrote:

Rogue 9 wrote:Nothing. Ever. Rap sucks.

There is something redeeming in all types of music. All types.

True. This is where we get into the realm of the "Is talking about raping somebody's mother over a drum beat really music?" discussion.

Yes it is. Next?

never been any type of fan of rap. though about the only things i've listened to that resemble rap that come close are Linkin Park, and Beastie Boys.

How dare you put Linkin Park and the Beastie Boys in the same sentence!

Here's something I didn't have the forethought to come up with for my previous post:

Linkin Park puts the "rap" in "crap".

I'm aware most of the people on this board don't like rap, and everyone's entitled to his opinion. But "RAP SUXORZ LOLOLOL!!!!!1111oneoneone!111!1" posts are spam, and will be treated thusly.

They have to be called Molotov.

You have to have style while putting the other MCs in denial, you have to stay prolific and come up with a new gimmick, you can't just xerox someone elses flow and if they beg for more never say no, cos a true lyrical master saves your party from disaster, by breaking out rhymes and eloquent funk and never going out like a lame ass punk.

Word to your mother.

Zaia wrote:

Rogue 9 wrote:

Zaia wrote: There is something redeeming in all types of music. All types.

True. This is where we get into the realm of the "Is talking about raping somebody's mother over a drum beat really music?" discussion.

Yes it is. Next?

Hey, Z, doesn't music require melody?

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

fgalkin wrote:Hey, Z, doesn't music require melody?

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

No, actually, it doesn't. There are battery percussion pieces that are just drums, nothing pitched so there is no "melody," so to speak.

Then poetry is also music.

Slartibartfast wrote:Then poetry is also music.

Speaking abstractly, yes, since rhythm is an integral part of it. There is a piece entitled 4'33" by John Cage; it's a piece of framed silence, which is supposed to be no sound (that the theory behind pieces with/of framed silence, anyway). Of course, it ends up not really being four minutes and thirty-three seconds of complete silence because that's not possible. The orchestra just sits there for that long, and the point of the piece is to draw attention to sounds that occur during that time (feet shuffling, people coughing, etc) and the 'rhythms' they create. It's sort of the orchestral equivalent of modern art since it doesn't fit the general consensus on what orchestral music is (ie: no instruments being played at all during it, for starters), but technically it still fits the description of music.

Zaia wrote:

Slartibartfast wrote:Then poetry is also music.

Speaking abstractly, yes, since rhythm is an integral part of it. There is a piece entitled 4'33" by John Cage; it's a piece of framed silence, which is supposed to be no sound (that the theory behind pieces with/of framed silence, anyway). Of course, it ends up not really being four minutes and thirty-three seconds of complete silence because that's not possible. The orchestra just sits there for that long, and the point of the piece is to draw attention to sounds that occur during that time (feet shuffling, people coughing, etc) and the 'rhythms' they create. It's sort of the orchestral equivalent of modern art since it doesn't fit the general consensus on what orchestral music is (ie: no instruments being played at all during it, for starters), but technically it still fits the description of music.

Hey can you get me a job in the orchestra to play that piece?

2000AD wrote:So what are the requirements for being called a good rapper?

Wordplay and flow, things that make you go "damn!"

Slartibartfast wrote:Hey can you get me a job in the orchestra to play that piece?

Orchestras don't hire people for one piece at a time.