What makes a good rapper?

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2005-02-03 10:21pm

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.

That has got to be incredibly uncomfortable for everybody involved.

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2005-02-03 10:54pm

Zaia wrote:
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.

Well, we make sure we play it exceptionally well, so we get asked for several encores

GrandMasterTerwynn · Post by **GrandMasterTerwynn** » 2005-02-03 11:16pm

2000AD wrote: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?

Ideally topics that are different from the usual "I'm a badass muthafucka who's gonna pimp my hos and gold chains on up in da hood, chill wit' my homiez in my pimpin' low-rider and bust a cap in yo' ass." Also, putting together beats that are actually interesting, and having a good sense of timing and delivery. They should also do it in iambic pentameter

but that's optional.

Obloquium · Post by **Obloquium** » 2005-02-03 11:37pm

Look around. If you gotta Scarface poster on your wall then gangsta rap's subject matter isn't what you have a problem with.

Obloquium · Post by **Obloquium** » 2005-02-03 11:45pm

Darth Fanboy wrote: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.

It's in the first bar that unknowns'll turn star
That point on the track where the third degree burn starts
When he lay out the legend from the birth of his first scar
to precise date, hour, minute and second he cursed God
From the exact moment his troop learned to surge hard
like Vern Barnes in Two Oh for gold, loot they earn large
And hype is wealth, who wanna argue with that?
Overcharge the pack if a nigga get so unlike'isself
So bad that by Track Five nigga fights'isself
Like God smite his kinfolk, Job despite his health
And I scribed myself, with every check I wrote
Fifty One, nigga, every enemy get ghost
Well read mufucas strewn across the decks I roam
Wide-bodied bitches know all the necks I broke
Nothin livin or dead can affect my flow
My track blast hollows from twin Macs in
the back of the Tahoe, Obi's fat, Black and hostile
If Ox knows a hot flow by how fast his cock grow
This shit's hot lava, son, my tracks pass a Ox load
From the front to the back row, blast back til Pac shows
Game ovah, this ain't for Crayola kids
The day walker clique look like dey ain't get a day older
The game is payola, pay up and pray I
don't speak with breath stank from eight Cobras
The smell so hot the shit creates novas
And a ten o'clock spot after Extreme Make Ovah
One, two, who got more style Nas do?
Stay wit the tunafish, u too short for shark soup
Teeth get knocked loose when Ox move...I'll box through
any cock who thinks dey hot truth, nigga not you
Who can jog through Arista halls with a deck lit
and slit off America's balls before breakfast?
Every fuck widda mic in the world's on my checklist
with dey name next to every flex track I ex'd in
Ayo, X-Man, X-Man...save the Wetlands
the cracked asphalt grass drenched widda blood of ya best fans
Fuck baskets, we play Black Ball
That's nine milli ball shots dug in dey backs, God
I run through Suffolk and Nassau widda Black Sau
Who think I won't eject a cap in dey ass, God,
who think my axe ain't ready to crack off
or I ain't ready to slash the K-Bar cross dey last ball?

Darth Fanboy · Post by **Darth Fanboy** » 2005-02-04 12:30am

You might have talent, no doubt 'bout it
but my skills pay all the bills
from rent to the car to the credit card
brace yourself you're in for a storm
im coming at you with superior form
ive never been one to bust a cap
but Ive always showed fools where its at
Im not a lion but I got pride
Im not a rubber but im on the inside
I am whats up never going down
and when its on I dont mess around.

rock.

Obloquium · Post by **Obloquium** » 2005-02-04 12:54am

Darth Fanboy wrote:You might have talent, no doubt 'bout it
but my skills pay all the bills
from rent to the car to the credit card
brace yourself you're in for a storm
im coming at you with superior form
ive never been one to bust a cap
but Ive always showed fools where its at
Im not a lion but I got pride
Im not a rubber but im on the inside
I am whats up never going down
and when its on I dont mess around.

rock.

Hahaha, let's do this.

That's right, nigga.
I packs a jacknife on an Arc Light mission,
So get your facts right, nigga
Fuck Christians, I ain't here to bury the axe
while others bury they past, I learned to track life wit
I'm that tight, nigga
You in a bad fight and this game never sat right witchya,
In a past life Obi's last writes was unattached to Christ
Forgets dem kats in tights packin like they toe to toe on satellite
They oh an oh and faggot like
From here to Roanoke they pass the mic
And spit same old broke "Facts of Life"
And that's life, nigga...cuz they can't let go,
they can't be professional and just act right, nigga
If the best of you can't stand up and stack pounds
My advice is u get ya manz up and back out
Or fuckin'a if throw ya hands up and clap clown
I swear to God there'll be no end to the ways u get smacked down

Obloquium · Post by **Obloquium** » 2005-02-04 01:11am

I think we can all agree that Aaron Carter will never be a great emcee.

Darth Fanboy · Post by **Darth Fanboy** » 2005-02-04 01:24am

Chapelles Show Sketch wrote:
White Kid: Did he just call us niggers?

White Kid 2: SWEEEEEET

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman · Post by **Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman** » 2005-02-04 06:20am

Well, I went to highschool at '91 and the likes of Hammer & Vanilla Ice were actually part of my music those days... So I would be lying if I say I don't like rap. I continued listening to rap music during university, and even until now.

So what makes a good rap music? Frankly, I cannot answer, but I know what makes a BAD rap music is: generic "mumbling" accompanied by generic ryhtm. Admitelly, rap/hip-hop/R&B is the most generic thing since boys band music.

Now, examples of good rap music are those of Missy Elliot. Anyone still remember Get Your Freak On? The "pseudo-melody" (as if there's any melody at all in Rap music) and the rhytm is pretty innovative to make it stood among others at that time. And For My People as well.

Post by **Zaia** » 2005-02-04 04:14pm

RedImperator wrote:
Zaia wrote:<snip>
That has got to be incredibly uncomfortable for everybody involved.

It's a fairly well-known piece now, so people know what to expect, but the night it premiered it was just four and a half minutes of confusion (and possibly annoyance as well).

I just looked up 4'33" at Wikipedia, and it reads that the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Frank Zappa recorded performances of it. Apparently it was originally 'written' as a piano solo and was 'adapted' for orchestra. And get this: at the premeire, the soloist opened the piano lid, sat down on the bench, waited, closed the lid, sat down, then opened the lid again, sat down again, etc.--apparently Cage had lots of fun with this piece, giving it three different movements and everything.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2005-02-04 04:29pm

White Haven wrote:

I'm sorry. I know we were warned against the "rap sucks" spam, but this has got to be one of the funniest things I've seen all week. Thanks, White Haven.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2005-02-04 05:21pm

Obloquium wrote:Look around. If you gotta Scarface poster on your wall then gangsta rap's subject matter isn't what you have a problem with.

Scarface is actually a cautionary tale. At the end, he gets his heart blown out. Everything he worked for is ruined. His family is destroyed. His best friend is murdered by his own hand. It's a story of complete failure.

I don't get the impression that gangsta rap songs end with "and then I get my ass kicked and I die, because I'm an idiot".

Obloquium · Post by **Obloquium** » 2005-02-05 10:12pm

Darth Wong wrote:Scarface is actually a cautionary tale. At the end, he gets his heart blown out. Everything he worked for is ruined. His family is destroyed. His best friend is murdered by his own hand. It's a story of complete failure.

I don't get the impression that gangsta rap songs end with "and then I get my ass kicked and I die, because I'm an idiot".

Since 50 gets his name dropped a lot, check out "The Good Die Young." Or for something a bit more explicit in its cautionary message, try the entire "Black Trash" album. Dre ends Chronic 2001 with "The Message." Either way, a great part of the appeal of Scarface is a fascination with the lifestyle--the gangsta life as entertainment.

Obloquium · Post by **Obloquium** » 2005-02-05 10:13pm

BTW, check out 50's "How to Rob," a nice bit from his hungry days.

Saurencaerthai · Post by **Saurencaerthai** » 2005-02-06 03:01am

Zaia wrote:
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.

Go Zaia, my fellow musician!

Just to add: all music boils down to rhythm and texture.

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2005-02-06 11:45pm

Flow, groove, timing, rhythm. Bonus points for understanding & drawing from other styles of music. Choclair, who I saw live at a music festival is a good example of someone who how to put things together, and whose songs generally have a positive message. Unlike many others, he does not glorify gang violence, shooting people and other ghetto shit, instead, it's more of a blues theme; life in the ghetto is hard and it ain't pretty, but you gotta rise above it and make something of yourself.

Post by **fgalkin** » 2005-02-08 01:14pm

Saying that rap is music is like saying that Sub-Saharan Africa has civilization. It fits the definition, but only until the moment you experience it it firsthand.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Post by **Zaia** » 2005-02-08 02:24pm

fgalkin wrote:Saying that rap is music is like saying that Sub-Saharan Africa has civilization. It fits the definition, but only until the moment you experience it it firsthand.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Again, no, not really. Rap has numerous attributes of music, so it is music, whether you like to listen to it or not.

Post by **fgalkin** » 2005-02-08 02:41pm

Zaia wrote:
fgalkin wrote:Saying that rap is music is like saying that Sub-Saharan Africa has civilization. It fits the definition, but only until the moment you experience it it firsthand.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin
Again, no, not really. Rap has numerous attributes of music, so it is music, whether you like to listen to it or not.

And Zimbabwe has numerous attributes of civilization, so it is "civilized." Whether you'd like to live there or not.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Saurencaerthai · Post by **Saurencaerthai** » 2005-02-08 04:45pm

fgalkin wrote:Saying that rap is music is like saying that Sub-Saharan Africa has civilization. It fits the definition, but only until the moment you experience it it firsthand.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Rhythm and texture, my friend. Rap has both, last I checked, thus qualifying it as music. Whether or not you considder it to be good music is a different matter all together.

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2005-02-08 08:27pm

What do you define as texture? How do you decide what noise has texture and what doesn't? Does a running car engine have texture? It definitely has rythm.

Obloquium · Post by **Obloquium** » 2005-02-08 10:03pm

[quote="fgalkin]And Zimbabwe has numerous attributes of civilization, so it is "civilized." Whether you'd like to live there or not.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin[/quote]

Rome has numerous attributes of civilization, so it is "civilized." Whether you'd like to live there or not.

Civilization and civilized are two different words. One's a noun, the other's an adjective. One is primarily descriptive, the other is normative. Music, on the other hand, is the same word as...well...music.

darthdavid · Post by **darthdavid** » 2005-02-09 12:58am

Hmmm it has to be easy enough to remove from a food item while still sealing up well enough to protect said food item. Ohhh... You said good rapper not wrapper. There aren't many of those any more.

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2005-02-09 08:09am

To the tune of Ice Ice Baby. Beeotch.

*funky base line, stolen from Queen*

Alright stop

This thread is just too borin'
I saw it while
I was cruising through the forum

SOMETHING

Made me come in here seeking
exchange of ideas
but brains I see leaking,

WILL IT EVER STOP?

No. No it won't.
watch how it ends,
IT GETS HOSed

to the extreme the rappers all just blab on
bout how there gonna
get you with a strap on.

DAMN.

Bum rush the rappers right now
rap kills off your brain
like a dose of that mad cow

DIS-EASE

When you listen to that crap
Anymore of this thread
and I'll just bust caps
I hate it. I hate it.
Ya better lock now.
Your better off watchin the
Hee-Haw fun hour.

If there is a problem
the mods will solve it
Check out the lock
While the stormbringer calls it.

Lock, Lock, Baby.
Lock, Lock, baby.
Lock, Lock, Baby.
Lock, Lock, Baby.

Now that your reply is pages.
with the spelling all good
and your fury is raging,
quick to the point to the point no faking,
you're ready to blast while the post your making
gets longer and longer and longer and longer
I go crazy when I see a post thats
hundreds and it has no syntax.
I'm on a roll
I think I'll go choke hold
the next fool who posts a rap.
with nonsensical tripe and,
dick waving bullcrap,
Will you stop?
No.
No reply.

I'll keep cruising through the forum
I busted this rhyme and i'm stealing the rythym
This thread is dead.
Yo--so I continued to N&P NEWS AND POLITICS
Threads were hot and the heads were a-rollin'
Asshat Facists and lots of fools trollin'
Jealous cause our logic just owns.
Durandal smacks, I read while I'm eating scones.

Reading for the chumps in the Hall.
The Chumps are acting dumb, cause they're so full of shitballs.
FORMAT got fucked by a pic
I grabbed the mouse--
All I saw was "DICK!"
THREAD LOCKED after only one post
Jumped on reply, hit it with the most
loading and loading, my connection is slow,
I'm tryin' to get a reply. What's this? Oh, no.

RevPrez is on the scene
Ya know what I mean?
sneakin back in, past the admins and spanky,
Now there is a problem, Yo Rob, solve it,
Ban the fool now while the troll just goes "Aww shit."

Lock, Lock Baby.
Lock, Lock Baby.
Lock, Lock, Baby.
Lock, Lock, Baby.

Take heed.
The trolls are gonna keep comin'
No matter what you do, they're gonna find a way back in.
This board. That pisses off all the fundies,
enough to make em blah, bluhbluhbluhbluhbluh Bundys!
Yeah, I know that the last part was DUMB.
Feasible rhymes are really hard to make come.
Out where it all fits.
this is a hell of a concept
I make the words and you wanna read all this
I play with the rhymes
you saw this, did ya?
Cut like a razor blade so fast, I got you all sayin DAMN!
If your rhyme was a drug, you couls sell it by the gram.
Yeah, I stole those lines and stuck it in the caboose
of this rap while I blahblahblahblah LOOSE!

Now there is a problem,
Yo, Rob solve it.
Ban the fool now
While the troll just says "Aww shit."

Lock, lock, baby.
Lock, lock, baby
Lock, lock, baby
Lock, lock, Baby.

Yo man. Let's lock this thread.

Word to ya mutha.

StarDestroyer.Net BBS

What makes a good rapper?

Re: What makes a good rapper?