When, if ever, will rap end?

[Nick1911]

I've often wondered if musical tastes are by and large a generational thing.

[Perd Hapley]

I've often wondered if musical tastes are by and large a generational thing.

That's certainly a big factor.  Also a cultural thing, as in the difference between white rural culture, versus inner-city black culture, etc. 

[Balog]

And again, judging rap by what your local thugs listen to is like judging rock by N'Sync and Britney Spears cause that's whats on the radio.

Ok, so I may have just shown how out of date my pop music knowledge is there...

[Monkeyleg]

I've often wondered if musical tastes are by and large a generational thing.

Most definitely, and more so in the last 50 or so years, as music, fashion and lifestyle have become more intertwined. While it's unusual to see a 20 year-old listening to The Doors, it's even more rare to see a 55 year-old dressed in baggy jeans and cockeyed baseball cap listening to 50 Cent. The 55 year-old doesn't just look out of place; he looks ridiculous.

Music and fashion give young people a way to express their newly-found (or desired) freedom from the control of their parents. Challenging social mores has also been a way to express that freedom, a byproduct of which has been hundreds of thousands of hours of horrible pop music.

Most young people will reject the music of prior generations as corny, uncool, or whatever other term you choose. One advantage of getting older is being able to sift through the music of many generations to find the real classics, songs that you miss when your young focus is on that which is being marketed to you.

[Perd Hapley]

it's even more rare to see a 55 year-old dressed in baggy jeans and cockeyed baseball cap listening to 50 Cent.   

Thank goodness.

One advantage of getting older is being able to sift through the music of many generations to find the real classics, songs that you miss when your young focus is on that which is being marketed to you.

No, I don't think that's true at all.  I think young people may actually have an advantage there, because we're hearing a lot of classics for the first time.  Or maybe at least it evens up our chances. 

But plenty of kids appreciate older music.  A lot of people just don't realize that old-style music is still being made, often by young musicians.  I know there are still people, even young people, writing original bluegrass and country music in the old style.  But most people never hear it.  I can only assume that young people are crafting old-timey music in other genres, as well. 

Perhaps my perspective is skewed by my being more old-fashioned (in some ways) than most older people I know.  The old folks at church think they're being old-fashioned by singing hymns from 1880 or 1920.  To my ears, those are pretty new-fangled, and often not as good as the hymns from the 18th or 16th centuries.  I could add that I'm tired of all their talk about old-time religion, when they're really just talking about the revivalist fads of the past two centuries.  It's a two-thousand-year-old religion, for cryin' out loud.  But I digress. 

[Balog]

Maybe the reason young people reject so much older music is that it sucks? Just like most modern music.

[Perd Hapley]

Feel the beat drop,
Jazz and hip-hop..

Rebirth of Slick
Some naughty words in that one.  The Digable Planets were interesting.  Their politics were atrocious, but they're beats were smooth.   

[zahc]

I can't explain the popularity of crap-rap. I really don't understand it, and have also been attempting to ignore it for years hoping it would finally die.

I actually like certain rap 'music'. I think the art itself is extremely interesting and fun to listen to. The thing is the field seems to be so watered down. There's a handful of standout lyricists I've heard that I enjoy but they seem to be obscure. Rap is about lyrics, and most rap lyrics seem to be a waste of time, leaving what's left as horribly bad synth....something.

Paradoxically, Eminem's The Slim-Shady lp, much decried and teeth-gnashed as un-hardcore or 'too pop', not to mention hyped from controversy, is actually one of the best complete rap albums I've ever heard. Provided you like tounge-in-check psychedelic shock horror humor. That's the thing though...the record has an actual manifesto and subject matter, and skill. Deltron 3030 is good too. I also like Chali 2na from Jurrassic 5. The few sporatic outcrops of talent in a sea of *expletive deleted*it puzzle me. It's as if people haven't figured out what rap is, what makes it good, or they haven't cared, so it never took off and stagnated. It would be as someone invented the electric guitar, and nobody noticed, and you have these handful of people out there doing rock-and-roll, and it's not catching on, and nobody is noticing, or something. I just can't figure out why rap isn't better, when it seems it should be.

[zahc]

oops

[PTK]

Agreed - Marshall Mathers stands out among the rest as an intelligent composer, well at home with tongue-in-cheek humor more suited to the UK. 

[RaspberrySurprise]

Not all rap is gangsta rap.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avRuZ4QLWek

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXvBmkJft9Q

These are about the only two raps songs I like. Though I don't listen to much of it.

[MicroBalrog]

Somehow I imagined you'd post that.

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

Maybe the reason young people reject so much older music is that it sucks? Just like most modern music.

Many times, it's rejected because it's never been heard before, or it's been heard too many times (i.e., parents listened to it). Look on Youtube for videos with songs from Fallout 3. Those songs, FWIW, are probably older than anyone here. Read the comments. The number of people who are getting into very old music because of those tunes is surprising.
That's how Tony Bennett has made his living for the last several years - performing very old songs for people that haven't heard them before. The 'old' is 'new' because it's no longer familiar.

[mtnbkr]

lol. Not all rap is gangsta rap. There is a lot of good stuff out there.

Yup, I'm fond of The Procussions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Procussions

Lots of positive messages in their music.

I have 5 Sparrows for 2 Cents, here's the topics of a couple songs on that album:

Being a good parent (song title Little People)
Negative body images caused by model photography and retouched shots (For the Camera)

I haven't listened to the album in a while, but I don't recall any of the sex, violence, or other misogyny typically assigned to Rap.

Chris

[mtnbkr]

While it's unusual to see a 20 year-old listening to The Doors

Really?  When I was in college in the early to mid 90s, The Doors were very popular.  I know it's been a while, but they were one of the ubiquitous bands just about everyone liked.

Chris

[mtnbkr]

Sorry, freakazoid and Fistful, but these old ears can't be convinced that any rap is good. It just sounds like obscene limericks with a heavy back beat.

Check out The Procussions, especially their 5 Sparrows for 2 Cents album.

You might not care for "For the Camera" though, being a fashion photog.

Lyrics from "Little People": http://www.metrolyrics.com/little-people-lyrics-the-procussions.html

Chris

[HankB]

"Rap Music" is a contradiction in terms.

[Gewehr98]

People can listen to what they want to.

Just don't amplify it so loud that it drowns out my own car stereo several lanes away, or causes my dogs to bark from the  master bedroom as you tubthump your way down my street.

That's just plain rude.  One of the tubthumpers pulled alongside me at a stoplight in Sacramento once.  He was visibly shaking my outside rear-view mirrors thanks to the wattage he was cranking - and wearing earplugs.  

Here's a hint - if your rear license plate frame and license plate are buzzing from vibration louder than the bass coming from the subwoofers in the trunk, you're my next candidate for YouTube.

[Jocassee]

Perhaps my perspective is skewed by my being more old-fashioned (in some ways) than most older people I know.  The old folks at church think they're being old-fashioned by singing hymns from 1880 or 1920.  To my ears, those are pretty new-fangled, and often not as good as the hymns from the 18th or 16th centuries.  I could add that I'm tired of all their talk about old-time religion, when they're really just talking about the revivalist fads of the past two centuries.  It's a two-thousand-year-old religion, for cryin' out loud.  But I digress. 

You are a man after my own heart, Fisty...

While it's unusual to see a 20 year-old listening to The Doors

I rest secure in the knowledge that I will never be mocked for blasting classic rock. Ever.  It is above these puny musical dispoutes of my generation and stands as a pillar of excellence that frowns upon the squabbles of the Indistinct Generation.

[Balog]

People can listen to what they want to.

Just don't amplify it so loud that it drowns out my own car stereo several lanes away, or causes my dogs to bark from the  master bedroom as you tubthump your way down my street.

That's just plain rude.  One of the tubthumpers pulled alongside me at a stoplight in Sacramento once.  He was visibly shaking my outside rear-view mirrors thanks to the wattage he was cranking - and wearing earplugs.  

Here's a hint - if your rear license plate frame and license plate are buzzing from vibration louder than the bass coming from the subwoofers in the trunk, you're my next candidate for YouTube.

Don't you have a Harley with straight pipes?  Jus' sayin...

[Monkeyleg]

Fistful, I'd guess that you were in the minority when you were in your late teens or early twenties and liked older music. I think that most young people have to get through that period and then look again at the likes of Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash, Elvis, and other musicians to realize why they were good and why they were important to the history of music.

The sixties were filled with throw-away songs that would never withstand the test of time. The ones we hear now are the ones that were good enough to last. I wonder how many rap songs will be considered classics in 25 years.

There's a certain element of "old foginess" in my comments, but not entirely. There's been a lot of music produced over the last 25 years (after I was in my 30's) that I think is exceptional, including work being done today. I can honestly say that I would hate rap today if I were a teen.

[Ryan in Maine]

I hope it doesn't go anywhere. I do, however, hope that 9 out of 10 artists in the genre drop off the face of the Earth.

Personally, I differentiate between rap and hip hop music. Good rap is hard to come by. Good hip hop is much easier to find, in part due to the much lower levels of violence, lower levels of glorified drug dealing, and lower levels of poor treatment of women you'll find.

It's still difficult to find real talent that, but when you find an artist you like, it's worth it.

[mellestad]

Fistful, I'd guess that you were in the minority when you were in your late teens or early twenties and liked older music. I think that most young people have to get through that period and then look again at the likes of Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash, Elvis, and other musicians to realize why they were good and why they were important to the history of music.

The sixties were filled with throw-away songs that would never withstand the test of time. The ones we hear now are the ones that were good enough to last. I wonder how many rap songs will be considered classics in 25 years.

There's a certain element of "old foginess" in my comments, but not entirely. There's been a lot of music produced over the last 25 years (after I was in my 30's) that I think is exceptional, including work being done today. I can honestly say that I would hate rap today if I were a teen.

I don't know, a lot of the 'older' music is still popular with kids.  Metallica, Johnny Cash, Elvis, 80's hair bands...they all seem to have active young followings.  I think some music is just more long lived than others.  Heck, most people still like 50's music.

A lot of it is just cultural though, rather than saying anything about the quality of the music.

I still want to know if nursing homes in 2050 are going to be filled with violent rap on one side and pounding hard rock on the other.

[Gewehr98]

Don't you have a Harley with straight pipes?

Yes.

And I don't wear earplugs or rev it up at stop lights.

[Monkeyleg]

Heck, most people still like 50's music.

Probably because it's rock n' roll that they like. How many like swing music or "How Much Is That Doggie In The Window"?

I still want to know if nursing homes in 2050 are going to be filled with violent rap on one side and pounding hard rock on the other.

I'll be dead by then, so it won't matter to me, but it would be interesting to see.