Rap is all misogynistic, egocentric drivel

How come nobody listens to the message anymore?
I mean, beats is fresh and everything
But don't nobody realize that the world don't stop spinning



(The Grouch):

I know this place, I swear I've been here before
My mind state confining like a ceiling and a floor
Plus four walls, no door, I scramble for the exit
Can't connect with the key even though it's deep inside me
And I know this, man, I wrote the plan out
Sorta like a blueprint but it never seemed to pan out
I put my hand out, but nobody's there
Thin air plays my partner in times of despair
Rare with the value of no deal and demanding
Commanded by myself, I'm the pilot and I've landed
It's granted that I'm gifted and unrestricted
Yet I'm feeling hella stuck
Somewhat convicted of an uncommited crime
Dropping rhymes like tomorrow isn't gonna come
Is it? Don't borrow from the thoughts of the next man
Answer me with feeling
Sacks of stimuli open eyes when I'm dealing



Chorus:

For the times you sang
For the times you cried
For the people who died to let the future survive
Alive...yea-yea!


(BFAP):

Blind to the world, born as a child
Wild how you never know where to go
But you gotta trust your soul, the more you know
Educate your mind, expand through the time on earth
With search and conquer fear, if you choose love through God
If you hear my screams before it's too late
Too many victims of hate have fallen
I'm calling all within the realms of this voice, you have a choice
Live or die, why have the power of a bomb if you can't uplift the times
I'm a piece of magic left in your tape to radiate truth
As well as make you throw your hands up in the air
At the show and get loose
I was born in the beat and drum
It's funny how they tried to run fear to the homes through the news
Inject propaganda to all the homes that viewed the programs
Uncle Sam brainwashed the elder generation
To give hopes to rule conquered nations
Lost on capitalist pseudo-democracy translation
If you don't get up off your ass and do something
They gonna choose your life for you, ain't that somethin'?
The future is coming, summon all the sheep on the field
Make some noise, and grab some boys
And change the stolen world, yeah



CHORUS



(BFAP):

Forced into a nature of man
Gone beyond these streets we walk upon
Built of piss and fear
Here I'm a misfit, never choosing to conform
As I stand within the storm
I held my bloody fist to the sky
I warned them, "You can never stop us!"
Even though you try to drop us
Let their ????? , wet dream
But it's hard when your president is Freudian
I saw Fred Ingles at the podium dressed as Nixon
Who's really tricking me and you?
I think someone's trying to play us for a fool
It costs more to keep you in jail than it does to toss your ass in school
And the tuition is rising......
Rise...alive...survive...
Will you rise?



CHORUS

Yeah, we can't die...


:eyes:

:)

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/tbreakers

I don't have that CD but I have a couple demo CDs from them. Good stuff, a local group for me.

:)

(PWN3D!1!!)

My life being held within the grasp of fate

Fingertips my ass, shackled to the hips in systematic racism

Facing caustic reefs spread across the concrete

I beat obstacles

Manufactured harass my soul and destiny

We three testaments to hope

(Even though the evil stole this motherfuckin misfit)



Copy referred upon as statistics

List it, test it, shit's burned

Analyzed by report cards, hard to live a life

when you're forced to..



UAHH, within the, PIPES of the system

Where as a vision with classism

which means the poor, die, while the rich live high



Taxing your ass I feel like SMACKING that ass

Live on CNN, simulacastin on BBC-1

Punk-ass, politicians gettin cracked with tomahawks

stocked, with my ancient feathers

Plunge you a leather rope, with each HIT

we symbolize hope

;)

What the fuck is that about, anyhway? Some high school sophomore trying to say something "deep" but without the brain to manage it?

:puke:

I like big butts and I cannot lie.

And bust through the fakers
Keep your eye on big Shaq
And put your money on the Lakers

Nothin' like a big ol butt.....

Dead Prez and the comments about them are 100% dead on.

Rap is Crap.
I like country music
I love country girls
I like Willie Nelson
and don't forget about Merle

There's only one thing that I hate
Cuz it's a bunch of crap
I, I, I hate rap

I like NASCAR racing
Richard Petty's still the king
Yeah, they call me a redneck
But you know, that's a beautiful thing!

There's only one thing that I hate
Cuz it's a bunch of crap
I, I, I hate rap

There's only one thing that I hate
Cuz it's a bunch of crap
I, I, I hate rap

Raaaaaaap is crap
Raaaaaaap is crap


P.S. I'm not a Troll from Free Republic either, I just find this song funny

These two in particular have yet to amuse me.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=314&topic_id=185&mesg_id=185

:(

There isn't often something new to discuss there, but there's no where else for us to go for that discussion.

I check it every day, but I rarely something new, so the deletion may be appropriate.

However, I nearly started a massive PM campaign to save it minutes after this message was posted.

the problem is that the garbage in this case is truly vile, reprehensible shite and has become part and parcel of one of the worst social trends of our time.

Crap music that is forthright with it's horridness, or crap music that attempts to hide it's horridness. On the one hand, the first kind is very in your face, and forces you to deal with it whenever it's on. On the other hand, the second kind is easier to overlook, and it's messages can be just as horrible but harder to counteract because they're so couched in pleasant bullshit.

of some rap

but I also hate the corporate swill that seems to follow the emergence of any somewhat meaningful music about once a generation

of a player in the local symphony.

"I may be old, but your music really does suck"

I Want To Say a Little Something That's Long Overdue
The Disrespect To Women Has Got To Be Through
To All The Mothers And Sisters And the Wives And Friends
I Want To Offer My Love And Respect To The End

"Sure Shot" by the Beastie Boys.

:D

:rofl: :rofl:

Or was that it?

:rofl:
:rofl: <--- an extra rofl guy

I'm not going to go searching for it.

that's not rap - that's recycled funk layered with suburban jewish angst. :P

Enjoy it, though.

Oh, wait...yeah...welcome to, um DU and stuff.

that you were being sarcastic. Maybe next time, that gets put up front. Yeah, thanks!

i coulda been

hmmm...maybe.

it wouldn't have been sarcasm. That WAS the sarcasm.

almost 12 hours later, we have that clarity.

Cool.

to find out how many people don't bother to read before replying to something, often disagreeing.

Cool.

It was so obvious, I guess...or not.

some got it, not so obvious that all did.

Is this an informal request to lace my posts henceforth with :sarcasm: tags?

Post as you wish, and as you see fit.

:patriot: :yourock:

:rofl: :rofl:

... personally I dislike that dripping sarcasm graphic. Most readers will be sophisticated enough to spot and understand the sarcasm. If you blatantly point it out with the sarcasm graphic, it sorta spoils the fun and humor of it. (It's like a postscript that says: "P.S. In case you're too dense to figure it out on your own, it's a joke!")

The folks who ought to get it, will... and the ones who don't get it, well... you probably shouldn't take it too seriously anyway.

:hi:

I was just talking about how much I hate it, actually :) That, and the popcorn

:sarcasm:

:popcorn:

:spray:

... but not all of it is. There is some good stuff, it just gets less airplay - like all good music.

As for the stuff you're talking about, it always sounds to me like people bragging who have little to brag about, and I think that applies doubly to most of its listeners.

Because I was being sarcastic :)

... what you said is true of most of the rap that gets radio time in Dallas.

SUPA DUBYA
4o. del Tren

a new age has dawned rising from the ashes of the innocent
my dead versus your dead let's see who can get more militant
blood for blood, pound for pound, an eye for an eye
my tribal god has told me that i must murder or die

you kill ten of mine, i must kill ten thousand of yours
preemptively decapitating all those who dare to oppose
shoot the motherfuckers now, and ask questions much later
terrorist, freedom fighter, innocent bystander, instigator

it don't matter, your ass is brown, you got a towel on top of your head
you pray to a foreign god, you pray to mine or i'll shoot you dead
patriots, sidewinders, m-1's and f-16's
the most beautiful display of destruction mankind has ever seen

i'm not an invader, i came here to liberate your people
i'm carpet bombing your mosques so i can build my church steeples
yeah, freedom and democracy, baseball and apple pie
buy and consume or go bye bye bye

now who the fuck do you think you are to go against my manifest destiny
i got a mandate from my god to smite all of my enemies
look at me the wrong way and i'll put your ass on my shit list
what? you want some of this, bitch? i'll take you for a ride, with no witness

what would jesus do? fuck that, you know it's just a front
to appease the bible thumpers while i do what the fuck i want
propagatin propaganda, live in fear and i'll protect ya
i'll raise the terror alert and you know that i'm gonna check ya

what books do you read, who do you talk to, where you goin, what's your habit?
gimme all your information right now, what's your number i gotta have it
big brother ain't got shit on me, i got eyes in the back of your brain
my name is supa dubya and i've come to bring you the pain

=============

the usurping bastard child of an archaic plutocratic system
what's my fucking name..?! if it was something else you'd have missed him
playing games with poppy's cash, let's bankrupt the company make bank on the options
fuck the pension plan, fuck aunt millie, neck deep in corruption

power to the people, no the power belongs to the white men in white collars
gathering every single day to worship in the temple of the dollar
mr greenspan, mr greenspan, tell me which way the wind blows
and why are all these people jumping out of their fuckin windows?

why are all these mothers crying for children that won't return
their blood spilling in the desert while the city of baghdad burns
the black blood that feeds the empire must never stop flowing
no price is too high, we must keep shocking and awing

it's the project for the new american century, the new world order
an empire disguised as democracy, prostituted and distorted
you think this shit started the day the towers came falling down?
no, it's an old idea we've been munching on and kicking around

we've been waitin to scratch that itch for a long time in mesopotamia
even though we all know the hijackers were mostly saudi arabian
pay no mind to the lies, the shell games and deception
we're here to fight for your freedom, we're only here for your protection

i don't remember guadalcanal, antietam, normandy or the mekong
i'm sending you and your neighbor's kid to die like i'm on playstation ghost recon
playin like i'm a top gun, mission accomplished on an aircraft carrier
workin hard every day to make the world scarier and scarier

a kinder, gentler version of daddy, check this conservative's compassion
read my lips, motherfuckers, time for lights camera and action
this power trip shit gets me higher than back in the day, doin cocaine
my name is supa dubya and i'm really fucking insane

====================

i'm settin the stage for a show for which you've never seen an equal
you thought 9/11 was tight, hold up, i'm gettin ready for the sequel
whatever the cost, whatever the price to buy me four more years
a few more terror attacks, more lies to keep you living in fear

call rush, call o'reilly, get on the phone with mr. hannity
spin the web of deception so we can continue with this insanity
don't ask too many questions, deploy weapons of mass distraction
prepare the foot soldiers, it's almost time to jump into action

the second coming of the rapture, the last holy crusade
i'm smiting infidels left and right, giving them a taste of my righteous blade
the power to destroy the world right here in the palm of my hand
i'll bring you eternal salvation, by air, sea and by land

with us or against us, only two roads that you can choose
the almighty is on my side, and there's no way that i can lose
it's the coalition of the sellouts, motherfuck the united nations
i'm readin the bible and mein kampf for my divine inspiration

the ultimate corporate state, only dreamed of by mussolini
in the innermost of the inner circles, rubbin elbows and sippin martinis
in bed with ceo’s, saudi princes and israeli ministers
i serve only them and follow their orders, no matter how sinister

i'm the schoolyard bully, gimme your milk money and play my game
the only bastard on the planet gettin by on his fuckin last name
can't even pronounce nuclear missile, but i know how to pull the trigger
kick back and relax while the empire grows bigger and bigger

fuck genghis khan, fuck caesar, fuck alexander the great
i'm bigger than all those niggas, this is the perfect fascist state
don't mess with texas, motherfucker, don't mess with me or i'll blow your brains
i'm super duper dubya, this is my world and my game!!!

===============

FREE DOWNLOAD: http://supadubya.4odt.com/

So many on DU beat up rap for the reasons enumerated in your subject line that fans of the form feel they have to justify it by demonstrating some "socially redeeming message." Fuck socially redeeming messages. Or rather, yes, them too, but there's something to the form that is political, in the purest sense, even when it is at its most blingalicious, ostentatious, braggarty, materialistic, etc., pile on the known adjectives. It's about the joy of creation, verbal virtuosity (difficult to understand to a white culture that wasnb't FORCED into maintaining a robust oral tradition, which is to say, denied written literacy, by LAW) and the assertion of power in an utterly racist society. I like the stuff that's message isn't necessarily "socially conscious," or at least doesn't appear so to mainstream Americans. The misogyny can indeed be a problem, but white culture, and fans of other forms of music, can hardly stand in judgment on that score. Listen, we've been through this. The 60's New Left was constantly complaining about "materialism" in black culture, and - yes, black radicals often made the same critique. But there was also a sense of "what you mean we, white man?" on the materialism stuff - easy to speak about the evils of materialism from the vaunted grounds of the white campuses, a little different in the projects. What does Jay-Z say about materialism:

I do this for my culture
To let 'em know what a nigga look like, when a nigga in a roaster
Show 'em how to move in a room full of vultures
Industry shady it need to be taken over
Label owners hate me cuz I'm raisin the status quo up
I'm overchargin niggaz for what they did to the Cold Crush
Pay us like you owe us for all the years that you ho'ed us
We can talk, but money talks so talk mo' bucks

There's some truth in that, and it's a political truth. But rap is also joyful just through the verbal wizardry. From Lord Finesse:

So let off, get off, step off, cuz you're soft
Stop blushin', I'll rush in
Like Mikail Gorbachev

Come again? Oh, yeah, now I get it. Or Rakim, back in the day:

You're physically in this with me but how could you tell
If it's meant to be hip-hop if you're not mentally as well
Ready to absorb the rhyme that I just poured
Into the mic, so unite and this won't be so bored
If you just keep kickin' listen - to the mix and
Think you'll sink into the rhyme like quicksand
Holds and controls you 'til I leave
You fall deeper in the style - it's hard to breathe
The only time I stop is when
somebody drop and then
Bring 'em to the front 'cuz my rhymes' the oxygen

Isn't this just "egotism?" The assertion of self: look at me, I'm so good? Yes, of course, at the deepest level, but damn if it ain't backed up, too. The rhyme scheme is tremendous, and there's lurking at the surface the formation of a good community. Sssssh. Quiet now. Most of the white liberals won't get it. Which is precisely the fucking point.

Or Nas:

It's - the - return of the Prince, the boss
this is real hardcore, Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit's soft
sip Cris, get chips, wrist gliss, I floss
stick shift look sick up in that Boxter Porsche
with the top cut off, rich kids go and cop the source
they don't know about the blocks I'm on

I could go into detail about the incredible assonance scheme in this verse - real technically sophisticated poetics that our "classical" 18th century poets would marvel at, as a formal matter - but suffice it to say that it could just as easily be aimed at those who critique the so-called materialism in rap music: they don't know about the blocks I'm on. You have to read most rap slowly, in other words, and with some understanding of the various positions in African American culture. So, for example, many people who hear newer rap, complain that it is "copying" older rap. Let's go back to our Rakim song, from above:

I'm the R the A to the K-I-M
If I wasn't, then why would I say I am

And Eminem gives homage:

I am whatever you say I am
If I wasn't, then why would I say I am

As does Nas, in the other song cited:

I'm the N the A to the S-I-R
If I wasn't, I must've been Escobar

Is this "copying"? Under the conception of "originality" supposedly held by certain detractors, of course it is. But in an African American culture that does this sort of thing even in its greatest literary works (read Ishmael Reed, fer chrissake), it is a form of homage and transformation, even one-upmanship and respect at once. And that's political too, at the most essential level, the formation of a community in time. No, I don't need a recognizably socially conscious "message" in my hip hop, although it's a good and productive sub-genere of the overall form. Because the criteria for such recognitions is precisely what most rap overturns, and that is rap at its most political. And that is how rap, as a form, has virtually saturated the political imaginary in just about 30 years.

I always learn a lot from your posts! Great analysis. Nice to see Ishmael Reed mentioned and for some reason the rhymes adn their internal structure make me think of Shakespeare, another periodically misunderstood poet.

:applause:

Your post most cuts right to the point on all of insights that most folks don't think about because they're looking at it through a lens of cultural baggage.

On the issue of misogyny in rap music, I've always felt that degrading woman wouldn't be so prevalent in the word play, if black men weren't emasculated by the dominant racist culture.

My .02

Worst musical genre ever. At least it sucks a lot of people away from good music, which is helpful.

However, your statement is very true about country & western and bluegrass.

:yourock:

Here:
"Even though you try to drop us
Let their ????? , wet dream"

And here are my own -- ?????

:shrug:

Love your name, BTW.

Gangsta Rap, which is sadly the most successful form, is mysoginistic.

The freaks come out at night
The freaks come out at night
The freaks come out at night
(the freaks come out)
The freaks come out at night

Discos don't open till after dark
And it ain't till twelve till the party really starts
And I always had to be home by ten
Right before the fun was about to begin
Crowds of people lined up inside and out
Just one reason, to rock the house
But in the day time the streets was clear
You couldn't find a good freak anywhere, 'cause



Now when freaks get dressed to go out at night
They like to wear leather jackets, chains and spikes
They wear rips and zippers all in their shirts
Real tight pants and fresh mini skirts
All kinds of colors runnin' through their hair
And you could just about find a freak anywhere
But then again, you could know someone all their life
But might not know they're a freak unless you see them at night, 'cause



Now the party's jumpin', the place is packed
And when the crowd's like this, I'm ready to rap
But before I could bust a rhyme on the mic
Freaks are all over me like white on rice
Freaks come in all shapes, sizes and colors
But what I like about 'em most is that they're real good lovers
They do it in the park, they do it in the dark
But most freaks are known for breakin' hearts

You could never tell what a freak was thinkin' of
And you may never catch a freak without at least one glove
And they don't walk, when they step, they strut
And nine times out of ten they drive you nuts
But take my advice, you don't stand a chance
Freaks are so bad they got their own dance
So if you wanna live a nice quiet life
Do yourself a favor, don't come out at night, 'cause

The freaks come out at night
The freaks come out at night
The freaks come out at night
(the freaks come out)
The freaks come out at night



Hut one, hut two
Hut hut hut :headbang:

We're a long, long way from political rap such as Public Enemy, Run-DMC, and the heyday of L.L. Cool Jay, A Tribe Called Quest, etc. when the songs used to be about social ills, life in the ghetto, etc. Now too much of it is self-aggrandizing, hyper-sexualized, and pushing the same old tired offensive buttons--"Yeah, I'm badass hot shit, I treat women and gay people like crap, I've been shot a zillion times, I've got lots of tats and weapons and Cristal." Whoopee-do. When Ice Cube says he's fed up and disgusted with modern rap, it's time for the movement to undergo an overhaul.

same percentage as when Public Enemy was around same as when Ice Cube was at the top of his game, same holds true now.

90% of everything is crap, at any given time.

your characterization (stereotype? caricature?) of all modern day rap being about crystal-swilling hoodrats just goes to show what you know about the art form. dig a lil' deeper...

In MY day, we did the Lindy Hop while scarfing down egg creams and listening to Benny Goodman. Now THAT was music.

Wait...did I say "Benny Goodman?" I meant "Cannibal Ox." My bad!

it doesn't have to be political to be topical; speaking from the street often touches on larger social ills

lots of big's rhymes tended to focus on him and his own life in the ghetto. and yes, many of them were misogynistic. but his flow was gorgeous. glorious, flowing, thick, chocolaty rhymes, and the message in much of his music was generally uplifting.

"Sky's The Limit", comes to mind...

"Sky's The Limit"(feat. 112)



Good evenin ladies and gentlemen
How's everybody doin tonite?
I'd like to welcome to the stage, the lyrically acclaimed,
ha
I like this young man, because, when he came out
he came out wit the phrase, he went from ashy to classy
Ha, I like that
So everybody in the house, give a warm, round of applause
for
The Notorious B.I.G. *clapping*
The Notorious B.I.G. ladies and gentlemen give it up for him
ya'll

Uhhh

A nigga never been as broke as me, I like that
When I was young I had two pair of Lees, besides that
The pin stripes and the gray (uh-huh)
The one I wore on Mondays and Wednesdays
While niggas flirt, I'm sewing tigers on my shirt
and alligators
Ya wanna see the inside, huh, I see ya later
Here come the drama, oh, that's that nigga wit the fake,
blaow!

Why you punch me in my face, stay in ya place
Play ya position, here come my intuition
Go in this nigga pocket
Rob him while his friends watchin
That hoes clockin, here comes respect
His crew's your crew, or they might be next
Look at they man eye, BIG man they never try
So we roll wid em, stole wid em
I mean loyalty, niggaz bought me milks at lunch
The milks was chocolate, the cookies, buttercrunch
In here, eyes crossed from blue and white dust
Pass the blunt

<112>

Sky is the limit and you know that you keep on
Just keep on pressin on
Sky is the limit and you know that you can have
what you want, pressin what you want
Sky is the limit and you know that you keep on
Just keep on pressin on
Sky is the limit and you know that you can have
what you want, be what you want, have what you want, be what you
want


Uh-huh, I was a shame, my crew was lame
I have enough heart for most of em
Long as I got stuff from most of em
It's on, even when I was wrong I got my point across
They depicted me the boss, of course
My orange box-cutter make the world go round
Plus I'm fuckin, bitches ain't my homegirls now
Start stackin, dabbled in crack, gun packin
Nickname Medina, make the seniors tote my ninas
From gym class, to Englass, pass off a global
The only nigga wit a mobile, Can't You See like Total
Gettin larger in waist and taste
Ain't no tellin where this felon is headin, just in case
Keep a shell at the tip of ya melon, clear da space
Ya brain was a terrible thing ta waste
Eighty-eight long gates, snatch initial name plates
Smokin spliffs wit niggaz, real life beginner killers
Prayin God forgive us for being sinners, help us out

<112>
Sky is the limit and you know that you keep on
Just keep on pressin on
Sky is the limit and you know that you can have
what you want, pressin what you want
Sky is the limit and you know that you keep on
Just keep on pressin on
Sky is the limit and you know that you can have
what you want, be what you want, have what you want, be what you
want


After realizin, to master enterprisin
I ain't have ta be in school by ten, I then
Began to encounter, wit my counter-parts
I holla burn the block apart, break it down into sections
Drugs by the selection
Some use pipes, others use in-jec-tions
Syringe sold seperately, Frank the deputy
Quick to grab my Smith-n-Wessun, like my dick was missin
To protect my position, my corner, my layer
While we out here, say the hustlas prayer
If the game shakes me or breaks me
I hope it makes me a better man
Take a better stand
Put money in my moms hand
Get my daughter this college plan, so she don't need no man
Stay far from timid
Only make moves when ya heart's in it
And live the phrase Sky's The Limit
Motherfucker... see you chumps on top

<112>
Sky is the limit and you know that you keep on
Just keep on pressin on
Sky is the limit and you know that you can have
what you want, be what you want
Sky is the limit and you know that you keep on
Just keep on pressin on
Sky is the limit and you know that you can have
what you want, pressin what you want
Sky is the limit and you know that you keep on
Just keep on pressin on
Sky is the limit and you know that you can have
what you want, be what you want
Sky is the limit and you know that you keep on
Just keep on pressin on
Sky is the limit and you know that you can have
what you want, be what you want