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Ugly lyrics in Rap music


Charlotteman

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The controversy surrounding radio personality Don Imus's offensive on-air remarks has brought a nagging issue back into discussion----inflammatory, misogynist, violent lyrics in Rap music. This controversy has been going on intermittently ever since Rap came on the music scene.

Of course not all Hip/Hop and Rap music contains obscene, offensive lyrics. Lots of this music is fun and mostly benign.

But we've all heard of Rap lyrics that are downright ugly. And it's alarming how many young, pliable minds listen to and buy this music.

Thank buddha we live in a "free" country, so this speech is protected speech. I wouldn't have it any other way. Censoring music is even scarier than the lyrics we're all so concerned about. So what do we do? Are warning stickers on CDs effectual?

Comments?

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In 2006 rap music sales declined by 21% from the year previous; a virtual collapse. We may be seeing the end of hip-hop's 30 year stay as the focus of the music industry. This is important because the media conglomerates will be less inclined to defend the 'artists' and may cut advertising, promotion dollars, and/or entire acts as attention gets more negative.

It will all work itself out.

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I used to be a big fan of rap music back in my younger days. The rap of today all sounds the same to me. I have lost all interest in listening or following who is hot and who is not. I have CDs' from Run DMC, Beastie boys, LL Cool J, Erick B & Rockim and some others. Some of it is silly and some of it is about everyday life. Today it is all about what I got and who I've done and why I'm better than you. It has no soul or rhyme or reason. It scares me that so many people, no matter what race, have embraced such vile and "look at me" lyrics. It's time we all took a stand for decency in our communities. This is killing the morals of our society. We are all better than this.

I want to hear from those who defend this crap and why. What does it add to our society?

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I would never in a million years defend horrible Rap lyrics that include the N word in every sentence. It's hideous stuff. The lyrics that color women as hos and beotches are equally odious.

How could anyone possibly think this stuff helps society?

But music entertainment is not meant to be of benefit to society....it is intended to corner a market and sell CDs, and make money.

This issue is such a lovely test for the concept of free speech. One of the biggest deals about free speech is that it is in place to protect UNPOPULAR speech. And I would venture to say that the lyrics we're talking about here would offend almost everyone. This concept demands that we not make these lyrics illegal, as much as we would like to.

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We certainly shouldn't censor such lyrics, but we should atleast use good judjment in making our purchase. I have come tired of this crap called music, we can make a change one at a time. Just don't buy 50 cents new CD, it's that simple.

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we could never censor any words, it is unconstitutional, and if anything happened the ACLU would be all over that if rappers weren't allowed to say use such words. I wish we as a group of people could not use negative words, but its hard sometimes I guess. Especially when many people lack a good vocabulary.

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In 2006 rap music sales declined by 21% from the year previous; a virtual collapse. We may be seeing the end of hip-hop's 30 year stay as the focus of the music industry. This is important because the media conglomerates will be less inclined to defend the 'artists' and may cut advertising, promotion dollars, and/or entire acts as attention gets more negative.

It will all work itself out.

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Hip hop and all music is down because of MP3's... Some hip hop is good music. Will Smith for example... however you get some people who are rapping about how they "Smacked some ho and took her out back and F*#^$ her in the A$$" is not music... it is filth. Don't tell me that OH I buy it for the rhythms and the beat... it is like telling me that you buy Playboy for the articles... that is bull, you know it and everyone else knows it. So grow the F&^(# up and get a life.

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Today's rap is just mass-produced noise. They sign anyone who can rhyme for their week of airplay. It's all about getting money and has nothing to do with quality. It used to be fun and positive party music. Even the message songs pointed out the negative, but stressed the positive. I guess those didn't make enough money. I remember in the early 90s, I could listen to the r&b/rap station here and listen all day long to musc that didn't need to be censored. Songs and albums didn't need clean and explicit versions. With this country being on the moral authority trip, why haven't they dealt with the harmful lyrics of modern rap? Is it that the Hip Hop industry has as much power as the oil industry that it can't be touched?

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LOL@ the ignorance in this thread. Honestly, none of you even listen to rap because if so, you'd know that mainstream rappers are the ones that speak on the sex, drugs and violence because that's what's gonna make money. Listen to conscious rappers like Common & Talib Kweli and you'll see how they have nothing about busting guns, bling and smacking hos in their music. They actually have messages in their songs and while they are selling records, they aren't going platinum and double, triple, even quadruple platinum and beyond because they haven't been rapping about hos, drugs and violence. Rappers have one thing in mind, and that's to make $$$ and if talking about moving weight and pimping hos, then so be it.

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The controversey with rap and hip-hop is highly internal as well. I don't if people actually realize that there are indeed rap artists upset with other rap artists for the things they say. Some feel that many of the newer artists are bringing the whole industry down with their generic beats and lack of intelligent rhyming.

If you want to discover to hip hop that doesn't include all the obnoxious sex, drugs, and money bs you hear on the radio, click on my link below to the OKAYplayer community. Then click on artists.

Hip hop is my favorite music, but I do agree with you all, the music has taken a turn for the worst. I really hope this serves as a wake up call for the INDUSTRY... the music labels that are highly responsible for promoting the useless garbage that has made it mainstream.

EDIT: Lol, looks like uptown New Orleans beat me to promoting Common and Kweli (both OKAYartists) That's what happens when you hit post an hour later. I encourage all of you to check them out. Some of them use live instrumentation too.

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Talib Kweli isnt bad. Other than that i just really dont get into much rap. Although i am guilty of buying some of the disgusting rap- NWA and Eazy-E.

I really hate the song "This is why im hot". This is why, this is why, this is why you SUCK!

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Queen Latifa is one woman who has publically railed against trashy Rap lyrics, and even made her own music to present a positive face to Hip/Hop. It was enough to get her noticed, as she was one of the first famous people to speak out against hate-filled Rap lyrics.

I surfed youtube last week and listened to several Hip/Hop, Rap music videos. I've never really been familiar with the genre. I was literally astonished by the heavy use of the N word.......a word so filthy and vile that it is difficult to tolerate hearing it once, let alone over and over in a song.

Can we all agree some day that the use of the N word is off limits to people of all races? It's a word that should never be accepted in music, nor in any other sphere of life.

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Hmm, yes that is a word of much controversey. Many of my friends are black and say "nigga" a lot. I've been called that too, and I'm white. I guess it's about context though. I do agree though the word should never be used because there is confusion, and it will only lead to problems.

BTW, some rappers already replace that word with something else. Snoop Dogg says "Nephew" instead.

dtown, I think most people hate "That's why I'm Hot" Don't be confused that it was popular on the iTunes download list. A lot of people downloaded it becasue they felt they had to because it was popular. In reality we all know Mims lacks talent. But if this is all the industry wants to be put out, then they've lost a listener.

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In 2006 rap music sales declined by 21% from the year previous; a virtual collapse. We may be seeing the end of hip-hop's 30 year stay as the focus of the music industry. This is important because the media conglomerates will be less inclined to defend the 'artists' and may cut advertising, promotion dollars, and/or entire acts as attention gets more negative.

It will all work itself out.

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LOL@ the ignorance in this thread. Honestly, none of you even listen to rap because if so, you'd know that mainstream rappers are the ones that speak on the sex, drugs and violence because that's what's gonna make money. Listen to conscious rappers like Common & Talib Kweli and you'll see how they have nothing about busting guns, bling and smacking hos in their music. They actually have messages in their songs and while they are selling records, they aren't going platinum and double, triple, even quadruple platinum and beyond because they haven't been rapping about hos, drugs and violence. Rappers have one thing in mind, and that's to make $$$ and if talking about moving weight and pimping hos, then so be it.
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Hmm, yes that is a word of much controversey. Many of my friends are black and say "nigga" a lot. I've been called that too, and I'm white. I guess it's about context though. I do agree though the word should never be used because there is confusion, and it will only lead to problems.

BTW, some rappers already replace that word with something else. Snoop Dogg says "Nephew" instead.

dtown, I think most people hate "That's why I'm Hot" Don't be confused that it was popular on the iTunes download list. A lot of people downloaded it becasue they felt they had to because it was popular. In reality we all know Mims lacks talent. But if this is all the industry wants to be put out, then they've lost a listener.

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dtown, I think most people hate "That's why I'm Hot" Don't be confused that it was popular on the iTunes download list. A lot of people downloaded it becasue they felt they had to because it was popular. In reality we all know Mims lacks talent. But if this is all the industry wants to be put out, then they've lost a listener.
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Watch, in a week, the song will disappear and not be played again. Whatever happened to the days when hit songs lived long after the initial push? Well maybe it's not a hit song, but most songs seem to die until there's some "old school" mix some 5 - 10 years later. Music these days is just plain forgetable.

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^

She's right on: vulgarity is vulgarity. And vulgarity is easy - in hip-hop, or anywhere else. The media, pop culture, civic discourse of any variety, politics even should not be a race to the bottom, and observations that 'that's what makes money,' or that's what's popular, or we're all cynics anyway don't wash - such excuses are yet another example of taking the easy way out, and excuses aren't solutions. Lots and lots of people either refuse to accept responsibility for the fact that words (along with actions) have consequences, or are actually ignorant of the fact, and if we think that lionizing such irresponsibility or ignorance is a good thing culturally, it's isn't.

Getting back to hip-hop, I need to check out some of the more underground, more thoughtful stuff. After the mid-90s, I gave up - not only was I not into guns, gangsatas and crack, I started to think (especially given who buys the most hip-hop) that it was all getting to be some kinda ultraviolent minstrel show, a serious embarrassment that some biz types would actually have the audacity to pass off as some kind of serious black culture, which is a real insult to me. To me black culture aims way higher - Harlem Renaissance, jazz, civil rights, the 60s black arts movements, black power, and musical figures like Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley or Spike Lee (whose film Bamboozled definiely nails a lot of these issues), who all not only operated with a great aesthetic sense, but some complex and world-engaging philosophical stances. Honestly hip-hop, in some instances, may offer that (I was a big fan of P.E., Tribe, Roots, De La Soul, Jungle Bros, et. al. during the 80s and 90s), but there has been such an incredible avalanche of stuff that just drove me away that it seems like a major undertaking to even fake an interest anymore. And again - black culture is the product of those who have worked to create, achieve, or speak out; and passing off some middle-class twit who thinks acting like a thug is something to be proud of is insulting to the intellect and work ethic of any black person who ever achieved anything.

I'm landing on the conservative side of this debate, but I'm pretty much in agreement with Angelou, Cosby and Juan Williams (among others) on this.

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Another aspect of today's rap/hip hop scene that I don't too much care for are these modern day shuckin' and jivin' songs, and most of it comes out of the South. "Walk it Out, "Two Step," "Chicken Noodle Soup," "Pop Lock it Drop it," "Laffy Taffy," etc.--what in the world is that? I don't have anything against a new dance or anything per se, but when an "artist" reaches a certain pinnacle just based on that alone? Crazy.

Also, Al Sharpton made a very poignant statement about hip hop artists at Rosa Parks's funeral. He was criticizing those artists who defend the negativity in their songs by saying that their work functions as a mirror; they only rap about what they see. Sharpton said, "Yes, but the purpose of a mirror isn't just to reflect what you see, but to also correct what you see."

What has this generation enthralled with rap/hip hop in its current form are the beats, which are actually infectious. Unfortunately, they don't seem to realize how the words are ultimately affecting them, even though many claim they aren't listening to them, because they have a way of seeping into our subconscious. This is where parenting comes into play, and it's not as much about limiting what your children can view/listen to as it is teaching them why they shouldn't be viewing or listening to certain things in the first place.

And big ups to my boy Lupe Fiasco; that dude is the truth.

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Think about the 60s. Every week there was a new dance song in rock and R&B. I just don't think people actually dance the dance to these new songs. All dancing in Hip Hop now is grinding and bootyshaking... basically clothed public sex!

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