"The Message"...influences of hip-hop/rap music

[KING~POETIQ]

Hip-hop/rap music has influenced millions of people throughout the years.

Since its beginnings in the 70's, hip-hop music has evolved immensely. Going from music that was played to "move the crowd" to becoming more realistic and telling us "the wrongs and the rights". And of course, going back to party music in the last decade or so. But along the way it has instilled many values in all hip-hop/rap fans.
Wether you learned "don't lick the ***** the first night, let her bless you..." Or help you remember your "Lost Ones" by playing Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth's "T.R.O.Y.", rap has been influential to each and every fan at one point or another.

So, how has the music influenced y'all?

[KING~POETIQ]

Ok I'll start it off...

One thing that the music has influenced me in is to always go for yours and to become better than the last. You can't let petty things stop you from reaching your goals.

[DaTPRiNCE]

nice thread Sly....rap has tons of different ways of influencing people

but me personally depends on my mood when you wanna get hyped up listen to Nas "One Mic" theres also the story songs " The Message"(two of my favorites) and Biggie, is the best flow and a great storyteller then theres Tupac(the best) and his influencing songs that make you see the reality of his music his music if very contradicting cause you'll have a song like "i get around" and then they'll be a song like "Keep your head up" but just shows the emotion he's going through and for that he cant be touched


many forms of rap for different moods and thats what gets me hype of just chill and smoke one loll

[KING~POETIQ]

Definitely, Prince. There's many types of songs for different types of moods.

Guys like 2pac, biggie, nas, big L and many other great emcees strive(d) to make songs that would influence their listeners. A great example is Big L's "street struck". The guy tells you about all the bad things he's done but still says that its not worth it, that you're better off doing positive things.

[Kennedy Curse]

rap hip hop w.e cant influence anyone now a days like really why get influence by rappers that idol actors(scarface) todays rap game is a joke and is just full of *****s full of them selves and all they talk about is drugs and girls...hip hop died years ago unless you listen to music from back then then yea but if todays music influences you in any way...you should take a better look at yourself

[TheBigCock]

My favorite hip-hop/rap song is Juicy. That song is the American Dream. My English teacher even referenced the song while we were reading Death of a Salesman. I also like Run D.M.C. more of a fun loving style of hip hop. Now I just listen to Jay-Z and the Beastie Boys. Kingdom Come is one of my favorite rap albums. I love the Beastie Boys because my favorite music is classic rock and they are able to sample my favorite band and song (When the Levee Breaks-Led Zeppelin) in Rythm and Stealin'. I love the song An Open Letter To NYC. It's just and ode to both pre/post 9/11 New York.

[Paul1355]

rap hip hop w.e cant influence anyone now a days like really why get influence by rappers that idol actors(scarface) todays rap game is a joke and is just full of *****s full of them selves and all they talk about is drugs and girls...hip hop died years ago unless you listen to music from back then then yea but if todays music influences you in any way...you should take a better look at yourself

I agree kidd...rap now and days is full of these hollywood guys that call themselves gangsta's and would get smoked by any old time rapper from the 90's.

Imagine Biggie, Pac, or Big L for team one... facing 50 Cent, Lil Wayne and Soldierboy for team two.....all i can say is complete embarrassment for team number two.

Rap now is never about everday life, struggles, or anything that relates to the average person which is why guys like 2Pac had such a big fan base. Also if you add the fact that he was one of the best rappers overall.

Guys like Eminem, Nas, Snoop, Dre...should just sign some big name rappers to lead a whole new geration to return some real talent back in rap.

Mos Def and Talib Kwelli are a good combo as well.

The rappers that are still alive should recruit some real guys in here so I don't always HAVE to listen to old songs.

[KING~POETIQ]

Kidd and Paul, I agree with what you guys are saying. Right now, rap is a mass produced product that is only good for dancing and partying. nobody new in the game has the balls(or the talent) to come out with an album that is influential or real.

What's sad is that this is suppose to be our generations music, and just like Paul, I'm still listenning to music from back in the day when I was 10 y/o and under because to me its the only rap music that is great.

You're right about that song, BigC. Notorious B.I.G.'S "juicy" is an influential song that talks about how he came from nothing and became somebody. It motivates you to achieve your goals.

[Kennedy Curse]

Kidd and Paul, I agree with what you guys are saying. Right now, rap is a mass produced product that is only good for dancing and partying. nobody new in the game has the balls(or the talent) to come out with an album that is influential or real.

What's sad is that this is suppose to be our generations music, and just like Paul, I'm still listenning to music from back in the day when I was 10 y/o and under because to me its the only rap music that is great.

You're right about that song, BigC. Notorious B.I.G.'S "juicy" is an influential song that talks about how he came from nothing and became somebody. It motivates you to achieve your goals.

ofcourse bro all these songs now a days is club joints...thats about it though like why you think i listen to rock now cause i only listened to old school joints and as all you may know not many new old school songs come out >< and as far as Big L im glad most people on the site know about him cause i ask more people today all they know is Tupac and Biggie but comment on Big L like dude was my favorite rapper still is actually but yo dude was not that real...its cool though cause dudes never been in jail dosent have a rap sheet nothing dudes clean and everyone that knew him said him to be that funny guy but nothing other then that and then you would hear him rap you would be like who is this beast? lol but i respect it cause he actually rapped about it well god yo if your gonna rap about gun violence and how vicious you are atleast do it well..

[DaTPRiNCE]

rap hip hop w.e cant influence anyone now a days like really why get influence by rappers that idol actors(scarface) todays rap game is a joke and is just full of *****s full of them selves and all they talk about is drugs and girls...hip hop died years ago unless you listen to music from back then then yea but if todays music influences you in any way...you should take a better look at yourself

i agree, what we listen to nowadays isn't rap it's bull**** form of rap that fake rap fans think is rap.....all that Lil wayne(since he started with the voice changing ****, and going completely commercial) and T-Pain Rick Ross Fat Joe's are killing what was once a great thing to listen to. people like tupac and biggie are legends for that reason they were special to listen to.....college poetry classes talk about tupac's work both poetry and rap just to show how much of an another level he was on.....i listen to more tupac and biggie then lil wayne, kanye west and t.i....biggie tupac, jay-z, nas those are real legends

[KING~POETIQ]

"I wasn't POOR, I was PO, I couldn't afford the OR" - BIG L


Big L would of been crazy nice today. Even back in the day he was calling out rappers who rapped stupid ****.


Lack of knowledge is one of the reasons hip-hop/rap music is at this level. Kids nowadays don't know about the great mc's from before. When you mention NAS they only think about "hip-hop is dead" and not about "illmatic". If you ask a kid about Rakim, he'll tell you "isn't that a reggaton singer?" I also use to listen to rock about 6 to 8 years ago, and what I notice is that they use to play a lot of old school stuff, all day everyday. Something that hip-hop stations don't do. Even rappers talk about it, but they aint doing ****.


Everyone should do what they can to save the music. Older cats should kick old school flavor in young *****s' ears.
My lil bro (13 y/o) can recite nas' "it aint hard to tell" word by word. He could of easily been listening to this BS that's on the radio. Its about everyone doing what they can to let great music be heard. So that the newer generations can carry on tradition.

[DaTPRiNCE]

big difference between songs like

The Message, Juciy, Only God Can judge Me

and songs like

Lollipop, Can't Believe It, Live Your Life


tupac, biggie, nas are still much better to listen to then T.I and Lil Wayne...tupac Biggie Nas Jay-z etc is mostly what i listen to and its 1,000,000x better then Lil Wayne, T-Pain etc

[Akamu]

Like a Lollipop Lol

Yeah, there is a lot of trashy rap & hip hop, I listen to a lot of these songs and I even like some of the garbage ones.

I dislike the lyrics in songs like the "lollipop", "let it drop", "back that ass up", "shake that tail feather", but the beat structure or the song just being flat-out funny will be the elements that will at least keep the song worthy enough of being kept in my collection.

I posted some artists that send out quality messages to the fans/youth & mature adults alike. Such as Paris, Immortal Technique. You don't hear barely any rappers/hip hop artists rap or talk about the things that they speak on, gain influence from.

Those big botty remix's, lollipopping songs can sound aight and jus serve the purpose of entertainment but I usually would rather listen to things that are more realistic and orginal. When a particular rapper is going to revolve around that degrading shyt and not show any sign of originality then that dood is jus wack. (Souljaboy iz wack)

I can whip out dj editing tools righ now and make a big booty remix in a few minutes and make it sound better then the wack stuff soulja boy produces.

[metrocard]

Kidd, I know what you mean; but you gotta understand you grew up in a different era, not too far from the era where Hip Hop culture was alive and well.

Now, Rap music is an entertainment business rather than an art.

Hip Hop culture still lives amongst those who grew up in a Hip Hop enviroment; example is the speech, dress style(not nearly as stressed as it was in the 90's), and preference in music artist (more of those DMX, Big Pun, Fat Joe, Big L, Tim Dog, Rakim, Onyx, Busta Rhmyes, and dudes like Mystikal, etc....those hardcore ass rappers that use to hype everyone up in the 90's, thats what I grew up to).

Rap is weak now, the South watered it down to the max. I don't see it coming back.

Especially since overrated rappers like Nas and Jay-Z are hogging up NYC's image and not letting anyone else take the spotlight.

Thats why NYC fails in rap entertainment.

Dudes in the South take turns being on top of the record sells.

[KBlack25]

I actually wrote a paper for school about the influences of rap music and its effect on the communities from which the rappers themselves come from. I also just bought a book (I'm not too far into it yet) called "The Hip Hop Wars" where it talks about the media's attack on hip hop culture.

The problem is that much of mainstream media does not understand rap or where the lyrics are coming from. Some may sound violent, but I specifically cited in my paper a song from the newest Mobb Deep album (I know, it's G-Unit Mobb Deep and not the real Mobb but it still has a lot of relevance), in which Prodigy I believe claims he feels left deserted by God in the hood and his projects. He says he will beat God down if he doesn't get into heaven because he was given no signs he was being watched over by Him and felt left alone. The issue is that white mainstream media (see: Bill O'Reilly) will claim this shows a violent nature. My paper basically was about not that the violent rap lyrics created violent and destitute neighborhoods, but rather that the violent and destitute neigborhoods create the violent lyrics. What white mainstream media fails to understand is a lot of the violence set forth in rap lyrics is a reflection of the neighborhoods in which people grew up. I cited Russel Simmons who criticized the government's war on rap stating that the government should, rather than attack the people talking about violence, attack the source of why the rappers see violence and destitution in their neighborhoods.

I agree with a lot of the sentiment on this board, that the south especially has watered down rap but it's actually a lot deeper than that. There is still rap out there that purports reflections on society. The problem is that white record executives want to sell an oversexualized black male and female image, that reflects partying and drinking and sexual promiscuity because it is a caricature of the black man. The white man holds the key to record sales, as most record execs are white (even if black people own the label, distributors are primarily white). Rather than sign people who have disdain for the the system and would look to revolutionize black people's roles in society (and thus limit white people's power over society), they will sign people they think will sell record, promote "club songs" and videos that keep the black rapper in a subservient position. I don't know if any body has heard Skills' 2008 Rap Up, but in it he makes a statement about the rap scene in general, making fun of T-Pain:

And y'all in his lane
with songs like "OHHH We Pop Champagne"
So Imma say this quick: We in a recession
Stop Lying
Y'all ain't poppin ****

If you haven't heard the Skills Rap Up get on that ****, it's hot and he's actually got a good message like "It's a time for a change/so don't go turnin inaguration into an all-star game/let's act right/and show these kids/we can turn yes we can into yes we did".

There's is rap with a message out there, but don't expect to hear it on the radio.