Enough is Enough (for a minute anyway)

[dacalion]

I am so tired of rappers saying that they are this and they are that. "I will split your dome", " I got guns", " I've been locked up". Does that ish really impress people? I just got the new DMX CD and eventhough I like it overall, I'm sick of hearing what will happen "if I cross you". Isn't there other ish to rap about? Could this be why the hip-hop world is screaming for change? Saying that hip-hop is falling off? I think it's a BIG part of it myself. How many rap songs can a rapper make about how he is living? How much plat he wears? What he will do if he gets heat...I just feel that it's played out. I wish that there was a list of most rapped about subjects, I bet it would go something like...
1. GUNS
2. CHICS
3. MONEY
4. PRISON
5. DRUGS
Don't get me wrong, I love hip-hop and I will always support the voice of the streets but damn, enough is enough. I would like to hear some more party type ish. Some more "good times" stories, hangin with the fellas and having fun type ish. Lay the guns down for a minute. They'll be there when you need them. Stop the beef'n and relax.
Oh and speaking on "beef'n", how much of that ish is really true? I think it's 95% hype. If somebody seriously threatened your life, no matter who you are, rapper or not, why would you sit down and write a song telling them what you would do? I wouldn't take that route. And I heard this story about 2 rappers with beef and 1 rapper shot the others vehicle up...I mean what the *&%^ is that all about? If someone threatens your life, would you retaliate by shooting up their car? And "they" say this is real ish. How many rappers have been busted for telling lies?
I know this is an on going issue through the rap world and let me stress that I'm not "hating", I'm not "crying", I'm just voicing my opinion on why I think that "RAP" is having a little struggle. Change the format!

holla back,--dac

 

[vitaminman]

LOL HOLA

Seriously, though, it feels like my words are coming out of your mouth (so to speak). This is why I like old heavy metal so much, it's about having fun and not giving a damn...

Nick

 

[soundboy2]

Honesty doesn't sell as well as strecthing the truth. Their is a lot of lying, yeah but their is some honest stuff out there also. But if you give me balance, which their is, then I'm happy. Balance is the key word. When I'm just chillin with my dawgs, or clubbing. I'll get down with the bling bling, bust a nigga , split a wig shit. But when my souls needs more, I go get Mos Def, Twallb, Sarface. That why the three of these artist last Album didn't out sell 50's lastest. There too honest. I noticed that, I get more from a girl if I lie, than if I tell the truth. The people who control the money in the industry don't love hip hop, they just wanna fuck it. In the ass on top of that. The suites will say, ok option A sells more than B so lets put the energy into A. Its investments, rappers are like stock. They aint fucking with you useless you wit the program, even if it may have a negative effect on your community.

You can change the format all you want by changing the CD. I appreciate the diversity. Since my moods are diverse. If you grow tied of the fake glamourous life the rappers portrait , their are a lot of alternatives. The best thing that will happen to rap is when the day comes it doesn't make the money that it makes, then the suits are going to throw it right back to our asses. Then will complain that they don;t show us no love, And Ima still be making these beats.

 

[Ash Holmz]

im feelin dacalion hard, also what happened to being a good rapper because u have skill?...it seems like rappers are placed according to how hard they are...rap is getting fucin ridicoulous.. ive actually been listening to other kinds of music lately because rap, at the present moment, is pretty beat. Either u got guys in the underground talking, preachin, and whinin bout how they dont have dough but are "keepin it real" or u got the successful rappers talking about "how much cocaine they sell" or "what ill do if i see you".... shit is just corny... and it projects such a bad a image for black people....what happened to the real entertainers...that kept the focus on the MUSIC and not the drama..... thats why im lovin the new outkast.. they actually use the medium and a source of listening pleasure rather than a tool to give themselves hype and promote unnessary beef...If these rappers are millionares and finally made it out the hood..why are they beefin with each other? It seems dumb to throow away your life on sum bullshit..look at beanie seigel...he one of my favs but that shit was just fucin stupid..shootin someone because theyy insulted a girl he knew...fucin stupid...sue em, call the cops...dont fucin shoot the guy......i heavily applaud jay-z...hes doiin the right thing..he realizes that the world is bigger than the block and there is a whole higher level of business than just this hip hop shit....well i been ramblin on but ive made my point

 

[MadScientist]

Music is entertainment. You may not be entertained by certain styles of hip hop but they exist because other people like it. Take movies for instance, They have action, horror, drama, comedy, etc. Same with Hip hop. They have different subject matter. Some of you might like and some of you might not. Who said that everything you talk about in the song has to be real? I get tired of movies sequels, so I can understand what your saying about certain kind of songs that are repetitive. But I find corny comedy movies sometimes entertaining and same with action movies. We all know that things that happen in a action movies are fake but we still go and watch it because we like to see the impossible possible. I feel the same way about Hip Hop. I know the shit they talk about is mostly fake but sometimes you can get into it and be entertained. Its like saying every book ever written needs to be about reality or based on a true or real story. I think thats lame. You need fiction. You need to be able to have an imagination these days. Every song shouldn't be about the struggle. Hip Hop is changing because the younger generation is getting a hold of it. Just how we did when we were the younger generation. Think about how Hip Hop sounded before NWA and artist that were similar. Artist that were doing other styles of hip hop at the time were saying that ain't real hip hop it sucks yada yada yada. Basically what we say now about Nelly and other artist that are similar. So it like this. You have to keep moving with hip hop and stay up to date or let the game pass you by while your still holding on to a played out form of hip hop. If you don't like where hip hop is right now don't go back in time and try to do some shit that other people have done. Reinvent yourself and change the game.

 

[dacalion]

Hey you cats are dead on the money...all of you. Don't get me wrong, I don't want them to focus solely on the truth because that would get boring as hell, besides they NEVER have in my book. Remeber when they used to boast ish like "I'm superman, faster than a speeding bullet, blah blah blah"? Well we all knew that they were lying but it was cool at the time. Now days, it's all about how bad you are, what your prison record looks like and so on. Thats cool too BUT, it's been through the ringer over and over. I'd go so far as to say that this is the era of beef'n. Anyway, once again my point is that the ish is old. I'm not a BIG 50 fan but "in the club" was bangin...that ish was about clubbin, getting your drink on and macking chicks all at the same time. I just wish we had more of that and a little less "i'll shoot you in the chest". Like I said in the original post..."Lay the guns down for a minute, they'll be there when you need them", I don't mean to just throw them away, just put them down for a minute. Give me something that I can hit the dance floor on and not want to punch somebody in the face for a change. I know that I can look to other rappers for positivity and dance ish but what if I want hear some X that I can get my groove on to? Know what I mean? Eventhough we have different styles of rap, there will always be those who rap about violence and those that rap about positivity. I just think that it would do alot more for rap if the different styles were'nt so far apart. Actually, I think I'd be entertained if I heard Will Smith come hard and DMX give me something to groove to. And like Mad Scientist said..."we need fiction", I agree 100%. It would be cool if more of that "fiction" was positively based fiction though.

holla,--dac

 

[Fade]

I agree with you Dac, things need to change up a bit. It's ok to rap about shooting someone, but why not just give the guy an "eye jammy"? Or get your revenge on the guy by stealing his new rims and selling them on eBay? Just be different!

We do need fiction, and a lot of rap lyrics are based on fiction. But at least years ago, the lyrics were funny or were just different. I think one problem today is that a guy like 50 Cent for example, will just say "Yo I'll shoot you in your face". But it doesn't sound like he REALLY means it! That's what's missing - these guys are just going through the motions, not actually meaning what they say. Take an actor for example - a guy like Keanu Reeves (not much of an actor btw), can stand in front of a camera and say "So then I took the knife and carved out her eyes, then ate them with sweet & sour sauce". He wouldn't sound convincing would he? Now what if Anthony Hopkins (Hannibal Lector) was to say that same line? It would be believeable because he MEANS it!

So that's why most of today's lyrics are boring to me because nothing new's being said. Chuck D used to have a message back in the 80's, Ice Cube had a message in the early 90's. Today everyone's just saying what everyone else is saying. "I'll shoot you", "Don't mess with me", "Fuck with me and you'll be sorry". Like the great Homer Simpson always says "Boooorrriiinnnggg".

 

[KillaMitrxxx]

I agree with u all on that tip.It's like back in the dayz,hip-hop was cherished for it's originality and style,and now it'z being molested by the so calleD "Crooks,thugz,gangstaz,pimpz,hoz",and the list continues to grow on.I think people started to see that hip-hop was starting to grow into cash cow,and felt that it's the only way they could make it in life,by any means necessary.Even if it means selling their souls,thatz their easy way to a million.And now dayz,since the pimp,gangsta,killa,flosser image is in,thatz how most artist feel they need to come into the game because them images are selling...
....Therefore,thatz why were seeing so many artist with the same ol formula.It's like the artists out these day aren't real wit there's,like the only reason they're in it is for the doe and i feel that's very true.Hip-Hop has became a big hustle.You have to get in where ya fit in.Hip-Hop artists are like industry hos.If they don't do what their pimp(record execz.) tell em to do,they will get fucked and will not get paid!That's why we are and we will continue seein' the same ol shit because it sells!

Someone's gotta save Hip-Hop fareal,because the Record Execz are contolling and takin' it over!!!

Who's down.....

 

[MarkN]

yea i gotta agree with u there guys the whole scene seems to be getting a bit to 'thugged out' with the same old topics being sed over and over again ! its rare nowadays for a hip hop song to make u feel good or wanna dance etc, more likely it makes uwanna fight etc lol ! but the fun does seem to have gone, still no point moaning about it the people with the power should be doing sumthing about it !

 

[Equality 7-2521]

i agree all this ego-trip shit is a problem but if we are ever going to change it, we have to look at the cause of the problem. ive said it before many times and i only continue to say it cos i love Hiphop.......in my opinion the problem comes from "battles."

back in the day, battles were solely about sharing skills (which i think is a great thing). Breakers would bust all their new moves, Djs would bring out their new funky fresh scratches. Over time (thanks to the MC) they have developed into what it is today...ie EVERYONE thinking they are the dopest. If only these people could step outside themselves and actually look at the way they act.

as for lying...MCs who lie are only fooling fools, themselves included. Using your imagination to sing about things beyond reality is fine with me but pretending to be somone your not is the WACKEST.

peace....lets take it back

 

[Cold Truth]

back in the day, it was still an ego trip! it wasnt like some musical where they showed up to the park and everyone just did their thing in perfect harmony.....

it was all about who had the flyest chain, nicest gear, things like that. it has always been about who was better, not just a showcase of skills..... why do people keep acting like the old school heads were so diffesren from todays artists? they were just scaled down versions of a lot of who we see today..

 

[Equality 7-2521]

yes...it was about being the best (which was acheived by sharing skills) but it was never about being the best by putting others down. back in the day they used to let their skills speak for themselves.

Hiphop was invented to distract kids away from all the violence and negativity they had in the streets. So when people started to catch on, Hiphop became "cool" in a way. Ofcourse, everyone wants to be the best at what is "cool." Thats why there is this whole "competition" thing in Hiphop. But people need to open their eyes...we dont need to be the best at what is cool anymore. It serves no purpose. Hiphop isnt a fad. Lots of people say.."well we need the competition element to keep out all the wack artists" well..id rather there were lots of wack artists who dont think they are the best than have a couple less wack artist with everyone thinking they can go around telling people to shut up cos they are the best.