Comments on: The real problem with popular hip-hop http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/09/08/the-real-problem-with-popular-hip-hop/ Just another WordPress weblog Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:03:56 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.1-alpha by: Kyle http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/09/08/the-real-problem-with-popular-hip-hop/#comment-449574 Thu, 13 Sep 2007 04:19:06 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/09/08/the-real-problem-with-popular-hip-hop/#comment-449574 The 2000 Census listed 71% of the population as white. Shouldn't it be expected that white people by 70% of rap music? The 2000 Census listed 71% of the population as white. Shouldn’t it be expected that white people by 70% of rap music?

]]> by: Rick Massimo http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/09/08/the-real-problem-with-popular-hip-hop/#comment-449072 Tue, 11 Sep 2007 12:03:06 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/09/08/the-real-problem-with-popular-hip-hop/#comment-449072 I like the new record by ISWHAT?! They're a duo out of Cincinnati. Nice Guyism is that guy who says "I'm a nice guy. I hang listen to all that crap women like to talk about, and I still don't get any pussy. So fuck that." So all the definitions proffered above are correct, and in addition it's important to note that 1) he's calling himself a nice guy and you know that when you have to say something about yourself it's probably not true; 2) he defines his niceness in a way that makes it clear that he doesn't actually like women; 3) he only describes himself as a Nice Guy when he's complaining about his lack of success. (3a: He defines getting sex as "success," which strikes me as hinky.) Have I missed anything? Overstepped? And how do you make the damn r-in-a-circle thingy? I like the new record by ISWHAT?! They’re a duo out of Cincinnati.

Nice Guyism is that guy who says “I’m a nice guy. I hang listen to all that crap women like to talk about, and I still don’t get any pussy. So fuck that.”

So all the definitions proffered above are correct, and in addition it’s important to note that 1) he’s calling himself a nice guy and you know that when you have to say something about yourself it’s probably not true; 2) he defines his niceness in a way that makes it clear that he doesn’t actually like women; 3) he only describes himself as a Nice Guy when he’s complaining about his lack of success. (3a: He defines getting sex as “success,” which strikes me as hinky.)

Have I missed anything? Overstepped? And how do you make the damn r-in-a-circle thingy?

]]> by: House of Mayhem http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/09/08/the-real-problem-with-popular-hip-hop/#comment-449040 Tue, 11 Sep 2007 10:18:08 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/09/08/the-real-problem-with-popular-hip-hop/#comment-449040 >>>Uriah Heep, now that’s a band that stands the test of time. The lead singer lives in my town. >>>Uriah Heep, now that’s a band that stands the test of time.

The lead singer lives in my town.

]]> by: Rich http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/09/08/the-real-problem-with-popular-hip-hop/#comment-448856 Mon, 10 Sep 2007 14:51:44 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/09/08/the-real-problem-with-popular-hip-hop/#comment-448856 DJ Shadow's last album, http://www.djshadow.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=CD033&Category_Code=CDs&Product_Count=3 which is centered around hyfee, which loosly grew out of crunk, is pretty damn good. Whatever the industry does, good stuff will continue to be produced. btw he's running a promo right now too for a free CD, http://www.djshadow.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=CD043&Category_Code= DJ Shadow’s last album,
http://www.djshadow.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=CD033&Category_Code=CDs&Product_Count=3
which is centered around hyfee, which loosly grew out of crunk, is pretty damn good. Whatever the industry does, good stuff will continue to be produced.

btw he’s running a promo right now too for a free CD,
http://www.djshadow.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=CD043&Category_Code=

]]> by: annie http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/09/08/the-real-problem-with-popular-hip-hop/#comment-448776 Mon, 10 Sep 2007 11:56:58 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/09/08/the-real-problem-with-popular-hip-hop/#comment-448776 Not only does a lot of country have that Nice Guy tone to it, there is actually an entire Nice Guy handbook set to music! (Courtesy of Joe Nichols. And yes, I'm admitting to listening to the stuff.) Witness: What's... a... guy gotta do to get a girl in this town Don't wanna be alone when the sun goes down Just a sweet little somethin to put my arms around What's a guy gotta do to get a girl in this town Well ask anybody I'm a pretty good guy And the looks decent wagon didn't pass me by There ain't nothin in my past that I'm tryin hard to hide And I don't understand why I gotta wonder why What's a guy gotta do to get a girl in this town Don't wanna be alone when the sun goes down Just a sweet little somethin to put my arms around What's a guy gotta do to get a girl in this town Cruise all around the right parking lots little time gets killed alotta bull gets shot one who'll think I'm kinda cute and laugh at every joke I got when I get to thinkin maybe she's athinkin maybe not What's a guy gotta do to get a girl in this town Don't wanna be alone when the sun goes down Just a sweet little somethin to put my arms around What's a guy gotta do to get a girl in this town Had an old man tell me "Boy if you were smart you'd hit the produce isle at the Super Walmart" So I bumped into a pretty girl's shopping cart but all I did was break her eggs and bruise her artichoke hearts What's a guy gotta do to get a girl in this town Don't wanna be alone when the sun goes down Just a sweet little somethin to put my arms around What's a guy gotta do to get a girl in this town Not only does a lot of country have that Nice Guy tone to it, there is actually an entire Nice Guy handbook set to music! (Courtesy of Joe Nichols. And yes, I’m admitting to listening to the stuff.) Witness:

What’s… a… guy gotta do to get a girl in this town
Don’t wanna be alone when the sun goes down
Just a sweet little somethin to put my arms around
What’s a guy gotta do to get a girl in this town

Well ask anybody I’m a pretty good guy
And the looks decent wagon didn’t pass me by
There ain’t nothin in my past that I’m tryin hard to hide
And I don’t understand why I gotta wonder why

What’s a guy gotta do to get a girl in this town
Don’t wanna be alone when the sun goes down
Just a sweet little somethin to put my arms around
What’s a guy gotta do to get a girl in this town

Cruise all around the right parking lots
little time gets killed alotta bull gets shot
one who’ll think I’m kinda cute and laugh at every joke I got
when I get to thinkin maybe she’s athinkin maybe not

What’s a guy gotta do to get a girl in this town
Don’t wanna be alone when the sun goes down
Just a sweet little somethin to put my arms around
What’s a guy gotta do to get a girl in this town

Had an old man tell me “Boy if you were smart
you’d hit the produce isle at the Super Walmart”
So I bumped into a pretty girl’s shopping cart
but all I did was break her eggs and bruise her artichoke hearts

What’s a guy gotta do to get a girl in this town
Don’t wanna be alone when the sun goes down
Just a sweet little somethin to put my arms around
What’s a guy gotta do to get a girl in this town

]]> by: MaxPolun http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/09/08/the-real-problem-with-popular-hip-hop/#comment-448706 Mon, 10 Sep 2007 09:06:32 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/09/08/the-real-problem-with-popular-hip-hop/#comment-448706 <blockquote>The problem of course with buying MP3s is that artists and label almost always receive a smaller cuts than they would from an album.</blockquote> the label maybe, but the artist can get a lot more, depending on where you get it from. Where I get most of my (paid for) mp3s (mostly emusic, cdbaby, and magnatune) the artist gets at least a 50% cut of the money, which is huge compared to buying a cd from a major label (indies are a lot better in this respect, though)

The problem of course with buying MP3s is that artists and label almost always receive a smaller cuts than they would from an album.

the label maybe, but the artist can get a lot more, depending on where you get it from. Where I get most of my (paid for) mp3s (mostly emusic, cdbaby, and magnatune) the artist gets at least a 50% cut of the money, which is huge compared to buying a cd from a major label (indies are a lot better in this respect, though)

]]> by: bernarda http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/09/08/the-real-problem-with-popular-hip-hop/#comment-448700 Mon, 10 Sep 2007 06:35:14 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/09/08/the-real-problem-with-popular-hip-hop/#comment-448700 The ancestors of hip-hop were the Last Poets. These guys were the real stuff, and they don't like the misogyny of current musicians. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qovGmbR80qg Another good group is the Watts Prophets. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISUoTJaXVBQ The ancestors of hip-hop were the Last Poets. These guys were the real stuff, and they don’t like the misogyny of current musicians.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qovGmbR80qg

Another good group is the Watts Prophets.

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

]]> by: mister z http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/09/08/the-real-problem-with-popular-hip-hop/#comment-448697 Mon, 10 Sep 2007 03:10:07 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/09/08/the-real-problem-with-popular-hip-hop/#comment-448697 feh. the original guts of rap music are the drum breaks cut from funk &amp; jazz records. there are still people doing great digging in there today (notably UK outfit the Visioneers and their Dirty Old Hip Hop release of a few years back) and guess what... it generally comes without the manky lyrical baggage. personally I just don't need ideology to carry a tune and would rather separate the two. like a-skills sez, gimme the breaks! feh. the original guts of rap music are the drum breaks cut from funk & jazz records. there are still people doing great digging in there today (notably UK outfit the Visioneers and their Dirty Old Hip Hop release of a few years back) and guess what… it generally comes without the manky lyrical baggage. personally I just don’t need ideology to carry a tune and would rather separate the two. like a-skills sez, gimme the breaks!

]]> by: squashed http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/09/08/the-real-problem-with-popular-hip-hop/#comment-448688 Sun, 09 Sep 2007 23:19:42 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/09/08/the-real-problem-with-popular-hip-hop/#comment-448688 Boycott work! Trust me. specially bad music (in term of beat, melody, harmony, lyrics) mainstream hip-hop, as pushed by def jam, tommy boy, interscope, mtv are all nasty. Avoid them, on top of the music, these labels are also closely related to majro media company (Warners, Sony/BMG, universal) so, the impetus to avoid mainstream hip-hop is large. Plus, look for underground hip-hop. Boycott work! Trust me.

specially bad music (in term of beat, melody, harmony, lyrics)

mainstream hip-hop, as pushed by def jam, tommy boy, interscope, mtv are all nasty. Avoid them, on top of the music, these labels are also closely related to majro media company (Warners, Sony/BMG, universal)

so, the impetus to avoid mainstream hip-hop is large.

Plus, look for underground hip-hop.

]]> by: Linda Flores http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/09/08/the-real-problem-with-popular-hip-hop/#comment-448651 Sun, 09 Sep 2007 17:37:19 +0100 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/09/08/the-real-problem-with-popular-hip-hop/#comment-448651 re: that quote about 70% of rap music being bought by white fans. I've heard this bandied about for almost ten years, (including a variation, even more specific: 75% of rap is bought by white suburban youth). This makes me a little skeptical: For one, the statistic is never attributed to any source, linked to any study, etc. Two, the claim (70 or 75%) has changed little in ten years, while rap music and its popularity have changed remarkably. Three, it seems very hard to actually verify -- how would such data be collected? Since racial data isn't collected at purchase, did someone do a study of a sample of rap fans and determine their race? If so, that'd yield pretty fuzzy data to make such a specific percentile claim. And what about the surge of online music buying? How does race get collected on that? My last reason for being very skeptical is that this statistic is just way too ubiquitous. Does anyone have any insights on this -- where did this stat come from? Is it real, or just another one of those circular references made all-too-popular by the Internet? We should actually be really careful of these kinds of quotes/statistics/assertions that have become so common as to seem true -- but we think that only because they're so common. re: that quote about 70% of rap music being bought by white fans. I’ve heard this bandied about for almost ten years, (including a variation, even more specific: 75% of rap is bought by white suburban youth). This makes me a little skeptical: For one, the statistic is never attributed to any source, linked to any study, etc. Two, the claim (70 or 75%) has changed little in ten years, while rap music and its popularity have changed remarkably. Three, it seems very hard to actually verify — how would such data be collected? Since racial data isn’t collected at purchase, did someone do a study of a sample of rap fans and determine their race? If so, that’d yield pretty fuzzy data to make such a specific percentile claim. And what about the surge of online music buying? How does race get collected on that? My last reason for being very skeptical is that this statistic is just way too ubiquitous.

Does anyone have any insights on this — where did this stat come from? Is it real, or just another one of those circular references made all-too-popular by the Internet? We should actually be really careful of these kinds of quotes/statistics/assertions that have become so common as to seem true — but we think that only because they’re so common.

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