Hip Hop goes beyond the realm of gangsta rap and party music. Sometimes we need to sit and think about the religous aspects of life. There have been plenty of hip hop songs dedicated to God. I wanted to take the last blog of mine for class to remind everyone of the things that should hold value in life. Take a listen to two of my favorite Hip Hop Gospel songs… and Vibeeee
Rock and Rap has been around since the origination of Hip Hop. After all, rock is indeed the older brother of rap music. Rap and Rock have been seen mingling and mixing for some time now. I can remember back to “Walk This Way,” with RUN DMC and Aerosmith uniting. That song set up alot of the proceeding rap and rock songs that we hear today. In contemporary hip hop, we have seen Jay Z collaborate with Linkin Park and have seen such rap artists even try to make their own personal versions of rock through Lil Wayne. This genre of Rock and Rap has been around for a while, and I must say I am pretty pleased with the results of the couple.
Check out 3 of my favorite rap and rock songs:
Jay Z and Linkin Park:
RUN DMC and Aerosmith:
Lil Wayne:
Freestyling has been a craft known in the Hip Hop commun ity for some time now. Freestyling is the art of lyrically expressing words in a rhyming structure in a sudden spontaneous moment. Currently, some of my favorite freestyle rappers would have to include mostly underground artists. There are freestyles that can represent positive messages, negative messages, battle rap, and even cultural representation. Alot of MC’s thrive off of the ability to freestyle. I myself find it very difficult to do. A close friend of mine can pretty much rap about anything from the picture on the wall to the couch that you may be sitting on at any given moment. Freestyling is indeed a craft. Check out some of my favorite types of freestyles.
Battle Rap:
Positive Freestyling:
Cultural Explosion:
Punch Line Machine:
I recently recorded a song with a friend of mine named Chosen in which we combined his element of soul music and my element of rapping. After hearing feedback from several individuals, I have gotten mixed reactions to the song. On person said that soul and rap cannot and should not mix. ANother stated that the song was very well orchestrated and put together in a way that just made them want to “vibe.” I have seen this mixture a few times in the hip hop community with artists such as John Legend (collaborating with Kanye West), Jill Scott (collaborating with artists Common and Lupe Fiasco), and Erykah Badu (collaborating with the Roots). I believe that Hip Hop Soul can be effective depending on the artists and the feel of the music. Take a listen to a song that my friend and I did and let us know if you feel the soul in it.
Bad news just keeps on rolling in for the wanna be rock star Lil Wayne. Currently serving a jail sentence, Lil Wayne has been sued numerous times since the beginning of his incarceration. Lil Wayne was first sued by Karma-Ann Swanepoel for his sampling of his song “I Feel Like Dying.” He was also sued by Darius “Deezle” Harrison for royalties on “Mrs. Officer.” Now, Lil Wayne is being sued for 500,000 dollars by Jim Jonson for royalties for the song “Lollipop.” When Lil Wayne was sued by Swanepoel almost a year ago, he shifted the blame to Jonson who he claimed should have cleared the sample before use. Even though Lil Wayne is locked up, he is still headling hip hop charts and news. Lil Wayne is really suffering with all the bad publicity due to his legal issues recently. However, I am sure that he will be back with a bang soon enough.
Every year at the BET awards, there is a cypher freestyle held that shows the creative minds of today’s artists. This year, some older and legendary artists also showed that words do not die out with age. Of the artists featured were Eminem, Mos def, KRS-One, Wale, Nicki Minaj, among others. The freestyles usually feature new artists as well as veterans. To me, the best performance and most creative artist this year was Mos Def. Take a look at the three cyphers feature d this year and let me know what you think.
In today’s society, Hip Hop portrays to be a hard hitting medium. It is usually described as degrading and of no substance. In today’s society however, some artists still reach out to enrich the ear and stimulate the mind. Some rappers do not only rap about party’s and the things they have. Some rap about love and educating. I have provided below some songs that have come out recently that are stimulating and popular. Take a listen to artists B.O.B., Jay Cole, and Jay Z. Check out some of these artists below.
B.O.B. raps to a special lady:
Jay Cole rapping about the girl of his dreams:
Jay Z simply wants to be remembered through youth.
On January 1, Oprah will develop her own cable network titled OWN. She will have several shows that are currently developing. Some of the shows are titled, master class, Life Is Not a Straight Line, Note to Self, and Swell and Visionaries: Inside the Creative Mind. The first episode of Master Class will feature artist Jay Z and Condoleezza Rice. The show will feature politicians and celebrities describing real life stories into the camera.
Jay Z told allhiphop.com, “I didn’t even think about it… I just said yes”. But then again, who would turn down Oprah? The show titled Swell and Visionaries: Inside the Creative Mind, will feature artist Lady Gaga and director of Avatar, James Cameron.
The station wil take off next year and I am very interested in viewing it. Maybe Oprah can bring some educational and creative ways of reaching the Hip Hop community.
5. Ice Cube: From a classic style with N.W.A. to the recent lyrical expression of politics and world issues, Ice Cube has always been a inspirational MC that I have looked up to. It showed that you can rap about issues and take a stand for equality in society. He also showed me that good days actually exist in the hood. Check out Ice Cube’s 1992 hit “It Was A Good Day.”
4. DMX: Although he may come off angry and violent at times, DMX has proved to be a very good storyteller in the hip hop game. DMX hasn’t had a hit song for some years now, and has been in a lot of spotlight in the media for legal issues, but I can’t help but remember his song “Slippin.” Check out one of my favorite songs by DMX.
3. Jay Z: Self explanatory artist Jay Z is by far my favorite MC in the rap game. However, I placed him at number 3 on my list of storytellers. His song “History” was really a representation of poetry and talent. He has been around for a while and I am sure he will be dropping more albums to come. Take a listen to “History.”
2. Eminem: From blonde hair on 8mile to Shady Aftermath, Eminem has been touching listeners in ways that many haven’t. Eminem’s stories of his own life influence everyday individuals and show that everything you see behind a camera lens on television isn’t what is seems. Take a look at one of my favorite videos from Eminem, “Cleaning Out My Closet.”
1. Nas: My all time favorite lyrical storyteller would definitely have to be Nas. Nas is a special type of MC. He is one that not only can bless the mic to a young class of entertainment purposes, but can also speak from his soul and express issues effecting everyday life. Nas speaks volumes of political issues, racism, poverty, and hood life. Check out my favorite song from Nas titled “One Mic.”
Nas has always been a rapper that was real to the ear and a leader amongst many. He has been away for a little while and now has an album with Damian Marley. The two collaborate on an album entitled “Distant Relatives,” Nice name huh? The album focuses on more than just your average hip hop song. It touches life and the world as a whole through the lyrics. Nas is needed in this day and age. He has always been the type of rapper to make you sit down and think about life in perspective. Today, that effect has diminished in a sense. Some rappers may still be around that do that, but not to the same level as Nasir Jones. Remember “One Mic”? When I was in middle school and that song came out, I was touched. It really made me think. As an adult now listening back to the lyrics, it really touches me to see that Hip Hop has not died, yet has only taken a side road off its course. Nas is a necessity to the rap game. Help even out the mix of party songs with some story telling and motivation.
http://www.allhiphop.com/stories/editorial/archive/2010/03/29/22156293.aspx
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