9. "I had the opposite problem growing up" In response to Reply # 5
When I was about 10, I had no idea why R&b (which i loved) and hip-hop (which I couldnt stand) were always lumped together. MTV's top 10 jam countdown (whatever the hell it was called) was the worst. I could never figure out why they were mixing Ja Rule and Aaliyah.
It wasn't until I got The Score and Miseducation that the pieces started to fall into place and I started giving hip-hop a shot.
11. "i was gonna say "no", then i thought about it." In response to Reply # 0
the first time i heard Run DMC's "Sucker MCs", i was waiting for the music to come in for the WHOLE song. sure, i'd heard rap music before, but everything seemed to be really fleshed out and musical. when it wasn't, they at LEAST had some of those fake symphony stabs in it...or SOMETHING! but that shit was nothing but a drum beat (& drum machine claps). it was funky. the hardest thing i'd ever heard before...and it was AMAZING. that fucked my head COMPLETELY up. everything changed that day.
legsdiamond Member since May 05th 2011 79594 posts
Sun May-06-12 12:19 PM
13. "RE: i was gonna say "no", then i thought about it." In response to Reply # 11 Sun May-06-12 12:40 PM by legsdiamond
>the first time i heard Run DMC's "Sucker MCs", i was waiting >for the music to come in for the WHOLE song. sure, i'd heard >rap music before, but everything seemed to be really fleshed >out and musical. when it wasn't, they at LEAST had some of >those fake symphony stabs in it...or SOMETHING! but that shit >was nothing but a drum beat (& drum machine claps). it was >funky. the hardest thing i'd ever heard before...and it was >AMAZING. that fucked my head COMPLETELY up. everything >changed that day.
Grinding and come Clean felt the same way... I never had a problem understanding Hip Hop but those beats made me scratch my head the first time I heard them.
Grinding was definitely a WTF as far as beats go.
I'm at an age now where I can admit I don't get the appeal or sound of some of these new artist.
16. "RE: On the first two accounts there. . ." In response to Reply # 15 Sun May-06-12 12:58 PM by Austin
I can honestly say that I did not understand a lot of the slang that was being used, but it's not like it was just this world of off-putting confusion. It was enticing and almost like a challenge for me to try and understand what was happening in the music. And it made sense that they wouldn't be saying things plain and clear.
And I would imagine a lot of people who heard Bob Dylan in the 60's didn't know where he fit "in the universes of art and music theory" but that didn't stop them from loving his music and having a general enthusiasm for it.
17. "Maybe the question isn't transmitting right" In response to Reply # 15
And maybe the word "understand" is at issue? Maybe you should shape the responses further.
>- you picked up ALL of the slang and intricacy on something >like "Only >Built 4 Cuban Linx" the FIRST time you heard it?
I think you can misunderstand or misread a text, or piece, in a genre without necessarily compromising your understanding of the whole genre. I'm sure there are a bunch of Wu references I still don't get, and I'd still say i understand hip-hop better than the vast majority of people.
> >- you never misunderstood a lyric, or a concept, or an entire >genre >(the philosophy/sociology behind it) to some degree?
I can see this one (kinda touches on DolphinTeef's edit earlier). I've certainly understood regional variations much better after experiencing and living in different parts of the country. But it still wouldn't necessarily compromise your understanding of the overall art form and culture.
> >- you understood where hip-hop production fit in the universes >of art >and music theory, before you really knew either existed or >what they >were about?
I'm not sure this one is even relevant, because I don't think you need art or music theory to "understand" hip-hop. And I say that having done years of study in music theory and aesthetics that certainly has modified my understanding of hip-hop. But I wouldn't say i didn't understand it before. In fact (possibly exaggerating here), putting those disciplines in convo with hip-hop probably helped me understand them more than the other way around.
>Or is this just posturing for credibility (internal or >external)?
Yet, it could certainly be this. But i think if you've grown up reared in the art form, culture, style, etc. it's perfectly reasonable to think that there's never been a conscious time in your life when you didn't "understand" it.
19. "There was a time where I thought to be ''an M.C." meant to be wack lol" In response to Reply # 0
Because everytime I heard "MC", it was usually accompanied by wack or sucka. And this was around the time M.C. Hammer dropped the "M.C." from his name, too.
But then, of course, you had folks talkin' 'bout being a real or dope MC, so I was confused hahaha.
__ I don't like the beat anymore because its just a loop. ALC didn't FLIP IT ENOUGH!
Flip it enough? Flip these. Flip off. Go flip some f*cking burgers.(c)Kno
Allied State of the National Electric Beat Treaty Organization (NEBTO)
27. "seriously tho, obviously u dont hav 2 be an artist to "understand"" In response to Reply # 24 Sun May-06-12 02:57 PM by philpot
but u proclaimed to have understanding from day 1, apparently w/o having to do any learning, creating or participating...
some others have as well, as if bc of the year they are born they are entitled w/o actually having to participate or learn, or even really make an effort
i dont buy that at all, seems like a weak entitlement mentality, so asking for actual proof of at least an attempt at creating *something* seems reasonable and a natural direction to move in
i mean, shit...im sure uv freestyled drunk w/ ur bros, that's pretty gnarly
________________________________________________________________ whenever you did these things to the least of my brothers you did them to me
30. "again i said clearly that its no requirement BUT" In response to Reply # 29
>. . .without actually being able to write a novel myself.
but ima respect a novelist's view on novels before someone who's never written one AND assume they understand more abt writing novels than a reader
>I can understand how a car works and not have a driver's >license.
but ima respect a mechanic's view on what's wrong w/ my car before someone who's neverdriven one AND assume they understand more abt cars than someone who doesnt drive
(this was a particularly horrible analogy btw)
>It didn't take me buying a set of 1200's and trying for myself >to understand just how good Qbert is.
but my guess is Qbert understands what he does MUCH better than you do, but yet in reply 1 in this post u felt the need to chortle at the idea that ur understanding may not be fully formed and complete bc, hey why wouldnt it be, you know and understand it all, no effort needed
>Is this getting through at all? > >
________________________________________________________________ whenever you did these things to the least of my brothers you did them to me
45. ""to perceive and comprehend the nature and significance of"" In response to Reply # 43
if u would like the dictionary to speak for u instead
im sure u and everyone else did just that, and fully, on first listen, and that understanding wasnt actually born out of time and experience and learning
________________________________________________________________ whenever you did these things to the least of my brothers you did them to me
31. "for me its always humbling to get references WAY late" In response to Reply # 0
and that's something that continues to come with hearing more music. i didn't grow up during the golden age so going back and hearing some of those songs always does it for me. i remember thinking atmosphere was so dope on guns and cigarettes with "rappers steppin to me..." and when i heard the kane track i started to get it.
33. "i think the first couple of hip-hop songs that i liked were" In response to Reply # 0
Doug E Fresh's 'Keep Rising to the Top' & RUN-DMC's 'Run's House'.
i had both of those videos taped from BET and i used to play them over and over and over. until then i didn't really get the fuss. the songs seemed sparse and inaccessible. more like something you had to 'be in on' in order to enjoy the music.
i was maybe 10 or 11 and my parents wouldn't really let us have access to the radio, so hip-hop was just something i didn't hear alot of. i think Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em and The West Coast All-Stars were the first two tapes I owned, but that wasn't until I was like 12 or 13. i remember i asked to hear Monie Love, but her album had a Parental Advisor sticker so my parents wouldn't let me listen to that. the explicitness of the lyrics were the main reason i wouldn't get into hip-hop really until Tribe's Low End Theory. the beats were hot and topically it was innocent enough that i could listen to it around the house without my parents saying much.
34. "I was too young to understand most of De La's music at the time" In response to Reply # 0
but the older I got the more I realized how brilliant these dudes were. I was constantly picking up new shit with each listen. Especially the Buhloone Mind State LP. Hearing I AM I Be at 14 and then listening to it around 22 years of age was a totally new listening experience.
****************************************** Falcons, Braves, Bulldogs and Hawks
35. "RE: Remember when you didn't understand rap/hip-hop?" In response to Reply # 0
I remember thinking for the LOOOONGEST time that the DJ was actually making the music (as many an emcee had claimed) right behind him as he rapped. I think i started thinking this way after watching Beat Street as an 8 or 9 year old kid.
For a little while, I even thought you were supposed to drag the needle across the grooves to skratch.. yeah, the record got scratched.. but not in the way I wanted. I know I wasn't the only one..
Listening to "Supercuts" by Rodney O and Joe Cooley on the radio, I remember hearing Rodney O talk about "some 808".. He might as well have been speaking in Russian because I had no idea..
I think Yo! really demystified a lot of rap music in my mind as it was consistently on and had visuals for everything..
I remember Daddy-O explaining about sampling in the Talkin' All That Jazz video. Previously, as I had explained earlier, I thought the DJ was somehow making all of the beats simultaneously with the cuts and scratches, but now, here's a rapper talking about sampling. In the video, there's a clip of the guys working a sci-fi'ed out sampler which looked like something out of "Brazil" or "A Clockwork Orange" with video screens and all kinds of knobs and tubes. I wasn't naive enough to think it was real, but I think that was the moment I could actually differentiate between the dj and the beatmaker.
40. "RE: Remember when you didn't understand rap/hip-hop?" In response to Reply # 0
I grew up Mormon, so the whole experience of getting into hip hop was just a mess. I didn't understand WHAT was going on, I just thought it was cool. I'd grown up listening to classical music almost exclusively, and my introduction to rap was "Make 'Em Say Ugh" on MTV Jams, which came out when I was in middle school. I thought Mystikal was the best rapper alive because he was the fastest, like everyone else in rap was trying to go that fast, but he was the winner! And I didn't understand why I wasn't supposed to buy a No Limit chain or wear baggy pants, I thought that was all just some racist mess. I started buying rap cds and assumed i'd just fast forward through the parts with the bad words... that didn't work out. I wound up embarassing myself badly enough at school with my fashion choices that I basically stopped listening to rap until I had developed an actual self-image and a sense of humor.
the fact that Master P was your first intro into hip-hop is funny. i guess more so because that type of music was kinda 'off the radar' and distinct, even if the traditional musical quality wasn't that great.
it is a great song tho and Mystikal definitely had his own style of rapping.
i had a friend in college who was from this real small town in Missouri but was *in* to Master P. he was this kinda nerdy white guy from Southern Missouri but he would tell me, 'Hey Chris, have you heard Ghetto D.' I'd just say 'No', but in my head i'd be like, there is no way in hell i'm listening to that.
First time I heard 'rap' music was Run DMC followed by Beastie Boys and LL Cool J. Loved it right there on the spot. Cardboard boxes flattened out and boomy bass sounds with lots of bragging on top.
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