Hello all and thank you I am working on a project about spoken word in music. (as opposed to the sung word). I include things like talking blues and poetry with instrumental accompaniement. Which brings me to rap. Which is a problem. I don't know rap at all. I do know that, because of my age, I have trouble discerning the words. What advice (songs, artists?) would you give an old country/folk fan who wants to investigate rap? I'm not looking for "true rap", I'm looking for an introduction to rap that will (after I learn to hear it) lead me to "true rap". Thanks. P.S. if you have any recommendations about "spoken word in music" that would also be appreciated. thanks.
Eric Burdon of The Animals recorded the first Rap song in 1968. http://youtu.be/z7lASc4EqOg That's all I know.
I like the Beastie Boys "Hello Nasty" because there is a lot of musical talent behind the rhyming. They incorporate different beats and there is "turntablism" which is like record scratching and stuff. There are elements in their music that I would say are somewhat psychedelic. There's this one song that talks about a turntable hooked up to a wah-wah pedal. Here is the opening track from "Hello Nasty". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn9Vb-EQTKU&list=PL1T0hHFDjgDE_5h6swK-l5m8Pxqd_y4hN&index=1 There's a lot of stuff going on in the background on some of their tracks. It's really something I've come to appreciate. Unfortunately this element is not omnipresent in all rap music. So, yea. I like the Beastie Boys. They also have instrumental stuff in their music. Here is a killer track from the "Ill Communication" album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owv-mhk7dY0
The music can be really diverse. There is sampling in some of it, where they select a sample from some throwback or perhaps even a new tune, which is then incorporated into the mix of everything that's being done. Then lyrics can be added. I honestly don't know that much about how it's done in a production context. But here is another example of someone doing something cool with it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxIRj6qoo14 The rapper on the second track from this mix is called "What What". She is talented, but The Herbaliser and the artist What What are not the same thing. Anyway if you're interested in hearing some more this old mix is decent.
Rap is the poetry of the streets. If you want to learn it you need to hit the streets and start talking to some gang bangers. when u tell u came not 2 fuk wit em dem thoze gangbangers will tell u a tale of street poetry... motherfucker!
I really don't like it when someone reads to me. I rather read something myself.....and then mix that with words i cannot even understand what they said...or what the words mean in modern jargon.....it is like a tap, tap, tap at my head....talking or shouting at me and not to me that is torture....and not melodic enough...I do like it when someone sings to me, if they sing well enough, though........
It's the I-R - M-I and I can't even spell the rest it takes too long and I need another cigarette i cant see, both my eye sites are mad whack so shut the fuck up and listen or get an ass kicken i slap hoes and call em bitches to their face and scream fuck off bitch Irmi in the place so turn around, recognize and check nuts cause simply dears, i dont giveAaaaaa fuuuuuck
my favorite rap intro is cocky by fieldy i cant find it on YT but it is an intro to this song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVkD4dQk3NU
I'd probably point to Run-Dmc as the group that popularized rap. However it was definitely around prior to that and themes of the inner city life had precipitated that. One of the formative rap songs that was largely influential on about the next 2 decades of rap music was "The Message" from Grandmaster Flash : http://youtu.be/O4o8TeqKhgY It's like a jungle sometimes It makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under Broken glass everywhere People pissin' on the stairs, you know they just don't care I can't take the smell, can't take the noise Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice Rats in the front room, roaches in the back Junkies in the alley with the baseball bat I tried to get away but I couldn't get far Cause a man with a tow truck repossessed my car [Chorus] Don't push me cause I'm close to the edge I'm trying not to lose my head It's like a jungle sometimes It makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under Standin' on the front stoop hangin' out the window Watchin' all the cars go by, roarin' as the breezes blow Crazy lady, livin' in a bag Eatin' outta garbage pails, used to be a fag hag Said she'll dance the tango, skip the light fandango A Zircon princess seemed to lost her senses Down at the peep show watchin' all the creeps So she can tell her stories to the girls back home She went to the city and got social security She had to get a pimp, she couldn't make it on her own [Chorus] It's like a jungle sometimes It makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under My brother's doin' bad, stole my mother's TV Says she watches too much, it's just not healthy All My Children in the daytime, Dallas at night Can't even see the game or the Sugar Ray fight The bill collectors, they ring my phone And scare my wife when I'm not home Got a bum education, double-digit inflation Can't take the train to the job, there's a strike at the station Neon King Kong standin' on my back Can't stop to turn around, broke my sacroiliac A mid-range migraine, cancered membrane Sometimes I think I'm goin' insane I swear I might hijack a plane! [Chorus] It's like a jungle sometimes It makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under My son said, Daddy, I don't wanna go to school Cause the teacher's a jerk, he must think I'm a fool And all the kids smoke reefer, I think it'd be cheaper If I just got a job, learned to be a street sweeper Or dance to the beat, shuffle my feet Wear a shirt and tie and run with the creeps Cause it's all about money, ain't a damn thing funny You got to have a con in this land of milk and honey They pushed that girl in front of the train Took her to the doctor, sewed her arm on again Stabbed that man right in his heart Gave him a transplant for a brand new start I can't walk through the park cause it's crazy after dark Keep my hand on my gun cause they got me on the run I feel like a outlaw, broke my last glass jaw Hear them say "You want some more?" Livin' on a see-saw [Chorus] It's like a jungle sometimes It makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under A child is born with no state of mind Blind to the ways of mankind God is smilin' on you but he's frownin' too Because only God knows what you'll go through You'll grow in the ghetto livin' second-rate And your eyes will sing a song called deep hate The places you play and where you stay Looks like one great big alleyway You'll admire all the number-book takers Thugs, pimps and pushers and the big money-makers Drivin' big cars, spendin' twenties and tens And you'll wanna grow up to be just like them, huh Smugglers, scramblers, burglars, gamblers Pickpocket peddlers, even panhandlers You say I'm cool, huh, I'm no fool But then you wind up droppin' outta high school Now you're unemployed, all non-void Walkin' round like you're Pretty Boy Floyd Turned stick-up kid, but look what you done did Got sent up for a eight-year bid Now your manhood is took and you're a Maytag Spend the next two years as a undercover fag Bein' used and abused to serve like hell Til one day, you was found hung dead in the cell It was plain to see that your life was lost You was cold and your body swung back and forth But now your eyes sing the sad, sad song Of how you lived so fast and died so young so [Chorus] It's like a jungle sometimes It makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under