Why is hip hop so narrow minded?

Narsh · Apr 11, 2016

Apr 11, 2016

Uribe said

I agree with you on YouBetterBelieveIt, he's cancer.

But I want to take the time out to point this out because I feel it pertains to the thread. What's wrong with liking Yelawolf?
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There's nothin wrong w liking yelawolf

Imo his music isn't really worth engaging with, but I can defintely see why people like him love story was good

Narsh · Apr 11, 2016

Apr 11, 2016

Fitzy said

I'm going to give a pretty long response to this, so bare with me.

This isn't anything new within hip hop, or music in general.

Back in the 90's almost every artist had "haters" and people criticized them to death about their weaknesses. Yes, legends like Biggie, Pac, Nas, Jay Z, DMX, Wu Tang, etc all had haters and people that bashed them, old heads and new fans. There's always been a divide.

My dad would bash bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam in the 90's and boasted about the Beatles and Led Zeppelin (both were great in their own rights).

However, hopefully I can shed light to why both sides are getting hated on. I'll play a bit of Devil's Advocate here.

Speaking as a person who loves lyricism, and "against trap".

If you are rapping (which, let's face it, trap music IS rapping) you should honor all forms of the genre in which you are performing.

I've heard some of them dismiss the art form and say they're "rock stars" or they're "not trying to be lyrical"...

I think THAT'S where the divide is happening.

It completely alienates them from the rest of hip hop, as if they think they're better than rap.

Well, if that's the case, you're isolating yourself from a very large fan base that might actually look at your new hip hop sound as "innovative" and "progressive" if you honored that aspect of hip hop.

I just saw a YouTube video, where this guy Uzi or whatever refused to spit on an "old a--- Primo" beat, yet I'm supposed to respect him as a versatile and creative rapper/artist, who is trying to progress the music?

I feel like, if you're musically inclined within the genre, that should be fairly easy to do, unless you are narrow minded.

So, instead of me giving this kid a shot, I'm sitting here like, why is this dude f--king rapping then, but then saying he's not a rapper? lol. I was willing to give him a shot, but then he just dismissed one of my all time favorite producers and styles of rap, just because he felt offended, and/or needed to protect trap music...

I mean, in all honesty, lyricism within rap has taken TONS of steps forward since the 90's. Just look at battle rap alone, and how advanced the lyricism is from back then. But, the same could be said about production and music.

But, that's why I think trap rappers should do better lyrically, or even try becoming more versatile and expansive. They claim they're doing that, but they really aren't.

Here's my argument for trap fans and against "real hip hop"

I think the "real hip hop fan" movement is just as bad.

Most of these rappers just rhyme blatant nonsense, but mix it with syllable rhyme patterns and forced punchlines and pawn it off as real hip hop just because it's kind of lyrical.

I enjoy versatility within artists, whether or not their subject matter is narrow.

Jay Z rapped about, basically, the same thing for 10 plus albums, but I was still engaged as a listener because his music changed and evolved. Every album sounded different and fresh.

Kanye West has an amazing discography because he is constantly changing and evolving, and not only that, but I feel he progresses trends within the genre, and mixes it with fairly good to great lyricism.

On the flip side, Nas' discography SOUNDS the same, because he never really evolved with the sounds of hip hop, but he made every single song and album feel different through his story telling abilities.

Most old school head or even "new" real hip hop fans think that if you don't have a fast rap, or intricate lines, that the song is wack lol.

Not only that, but how quickly the discredit the trap sound is crazy. Before a song even gets played, they just write it off like it's corny or not real rap... At least give it a chance, s---.

So?

The real problem is, both sides are pretty narrow minded and don't see that, in order for hip hop to progress, there needs to be a mixture of both sounds within it. There are tons of trap fans, but also tons of fans for lyrics. Both sub genres should honor that, and attempt to branch out. I think BOTH sides get offended when their music is discredited, so then they move farther away from each other rather than combining the sounds and respecting each other.

Both sides are actually right, in a way. You listen to "real hip hop" and it starts sounding the same, and you listen to trap, it starts sounding the same. I'd like to see more versatility by both sides.

Hopefully that helps.
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/thread

ArthurDW · Apr 11, 2016

Apr 11, 2016

Fitzy said

Speaking as a person who loves lyricism, and "against trap".

If you are rapping (which, let's face it, trap music IS rapping) you should honor all forms of the genre in which you are performing.

I've heard some of them dismiss the art form and say they're "rock stars" or they're "not trying to be lyrical"...

I think THAT'S where the divide is happening.

It completely alienates them from the rest of hip hop, as if they think they're better than rap.

Well, if that's the case, you're isolating yourself from a very large fan base that might actually look at your new hip hop sound as "innovative" and "progressive" if you honored that aspect of hip hop.

I just saw a YouTube video, where this guy Uzi or whatever refused to spit on an "old a--- Primo" beat, yet I'm supposed to respect him as a versatile and creative rapper/artist, who is trying to progress the music?

I feel like, if you're musically inclined within the genre, that should be fairly easy to do, unless you are narrow minded.

So, instead of me giving this kid a shot, I'm sitting here like, why is this dude f--king rapping then, but then saying he's not a rapper? lol. I was willing to give him a shot, but then he just dismissed one of my all time favorite producers and styles of rap, just because he felt offended, and/or needed to protect trap music...

I mean, in all honesty, lyricism within rap has taken TONS of steps forward since the 90's. Just look at battle rap alone, and how advanced the lyricism is from back then. But, the same could be said about production and music.

But, that's why I think trap rappers should do better lyrically, or even try becoming more versatile and expansive. They claim they're doing that, but they really aren't.
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Rappers comparing themselves to rock stars has nothing to do with distancing themselves with rap lol

NWA did very recently the same, rock star is a lifestyle and mentally that people live to claim they have

It's absolutely their right to not try to be lyrical, that doesn't make them narrow minded, rap is not just writing lyrics, and if a (t)rapper is more focusing on his flow/energy/delivery that's his own right

And the only example you used was lil uzi vert and the dj premier thing. I don't think he was dismissing dj premier, he just didn't want to freestyle on it because it isn't his style, it's not what he listens to, it's not what he does and it wouldn't make sense for him to freestyle on it. I don't know where he said he wasn't a rapper, really.

And also if you compare the amount of "reel hip hop" fans and the amount of "trappackers" you will see there's 100 times more people dismissing newer music than people saying that every music released before 2006 is s---.

Fitzy said

The real problem is, both sides are pretty narrow minded and don't see that, in order for hip hop to progress, there needs to be a mixture of both sounds within it. There are tons of trap fans, but also tons of fans for lyrics. Both sub genres should honor that, and attempt to branch out. I think BOTH sides get offended when their music is discredited, so then they move farther away from each other rather than combining the sounds and respecting each other.

Both sides are actually right, in a way. You listen to "real hip hop" and it starts sounding the same, and you listen to trap, it starts sounding the same. I'd like to see more versatility by both sides.

Hopefully that helps.
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Nice formulated post, but I don't agree with it, at all

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