jamesfrmphilly said:listening to popular music is just like eating at McDonald's.
you get lots of fat and empty calories, not much nutrition.
most of rap and hip hop is garbage.
there are some good songs here and there but you have to sift through a mountain of junk in order to find them.
it is mostly enjoyed by people who are ignorant of musical values and the history of music.
i find most folk who follow hip hop have lost the ability to comprehend instrumental music.
the bulk of black music is lost to them.
this is no more than the dumbing down of the black community.
i find it sad that black people so willingly participate in their own destruction.
It really hurt me, as a young person that enjoys Hip Hop, to see a Brother post something like that on Destee.com.
My Brother you seriously seem to lack a clear overstanding of what Hip Hop and Rap are. Please don't cofuse the two. Before speaking so strongly and making negative comments about the majority of the people that choose to listen to Hip Hop, please EDUCATE yourself.
A little knowledge to share:
RAP is simply some aiight lyrics on top of some party beats and made simply to appeal to the majority. Rap does not seek to educate or uplift.
HIP HOP on the other hand is strictly the opposite. Hip hop artists seem dedicated (dedicated simply because they go in the studio to make this music and really don't make much money at all from record sells) to their music and pay much attention to the tracks behind their lyrics, while also seeking to educate those individuals they are entertaining. You see with hip hop you get the best of both worlds, str8 QUALTIY.
Your words speaking so strongly against Hip Hop is a huge slap in the face to artists such as Talib Kweli (My FAV. :spin: ), Common, Mos Def, The Roots, Tribe, De La, etc., etc.
Example: Talib Kweli not only has unbelievable lyrics but also some very beautiful instrumentals. The Brotha will serenade you with horns in the background while weaving in the story of "Aunt Sara," a beautiful Sister who has been through crazy struggles and still managed to come out on top.
Talib Lyrics:
AFRICA DREAM
"Yo, we the reflection of our ancestors
We'd like to thank you for the building blocks you left us
Cause your spirit possessed us
Yo, you blessed us
Thank you very much
God bless you"
FOR WOMEN
" A daughter come up in Georgia, ripe and ready to plant seeds,
Left the plantation when she saw a sign even though she can't read
It came from God and when life get hard she always speak to him,
She'd rather kill her babies than let the master get to 'em,
She on the run up north to get across that Mason-Dixon
In church she learned how to be patient and keep wishin',
The promise of eternal life after death for those that God bless
She swears the next baby she'll have will breathe a free breath
and get milk from a free breast,
And love beeing alive,
otherwise they'll have to give up being themselves to survive,
Being maids, cleaning ladies, maybe teachers or college graduates, nurses, housewives, prostitutes, and drug addicts
Some will grow to be old women, some will die before they born,
They'll be mothers, and lovers who inspire and make songs,
(But me, my skin is brown and my manner is tough,)
(Like the love I give my babies when the rainbow's enuff,)
(I'll kill the first m***af***a that mess with me, I never bluff)
(I ain't got time to lie, my life has been much too rough,)
(Still running with barefeet, I ain't got nothin' but my soul,)
(Freedom is the ultimate goal,
life and death is small on the whole, in many ways)
(I'm awfully bitter these days
'cuz the only parents God gave me, they were slaves,)
(And it crippled me, I got the destiny of a casualty,)
(But I live through my babies and I change my reality)
(Maybe one day I'll ride back to Georgia on a train,)
(Folks 'round there call me Peaches, I guess that's my name.)"
Peace and UHURU !!!