Anything but rap

[teeder]

I can get into the music in that Chicken Grease song posted, but otherwise I can't relate and agree with Brian.
Nice job, John!

[electrofaro]

I'm as fanatical about my Digable Planets, Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, Wu-Tang (ODB) and Jay Z. albums as I am about a lot of great classic rock, blues or jazz.

If it's honest and speaks the truth, I'm all ears.
If the artist is creating music for the sake of art and not selling albums, I'm all ears.
If the artist is continually pushing the boundaries of their craft instead of recycling old cliches, then I'm all ears.

I have to disagree... Jay Z creating music for the sake of art? You got to be kidding

[scotty]

I always liked Vanilla ice.

[collin]

I'm as fanatical about my Digable Planets, Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, Wu-Tang (ODB) and Jay Z. albums as I am about a lot of great classic rock, blues or jazz.

If it's honest and speaks the truth, I'm all ears.
If the artist is creating music for the sake of art and not selling albums, I'm all ears.
If the artist is continually pushing the boundaries of their craft instead of recycling old cliches, then I'm all ears.

I have to disagree... Jay Z creating music for the sake of art? You got to be kidding

The man can do no wrong in my book.


Take a deeper listen? I don't know what to tell you.

[electrofaro]

Take a deeper listen? I don't know what to tell you.

A-ha! lol

[electrofaro]

I always liked Vanilla ice.

I thought you'd be more of a Milli Vanilli type!

[scotty]

I thought you'd be more of a Milli Vanilli type!

Girl You Know It's True

[JakeK]

I like:
Classic Rock (mostly from '60s and 70s)
Jazz
Blues
SOME modern day rock (Barenaked Ladies, Arctic Monkeys, etc)
50s and 60s Country
Surf Rock
Soul
'60s R&B

[collin]

I always liked Vanilla ice.

Hey no shame.....Robbie Van Winkle had some serious flow.

I remember the first three albums I ever bought (in 1991) were Vanilla Ice's To the Extreme, MC Hammer's Please Hammer Don't Hurt Em and Nirvana's Nevermind.

Random, huh? Wow....just admitted that in public.

[nattiep]

I like:
Classic Rock (mostly from '60s and 70s)
Jazz
Blues
SOME modern day rock (Barenaked Ladies, Arctic Monkeys, etc)
50s and 60s Country
Surf Rock
Soul
'60s R&B

There's some really good newer stuff too though. Interpol, Fleet Foxes, Grizzly Bear.

I'm a big fan of She & Him for that 60's sounding indie country pop. Going to see their sold out show in Cleveland in 3 weeks.

[cassius987]

Rap is fabulous--except for what's playing on the radio right now. Which is true of all genres really (or am I just a cranky jerk? that's possible too). I always tend to gravitate towards the stuff that Amazon.com is not sending me weekly e-mails about. Not just out of spite either, I promise.

I really enjoy where rap/hip-hop and electronica overlap. Toss some jazz influences in there and you've got a Pandora station I could listen to for days on end. This goes on in trip hop sometimes, for instance Massive Attack's early stuff. Also, Mark Farina sticks some nice hip-hop in a lot of his Mushroom Jazz series and it fits very well. I guess in a way the Gorillaz also count towards this sort of fusion. As for "real rap", I can definitely vouch for Atmosphere, Mos Def, the Fugees... and to be honest there's some gangsta rap I really enjoy like the Geto Boyz. I don't think they were condoning violence at all ultimately--a lot of their lyrics centered on the futility of gangsta culture.

[collin]

I can definitely vouch for Atmosphere, Mos Def, the Fugees....

Yeah, you pretty much touched on my favorite sub-genre of rap/hip hop -- "Alternative Hip Hop" which is groups that took the original lyrical flow of hip hop, mixed in tons of musical tastes (from Jazz to reggae to soul etc etc) and eschewed lyrics about bling or gangster life and could rap about real life (even mundane aspects of real life or "uncool" stuff).

Groups like A Tribe Called Quest, Arrested Development and Digable Planets all fall under this category too.


Sadly, "Bling" and "Gangsta" are what the public likes to cling to in their image of a rapper, despite these alternatives.

[wayang]

[wayang]

[antipodean]

I guess in a way the Gorillaz also count towards this sort of fusion.

Damon Alburn is a solid-gold genius..... he could fuse hip-hop with a Japenese Noh chorus and make it work.