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Originally Posted by Elspode
I was not a big fan of any rock songs which extolled the virtues of killing, either.
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I love "Cop Killer" by Body Count...too bad such a stink was raised about it. On the bright side, pressings of their debut CD with that song on it fetch big bucks.
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I thought I distinguished between what I thought was good rap/hip hop and what wasn't. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't gangsta rap outsell the more easy going stuff by about a million to one?
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It seemed to me like you were still lumping all hip-hop artists together. My apologies if I was mistaken.
The more I think about it, gangsta rap really isn't what it used to be anymore. You still have folks bragging about their money and women and killing and shit, but a lot of that died after the Tupac and Biggie murders. And it's probably not the biggest selling subgenre anymore, either. But a lot of hip-hop is hard to classify these days: Jay-Z is no school boy, but he wants radio to play his shit. Same with DMX. (I happen to like both artists, though not as much as those I previously mentioned.) Jay-Z sells a shitload of CDs...DMX does too, though nowhere near as many as Jigga. And then there's Eminem...the guy is nuts, but he clearly tells you that it's an act...and you definitely can't call him a gangsta rapper.
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I am in no way suggesting that there should be a ban or other restriction on the offensive stuff. I'm just saying that it sucks, and it would be good for those with the ability to do so to put their talents to more uplifting uses once in awhile. I don't see most rap purveyors and commenting on a social condition or satirizing a laughable segment of society. I see them as promoting the very sociological outrages that they "sing" about. The comparison to Punk is apt on one hand, and sort of misdirected on the other. While I see people doing stupid gangsta stuff everyday, the Anarchy movement never really got going...
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Anarchy is too scary for most folks, but a lot of them like hearing about other bad things...look at the obsession with the Mafia here in the States.
And I have to bring the comparison to rock n' roll back in...the proportion of hip-hop artists putting themselves to "good use" is probably comparable to the proportion of rock artists. Hell, even I laugh at folks like Bono.