How can you not like this?

Nas & Damian Marley - Africa Must Wake Up


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfdAJxUXgYI

White people/jews hijacked hiphop from us, changed the essence of our culture, and dumbed it down(through commercial rap) to kill the soul and message in rap music...

That's why I don't listen to these popular new school rappers except: Wale and Kendrick Lamar... I only listen to conscious underground rappers!

2pac said it best on this track!

2PAC- White Man's World

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f4mifVd3V8

And this is the tune I listen to every time I need to find myself... I'll never forget the first time I heard this tune in my boy's(Iyke)yard.. We were higher than the Ionosphere from inhaling and exhaling zoot when we first played it, but we just kept playing it for like 4 hours - real music, yo...

Tupac - Who Do You Believe In?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbtz02uaGFc

Play this for Nigeria - I'm out, yo!

Stop the tribalism, yo!!

Nas & Damian Marley - My Generation ft. Lil Wayne & Joss Stone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJaMyJt1a1Y

~Royal~:
So many battlefield scars while driven in plush cars~This life as a rap star is nothin without heart
Was born rough and rugged, addressin the mad public~My attitude was, Fuhck it," cause motherfuhckers love it


..."My Attitude was Fhuck it cause Motherfuhckers Love it"....

Oh this is the Intricate Lyrical Prophet you speak of?...

Lmfao...

Im waiting....

Name one Song....

I am a Living Hip Hop Encyclopedia

I be the young, pretty, fly, smooth glorious kid, a badboy just like notorious big
I rock a fella like sean carter, wit more game like ron harper
The bomb sparker, rap slasher, chain robber
While y'all be in the corner bummy and high, I'll be out buyin the finest shyt money can buy
You wish you was in the position that I'm in, hot rhyming, diamond shining, autograph signing
My lifestyle is far out, every week I bring a different car out
I go to night clubs and buy the bar out
Cus I keep creams, I'm large on the streets scene
Every time I touch mics you hear all the freaks screams....

Guy rappers dey but forget, PAC na BABA... Nobody again!

its not an issue of rap music or not...i have seen a lot of intelligently crafted rap music, i have seen really vulgar songs dat are not rap...its just wat you want to listen to, nobody forces any kind of music on anyone, i dont see any self destruction anywhere...its just a thing of choice jor

~Royal~:

Take away Dre's Beats and You will see Pac was spitting garbage Nursery Rhymes as Well....
lol@people who thought pac was a Lyricist

He was spitting garbage rhymes yet he's the most influential rapper that ever lived
His same nursery rhymes made him the best selling US rapper
Dude get a life and don't derail this thread to a pro/anti 2pac thread even though below are links testifying to his lyrical ability
No wonder Snoop said he met more bitc# niggaz than ho's , now I know


http://rap.about.com/od/toppicks/ss/Top50Emcees_9.htm
7. 2Pac
Undoubtedly the most influential of all time, 'Pac remains a transcendental MC that's often imitated but never duplicated.

http://www.the-top-tens.com/lists/best-rapper-of-all-time.asp
No 2

http://rateyourmusic.com/list/roc_a_fella7/top_20_rappers_of_all_time
"The Most Influential Rapper Ever", "All-Time Fan Favorite", the "G.O.A.T". 2Pac will forever be remembered for bringing emotion to Hip Hop.
He still has the diss song of all time with "Hit Em Up".

http://www.mtv.com/bands/h/hip_hop_week/2006/emcees/index10.jhtml
Tupac Shakur was the hardest-working and probably the most impactful MC of all time. Rappers and fans alike all try to emulate some part of Pac: the warrior, the prophet, the leader.

http://voices.yahoo.com/greatest-rappers-all-time-top-10-emcees-2538654.html
#2 Greatest Rapper of All Time: Tupac Amaru Shakur

http://www.bet.com/music/photos/2011/09/50-most-influential-rappers.html#!2011-topic-tu-pac-crop

1. Tupac Shakur
15 years after his death, Tupac's musical influence worldwide is still astonishing. His confounding mixture of ladies' man, thug, revolutionary and poet has forever altered our perception of what a rapper should look like, sound like and act like. In 50 Cent, Ja Rule, Lil Wayne, newcomers like Freddie Gibbs and even his friend-turned-rival Biggie, it's easy to see that Pac is the most copied MC of all time. There are murals bearing his likeness in New York, Brazil, Sierra Leone, Bulgaria and countless other places; he even has statues in Atlanta and Germany. Quite simply, no other rapper has captured the world's attention the way Tupac did and still does.

shymexx: White people/jews hijacked hiphop from us, changed the essence of our culture, and dumbed it down(through commercial rap) to kill the soul and message in rap music...

That's why I don't listen to these popular new school rappers except: Wale and Kendrick Lamar... I only listen to conscious underground rappers!

2pac said it best on this track!

2PAC- White Man's World

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f4mifVd3V8

add J.cole to the list of those rappers and you will never regret it.

@ Topic, No.

The thing is, am tired of people whinning endlessly about the present state of rap music when in actuality we can always ignore these rappers and with time they will fizzle out. We the consumers actually have more powers than we think. If the likes of lil wayne and d other supposd 'bad' rappers continue to sell out shows in arenas; i think it speaks volume too about us (the consumers). Lets speak with our wallets and stop 'patronizing' those rappers we are not comfortable with their messages. If we point 1 finger at them, the oda four fingers are pointing at us.

ROYAL IS JUST A HATER

*Kails*:


Yes we did. May he rest in perfect peace.
With that said understand i am not making any excuses but if you were to interview the man who took him from us you will find what i am saying to be true. He was clearly a misguided person to believe it is ok to rob and kill an unarmed person. That is not black culture nor is it black american culture. Just a sad reality and reminder of what a lack of proper parenting or having that strong figure/influence can cause.

The direction we take in life is a sum of conscious actions and unconscious influences. I agree the robber's actions are the result of his own misguided ways. But on average, if you take two populations of teenagers and one listens to violent misogynistic stuff day in day out, you can be sure their futures are going to diverge. Its not going to be one big event, just small steps and decisions that only bear fruit in mid life.

shymexx: How can you not like this?

Nas & Damian Marley - Africa Must Wake Up


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfdAJxUXgYI

Yessir. The whole album is underrated

Hip hop has been hijacked by white corporate america - FACT!

when hip hop started out it was about a message to the oppressed black people of america - it was about expressing the discontent that many blacks felt about the white supremacist system that was oppressng them - this is what NWA, Public enemy,NAS , Tupac even notorious BIG were all about but corporate america ie time warner, sony etc decided to hijack the message because they realised the danger of allowing young angry black men trapped in poverty to keep vocalising their oppression using catchy tunes and lyrics that captured the imagination of not only young black but young white americans, corporate america knew that these rappers posed a social problem because they could use their music to overturn the status quo - this is why they bought off the major black rap labels and watered down their music and lyrics so that now all we have are clowns singing about bitches, money and rims.

this is how hip hop used to sound when it was in its prime (late 80s, early 90s


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-4AtiOjBmg&feature=relmfu

this was when there was a message- sadly white corporate america has hijacked the message of black america and watered it down with the kind of asinine garbage that we are now forced to listen to.

this is how rap used to sound:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F65AttFGOeg

Cap28 a bia la. It always end with the white man, lol But I agree this time around though.

this is how rap used to sound:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GygEAcFFMVs

this is how rap used to sound:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opWYnUpNtG8

When you know what is right and you get deceived by movies, music videos telin you wrong is right, you are towin d line of DANGER. Many movies and music turn lives upside down trickishly.

*Kails*:
Some rap music.
And even then, the lyrics are NOT the blue print of our failures
but a reflection. Our problems are much deeper and older than rap music.

You r so right bro!

@royal

Bros...rap does not have to be about intricate lines and fancy word play...it does have to sound like something that's heartfelt and personal. Fela didn't have the sweetest melodies on his tracks but his music lives on. Granted Pac wasn't exactly a model citizen but he spoke his heart with fire and relayed the realities of his day. Dear mama, life goes on, changes,ghetto gospel, give me those tracks any day and keep your 'university rhymes'
"Enemies...while drinking Hennessyyy"

The art is rapping
The content in lyrical
The idea is creative and poetic
Punch lines and metaphor
A reflection of what we see around but always ignore
Poor parenting and poverty is killing youths
Not boom-bap lyrics

birdman:

The direction we take in life is a sum of conscious actions and unconscious influences. I agree the robber's actions are the result of his own misguided ways. But on average, if you take two populations of teenagers and one listens to violent misogynistic stuff day in day out, you can be sure their futures are going to diverge. Its not going to be one big event, just small steps and decisions that only bear fruit in mid life.

In a way you have confirmed what I have been saying.
Most of these kids seek such music to fill the voids of not having that strong influence or father/mother figure. It's what I call the "Duckling syndrome".

The duck hatches, and follows anything it believes to be it's parent...or what can take care of or guide them. That is how many of our youth are. It's not a black thing only...i want to stress that but it has affect our community on a massive scale because our race regardless of cultural backgrounds have massive problems. We need parents to not only BE THERE but to be someone our children can vent and talk to. So that they don't need to seek consolation from the likes of wocka flocka, chief keef, lil boosie ; etc.

[/quote]

cold: This looks like a topic for Cap28.

cap28: Hip hop has been hijacked by white corporate america - FACT!

Well folks,can't say i didn't give you fair warning.

Ya all should listen to nas lyrics then you will understand.

when hip hop was hip hop:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmiOXu8EPaU&feature=fvwrel

Self destruction ke! I recall a song which had a lot of 'old' acts (sorry no link) its title is Self construction the host artist was KRS-one, and the others i can recall are neyo, talib kweli, redman, methodman, bustarhymes and some others. Truth is you could listen to rap 'musically' and/or lets say 'technically'. Me i do both, thing is if i want the technical rap with a massge omo na ppl like Common, Talib kweli, Jean grea, mosdef, black thought, Nas, Big L, Kool G rap, these people make rap seem to be advance calculus, where other good rhymers and flow masters like Eminem, the notorious big those are the ones i know, then there are those with indept social and phylosophical message then Rakim, Guru of Gangstarr, the pharcyde, nas, tupac, grand master flash and the furious five. Then there are those who brag a lot and are out for a brawl a few are the infamous mobb deep, the Wu-tang clan, R.A the Ruggedman, LOTUG (lords of the undeground) and the gravediggas, then there is the fun crew A tribe called quest and digital undeground. (this wan wey e b like say wiki hand go show hia). All through though, what rap 2 me is, is constructive cos though it can be brain taskin, and even 2 grimmy the message is the food. Note every startup rapper always brags even b4 the paper rolls in e.g xibit's papparazi
b.i.g's ready to die
and even snopp dogg. Rap is as every other form of music you take what you wan and/or feel is good.

Rap like everything else, tends to be a double edge sword. It all depends on what you listen to. I still listen to the dumbed down garbage most call commercial rap occasionally, just for the catchy rythm. . . . But, I subscribe more to intellectual and positive rappers. Kinda like Nas,Kendrick Lamar, Lupe, J.cole, Big Krit,Jay Electronica Clear soul forces e.t.c . However these artist do sometimes, pass subliminal negative messages too. . . . SO ITS IMPORTANT TO ALWAYS HAVE A MIND OF YOUR OWN, WITH MENTAL SIEVE "TURNED" ON.

decepticos: Self destruction ke! I recall a song which had a lot of 'old' acts (sorry no link) its title is Self construction the host artist was KRS-one, and the others i can recall are neyo, talib kweli, redman, methodman, bustarhymes and some others. Truth is you could listen to rap 'musically' and/or lets say 'technically'. Me i do both, thing is if i want the technical rap with a massge omo na ppl like Common, Talib kweli, Jean grea, mosdef, black thought, Nas, Big L, Kool G rap, these people make rap seem to be advance calculus, where other good rhymers and flow masters like Eminem, the notorious big those are the ones i know, then there are those with indept social and phylosophical message then Rakim, Guru of Gangstarr, the pharcyde, nas, tupac, grand master flash and the furious five. Then there are those who brag a lot and are out for a brawl a few are the infamous mobb deep, the Wu-tang clan, R.A the Ruggedman, LOTUG (lords of the undeground) and the gravediggas, then there is the fun crew A tribe called quest and digital undeground. (this wan wey e b like say wiki hand go show hia). All through though, what rap 2 me is, is constructive cos though it can be brain taskin, and even 2 grimmy the message is the food. Note every startup rapper always brags even b4 the paper rolls in e.g xibit's papparazi
b.i.g's ready to die
and even snopp dogg. Rap is as every other form of music you take what you wan and/or feel is good.

Love the reddened part. When it comes to multiple sylables its hard to see anyone beat KoolG. . . Except of course CrookedI or Elzhi

*Kails*:
Some rap music.
And even then, the lyrics are NOT the blue print of our failures
but a reflection. Our problems are much deeper and older than rap music.

While rap may not be the source of the problem, it does the evil of further reinforcing the problem in the minds of black youth. Rap is no longer and intelligent art. It's brainless music for the most part. I love the rap-art but I can't stand the content and culture of the music anymore. It's so misleading.

Long One: Well, I used to be a fan until these ‘noise makers’ came into the scene. Rap music helped shape a younger me or shall I say, played a fatherly role. Then gain, it got into a lot of trouble, due to the stubborn streak it created. I had friends whose lives were ruined, as they wanted to be like 2pac. Heck, some even lost their lives.

Guess rap music to the blacks is the same as what hard rock music is to the whites; definitely hazardous to health. Speaking of which, I went to Jay-Z and Kanye’s watch the throne London concert sometime this year and it was mostly whites/Asians there. Therefore, I guess it affects everyone, regardless of race.

#now, where is that my sacred Indian chants cd# No more rap music, lol.

I really feel sorry for Nigerian youth who have no clue the destructive force they are embracing in the music.

Tupac Shakur was a lyrical genius its a shame that he was eliminated by the powers that be in america:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfXwmDGJAB8