Hip-Hop vs. The Law

ballerz1 · Post by **ballerz1** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 1:44 am

Why is it that every successful hip-hop artist needs to project themselves as being criminals, even when they grew up in suburbia? Take Ja Rule for example. Her was raised in a suburban community but then started projecting himself as a hard-core gangster. Then a song came out (“Hail Mary”) by 50 Cent, Eminem, and Busty Rhymes that dissed him for the fact, and his sales started to slide. It’s also interesting to see how the law enforcement deals with these young artists, such as the NYPD setting up a special “Hip-Hop Task Force” that monitors their every move.

I though to bring up these topics because I just saw a preview for an upcoming hip-hop special on Court TV being produced by Russell Simmons. It’s called “Hip Hop Justice” (I think), and airs Wednesday (10/06) @ 10pm. It looks really interesting and hopefully will help put hip-hop in a more positive light.

Peace,

Trevor

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 5:42 am

ballerz1 wrote:Why is it that every successful hip-hop artist needs to project themselves as being criminals, even when they grew up in suburbia?

because they are posers

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 5:43 am

double post

Jamie_R · Post by **Jamie_R** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 6:02 am

Mark wrote:because they are idiots

fixed

wee96 · Post by **wee96** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 7:17 am

Because rap sucks, the whole idea behind rap sucks, the whole idea behind "gangstas" sucks.

tao_jones · Post by **tao_jones** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 9:16 am

Here it comes another my music is better than your music debate...if only EvilAjax was here.

cho · Post by **cho** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 5:00 pm

Wee wrote:Because rap sucks, the whole idea behind rap sucks, the whole idea behind "gangstas" sucks.

Why do you assume Rap has to be about gangstas...

obviously you do not know much about rap. That is just one genre just like how rock can be broken up into Rock and Roll, Punk Rock, Heavy Metal blah blah blah.

Roody · Post by **Roody** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 7:22 pm

*cho* wrote:Why do you assume Rap has to be about gangstas...

obviously you do not know much about rap. That is just one genre just like how rock can be broken up into Rock and Roll, Punk Rock, Heavy Metal blah blah blah.

fo shizzle my nizzle

Jim · Post by **Jim** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 7:27 pm

And the 1-post bandit continues...

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=& ... 2+ballerz1

Surprised this thread is still here, but eh, I guess I'm not helping things by bringing it back to the top of the page.

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 7:31 pm

wee96 wrote:Because rap sucks, the whole idea behind rap sucks, the whole idea behind "gangstas" sucks.

i like some rap, i just don't care for the whole gangster image, really kinda stupid if you ask me.

after all "they" are just another band that some big company thinks that with the right image and marketing will sell millions.

A_COMMUNIST · Post by **A_COMMUNIST** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 7:35 pm

personally i love hip hop projecting blacks as criminals. makes it easier to keep them in jail.

don't get me wrong. i love the black people. but those people are violent and they scare me. i love them on TV to entertain us with their zany antics. But, i must say that they are violent and unpredicable. those people just scare the holy bejesus out of me. I **** my pants everytime one is coming toward me in public. I never know if he wants to kiss me or slice my little white cracker ass.

oh this world is so weird. I wish the powerful almighty god in heaven had not kept them in the oven so long. I know being white means I am half baked. But those black people are way over done.

Indy · Post by **Indy** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 7:36 pm

wee96 · Post by **wee96** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 7:45 pm

*cho* wrote:Why do you assume Rap has to be about gangstas...

obviously you do not know much about rap. That is just one genre just like how rock can be broken up into Rock and Roll, Punk Rock, Heavy Metal blah blah blah.

Obviously you cant read, show me where I said rap is always about gangsta's, I didnt. I said the whole idea behind rap and gangsta's sucks.

wee96 · Post by **wee96** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 7:46 pm

Mark wrote:i like some rap, i just don't care for the whole gangster image, really kinda stupid if you ask me.

after all "they" are just another band that some big company thinks that with the right image and marketing will sell millions.

From what Ive read some of them are even fake too, snoop dog being one of them (claimed he was in the bloods during his early days then now claims to be with the crips).

tao_jones · Post by **tao_jones** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 8:10 pm

no rap is better than rock
no rock is better than rap

its an endless circle

cho · Post by **cho** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 2:11 am

wee96 wrote:Obviously you cant read, show me where I said rap is always about gangsta's, I didnt. I said the whole idea behind rap and gangsta's sucks.

Ok then, Fair enough.

Why don't you explain why the whole idea behind rap sucks?

Brk · Post by **Brk** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 2:44 am

Rap hasn't been any good since 1994.

stevebakh · Post by **stevebakh** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 3:29 am

tao_jones wrote:no rap is better than rock
no rock is better than rap

its an endless circle

Who mentioned rock being better than rap (apart from you)?

Immortal · Post by **Immortal** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 3:57 am

My gangsta yodeling album will hit the top! cos dis thing is fresh!

wee96 · Post by **wee96** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 7:32 am

*cho* wrote:Ok then, Fair enough.

Why don't you explain why the whole idea behind rap sucks?

I dont want to offend anyone in here so I cant do that.

tao_jones · Post by **tao_jones** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 9:07 am

stevebakh wrote:Who mentioned rock being better than rap (apart from you)?

because it appears that the majority of people here that say "rap sucks" also listen to rock

...me personally I listen to just about everything excluding most country and dont have a problem with any form of music.

RoundEye · Post by **RoundEye** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 9:07 am

Burke wrote:Rap hasn't been any good since 1994.

OK, I'll bite. What made 1994 the turning point?

Ahren · Post by **Ahren** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 9:09 am

Public Enemy

Wait...That was '84. n/m

cho · Post by **cho** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 2:57 pm

wee96 wrote:I dont want to offend anyone in here so I cant do that.

Pm then please?

koldchillah · Post by **koldchillah** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 3:48 pm

I sorta agree with Burke, with the exception of Gangstar's "Moment of Truth" album around '97/98ish..

Around '94 is when Snoop-Dogg was exploding on the scene, but unfortunately "NO Limit" was coming around to ruin things shortly after. Hip-hop hasn't been the same since.

Some of my friends also say that the intelligent side of hip-hop took its final nose dive when "A Tribe Called Quest" finally broke up for good. I wanna say that was around '98. ::::shrugs::::

tao_jones · Post by **tao_jones** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 4:02 pm

koldchillah wrote:I sorta agree with Burke, with the exception of Gangstar's "Moment of Truth" album around '97/98ish..

Around '94 is when Snoop-Dogg was exploding on the scene, but unfortunately "NO Limit" was coming around to ruin things shortly after. Hip-hop hasn't been the same since.

Some of my friends also say that the intelligent side of hip-hop took its final nose dive when "A Tribe Called Quest" finally broke up for good. I wanna say that was around '98. ::::shrugs::::

I think there is still some intelligent hip-hop out there...with The Black Eyed Peas/Nas/Outkast/Mos Def/Talib Kweli

koldchillah · Post by **koldchillah** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 4:15 pm

tao_jones wrote:I think there is still some intelligent hip-hop out there...with The Black Eyed Peas/Nas/Outkast/Mos Def/Talib Kweli

I'll give ya those.. I sorta like Del the Funky Homosapien as well.. I suppose there will always be those tryin' to remain true to the rap game..

I just feel like there isn't a whole lot being said anymore that hasn't already been said..

Good producing seems to be a bigger factor nowadays.. Either way you look at it, its a debateble topic for certain..

wee96 · Post by **wee96** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 7:11 pm

tao_jones wrote:I think there is still some intelligent hip-hop out there...with The Black Eyed Peas/Nas/Outkast/Mos Def/Talib Kweli

I dont mean any offense by this whatsoever, but how on earth can you call rap intelligent? Its an oxymoron honestly, ebonics itself is simply from a lack of education on the english language, yes?

Loonatic · Post by **Loonatic** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 7:53 pm

Exactly. What I dont get is how they dont like the "n" word, but glorify it in their songs.

cho · Post by **cho** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 3:09 am

wee96 wrote:I dont mean any offense by this whatsoever, but how on earth can you call rap intelligent? Its an oxymoron honestly, ebonics itself is simply from a lack of education on the english language, yes?

Some rappers do not use ebonics. Some good Canadian rappers if anyone is intrested are K-OS,Rasclaz (kinda old now...I don't think they've done anything new in a while) and Sweat shop Union or Kyprios (sp?).

Lots of Punk and Metal songs use very poor english too, but there are also very intelligent Punk and Metal songs out there.

cho · Post by **cho** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 3:11 am

Loonatic wrote:Exactly. What I dont get is how they dont like the "n" word, but glorify it in their songs.

They feel by using it on themselfes it takes the power of the word away from Whites.

Personally...I don't get it...and again not all black people refer to themselves with the "n" word. What is even funnier some Black people refer to white people with the "n" word sometimes...it has happen to me on a few occasions...kinda put me at a lose for words...how do you respond to that???

wee96 · Post by **wee96** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 7:52 am

*cho* wrote:Some rappers do not use ebonics. Some good Canadian rappers if anyone is intrested are K-OS,Rasclaz (kinda old now...I don't think they've done anything new in a while) and Sweat shop Union or Kyprios (sp?).

Lots of Punk and Metal songs use very poor english too, but there are also very intelligent Punk and Metal songs out there.

I wasnt saying punk and metal use the greatest english in the world either, because hey half the time they yell so loud you cant understand a single word eh? ahaha.

tao_jones · Post by **tao_jones** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 10:53 am

wee96 wrote:I dont mean any offense by this whatsoever, but how on earth can you call rap intelligent? Its an oxymoron honestly, ebonics itself is simply from a lack of education on the english language, yes?

none taken at all...but i fear that you are lumping all rap/hip hop into one category...there is a lot of hip-hop out there that isnt all thugged out, i for one dont really like anything that falls under the "dirty south" genre but some of the beats are top notch

cho · Post by **cho** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 11:09 pm

wee96 wrote:I wasnt saying punk and metal use the greatest english in the world either, because hey half the time they yell so loud you cant understand a single word eh? ahaha.

I know you haven't, but the point is, it doesn't matter what form of music it is. An intelligent message could still be combined.

gieslel · Post by **gieslel** » Sat Oct 09, 2004 10:08 am

wee96 wrote:I dont mean any offense by this whatsoever, but how on earth can you call rap intelligent? Its an oxymoron honestly, ebonics itself is simply from a lack of education on the english language, yes?

100% CORRECT

kmax · Post by **kmax** » Sat Oct 09, 2004 10:23 am

it is a self fulfilling prophesy of marketing. the ultimate goal of any album that is produced and distributed by a major record label is to make a profit. this is done through marketing. with every single artist, they are given a target market for the music produced that will live up to the expectations of the consumer. by and large, the hip hop genre is for the less affluent and is marketed as urban. it therefore becomes the self fulfilling prophesy by targeting a certain group of people. they, in turn, strive to aspire to those images that are sold to them. seriously, how many albums do you think 50 cent would sell if he was rapping about teletubbies?

Kip Patterson · Post by **Kip Patterson** » Sat Oct 09, 2004 10:30 am

Here's an interesting link at The Smoking Gun:

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/10 ... phop1.html

YARDofSTUF · Post by **YARDofSTUF** » Sat Oct 09, 2004 11:10 am

wee96 wrote:Because rap sucks, the whole idea behind rap sucks, the whole idea behind "gangstas" sucks.

gansta rap aside, the whole idea behind rap is music, fun, entertainment.

LL Cool J, Will smith, MC Hammer, A bunch of guys had some clean stuff going, Common too, little more recent.