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I know many of you have participated and defended hip hop in the "Rap is Crap" threads, and also in the "Rap is not crap! Come and hate!" threads.

But one thing I can't stand is that when someone says "Look! Rap really is all about bitches and hos! Look at these lyrics!" and they put up 50 Cent or Chingy lyrics, and then some people supposedly defending Hip Hop as a whole will say "YEAH WELL THAT IS s**t HIP HOP LISTEN TO UNDERGROUND HIP HOP GO LISTEN TO COMMON!".

What. The. ********?

I pretty much love almost all Hip Hop. If it's not political, it's danceable. If it's not danceable, it's lovable. If it's not lovable, its meaningful. It goes on and on. I dislike very little modern, mainstream rap.

The way I look at is this, assuming that people who hate on Hip Hop listen to Rock, since they are the two mainstream genres of today.


Of today's Rock, I enjoy, at most 15% of it. At most.
Of today's Hip Hop, I enjoy, at least 80% of it. If not more.

So why do people have ot pretend that mainstream hip hop isn't "real" or as "good" as "underground" hip hop?

I'm not sure where I'm going, but all I can say is that I love Fat Joe or T.I. almost as much as I like Mos Def, Common, or Ghostface Killah.

Well, the way I think of it is like this.

ArSiNaL's HipHop/Rap

Who created hiphop, where and when?

Hip hop originated in the 1970s from the Universal Zulu Nation as a vehicle to teach awareness, knowledge and positive thought. As a predominantly black movement that originated in the Bronx to stop gang violence, the term hip hop, coined by Lovebug Starki, was made public by a man named Afrika Bambaataa, who is known today as the founder of the hip hop culture. In 1979, Bambaataa declared, When we made hip hop, we made it hoping it would be about peace, love and unity and having fun so that people could get away from the negativity that was plaguing our streets like gang violence, drug abuse, self-hate and racism.

What exactly IS hiphop?

Hip hop is a culture that is comprised of five elements: rapping, DJ-ing, breakdancing, graffiti and knowledge. The most important part of this culture is keeping respect and honest expression to one's community; respect, along with unity and knowledge, forms the tripod on which hip hop stands. For this reason, on May 16, 2001, the United Nations recognized hip hop as a culture and a non-governmental organization.

So why is it that artists like 50 Cent are making millions of dollars by acting like uneducated barbarians? The answer is simple!

When an artist is signed onto a major record label, they will play into whatever role the label demands. Consequently, certain artists refuse to sign major recording contracts or sell out for a large sum of money. Companies like Vivendi Universal or Viacom have plagued hip hop with serious accusations of destroying today's youth and promoting violence and chauvinism. They are labeling a predominantly black culture as violent and uneducated and consequently keeping themselves at the top of today's economy.

So, what's the deal with Mainstream hating?

Mainstream corporations have afflicted hip hop with separatism, manipulating it with political tactics to enforce racial stereotypes. It is these companies that have the power and are now deciding what our society will think of when they see the term hip hop. Businessman Richard Gonahangya and his company America Media Operative Inc. bought and trademarked all rights to the term for a net estimate of $8 billion a year in royalties. To use the expression hip hop, small businesses now need to pay his company $20,000 for the right to speak about a culture that once brought so many people together.

One final thought, from ArSiNaL:

Hip hop is about giving a voice to one's community. This is what differentiates an MC who raps for a community and a rapper who raps for a corporation. Artists like KRS One, Slug, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Sage Francis, Common, Mystic, Eyedea, Buck 65 and many others have dedicated themselves to promoting what true hip hop stands for and, for this reason, have gotten much respect from the hip hop community. It is time to re-establish the true essence of hip hop, a culture for which our generation will always be remembered.

And THAT is why we mainstream hate.

I thought Afrika thought of the term "Hip-Hop"....

just bcoz they're on the radio dont mean theyre s**t

good point. there are some good mainstream artist out there....i listen to alot of soul or (neo-soul), i think the reason people recommend underground hip hop is because its post all the bling and bitches. before an artist becomes big they rhyme about stuff that many people can relate to, until they make it big and start talking about the s**t they got and how many hoes and money they have. before all that s**t starts an artist is humble and maybe even happy. think about 50 cent. he was actually good when he was underground, now he is a lonely greedy rapper who has to beef with everyone to sell records...

Man..........

All this talk about mainstream and underground is on some bull crap. Its all music. You have your MUSIC artists, and then you have your MUSIC sellouts. Bottomline, its the sellouts that we hate, not the popularity of the music. Yall need to recognize.

And to add on to that, the sellouts are the ones that don't realize (or refuse to do so) where the art of hiphop came from. I'm talking about the 4 elements and their existence in the hiphop culture. Only a select few of artists even give these sub-forms of hiphop recognition, or better yet, exposure. So refusal to do so, or even acknoledgement of these things.... deems the person a sellout in my book. For example, "Cash/Money Millionaires".... the name says it all, straight sell out. Only chump like this can talk about....

"Pay the dues, in your pimped out Gucci suits/
Ain't got no job, but I'm still fly"

Straight busters... I'd love to see these chumps in a cypher or an Open Mic... where it all started. But they won't be any place of the sort.

And I'm deeply sorry to say, but even the Xzibit is on the sellout tip, and I feel Xzibit was ill as hell. I mean "Pimp yo Ride"... that s**t ain't got anything to do with hiphop. He's just using his hiphop image to get the cash. I understand that everybody gotta eat, but he shoulda stayed at what he does best... making good music.

Hrm... well while I do prefer undergound hip-hop, the mainstream stuff is still good too. I think that for some people, when you hear a song so much (because some 'mainstream' radio stations tend to play the same songs over and over) that you just get tired of it, and it seems that everybody likes it not for what the song is, but because everybody else does. That false feeling could make almost anyone not like an artist/song.

....is it bad if I don't know Xzibit for anything but pimp my ride? sweatdrop