Rap help

[dklaiman]

My 13 year old listens to a lot of rap. I think most of what he listens to is closer to cr*p.

We live in MN, so we get a fair amount of Brother Ali, Atmosphere, POS, Dessa, etc on the radio, but he doesn't care for that. The issue (for me) is he likes samples with more "hooks" but he doesn't listen to the lyrics. So, can anyone recommend an artist with decent, almost pop hooks with decent lyrics?

I'm not averse to the language in the songs, just the stupidity of the lyrics in the songs he listens to. I'd post the names of some of his favorites, but he has his iPod with him.

Thanks.

[perry]

Maybe Black Eyed Peas? More pop-like, if that's what you're looking for? I used to listen to some rap and they appeal to me.

4m48GqaOz90

uSD4vsh1zDA

You can plug an artist in to Pandora and have it track down similar groups..

[Shane]

Have him listen to acts like Aesop Rock, El-P, Jurassic 5, Blackalicious, Murs, Mr. Lif, etc. Artists like this are great lyricists and do innovative things with the beats and music behind them. I'm with you in your post; much of the commercial rap is poor quality.

[mmadha]

Have him listen to acts like Aesop Rock, El-P, Jurassic 5, Blackalicious, Murs, Mr. Lif, etc. Artists like this are great lyricists and do innovative things with the beats and music behind them. I'm with you in your post; much of the commercial rap is poor quality.

These are great rap artists and suggestions. I listen to a lot of rap and hip-hop music, especially as of recently. I would say Mos Def, Common, Kanye West, Little Brother, Talib Kweli, and Drake are all decent artists that use innovative samples as well as pop sounding hooks. Little Brother is especially of note if you want a pop rap sound with innovative lyrics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLReIhRgVS8&feature=search

[Spacegeezer]

This guy Shad is amazing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy4ZZtoviXA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-mAMH5S6VA

[DFrancis]

maybe K'naan? (yes I'm plugging my fellow Canadian :biggrin1:)

[PlasticCity]

Have him check out Evidence, Sick Jacken, MURS, The Alchemist, Kid Cudi, Charles Hamilton for some off the top of my head.

[BEAR DEN]

He must go COLD TURKEY! It can take up to a month, some even longer to get rap out of a loved one system...support him, and only after all rap desires are bannished...then, and only then introduce him to Led Zeppelin, The Who, Jimmi Hendrix etc... best of luck to you.

[bjh618]

These are great rap artists and suggestions. I listen to a lot of rap and hip-hop music, especially as of recently. I would say Mos Def, Common, Kanye West, Little Brother, Talib Kweli, and Drake are all decent artists that use innovative samples as well as pop sounding hooks. Little Brother is especially of note if you want a pop rap sound with innovative lyrics

+1 on all these. Great artists that actually skilfully and cleverly rhyme.

I also recommend Dead Prez and Matisyawho (not the correct spelling, I think). :thumbup1:

[gaseousclay]

Have him listen to acts like Aesop Rock, El-P, Jurassic 5, Blackalicious, Murs, Mr. Lif, etc. Artists like this are great lyricists and do innovative things with the beats and music behind them. I'm with you in your post; much of the commercial rap is poor quality.

:thumbup:

does he like older stuff from the 90's like The Pharcyde, A Tribe Called Quest or even De La Soul? there's a wide variety of rap/hip hop out there spanning a couple of decades that have great 'hooks', a lot of which came out in the 80's and early 90's.

[dklaiman]

Thanks for the suggestions. We're taking a family trip later this week. It will be a good time for us to listen to the suggestions and, hopefully, get him to drop some of the selections from his iPod.

[_MementoMori_]

Good recs here. I'd like to throw in Del tha Funkee Homosapien/Deltron. You've probably heard him rapping on a Gorillaz song or two. He's a stunning lyricist and he has a great flow. He's one of my favorites.

Also, in regards to the Mos Def and Talib Kweli recommendations, I'd suggest checking out Black Star. It's both of them together, and it's incredible.

Also, Nas is great and The Roots are great.

[jin]

Good recs here. I'd like to throw in Del tha Funkee Homosapien/Deltron. You've probably heard him rapping on a Gorillaz song or two. He's a stunning lyricist and he has a great flow. He's one of my favorites.

Also, in regards to the Mos Def and Talib Kweli recommendations, I'd suggest checking out Black Star. It's both of them together, and it's incredible.

Also, Nas is great and The Roots are great.

+1 on Del, and the rest of the Hieroglyphics crew. The Roots, too, are awesome.

Heard an article the other day on Pakistani (?) hip-hop and rap, that it was really good. Has anybody listened to anything like that? That would be a great cultural exchange, but probably wouldn't get him listening to the lyrics any more than he is :blush:

[justinp]

Immortal Technique, Dead Prez, and Blackalicious all come to mind.

As far as commercial hip-hop goes, Eminem and Lil Wayne are both surprisingly good lyricists once you get past the lead singles on the albums. IMHO, of course... privileged white boy out.

[wimbouman]

InI comes to mind:

Mind over Matter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keBO5ZUuIB8

Center of Attention
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq4GE-TrasA

Or Q-Tip & Norah Jones:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMIs3WYLZbY

Common?

The Light
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_-qRcHAhzk

[C Reed]

look into DJ Red Alert some of his playlists form the 80's for Kiss FM in NYC are available on line, but you would have to do some goggling. Get that kid started with the classics.

I listen to alot of Jay-Z, ASPCi, Bobby Digital, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Dead Prez, DJ Shadow, RJD2, Kid Cudi, NWA, Major Lazer, Kanye, ect.

Grime was big in London when I was living there, and its kinda hitting the west coast right now. Rouge Status/ DTA just put out a really good mixtpae of what's going on in LA right now. you can down load the "grimetape" off their blog: http://www.thesmogcheck.com/music (push the big button on the right)

[wimbouman]

And if you speak a bit of German:

Fantastischen Vier


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQCjGyxoxEQ


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcPxSfQKQ7U

[Thelonius1]

Little Brother, Blu, Common, Moka Only, The Roots, Slum Village, Black Milk, Outkast, Digable Planets, Foreign Exchange...

[arghblech]

Dan le sac vs Scroobius Pip

yEitrZU-nCw

ESvYRR1Fyug

and just for giggles...

6t28COxEp2k

[ouch]

Kickin' it old school, boyeeez!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at8hZpXyykM

[Jaybh1974]

HOw did you get a youtube video to embed here.. I Cant get it right

[Slash McCoy]

If I might make a suggestion... perhaps his musical horizons could be broadened a bit. Rather than push it on him, maybe just expose him (by playing it yourself without a bunch of "Hey, listen to this.") to some old R&B type stuff. Smokey Robinson, Rosie and the Originals, Ray Charles, like that. Or some Blues. Lightning Hopkins, B.B. King, and John Lee Hooker come to mind. If he seems receptive to that, maybe a bit of Doowop or Jazz would be in order, in small doses. Let him see where his music COMES from, its roots, so to speak.

I am not a fan of Rap at all, but I have heard a few tunes, more pop than straight rap, that I have liked, and I do think Black-Eyed Peas would be something like you are looking for. I heard a clever mix a while back, "You Humped Me All Night Long", Blackeyed Peas vs ACDC. Lords of Acid, Pussycat Dolls, those are worth a shot. One place you can preview songs like you are looking for is your local titty bar.

[Slash McCoy]

He must go COLD TURKEY! It can take up to a month, some even longer to get rap out of a loved one system...support him, and only after all rap desires are bannished...then, and only then introduce him to Led Zeppelin, The Who, Jimmi Hendrix etc... best of luck to you.

THE WHO! YEAH, BABY! I might add the Kinks to that list, and the Stones. Once he hears "19th Nervous Breakdown" it's all over.

[Defend Tacoma]

I'm suprised no one has mentioned Atmosphere. Those guys are amazing- and about the only rap I can listen to! :thumbup:

[dklaiman]

I'm suprised no one has mentioned Atmosphere

Hey, I (the OP himself) mentioned Atmosphere. :thumbup1:

[Defend Tacoma]

I really need to have my contacts in when reading this site. :blushing:

[Grudge5]

My 13 year old listens to a lot of rap. I think most of what he listens to is closer to cr*p.

We live in MN, so we get a fair amount of Brother Ali, Atmosphere, POS, Dessa, etc on the radio, but he doesn't care for that. The issue (for me) is he likes samples with more "hooks" but he doesn't listen to the lyrics. So, can anyone recommend an artist with decent, almost pop hooks with decent lyrics?

I'm not averse to the language in the songs, just the stupidity of the lyrics in the songs he listens to. I'd post the names of some of his favorites, but he has his iPod with him.

Thanks.

+1 to that brother, Rap is garbage, what ever happened to when we were young, listening to some Grateful Dead and some Pink Floyd, songs that had lyrics that actually had a meaning and made sense, when i was young I was into classic rock, i dont understand the immaturity that this world is coming to. Lol the only rap I used to listen to was Beastie Boys!

[dklaiman]

Just to clarify my intentions, I'm not anti-rap. I like the "artists" listed in my original post. I'm just trying to find some common ground between what I listen to and the inane stuff he listens to.

And then someone needs to tell me when I turned into my father.

[Cities]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkxCbkm3YEY

[C Reed]

+1 to that brother, Rap is garbage, what ever happened to when we were young, listening to some Grateful Dead and some Pink Floyd, songs that had lyrics that actually had a meaning and made sense, when i was young I was into classic rock, i dont understand the immaturity that this world is coming to. Lol the only rap I used to listen to was Beastie Boys!

Cool it gramps.
1. I hate the grateful dead with a passion, and their contribution to musical history is to spawn the jam bands like phish, not something to be harping on about. (i'll give you that pink floyd is really good).

2. Hip-hop is just as relevant to the lives of young people (especially urban poor, black and brown young people) as the dead is/ was to your generation.

Take for example Dead Perz, Hip-Hop (http://www.lyricsfreak.com/d/dead+prez/hip+hop_20038331.html) (links to lyrics not song) and Hell Yeah (http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/hell-yeah-lyrics-dead-prez/47ae269ba32ef66748256e9a001427b6) are two that seemed incredibly relevant to this white boy who was washing dish and struggling to make ends meet most of his life.

Even groups that do not make such a big deal of being progressive the central message of almost all hip-hop is work hard, think hard, get ahead then party hard. I find Hip-hop to be some of the most positive music in my library both in energy and message.

[Mr. Scruffy]

Cool it gramps.


1. I hate the grateful dead with a passion, and their contribution to musical history is to spawn the jam bands like phish, not something to be harping on about. (i'll give you that pink floyd is really good).

2. Hip-hop is just as relevant to the lives of young people (especially urban poor, black and brown young people) as the dead is/ was to your generation.

Take for example Dead Perz, Hip-Hop (http://www.lyricsfreak.com/d/dead+prez/hip+hop_20038331.html) (links to lyrics not song) and Hell Yeah (http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/hell-yeah-lyrics-dead-prez/47ae269ba32ef66748256e9a001427b6) are two that seemed incredibly relevant to this white boy who was washing dish and struggling to make ends meet most of his life.

Even groups that do not make such a big deal of being progressive the central message of almost all hip-hop is work hard, think hard, get ahead then party hard. I find Hip-hop to be some of the most positive music in my library both in energy and message.

Music is a subject that deserves to be discussed with passion.

Name calling will not further the discussion.

[slutzinc]

Saul Williams.

'Nuff said.

[bythbook]

I remember when my ol' Pop, bythbook sr. - said to me in 1969... "what are jams?" "...and why should you kick 'em out, m*th*rf*ck*er?"

It was important that I listened to music that the guys I thought were cool thought was cool.

It was very important for me to suspect (if not outright KNOW) that my music would turn my 'rents' stomachs.

... fast forward to mid-90s...

my oldest son was 13-ish, he listened to Marilyn Manson. EVEN THOUGH he loved and appreciated listening to Springsteen & Warren Zevon with me, he still listened to Marilyn Manson. His younger brother listened to some screaming stuff that I still don't know what it was.

Oh, yeah... and rap. (NWA are like the best ever, you know? Really.)

Your son is going to listen to it. Maybe he'll listen to other stuff, too. Maybe he won't listen to the rap w/in your hearing (don't bet on THAT!)... but he's gonna listen.

Chill, gramps. (It could be worse. He might be listening to the latest whitebread teen sensation. Whoever that is.)

[C Reed]

Music is a subject that deserves to be discussed with passion.

Name calling will not further the discussion.

thoroughly tongue in cheek, all ways.

[bythbook]

Music is a subject that deserves to be discussed with passion.

Name calling will not further the discussion.


thoroughly tongue in cheek, all ways.


oh, yeah! No offense, really - tongue in cheek & w/ humor & affection - I've been there - (and I put my own personal daddy there...).

Apologies if OP (who is doubtless 15 or more years younger than I am) is offended.

[The Knize]

I'm confused. Are you looking for better quality rhymes or rhymes about better quality topics? Both I suppose.

I am amazed at the rappers not being mentioned or not mentioned often.

I would say that Tupac Shakur rapped about as deep as a meaty a topics as any rapper has. I would also argue that some of his work is true poetry. And he flows well and sometimes has very clever rhymes and other structures. He also has some pretty violent, misogynistic, obscene stuff, too, but we ain't talking folk music here and the OP said the langauage did not bother him. (Some might say the same about Biggie, but not me.) I suppose Nas in okay on that dimension, too. I am not sure that Kanye West is really a rapper at all, but he is a good songwriter. Jay Zee may not be as socially relevant, but he has good material, well-performed.

Arguably not taking on as a meaty a topics as Tupac, Eminem's, first two albums are very good social satire, very cleverly performed. And Eminem definitely can flow. The stuff he has done with Doctor Dre or for that matter that Doctor Dre has done with Snoop Dog, seems to me to be very cleverly and well put together, and Snoop is a truly gifted rapper. Not everything he has done is great, but he has done done great and highly creative work. And I would agree that Lil Wayne is right in there, too, for creativity and quality work.

On the social satire front, the Beasties are probably in there, too.

Again, I am not quite sure what we are looking for here.

I would not suggest the Black-Eyed Peas, especially as a rap group, I think you are going to lose a lot of credibility. I liked the Peas myself, but it is pretty light weight stuff. Even though it is a lot harder to do what they do than it looks, that does not mean it is not light weight.

I'm not sure where the Dead, the Stones, Zep, and the Who fit into a rap thread. I love all of that music, too--the Dead not as much as some others; I think the Dead's catalog is very variable in quality--but I do not think that music is going to substitute for rap for a kid that is into rap. Every generation has its own music. I cannot imagine imposing the music of my generation on the current generation, even though I know a number of kids that are into it and play it as well as it has every been played. But I do not think this generation is suddenly going to be into tie-dye. If the kid wants to wear hip hop clothes, etc., he is going to want to listen to hip hop music.

Every generation has good music and bad music. There is great rap, and there is poor quality rap.

[Uncle Erik]

I listened to some rap back in the late 80s and early 90s. The genre felt, to me, like it stagnated after that and turned rather conservative when it comes to pushing musical boundaries. The only album I keep around today is De La Soul's "3 Feet High and Rising." It holds up. Get him a copy if he doesn't have it.

I'll echo an earlier suggestion - get him into R&B, jazz and funk. Lots and lots of good hooks there. Parliament Funkadelic might be a good crossover point. Also get him a copy of "Kind of Blue." Can't think of anyone who doesn't like it and he might like the retro-cool of the old jazz guys.

[dklaiman]

Apologies if OP (who is doubtless 15 or more years younger than I am) is offended

I haven't been offended at all. I'm also fairly certain that I wasn't the one being called gramps. I'm just looking for some musical middle ground. I think some of the suggestions have been great. Some, I haven't liked so I'm not going to bring to his attention.

And it could be a lot worse. SWMBO likes Barry Manilow and the Goo Goo Dolls. Pretty much anything my son listens to is better than that.

[theperfectstorm]

Hard to believe we have hit a point in our collective forum evolution where the simple use of "gramps" can derail a perfectly good thread.

But you have to love the irony of it happening in a middle-class, aging white professional discussion of modern hip-hop.

A quick nod to the Godfathers of Rap:

"I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast,
But I'm like hot butter on breakfast toast."
---Sugar Hill Gang, "Rapper's Delight" 1978

[chris456]

Wow! It's great to see so many great suggestions. This thread did not go the way I expected it to on this site.

Anyway, I am a 90's hip hop fan. So I am definitely going to suggest; The Notorius B.I.G. Any Wu-Tang or Wu members album from the '90's;The Bootcamp Click e.g. Black Moon, Smiff N' Wessun, Heltah Skeltah; Digable Planets first album was great; The Roots, specifically their first few albums, but the new one is pretty good; Outkast; Casual; I could go on for a while.

For some of the newer stuff I really like Chamillionaire, his Mixtape Messiah series is great. I like a lot of stuff that The Clipse does. Dead Prez is great. Cee-lo's two albums are absolutely amazing in my opinion. Kanye West's first album is a good one as well.

Okay, I'll stop now. :)

Edit: Just want to add Common Sense's album Ressurection and then his first album as just 'Common' called One Day it Will All Make Sense, two really solid albums.
Also Jeru the Damaja'a first two albums (Dj Premier produced both)

[bythbook]

I haven't been offended at all. I'm also fairly certain that I wasn't the one being called gramps. I'm just looking for some musical middle ground. I think some of the suggestions have been great. Some, I haven't liked so I'm not going to bring to his attention.

And it could be a lot worse. SWMBO likes Barry Manilow and the Goo Goo Dolls. Pretty much anything my son listens to is better than that.


yah, I was calling you "Gramps."

I read a dissertation once about Barry Manilow's prominent place in American Pop Music - very persuasive.

You need to trump the little fella - get about 9 months ahead of the curve - you should generation-gap HIM! (If you don't mind the language, Girl Talk's mash-up "Feed the Animals" is a lot of fun & will immediately get you guys chuckling in your Cheerios.)

Or... reverse gen-gap him & drop some MC5 & Fugs on him. He'll be begging for Manilow in no time.

[bythbook]

Hard to believe we have hit a point in our collective forum evolution where the simple use of "gramps" can derail a perfectly good thread.

But you have to love the irony of it happening in a middle-class, aging white professional discussion of modern hip-hop.

A quick nod to the Godfathers of Rap:

"I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast,
But I'm like hot butter on breakfast toast."
---Sugar Hill Gang, "Rapper's Delight" 1978



we're gen-gapping ourselves.

heh. "Rapper's Delight" - excellent....

[The Knize]

I think it is amazing and a wonderful thing that we actually have a reasonably un-ironic discussion among middle-class, aging white professionals of modern hip-hop (well beyond Sugar Hill Gang and NWA) at all.

It has been my opinion for a long time that rap has not been treated as seriously as it should be. Seems to me there is a lot to like in rap, and a lot of creativity and skill.

Mad props to the lot of us!


Hard to believe we have hit a point in our collective forum evolution where the simple use of "gramps" can derail a perfectly good thread.

But you have to love the irony of it happening in a middle-class, aging white professional discussion of modern hip-hop.

A quick nod to the Godfathers of Rap:

"I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast,
But I'm like hot butter on breakfast toast."
---Sugar Hill Gang, "Rapper's Delight" 1978

[bythbook]

I think it is amazing and a wonderful thing that we actually have a reasonably un-ironic discussion among middle-class, aging white professionals of modern hip-hop (well beyond Sugar Hill Gang and NWA) at all.

It has been my opinion for a long time that rap has not been treated as seriously as it should be. Seems to me there is a lot to like in rap, and a lot of creativity and skill.

Mad props to the lot of us!


who you calling AGING?????

- hey, WHO YOU CALLING PROFESSIONAL????

I'm sprightly & indigent, thank you.

[Mic360]

The Roots - Things fall apart, Illadelph Halflife
Common - Resurrection, One Day It'll All Make Sense
Black Star - Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory, Midnight Marauders

Just a few ALBUMS that you both might enjoy. You could also check out http://www.squeezeradio.com/ and download some of the archived shows. This is a radio show that airs on 89.9 in New York and they play some really good stuff. This show was one of the shows that caused the underground movement of hiphop back in the 90's when it was originally hosted by Stretch and Bobbito. They stopped hosting it way back when but it continues to be a really great show for hearing new hiphop that you wont hear on the more mainstream radio stations.

[dklaiman]

Thanks, again, for all the suggestions. I forgot one that's in my iTunes library--The Michael Jackson Mixtape by Rhymefest. It's an amazing album.

[The Knize]

who you calling AGING?????

- hey, WHO YOU CALLING PROFESSIONAL????

I'm sprightly & indigent, thank you.

I was tracking theperfectstorm's language, which I thought was nicely diplomatic!

"Things ain't now like the used to be,
I'd have more fun, but the women they so hard to please"

[C Reed]

i would say that tupac shakur rapped about as deep as a meaty a topics as any rapper has. I would also argue that some of his work is true poetry. And he flows well and sometimes has very clever rhymes and other structures. He also has some pretty violent, misogynistic, obscene stuff, too, but we ain't talking folk music here and the op said the langauage did not bother him.


big ups!

[Doric]

+1 on Den le sac vs. Scroobuis pip

[Gerald_G]

I'm not much of a hiphop fan, my tastes run more jazzy. Closest I usually get would be something like Lee Morgan - sidewinder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5jFPrx51Dc

Or maybe Herbie Hancock - Cantaloupe Island

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfsnVYVd3iI

But I do listen to this Canadian artist some.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_65

Buck 65 - Wicked and Weird
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wyyVh3uc5Y

Winters Going
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G63fxQRVjYA&feature=related

[poirot]

This guy Shad is amazing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy4ZZtoviXA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-mAMH5S6VA

I grew up in the same city as this guy and I've been hearing about him from the start. I don't listen to much rap, but his stuff is so good I just can't resist.

[poirot]

Oh but my personal suggestion... Das Racist.

Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzCukmO4fhg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdWxo3e3Kzk&feature=related

[KarthVader]

I agree with the posters who recommended The Roots, Shad, Saul Williams and Kid Cudi.

I will also add Lupe Fiasco. This guy is phenomenal!

Have you considered rap (grime) from across the pond? Try Dizzee Rascal.

[The Knize]

Rhymes like these are why I like Tupac:


Father forgive us for living
Why are all my homies stuck in prison?
Barely breathing, believing that this world is a prison
It's like a ghetto we can never leave
A broken rose giving bloom through the cracks of the concrete

So many things for us to see
Things to be
Our history so full of tragedy and misery
To all the homies who never made it home
The dead peers I shed tattooed tears for when I'm alone

Picture us inside a ghetto heaven
A place to rest finding peace through this land of stress
In my chest I feel pain come in sudden storms
A life full of rain in this game watch for a land of thorns

Our unborn never got to grow, never got to see what's next
In this world filled with countless threats
I beg God to find a way for our ghetto kids to breath
Show a sign make us all believe

I ain't mad at cha

On lighter notes, I'm liking Kid Cudi these days, too. Sam Adams out of Boston is good, too.

[slutzinc]

Have you considered rap (grime) from across the pond? Try Dizzee Rascal.

Seconded. Have him check out Roots Manuva as well.

[justinp]

yah, I was calling you "Gramps."

I read a dissertation once about Barry Manilow's prominent place in American Pop Music - very persuasive.

You need to trump the little fella - get about 9 months ahead of the curve - you should generation-gap HIM! (If you don't mind the language, Girl Talk's mash-up "Feed the Animals" is a lot of fun & will immediately get you guys chuckling in your Cheerios.)

Or... reverse gen-gap him & drop some MC5 & Fugs on him. He'll be begging for Manilow in no time.

Girl Talk is awesome! I like Night Ripper, the album before Feed The Animals, a little better, but they're both awesome.

For the unenlightened (<-- THAT WAS A JOKE) Girl Talk is a DJ that basically weaves 30 second samples of hip-hop, classic rock, and soul together to form regular-length songs. Truly amazing stuff. You haven't lived until you've heard the chorus of Lil Mama's "Lip Gloss" over the riff from "One" by Metallica :thumbup1:

[SalvadorMontenegro]

I'm lost. He's 13-years-old. When I was 13, I watched MTV and listened to the music on the radio. I still listen to music on the radio. What's the problem?

[sid3000]

Dilated Peoples, Kanye West (earlier in his career), Matisyahu, Wu-Tang. +1 for Girl Talk; I also like TRVSDJAM. Nas and Damian Marley have been doing some great things together lately.
A classic is "Rappers Delight" by the Sugar Hill Gang. If that tune isn't catchy I dont know what is.

[s1mp13m4n]

I am not a hard core rap guy. I do however prefer the late 80s and early 90 rap over the new stuff. I also prefer "dirty south" over other styles. Here is my $0.02 worth to this discussion

G.R.I.T.S

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCWoIwC4lwY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-yCg-0-baE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSzt3Nl6ylQ

[The Knize]

I'm lost. He's 13-years-old. When I was 13, I watched MTV and listened to the music on the radio. I still listen to music on the radio. What's the problem?

I'm not sure of the particular issue, but in my experience, MTV no longer plays music/videos and there are no good radio stations for the most part, and I even have XM radio. I confess I have not really listed to the XM rap offerings.

[SalvadorMontenegro]

I'm not sure of the particular issue, but in my experience, MTV no longer plays music/videos and there are no good radio stations for the most part, and I even have XM radio. I confess I have not really listed to the XM rap offerings.

Really? MTV doesn't play music, anymore? I haven't watched it in over four years. I have no idea what's on it now.

My point was that this is a 13-year-old kid and he's doing what 13-year-olds do, which is listen to music that their friends listen to, which is generally what's on the radio, or what's popular. I'm not a parent and am not pretending to know anything about raising children, but I think it's best to just let this guy listen to what he likes (provided the parent doesn't find it vulgar) rather than try and turn him into a musical elitist.

[C Reed]

I'm lost. He's 13-years-old. When I was 13, I watched MTV and listened to the music on the radio. I still listen to music on the radio. What's the problem?

There is music on the radio?

[kg0mz]

I am dating myself here...from the golden age of rap...

Canibus with Biz Markie, Shove this Jay-Oh-Bee

Gotta love it. You may remember it from Office Space.

[The Knize]

There is music on the radio?

Sure. They sometimes play music between commercials when they are not simply talking about innane things.

At least they used to sometimes play music sometimes between commercials the last time I listened to the radio. That has been a while though. Lots of commercials for Model T cars and kerosene lamps as I recall!

[taffy]

Goldie looking chain, look em up on you tube, a welsh rap band, though perhaps not for minors:lol:

[SalvadorMontenegro]

To be honest, I don't know what they play where. I'm not that into music. I hear songs when I'm out at sporting events, in bars, wherever and I ask people what the song is that's playing and then I download it, listen to it 80 times in a row and find another song to replace it later.

Looking back, I'm full of it, because I don't listen to the radio. I only listen to the radio when I drive; and I haven't driven a car in two years. I get my music from the above - sporting events, bars, clubs, restaurants or Websites on this here Internet thing.

[sid3000]

By all means avoid the Black Eyed Peas.