Hip Hop & Rap recommendations for Taters

99+% of audiophiles agree with Taters!

Don_c55,

I have been going to Audiophile meetings for 15 years. We usually go to a different dealer every month and listen to a system that is set up for the meeting. Sometimes they will have a guest speaker from one of the audio companies come and talk to us and answer any questions we may have. In all these years No one has requested to play a rap or hip hop song. After the meetings we usually have lunch and talk about equipment and music. Not once in all these years has anyone talked about rap or hip hop music.

I have also been going to Audiophile shows since the late 80's and I have never heard them demo gear with hip hop or rap. At the shows they are happy to demo the music you bring with you and not once has anyone asked to play a rap or a hip hop song.

When I wrote the original thread I was being really serious when I said "Why do you need a high end system to listen to rap or hip hop.
The statement had nothing to do with racism or any other stereotype they have been trying to lay on me. I also said I thought rap or Hip Hop would sound better on a mid-fi system. Personally I think rap or hip hop would sound the best on a high powered car audio system with sub-woofers.

For me the only reason to have a high-end system is to listen to Jazz, Classical or the blues. If I didn't listen to that type of music I would not bother with owning a high-end system. The equipment is very expensive and the maintenance of changing tubes and phono cartridges cost a nice chunk of change.

I will give the op credit by trying to have a civilized discussion about rap music or hip hop without without making me the bad guy. I do appreciate your effort in starting this thread. Unfortunately I have heard rap and hip hop music since it's inception and I have never liked it from day one. It's just not my thing. I saw a show about Soul Train on one of the cable channels and they talked to Don Cornelius who was the originator of the show. He said when the rap music and hip hop became popular he turned the show over to someone else to host it. He said he was old school and could not relate to that genre. Well I am just like Mr. Cornelius. I am also old school. I love the soul music from the 60's and 70's.

I don't expect young people to like Jazz or Frank Sinatra. Most of them didn't grow up with it and can't relate to it. I know there are a minority of young people that do like that kind of music. A man once told me that most people like the kind of music they grew up on. I think for the most part he is correct. Of course they are always exceptions to the rule.

Excellent Response jetrexpro.

Taters, it looks like you didn't take my point to heart from the other thread that led to this thread.  I only suggested that you open your mind, and stop bashing stuff.  To suggest that a fan of a particular style of music shouldn't bother with a hi-fi system is plain silly.  Who only listens to one genre?  And who's to say that a particular style of music isn't worthy of a good system?  Do you think the recording studios set aside their $50,000 microphones & preamps and instead break out their smart phones to record hip hop?  

I do appreciate what you said above:
 "I will give the op credit by trying to have a civilized discussion about rap music or hip hop without without making me the bad guy. I do appreciate your effort in starting this thread."

I don't want you to be the bad guy, but your determination to bash and generalize is making you sound like a bad guy all on your own.  I am not a hip hop devotee, I really have eclectic tastes and hip hop is only a small percentage of the music I love, but I do love a good chunk of hip hop.

Look, I wanted to do two things here.  I wanted to stop hearing people bash and put things down, as that dumbs down the dialogue.  We all can do much better when we talk about ideas, and look to find the positive, rather than trash talk.  I wanted you to challenge your own notion that this music is garbage by trying to find one bit of it that you may be able to say, ok, that is not my go-to music, but that track or that album has merit.

If you decide this all is for naught, and we are all hip hop brain washees, and we don't know anything about music, that's fine, but I suggest you move on.  Stop thinking about hip hop as it is only making you upset.  Instead, I would hope you find more pleasure and positivity by exploring the genres that you do like, and perhaps looking deeper into the depths of those genres, and expand your music universe in a positive way.  That won't happen bashing genres that you dislike.

In my post on your other thread, I mentioned that I do not like modern mass market country.  Last year, my cousin invited me to go to the Tortuga Fest in Ft. Lauderdale.  This is a festival style concert for none other than modern mass market country, and you know what, I went!  I decided that it would be fun to see what it is all about, to see it in all of its glory, and not hearing it as background music at the stop light from someone else's car.  In the end, my feelings have not changed, but you will never see me starting numerous threads to bash it, or to suggest that the artists have no talent, or that the fans should not disgrace their hi-fi systems with it.

Lastly, if you didn't take a listen to any of the hip hop recommendations, give this one a try:

Us 3
Hand On The Torch
It's Like That

Ask yourself it this is worth a listen, for you or for anyone.  Maybe your son or nephew is into hip hop and never liked jazz.  Us 3 can be a great way to expand his musical tastes (or at least musical appreciations), and your own.   Its a fusion style hip hop that borrows quite a bit from jazz.  Great stuff.

Trash talking is bane, boring, and bullshit!

Life is too short. Look for the good stuff!

MarkTomaras,

I have been getting very tired of this blanket genre and new music bashing and its not just Taters. Some of the recent stuff said about Adele is embarrassing. Her singing moves millions of people including me.

One of the coolest things I have been hearing over the past years is how so many of these current styles like Rap, Hip hop, rock and R&B have been combining in so many wonderful ways.

Kanye, Rick Ross, Justin Bieber, Alabama Shakes, Nicki Minaj  and so many many more are making great music and yes TATERS it happens to sound GREAT on a hifi system. The new Justin Bieber record sounds wonderful! The new David Bowie is a monumental record. Prince has a new one that I have not checked out yet. So much great new music and great sounding to. I think a great way for some of these folks to get into new music is listen to how many current artists are drawing from Soul, Motown, R&B from the 60 and 70's.

With a tool like youtube a music lover has a wonderful resource to find new music he/she might want to buy. Regards Jet