50 years of Hip Hop- How Come?

Old white guys discussing rap and hip hop.

Hilarious.

You do all realize, it was born out of jazz?

It is the urban music of our time and is a reflection of the disenfranchised of large groups of people.

It’s not my thing, but I don’t dismiss is as not being music because of that. There is a lot that I listen to, that very few would define as being music. Mogeus Ellegaard and his contemporary accordion comes to mind. 
 

@jasonbourne52 Why don’t you provide us with a list of what constitutes music, and is valid spending our time listening to? Can’t wait to see what your vast experience, education and taste considers music. 

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Every genre has a range of expression depending on the artists. Some may be popular, or idiosyncratic. Offhand I think sly stone, one year he owns the airwaves with sunny pop hits. The realities of the culture sent him into recording there’s a riot going on. Hip hop embodies all of this. Some are actually just fun to dance to. The rhythms you get with a human voice can be entertainingly intricate. This rhythmic complexity that can be layered on top of loops, or on drum machines or with other vocalists is endlessly entertaining. I’m a lover of rhythm and groove, lyrically it can be tough, but most often it’s about flow. The act of twisting the expectations of the listener, exactly as Charlie Parker did. Not boring. Many music lovers I respect don’t pay attention to hip hop. I get it. But it’s the genre that has the most creative performers currently. If you’re curious, here’s some favorites. Young thug is a genius. Barter 6 I’ve heard a hundred times and still can’t really tell what he’s saying because he invented the mumble genre that emphasizes surprising vocal twists over lyrical prowess. Earl sweatshirt has the strangest backing tracks, old soul music twisted and off-kilter. It’s the essence of woozy. Drunk, or stoned. His father was a poet so lyrically very surprising. Lil sims is female! That in itself is remarkable but her personally and musical taste is so engaging. If you don’t have time, Tierra Whacks Whack world, every song lasts one minute. And for speed and articulation JID has a stumnning record this year Forever Story that is a real record you listen to from beginning to end. Great sequence of ideas and emotions. My top listen from last year. Even a new favorite Dry Cleaning has roots in hip hop with the rhythmic song speak of the lead vocal over rock guitar and bass. Also Louis Armstrong invented this rhythm forward way of not depending on melody to define your song. And you can dance to it!

This is an entertaining thread. It begs the question, “why are so many fearful of change and lacking an open mind?”. Most opining couldn’t tell us the differences, or lack thereof, between rap and hip-hop, if any.

You want to hear an almost perfect belnding of all of these genres (soul, r&b, jazz, blues, funk, rap, hip-hop) then listen to Robert Glasper’s “Black Radio” albums. His latest “Black Radio III” is brilliant. The musicianship is exceptional. To those who haven’t ever heard someone rap melodically, it exists on this album. To those who swear those creating hip-hop or rap aren’t musicians, this album dispels the stupidity of that myth.

Old, bitter, close-minded critics hate Queen Latifah but love Dana Owens. Strange.

@ghasley I don’t believe fear of change or lack of an open mind is the reason why some don’t like Hip-Hop. By the age of 40(maybe 50?) we know what music genres we like. Assuming most here on Agon have been exposed to a decent amount of Hip-Hop a personal decision has already been made. In a collection of about 3000 recordings(1800 vinyl 1200 cd) about 75 could be considered Hip/Hop. Does having only 2.5% Hip-Hop recordings make me closed minded? I have less Punk/Techno and Current Pop Country in my collection because these genres have very little interest to me. FWIW Lauryn Hill-Miseducation and Alicia Keys-Songs in A Minor are in my top 50 of recordings made in the last 25 years.

I used to consider myself a purist.  Full Album copies, then albums excluding unwanted tracks.  Nowadays individual track playlists are my goto.  Plenty of Tv commercial music is a snippet of some of the best moments of songs.  The sample generation is an extreme of this progression with improv lyrics most fresh.
These movies allowed me to appreciate:
The Get Down series
A Tribe Called Quest documentary
8 Mile