50 years of Hip Hop- How Come?

@garebear 

........wait just a minute here. Please tell me that some of you are not actually comparing great jazz musicians to Hip Pop Rappers ? Please tell me that you aren't even considering this.

I am right there with you on this. The level of musicianship between the vast majority of rap and hip hop musician, compared to jazz musicians from the past and present is pretty significant.

And every time I bring this up in these sorts of conversations, rap and hip hop fans will always mention musicians like, Thundercat, Kamasi Washington, Cameron Graves and other serious jazz musicians from LA, because they play on Kendrick Lamar's albums. The thing is, almost none of the prodigious jazz chops these guys have, is actually needed to play on Lamar's album. 

If you haven't already heard it, you should give Kamasi Washington's "Epic" album a listen. It is a pretty impressive work.

The jazz musicians that I am thinking about and listen to actually play their own instruments. Hip Pop or Rap is all tape loops and mechanically laid down music ....there are instruments just thump !         

As much as I dislike  rap and hip hop, you are incorrect with the above statement. I would say, the majority of modern rap and hip hop are performed with people playing real instruments. 

Against ones’s better judgment …. :-(

Lyrical truth for some officers in certain Precincts … Cypress Hill - Looking Through the Eye of a Pig.

All I ask … read, no one (again) is obviously obligated to listen.

For those of you willing and daring enough, I’d have to recommend their recorded live album, “Live at the Fillmore.” Yes, musical instruments will be present.

Peace

I liked hip-hop pretty much from day-1. Greatly prefer it to rap, though some rap really rocks me, too. I tend to hear hip-hop as more continuous, more part of "music/time."

Some of the best hip-hop I ever heard came out of France. It turns out that the language used in the vocal TOTALLY matters. French, even slang French, sounds musical to begin with. It gives French hip-hop a particular slippery flow.

Final point: I watch a fair amount of streaming content on Amazon Prime’s FreeVee (formerly IMDBtv). 1-2 months ago they relentlessly played an excerpt of a hiphop song that really really go to me. Spend way too much time trying to find what it is but never could. Think it was a Beats ad, not sure. That tune, if I ever get hold of it, is a perfect demo of the hypnotic flow hip-hop can achieve.

PS: I'm >70 but my ears are forever in pursuit of sonic beauty (it comes from everywhere)

@dabel Good call on CH. One of the few mainstream Latino-rap acts there. 

........hello all and larsman - I will dismiss the majority of that genre of music as I do try to listen to listen to it but get get past the typical lyrics and thumping noises. Hmmmm....Kanye West, Snoop Doog and LL Kool Jay to are classically trained ? Yeahhhh okay on that one. 

I have yet to see them play any instruments or I am missing that one too ? The majority of them ......I don't see one either ? Maybe some .....