@immatthewj 

'While some interpretations of the song would like to see it primarily as a celebration of a drug counterculture, any pretence the phrase “Brown Sugar” is other than a reference to a black woman falls away in the final lyric of the studio album.'

Just like a black girl should.

'This combination of sexual imagery and illicit drug references in the song’s lyrics contributes to the culturally transgressive place the Rolling Stones occupy in popular music history.'

There is great music in rap or R&B but this genre are (is) very difficult to do with(out) musical mastery...

@mahgister, you are making my point for me. James Brown, himself used rap in his music, and in fact he was called ’Brother Rap’ in my community.

Issac Hayes, used rap in his music, and also in fact he was called ’Ike The Rapper’ in, my community.

The Jazz artist Gil Scott heron introduced to the world to the rap group The Last Poets who appeared on Gil Scott-Heron’s 1972 album .Black Spirits - Festival Of New Black Poets In America and in that album The Last Poets recorded "And See Her Image In The River" and "Song of Ditla, part II" live at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, New York for the album.

Rap music, just like some parts of Jazz, comes from a community in the early ’50’s or even earlier maybe, as the correct date is not known. But it came about because young people wanted a place to just ’Hangout’ as it were. All you had to have was a nickel (5¢) to get a cup of coffee and some cigarettes to sit in little ’Hip’ cafe and socialize. That’s it. Folks would recite poetry with or without a band. As they (we) still do to this day.

@mahgister I’m trying not to be rude. This rap stuff is a long part of my history, culture and community and I think I may know more about it than you do.

And it gets a little frustrating, at times when someone who’s not of my culture, speaks as if they know more about Rap than I do, and doesn’t even listen to the music genre, and writes and speaks about Rap, as if they do!

No offense here, I’m just trying to exchange knowledge of a music idiom that I have a familiarity with, in a positive way of course, that’s all.

The reason why rap music can be so raunchy at times is because it has always been apart of the ’culture’. For gosh sakes! Has anyone ever listened to Ma Rainey or Bessie Smith! And they had a backing band too!

I get it .  NOT a statement about my feelings on Rap one way or the other, but there is a big difference (in my book, anyway) between lyrics with “raunchy” sexuality, usually by way of innuendo or double entendre and lyrics that demean and debase by way of raunchiness, misogyny and/or suggestions of violence. The latter is the Rap that I can do without.

Now of course there was ’gangster rap’ that emerged in the 70’s but from that came the ’Neo Soul’ movement which was a subset of (gangster) rap which got it’s start in the mid 80’s. In this particular genre those young kids brought back the cafe style of rap as a softer form of rap where poetry, books, coffee and wine was shared amongst like minded folks.

They even had a snap your finger technique they would do after each person’s rap of poetry. And yes, sometimes it was with backing bands and sometime it was not.

You never hear about that subset of rap because it didn’t make the evening news. Nevertheless, it was massively important to the community because it brought us these young musicians and for a short time there was a New York city based form of rap called ’New Jack Swing’. And out of the out of the ’New Jack Swing’ era we got a type of music that these new artist called ’Neo Soul’. And this movement gave us artist such as:

Erykah Badu

D’Angelo

Lauryn Hill

Floetry

Jill Scott

The Fugees

And many, many others. Was this Rap persay? Yes, because they not only rapped but sang too. It was all connected and this was the first time musicians played live and studio sessions with instruments over recorded music ’samples’ or what some call ’beats’ today.

Rap has evolved just like any thing else, and it’s a shame that only the bad things are remembered, by some. And I will admit that some of this so called rap music that some put out is straight garbage. But I will not let an entire genre of music music be categorized, judged and generalized by some of that garbage.

@mahgister I’m trying not to be rude. This rap stuff is a long part of my history, culture and community and I think I may know more about it than you do.

No offence!

You are right and knowledgeable more than me about Rap meanings and history...

My point is about the mechanization of music , musicians and the public... The point made by Beato...

There is genius poets in jazz music and songs as there is in all genre rap included...Even nowadays for sure...

My point stemming from Beato video is about mechanisation and manufacturing of lyrics and music ...

I had my taste but i am not deaf...

I did not like blues for example till i listen Hooker and Waters and few others...

There is genius everywhere...

But there is also by the industry growing monster a mechanization of mind and public...

And this mechanization reach a point of great power over artists and public molding their minds in the last 30 years...

It is my opinion but i am not an informed musician...

We need frogman ...