Independent British distributors Kaleidoscope Entertainment have revealed that they are planning to release on Blu-ray Something From Nothing: The Art Of Rap (2012). Directed by the legendary Ice-T and Andy Baybutt, this documentary film will be available for purchase on October 8th.
Rap or hip hop is a relatively new musical genre, with its roots generally traced to the 1970s and 1980s. Ice-T, a well-known rapper himself, looks back at the history of rap and interviews a range of hip hop artists including Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre and Kanye West, to gain their thoughts on what the music means to them. The film also interviews a number of the pioneers of rap music and endeavours to tell the full story of the growth of rap from its humble cultural beginnings to a global phenomenon responsible for millions of record sales every year.
James78, try listening to some rap that's not mainstream garbage. This advice also applies to most music, in general. I could recommend some artists if you're not simply being a troll.
It is impolite to describe people's opinions as racist because they differ from yours. I imitated what you wrote to (hopefully) show you how rude you were being.
A lot of what's underground and in the streets are garbage, too. Still glorifying the streets, still ego-driven, maniacal lyrics spent on maintaining aggression against your foes, still making every kid wanna act hard, trying to get them to be everything they're not. In the end, that's exactly what it's become, a bunch of wannabe's.
Take the whole meaning of gangsta off rip. To join a gang is the ultimate wannabe-move. Wanting to be cool, wanting relationships with the fellas, wanting to get into some shit. It's not even about the music anymore, it's about the image.
Especially concerning black youth, I feel the most sympathy for because rap has locked them into such a system that keeps them down moreso than "the man" ever could. For every story about making it, there's a billion that never will, and they feed into this "live it, rap about it" mentality of staying hood, doing dirt, remaining self-destructive, non-active members of society. Harming black culture much more than inspiring them.
I wish there were more progressive styles of rap, talking about far out shit and about what their imaginations can lead them to, but although 10% of the music out there may be considered "good", 98% of it all fits into the molds and categories described above. In the end, it's simply poetry over a beat. Nothing exactly ground-breaking, I wonder what Maya Angelou or Dr. King coulda did with it.
Those kids need an education. Rap ain't about that.
You know, I don't understand this "commercial" rap argument. The moment anyone puts their "art" up for sale they are "commercial". They are trying to make money off of what they created. In this case its rap music.
Because 1 rapper is on "main stream or pop" radio and another artist is only played in mix tapes and late at night on hip hop radio stations. Doesn't really change anything. They are both trying to sell their music, just one is more successful at it than the other, but BOTH are "commercial".
There are both good and bad rappers on main stream radio and on hip hop only radio stations. Its all about your taste.
