I am going to say that part of the issue is that it seems the rap/hip-hop to which you’ve been exposed falls more in the realm of pop than rap/hip-hop. It commercially produced and aimed to appeal to the masses. So most of the time you’re not getting deep lyrics or meaningful songs. Like other upthread have stated - pop is traditionally more in the realm of “something you can dance to”.
If you want to look at some Hip-Hop that has more of a message and where the lyrics actually matter I’d recommend the following groups:
-Atmosphere (my favorite group for years. the group refers to themselves as “Dad Rap”)
-Brother Ali (member of the same record label as the above. He’s albino and was raised in the black community. the majority of his songs carry a heavy message influenced by how he was raised and what he went through in his life)
-Talib Kweli (excellent Brooklyn rapper with a focus on activism)
-A Tribe Called Quest (depending on the album you’re listening to they range all the way from more poppy sounding (although never even getting close to “pop”) to extremely message-centric (their latest album is probably their most politicized)
-Blackalicious/Gift of Gab (group/solo artist - kind of hard to describe. to people familiar with the genre they/he would probably be labeled “conscious rap”)
Let me know if you still feel the same after listening to those groups. If not and you’d like some more recommendations, I’d be happy to provide them.
I think your memory of the popular music of the late 60s and 70s is not quite what the actual popular music of that era was. Check some of Smapti’s #1 polls. The actual hits of that era are things like “Sugar, Sugar,” “In the Year 2525,” “My Sweet Lord,” “A Horse With No Name,” “Bad Bad Leroy Brown.” (not the most amazing lyrics). Most of the things that I think you’re remembering as singer-songwriter songs weren’t so high on the charts.
To the OP, people care as much as they ever did. And there are still good lyrics (or at least good lines) out there, not what you’d expect already mentioned that one from “Love Yourself” (I don’t like the song, but that’s a good line). “Closer” by the Chainsmokers has several nice turns of phrase.
The song list linked to in the OP is a strange collection. I’m also not sure how the OP listened to “Super Bass” and “Thrift Shop” & thinks that one just blended into the other and they sound alike.
Gotta say - I agree. I love singing along to my old favorites - not because the words are meaningful or reach out to me in any way - but because I can then join in and enjoy the musical experience with the only instrument I can play semi-adequately - my own voice (admittedly, opinions are divided about my singing ability in the same way they are divided about Cacofonix:p). Scat singing is great.
For me it works both ways: I think “A wop bop a loo bop, a lop bam boom” it’s as good a line as “The ghost of electricity howls in the bones of her face”. There’s a time for dancing and going crazy about a song that’s pure nonsense, but funny or agitating, and a time for contemplating about deeper meanings in songs, though there are also tons of dance songs with great lyrics.
I’m one of those people who love lyrics and consider lyrics to be “my” poetry. There is a ton of music that is absolute shit for lyrics from every decade. I totally love hip hop because I think the lyrics are great and clever and a lot of it isn’t the boring boy-loves-girl nonsense. Of course, not all hip hop. There’s a lot of great popular hip hop but a lot more of it on the edges. Deser2 has a great list and I’ll say add Chance the Rapper and Childish Gambino too. For popular stuff there’s Outkast, Ludacris and Eminem.
I find with rock and rap that you have to listen a few times to really get the lyrics. If you are turned off by the music right away you probably aren’t going to get deep enough into it to hear the real words.
I suppose so, but then, we’re veering uncomfortably close to artistic relativism (“everything is great, don’t you dare saying that it sucks”), which isn’t a position that I have much respect for.
Suffice it to say that while I do indeed think that a lot about art is subjective, there is probably a number of parameters that can be objectively measured (in tune or not, out of rhythm or not, basic or complex harmonies for example). And from there, we can perhaps have the audacity (gasp !) to rank what artists toss at us, especially if we’re expected to give them money for their efforts.
Well, using objective parameters, hip hop and heavy metal use the largest vocabularies of all popular genres, according to the analysis posted earlier. An analysis of musical complexity might tend to favour heavy metal, but I’m not sure that has been carried out yet. But having a complex tune and a large semantic field does not make the lyrics easy to understand on a first hearing.
The only reason I’ve ever found lyrics hard to understand is just the mixing. They don’t bring out the vocals in front as much as they did back before the 70s.
It’s not mumbling or weird vocabulary that’s the problem–although there are some mumble rappers–but they kinda suck. Good rappers have great elecution. It’s just that the music is mixed as loud or louder than the vocals.
Parody songs seem to be the ones that do it right. You can always understand Weird Al’s lyrics. And Apologetix (an older Christian parody band), even though they’re trying to sound like the real guys.
This is a part of why I like a capella groups. And just more simple acoustic stuff where there’s not this wall of sound behind people.
Agreed. Hip hop, the most popular genre today, is where lyrics matter most, but just like anything there is a lot of mediocre hip hop and pop has always been inconsequential.
Adding more recent artists to your list Kendrick Lamar is a lyrical genius. The way he plays with rhythm and multi layered rhymes is jaw dropping. It’s musically interesting too and he’s a storyteller first and foremost. Check him out.
Also Run the Jewels. Killer Mike and El-P have been in the rap game for decades and just released a new album that, it is safe to say, is the the most anticipated release of the last year. And it’s really good. Their lyrics are more over the top, but also well written and… Just excellent.
Two Many Cats, I presume you come from the generation that listened to “Louie Louie”? And you think modern songs have poor lyrics??
Did you EVER listen to a song from “America” and actually understand it??
Lyrics have always been all over the place. I listen to some lyrics from golden oldies dating to the time of the turn of the previous century, and I shake my head in wonder.
Modern music has many issues (mostly dealing with the incredible simplicity of it). Lyrics, not so much.
