I can’t believe no one has mentioned the lyrical complexities of various Wu-Tang clan albums.
I grew up listening to rap (started in the late 70s)…the ONLY rap I can stand now is Wu-Tang.
Ah, pldennison, you are absolutely correct. I should have stated that the majority of songs have a static tempo, rather than all. The point, that complaining about the “beat not changing” is not a valid criticism, still stands.
That’s not the message at all. I agree with tetsusaru, if you want to learn about something new, terrific, that’s why most of us chill on the SDMB. But the OP didn’t have a question. He just gave an asinine justification as to why rap music is “braindead.” Worse, he said that it was a fundamental component of rap music, the loop, that made him dislike it so. He might as well have started a thread that said, “Impressionism sucks because of all the little dots.”
Hey find me any new commercial music today that doesn’t suck at least a little. But, if you have the inclination to look up the non-commercial hip hop artists you may be surprised to find the original spirit of social consciousness is still very much present. Try the Coup, the Roots, or Blackalicious. Not to mention the music is of a substantially higher caliber.
Last, I wasn’t recommending Nelly, so much as offering him as a good example of Hip Pop. I did say he was last and least. Personally my taste in rap music centers on the Abstract and Independent artists, but once in a while a good brainless, bling bling, booty shakin, big pimpin track is just what I need to pumped up for a night out on the town. Most clubs play nothing but the commercial shit anyway, so I might as well have a good time of it.
cainxinth, the OP seemed to genuinely be asking for recommendations in a genre of music he isn’t into and doesn’t “get”. I don’t see any hostility there.
[hijack]If anyone is interested I recently burnt myself a tight mix (if I do say so myself) that blends many different types of hip-hop, including commercial, underground, old school, and southern. But, fair warning some of these tracks are not for the faint of heart, drugs, sex, and political upheaval are recurring themes, but so is social awareness, music appreciation, and just plain good times. Unfortunately, due to the rules of this board I can’t tell you where you can get these tracks, but I think the cat is already out of the bag on that one. 
If you have a sic mixtape, share it with us.
01 Bahamadia - Cut Killer
02 Blackalicious - Sky Is Falling
03 Eric B and Rakim - Paid in Full
04 Outkast- Bombs Over Baghdad
05 Planet Asia - Pure Coke
06 Solesides - Lady Don’t Tek No
07 Busta Rhymes - Pass The Courvoisier Part I not II
08 The Coup - 5 Million Ways To Kill A C.E.O
09 D12 - Purple Pills
10 Jedi Mind Tricks - Retaliation
11 Outkast - Skew It Up On The Barbie
12 DJ Shadow - Brainfreeze (4 minutes worth)
13 Blackalicious - Aural Pleasure
14 Redman - Smoke Budda
15 The Coup - Funk
16 Busta Rhymes & Silkk the Shocker - The One
17 The Roots - 100% Dundee
18 Beatnuts - Beanuts Forever
[/hijack]
All of my mix tapes are multi-genre, but one of the most notable transitions was from Punjabis, Pimps & Players from Bombay the Hard Way (Dan the Automator and DJ Shadow) to We Shall Be Free by Garth Brooks. Two excellent songs, coming from the two most generally hated genres in music, and the tunes actually flow nicely together.
D’ohh
I mentioned the Wu in my thread last year, but neglected them this time. Even though the latest album is the best since the first. Ghostface is a mad genius, Meth is the smooth Leading Man, and ODB is sorely missed… 
but all in all its still damn good, if not as cutting edge and amazing as it was 7 or 8 years ago when C.R.E.A.M. and M.E.T.H.O.D. Man first hit. Man… now that was some S%$T…
BTW, Grendel72 NERD are the Neptunes, the fairly good and fairly prolific hip hop production team, finally putting out an album of thier own. The import version is good, but for the american version, they used live instruments instead of samples and it just isn’t as good. Tight beats, but the skillz is pretty mediocre.
And gren, Em is terrible? man, what songs you been listenen to? Check out “business” or “say goodbye to Hollywood” on the new album. the boy is on top of his shit right now…
cain. excellent mix brotha man… inspired me to make my own. i’ll psot it when i finish… I hardly know anybody who’s into Bahamadia… impressed. And I know love this board more than ever before.
CJ
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by A1C Joe
I dislike most rap songs because it’s braindead music.
To paraphrase, “I dont like most rap because its stupid” You`ve clearly made up your mind on this one, so why go any further?
Are there any rap songs with music, not always lyrics, that make your brain work?
This is known as begging the question, since youve already made the assumption that most rap doesnt. If you wanted to phrase this as a genuine request for information, I`d suggest the following:
{1} Is most rap stupid, and if so, why?
{2} If it isn`t, can you recommend some intelligent rap music for me?
I get the sense, though, that the OP is less a desire to be informed than a pointless slam of a musical genre you dont like. There will always be things you dont like, but life`s too short to sit to about moaning about them, still less trying to drag others into it. Put on some music you like. and move on.
Bad Hat I’ve heard all of Eminem’s singles, as well as all of the Marshall Mathers LP. I said he has a very strong sense of rythm, I just find his lyrics to be weak- he disses Britney and N*Sync, who would be beneath the notice of a real rapper, his disses of people aren’t witty at all, he rhymes a word with itself far too often, and he screws up pronounciations to fit the beat, which screws up the “flow” of a song. Of course, as a bisexual type faggot I find his lyrics reprehensible enough that even if he was a better rapper I wouldn’t buy his albums.
On a more positive subject, who remembers Disposable Heroes of HipHoprisy from the late 80s/early 90s? I’ve only heard a few songs of theirs, but always considered them extremely underrated. I’ve heard Language of Violence, Drug of a Nation, and their cover of the Dead Kennedies California Uber Alles.
OK, I’m going to have to disagree here. About Jay-Z. Well, sort of disagree. Most of his new stuff is pretty disappointing. But in his defense, he recorded Reasonable Doubt. Some of the cleverest, interesting lyrics on that album. In fact, one of my favorite songs of all time, Politics as Usual is on that album. We’ll forget that Big Pimpin’ and H to the Izzo ever happened, though.
A further point about Eminem, part of his schtick is complaining about imitators. What imitators??
The sad part is that Dre is quite talented, his sidekicks just keep getting goofier and goofier.
it’s pretty heard to respect eminem as a serious artist, considering he records the same song over and over again to become the first single of each album.
(i.e ‘my name is’. ‘the real slim shady’, ‘without me’)
these songs showcase the worst of eminem - manufactured hip hop for a teen audience that wants something to shock their parents with. the guy has some very good songs (particularly from his latest), but it’s hard to take seriously anyone who disses nsync et al and then makes his own version of their formulaic hits.
disposable heroes were well good! one of the heroes, michael franti now plays funk/soul music with a slight hip-hop tinge (although their older albums are more hip hop) with his band spearhead. i saw them live - seriously amazing stuff. one gigantic party.
Now that I think about it, a cover version of Language of Violence by Eminem would actually be cool- the song is about a gay-basher who winds up in jail being raped by his cellmate.
i bought a n.e.r.d. album yesterday. very good. im gonna check out the roots. what album would you recommend?
Pretty much any Roots album is good. I reccomend Things Fall Apart, a lot of other folks like Do You Want More better…
But really, you can’t go wrong, they also have a new album coming out soon, or possibly already out, supposedly called Phrenology.
Happy Hunting
CJ
I just ordered the import version of the N.E.R.D. album- because the hard rock stuff isn’t my style. Right after I ordered the import I found out a friend of mine has the US version- the two songs I didn’t like, Lapdance and Rockstar, are the only two songs on the album that sound like that. I really like that “what the fuck just happenned” song, I think it’s the last track.
I’m gonna have to borrow my friend’s copy so I can burn a “best of both worlds” CD of the album.