I’m a white girl, and I enjoy quite a bit of street music.
:shrug:
This is not yet a pit thread, and hopefully, it will not become one because then it will go straight to hell and become useless. Race will really be brought up then, and that is not the point.
I stand corrected. Not all rap music glorifies living in filth, poverty, high crime and thug-dom. However, the majority of it offers no solutions and praises the down and out, criminal mentality life style. Like ‘I got it bad so I’m going to screw everyone around me, friends included’ lifestyle.
They sing about rage and racism, oppressing the opposite sex, they joys of fathering more kids than they can afford by as many women as possible who will lay still for them long enough to pop it in and out, of wandering fathers and uncaring mothers, of bad bitches and bad homiez, the luxuries to be had by killing off ones own people with drugs and preying on the possessions of neighbors. The beat may be good, but the words suck.
I notice more and more on the TV that CDs of past rock and roll, Dance and 80s combinations are being produced and sold and they are selling well so people are looking for a change but the recording industry is busily promoting thug-ism. Even the songs by Brittany Spears suck, with her street dancing, semi-street look, wimpy music and lacidasical beat.
Bring back the fired up music of the 80s, bring back rock and roll and the music that moves my soul, those night moves and the assurance that rock and roll will never die. Bring back the old Madonna, when she was black haired and hungry, not blond and bitchy, Stevie Nicks, Cyndi Lauper and girls who want to have fun, maybe even Donna Summer in Last dance and the Fifth Dimension and the Dawning of Aquarius. Not all disco sucked.
Disco was a happy time, so were the songs of the 80s and most of the songs of the 60s. Not until the 90s did the songs become such downers. The ghetto head is dead! Up with the revolution!
I am assuming that your rant was more inspired by simple nostalgia than by any sinister motives, Omni, if you were previously unaware of the Prince incident I mentioned and the subtext of the “anti-disco” movement, here is a link, here’s another.
From the first link
From the second link
You need to realise that there was a definite racist and homophobic undercurrent to the anti-disco backlash. The fact that Prince was an androgynous black man damned him in the eyes of rock fans in the early days- nevermind that he could wail on the guitar like nobody’s business.
I think if you really look back at the music you are yearning for, you will see that it was just as mass marketed as the music you decry.
No more than all Metal music is about worshipping satan, committing suicide, and doing drugs.
Just as in the seventies they sold “easy listening” collections on TV. Face it, buddy: Ozzy is our generation’s Lawrence Welk.
Omnivore, calm down… Wouldn’t want you to break a hip, old man.
Sounds to me like you wish music today was a little more like when you were younger. I think my grandma feels the same way…
I will say that I agree that a lot of rap music is very degrading to women and at times glorifies violence, but I really have no idea what that has to do with these "‘Street’ faces, ‘Street’ lingo, ‘Street’ dress…‘Street’ games, ‘Street’ attitudes, ‘Street’ movies, ‘Street’ poetry, ‘Street’ dancing, ‘Street’ living and ‘Street’ anything that you decry.
I mean, what the hell is a “street face?” And “street games?” WTF???
stv
All music has it’s horrible lyrics. I’m scared to death to listen to Manson and other heavy metal or rock or whatever bands that scream things that I can’t understand, because I have to cover my ears. I’m scared of the messages that some groups send out (i.e. suicide, etc.). However, I respect them, cause they are doing what they want to do and well, what can ya say?
Not all rap is bad. Rap itself can be broken up. Gansta rap, hardcore, whatever. Will Smith is an excellent example of good clean rap. Wyclef Jean raps about things that anyone can sing or headbang to.
BTW, Britney Spears doesn’t dress street. She dresses skank. Actually, she wears those hip huggers and flared leg jeans you talked about ** Omnivore **
Most important here, is that we must realize that there are things we’ll like and things we won’t. I am not the biggest fan of heavy metal, but like said earlier, if I don’t like it, I don’t listen. I like some rap, and the rap I don’t like, I don’t listen to it. I buy my clothes at Gap (since I work there), but if I see a cute Echo (street wear) shirt, then I’ll buy that. Not everyone likes the same thing. If you don’t like something, turn the other way. That’s all that is…
Ah well, i’m sure i’ve just repeated what’s already been said. I just had to provide some of my input.
JennY*
I really miss ol’ Mozart, don’t y’all?
Omni, I take your meaning and I agree to a point, but the music you are so tired of hearing is around because there’s a demand for it, just as there’s a demand for what you wanna hear. My theory is it’s because we are living longer, and the musical tastes are a little more spread out now than they were, say, in the early days of rock’n roll.
It sounds like you’re advocating social change by changing the music. I don’t think it’s gonna happen that way, sorry. This post comes from a 52 year old basic 3 chord, 4/4 rocker.
Quasi
WHOA there, pal!!! I’m gonna have to call foul and ask for a cite here. What exactly is wrong with owning guns? I’ve been shooting since age 4, and I’ve owned a total of eleven guns (that I can remember…probably more) since age 12, and currently own a rifle and a pistol. No less an authority than the Constitution (not to mention the U.S. Department of Justice) says the right to own a gun is a fundamental right.
The problem is shooting people illegally with your gun, not having one.
Just to clarify, I’m not attacking the music so much (there’s a lot of rap that I like. Just not the current crop. I’d rather hear Slick Rick, Run-DMC, and Public Enemy; not Ja Rule, Puff Daddy, and DMX). I’m attacking the ghetto-chic attitude. It’s not cool to be trash. It’s not cool to pretend you’re from the street. The street lifestyle is shit (yes, I know. I spent about 8 months living in run-down downtown rat motels about 10 years ago).
And as for coming from the ghetto and rapping about what they know, let’s talk about Dr. Dre (the NWA one, not the “Yo! MTV Raps” one). Know why he was asked to join NWA? He was the rich kid who had money, business sense, and a DJ rig. Not because he was from da streetz or hadda get da word out.
I’d be really surprised to find out he’s anywhere near the only one.
Changes have to start somewhere, so why not here?
‘Street face’ is the grim puss affected by many people to look tough when they walk the streets so they will not be messed with. ‘Street games’ are messing with those who do not have their street faces on or any other form of prey selected for amusement, also known as 'fucking wid ‘im’.
Maybe I am nostalgic for the music of my youth, but in the 90s, music took a radical turn for the worst. Unfortunately, as I have said before, impressionable youth growing up with a genre of music will like that music above all. I have enjoyed 5 decades of music, from early rock and roll, to heavy metal, disco and punk. None of which were as simply shitty as most of today’s music. (To those who insist on putting race in here, I will point out that in those decades not only were there many great black singers, but magnificent black groups – and they looked HAPPY when singing! Donna Summer I considered one of the best and the guys who sang ‘Stand by me.’ Apologies for no names because my memory fails me.)
What’s with the longshoreman’s knit black cap pulled down over the ears, the wearing of the deliberately oversized jacket, and the foolishly baggy pants?
Even if I am waxing nostalgic, the music of the 80s was a far distance from what would have been my peak years, in the 70s, and I liked the change. Even pure Country and Western, which I dislike, is not as obnoxious as the music of today.
Music can influence and attitude. We found that out in the era of the 70s with hard and acid rock followed by heavy metal. Disco came along and the emphasis was fun. We had fun. Then came the 80s genre and we still had fun, plus a cultural mixing as the Hispanic beat came into its own.
Rap came along and the fun ended. Suddenly, everyone is acting like a thug and dressing like shit. Drug dealers have gone from Candy men to cutthroat, hard eyed killers with a lot of money and power that they flaunt and everyone admires. Screwing over your friends, whom you profess loyalty to, is suddenly sung as a way of life.
A real down bunch of shit.
I’m open to newer, happier, hard driving, toe tapping music that is belted out with a great beat, a cool melody and better dress.
Omni,
We’re travelling into Cafe Society territory with this post, but if you haven’t heard the new Van Morrison CD yet, you might wanna give it a listen. It’s called Down The Road, and I think it may have some music which will appeal to you.
See ya’ fellow Georgia boy!
Quasi
If you want to rant . . . take it to the The BBQ Pit.
Cajun Man - SDMB Moderator