I kinda lost track of contemporary music starting in the 1990s. I have a really good selection of music from the 50s thru the 80s and because of this I have kind of a semi-official role at work as a DJ for company events.
We’re now doing these company socials and people have been asking me for 2 kinds of music which I don’t have. One is polka , well it IS Wisconsin and these things die a hard death. Anyway, I found a half dozen polkas, and I’m certainly not going to play MORE than that in one night. The other is rap. The folks want music their kids can relate to, I think so they can forcibly drag them along and not feel guilty about it.
I don’t want to get toasted by my management for playing songs about offin’ the Man, and screwin’ the hos – I admit, my knowledge of rap is practically non existent – can you help me out?
I’m mainly looking for artists who don’t delve into gangsta and misogyny. If I can avoid sorting through that kind of crap, I imagine finding a bunch of interesting stuff will be kinda fun. But certainly feel free to name titles as well as artists.
Since I work at a hospital, bonus points for touchier-feelier music.
I suppose **Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-a-Lot ** is crossing the line?
Bust a Move - Young MC
**Walk This Way ** - Run DMC/Aerosmith (bonus points for crossover appeal)
**Can’t Touch This ** - MC Hammer (bonus points for being a sample of a NSFW song, but being safe for work itself
Who did Joy/Pain?
You Be Illin’ - Run-DMC
What were those songs by the group Us 3? Tukka Yoot’s Riddim and one other? Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)?
Plenty of others, but I suspect other Dopers will have endless lists. What’re those dance/techno rap songs with the rapper Ya Kid K?
If you want to fly the nerd flag, I’m a fan of nerdcore hip-hop artist MC Frontalot - though some of his songs aren’t work safe. Safer ones include “Braggadocio”, “Charity Case” (barring one instance of the word “fuck”), “Floating Bridge”, “It Is Pitch Dark”, “This Old Man”, and - one of the more danceable ones - “Which MC Was That?”
Lyrics collection here. If you hit the “MP3” link at the top, you can legally download some of the songs; this is his official site.
My vote is Mos Def. His Black on Both Sides album is pretty “safe” as far as language and theme goes, and deals mostly with race issues though there are several social commentary songs, such as New World Water and Mathematics:
There are a few curse words here and there, so I’d recommend listening to it before playing it in case you need to select out a few tracks; Mr. Nigga comes to mind, only because I imagine most of your audience is probably only going to hear the title lyric and not the content.
I love rap and hip-hop, and there’s plenty out there that isn’t gangsta or misogynistic. Check out the mighty Mos.
Note to mods: those are small samples of the total lyrics.
I’m suddenly reminded of all the school and church functions from my youth where my friends and I (into bands like ZZTop, Zepplin and Zappa) would be exposed to the cutting edge sounds of The Carpenters and Neal Diamond.
I truly hope you find what you need, Boyo Jim (and asking here is probably a good first step), but I really don’t think you are going to please any of the rap fans by playing “work-safe” anything. It kinda defeats the purpose if Mama doesn’t shudder when she hears it.
(And before any rap fan gets offended, my opinion is based on my observations of teenagers, not rap fans.)
You could always play some Ozomatli. I don’t know if their lyrics are offensive or not, as what I’ve heard is mostly in Spanish. (And may not count as rap either, but at least I’m trying to help.)
Second this. None of it’s groundbreaking (obviously) but Will Smith has a few listenable tracks that are perfect for bland corporate events. Will Smith has always had a no bad words policy I’m pretty sure.
My favorite Will Smith (Fresh Prince), Summertime.
There’s a surprisingly large (read: not zero) number of hits for “rap polka” on Google, although most of them lead nowhere. So here’s a not-very-good mashup of Fiddy keepin’ it Slovenian.
Oh, and I vote for playing The Magic Number by De La Soul.
While you’re not the only one on the board to feel this way or express this opinion, it’s irrelevant to the discussion in the thread. Simply jumping into a discussion just to say “I don’t like X” when no one’s asking for those kinds of opinions, is thread-shitting. If that’s your only contribution, then you’ll need to stay out of these types of threads.
That said, there’s nothing wrong with expressing your opinion about rap (or other art form) as long as it’s in the appropriate place. So, if you want to start a new thread talking about the merits of rap, go right ahead.
Please remember to post only a few lyrics and then link to the rest so as to avoid any copyright violations. This generally means a quick stanza, about four or five lines.
I am far more concerned about displeasing parents and my employers than the kids. Like I said, I have parents asking me for stuff their kids can dance to, but these things are family events – so if Mama shudders, I will eventually feel her pain.
Thanks for all your suggestions so far. I’m thinking I’ll end up buying 10-20 songs, just enough to have a few, and a little variety, when I’m asked. Maybe I’ll find some I like, and add some more for my own interest. I already bought “Weapon of Choice” after reading the thread that inspired this one, and listening to the version on Youtube. We’ll see.
Not trying to be contrarian or anything, but I completely disagree that rap enthusiasts will only want stuff that annoys others. Resigned to the fact that there’ll be some irredeemable curmudgeons who will insist on disliking even the most objectively joyous tracks? Sure. But that ain’t the same. There’s no pleasing people who’re just hell-bent on contrariness, whatever genre they love or hate.
The moment I saw this title, two names stood up right away:
MC Hammer. He all but invented rap. Let’s review: He 1. made a style of hip-hop that was clean, competely safe, and downright wholesome, 2. took it to mainstream America (and yes, this included white mainstream America, and 3. made it insanely popular. This is a unbelievable achievement. This is like selling SUV’s to the Amish. This is like getting a unanimous thumbs-up to campaign finance reform. This is like convincing me to watch The Amazing Race again. Can you imagine anyone, present or future, achieving even half of his mainstream success (or for that matter, even trying to)? I certainly can’t. At any rate, any of his first three albums should be perfect. His best, of course, is Please Hammer Don’t Hurt 'Em; it’s incredibly fun and full of energy. Can’t recommend it enough.
Vanilla Ice. “But he’s patheic and lame and pathetically lame and a poseur and totally fake and manufactured,” etc.? Yes, he is…that’s the point. The knock against him was that he was trying to be some vicious brutal mean hip-hop gangsta brutha, and no one bought it. His only real success was with tepid mainstream America, which is exactly what you’re going for. Go for it; there are worse things in life than a whitey breaking new ground and enjoying himself doing it.
I kinda liked Run DMC way back then, but they were never really that popular and it might be hard to find something good. You might want a recommendation. Salt 'n Pepa was wildly popular when I was a preteen, but I don’t think their sassy, hip tone is what they’re going for. (Plus they’re really hard to understand.)
, well it IS Wisconsin and these things die a hard death. Anyway, I found a half dozen polkas, and I’m certainly not going to play MORE than that in one night. The other is rap. The folks want music their kids can relate to, I think so they can forcibly drag them along and not feel guilty about it.
Can you imagine anyone, present or future, achieving even half of his mainstream success (or for that matter, even trying to)? I certainly can’t. At any rate, any of his first three albums should be perfect. His best, of course, is Please Hammer Don’t Hurt 'Em; it’s incredibly fun and full of energy. Can’t recommend it enough.