Who writes this crap, anyway?

Seriously.

Published on April 30, 2004 By Unfairman In Entertainment

When we do our after-hours closing duties at the store (sweeping, mopping, counting down tills and what have you) we always change the radio station from Golden Oldies or Hot Hits to a rap station (we have XM radio). I don't know if they play the same songs at the same time every night, but I'm getting really sick of the crap they play. Mostly it's Nelly and Fifty-Cent...I can't believe how lame those lyrics are. Example:

"I just look at you and wonder how you got in those pants" (or something to that effect)

"All the pimps in house just brush off your shoulder
Ladies is pimps too now just brush off your shoulder."

C'mon! The things I say in my sleep are more poetic, plus they make more sense. Do they actually WRITE these lyrics? Does someone sit down with a pad and pencil, or maybe drive around in their car and think of "If you don't love those ho's, get on the flo"?

I can picture the conversation "Excuse me, Mos', but what rhymes with 'ho?'."
"Flo."
"Brilliant!"

Or "It's gettin in hot in hrrrr...yeah, that sounds really good."

Seriously, guys, get a life.

This is not to say that there aren't incredibly thoughtful and meaningful lyrics in rap music. Eminem, for one, can rhyme and flow like no one's business. Nappy Roots have messages in their songs. And yet "North Carolina" becomes a club anthem...I feel sorry for those folks just a little younger than me who think this is good music. I know, every generation says that, but seriously....I hope this fad joins bubble gum pop in the Rotting Cesspool of Shitty Music.

Sorry for the negativity.
Chris

P.S. The word is "everybody" not "errrrrrbody". Their called hard consonants, asshole. Use em.

Comments

dharmagrl

on Apr 30, 2004

The word is "everybody" not "errrrrrbody". Their called hard consonants, asshole. Use em.

I just wrote a blog about the same thing...'Ebonics - language or bastardization?'.

The lamness is cringeworthy, isn't it? My 7 year old can rhyme better than that..hell, he can enunciate better than them!

Suspeckted

on Apr 30, 2004

I'm not really trying to defend the errrrbody word specifically, but I do think it is cool when rappers are able to bend the regular pronunciations of words to fit a rhyme. The other lyrics you mentioned chris, and most of what is played on the radio....absolute garbage for sure. But I've got respect for those who can get across what they're trying to say with the limitations that rhymin' can cause.

Slacker bound emit a tabloid headline with a pulse
Shimmy cross the centerfold, and a dead time engulfed
Diddy crumbs for the better souls with seven deadly stains
To hear the blame to crystal conscience
To results a low life counting on one hand what he's accomplished
- Aesop Rock (Daylight)

And this is my favorite chorus of a rap song right now by Minneapolis indie Rap - Atmosphere

Cause they were two perfect kids
In a two perfect worlds
Today the part of man and women will be played by boy and girl
Lets all take seats
Please quiet during the performance
Lift her pull her from the orchids

Atmosphere (lift her, pull her)

DRmami

on Apr 30, 2004

i dont totally agree with your point of view. Sure, the words are not necessarily pronounced right, and you have all the right in the world to hate the lyrics. I feel that we need the slurred words and ifferent styles of rapping, if everything sounded the same it would be damn boring. I love Eminem, have every single one of his cd's, and yes, my 7 year old can also rap with the best of them (she's really good), but there are so many different styles of music. You mentioned nappy roots, and there are many more. When you're at the club dancin and getting your groove on, it's the main lines of the song that catch your attention. And believe it or not, people relate to that shit. my younger sister in law, who's 18, can relate to that whole "how you got in them jeans" thing, she's into guys and has a big butt, she thinks its a trip. I'm 24, I like fifty cent, jay-z, and alot of other rappers. Its about being able to appreciate other peoples music and tastes. i'm from down south, and alot of the phrases they say I hear them on an everyday basis. People from St.Louis really do talk like that, take chingy for example. Not that i believe its ok to teach your kids ebonics, come on now, but these are grown ass people and they choose to pronounce the words how they want to. So many rappers out there come up with all different type of stuff, from method man to lil jon, its just entertainment and meant to be just that, entertaining. They're not trying to sit there and teach a damn history lesson. Those songs where they do try to get some serious point across, listen to those and I bet that you'll be too involved in the message to focus on mispronounced words.. Its just for fun people..

BlueDev

on May 01, 2004

Lyrical quality is a must for me in the music I listen to. If the lyrics are empty I lose interest immediately.

Suspeckted

on May 03, 2004

Please see my new music reviews.

Unfairman

on May 03, 2004

DRmami-
I understand your point of view, as well. But, it shouldn't be hard express yourself in the English language if that's the way you make your living. Language is the most dynamic thing in a culture: it's been said that you if you did a search of all the popular novels in history, you'd not find two sentences that were exactly alike (dismissing, of course, cliches and common-use sentences). Someone saying the English language is too confining is like me saying the Milky Way isn't big enough for Ted to ride his bike in. It's not infinite, but it's more than big enough to get what you need.

Ted-
I agree with your point. I like when they do that, too...maybe I just hate Nelly. Except please, please, for the love of god, never make the word "rain" rhyme with "again". That's one of my pet peeves. It doesn't bother me when people use them at the end of lines, but I hate it when they try to make them sound the same.

For the record, I never said I hate rap music. I just think that some of the more popular artists are morons.

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