Hip-Hop criticisms
 

- Too many albums are rammed with filler and often last over an hour

Isn't that a "rubbish album" criticism really?

Skits are usually awful and always unnecessary. The good news is that there seem to be a lot less of them than there used to be.

-Public Enemy are really boring and 'A Nation of Millions' isn't good at all.

All it is is Flava Flav shouting 'Yo Chuck, I don't think they heard you'
and then Chuck saying 'Terminator X'
a few songs about the oppressed black man and a sh*t load of filler.

No 'cos I've found that generally in rock music most albums tend to have less tracks and less filler and have less interludes, if any...

like Janszoon says.

The Cold Vein is one of my favourite Hip-Hop albums but it is 80 mins long. It is very difficult to listen to that all the way through. Fillers, interludes and quantity over quality is the norm in Hip-Hop.

- Solo albums often have far too many features.

I think you mistook this for the "incorrect opinions that nobody should take seriously" thread.

:laughing:

Seriously how can anyone take an album that has aged so horribly and is so simplistic in terms of production and rhyming and paint it as a 5 * classic.
Just because you were first doesn't make you best.

There is too much braggadocio in the majority of hip hop music.

And "Nation of Millions" is an incredible album, although I think I prefer "Fear of a Black Planet."

Good shout there mate. Most of my favourite rappers aren't like that though, with the exception of Big L.

UK music is even worse, funny because they've got nothing to be arrogant about.

It's neither the first or best, but it's great.

I certainly prefer Nation of Millions in every way.

My main criticism would be that almost the entire mainstream hip hop industry is just one big money making machine for a load of despicable misogynist scumbags who feel that ramming gold into their mouths while the families from the neighbourhoods they grew up in continue to live in poverty (that's not even getting into the audacity of the ones who continue to rap about how hard life was there while sporting this kind of money). I think every other problem in the industry is perfectly illustrated by the fact that Chris Brown continues to have a successful career.

"hip hop is dead, i brought it back/i am it reincarnated."

nig no u ain't.

Chris Brown ain't our problem. He's a pop artist. Believe me there is more substance if one were to look past the mainstream and artists that those without any particular knowledge of the subject would consider to be the norm.
I could point at rock artists in the same way and use the most popular musicians as templates for what I wrongly perceived the whole make-up of the genre to be.

Also, on the topic of A Nation of Millions, will one person tell me what is so ****ing great about it.
It's so dull and repetitive that when listening to it I just longed it to be over, y'know just because the media says it's good doesn't make it so.

Name me another hip hop album from 1988 that you think has more dynamic production and better lyricism.

Manky, you like to be different, and I admire that, but I can't get behind you on this.

Is it just Nation you have a problem with Manky, or do you not like Fear or Apocalypse either?

Hip hop criticism: ugly album covers. Not saying it's all bad or anything, there's plenty I like, but the worst hip hop album covers are some of the worst album art of any genre.

I greatly prefer Follow The Leader and The Great Adventures of Slick Rick.
But in terms of production, none of the three albums can stand up to what's being produced today, I just feel that A Nation of Millions has aged the worst out of the three mentioned.

The only decent track on the record is Bring The Noise, and that track is a lot better with the Anthrax input, the originals slow and plodding pace takes away from the somewhat clever lyricism.

I honestly cannot see why everyone hypes this record up so much, it just isn't that good and I find it quite frankly to be boring.

Haven't heard the other record so can't fairly comment on it.

This made me wanna do a Google search. I'm glad I did.
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Straight Outta Compton

By All Means Necessary

Life Is Too Short

I'd even argue that I enjoyed Bass Patrols, Rock This Planet more. But I do enjoy PE, I just find more entertainment in others, As the political angle grows tiring when you just want to throw on something and party.

I would rather party to PE tbh.

Different strokes. I can somewhat see where Manky is coming from. I don't wish to paint it as a bad album, I enjoy it and listen to it on occassion, but theres a time and a place for everything I guess.

I will give PE some credit thought, they are one of the better live hip hop acts in History.

His opinion is valid in that it's his opinion, I listened to it this week and it was bomb.

I think it was a decent album. I think they have the ability to become grating after awhile with all the unneccessary multi layering they do with their music.

I'd argue public enemy's brand of noise is more distinct. It has aged because the music and content were focused on the political climate of the time. It's still heavier, and harder then anything of the time.

You really think it's aged worse than follow the leader? Give me siren's and some crazy noise over quiet drum loops and robotic sounding flow.

It's not on a nation of millions but by the time i get to arizona goes too hard



Cold Lampin is a great goofy track still

I enjoy Rakim as a rapper, the guy was the innovator of multi syllable rapping and if it weren't for him we'd be stuck in the dark ages of novelty (eugh, I don't even want to call it hip-hop) like Run DMC and Grandmaster Flash. Okay, the production isn't the greatest, but neither is Public Enemy's, they did what they could do with that they had at the time.

Yes, I understand the record is about the oppression of the black man and Chuck and Flava encouraging their 'brothers' to rise up, but as a white teenager who was born in '93, I find it hard to connect with this album, so it loses its most redeeming feature on me. If you take out their political message, really what are you left with on this record.
Below par production and a lot of shouting 'Terminator X', naa not for me.

As for criticisms

-notion that "hip hop is dead" when in fact, it's only getting better
-similarly, associating 90's hip hop with "good", simultaneously assuming newer hip hop is shallower

-Copious consumption in mainstream hip hop.
-Though it has deflated, the "punchline" rap from a couple years ago was ridiculous. Incessant formulaic bs, "he ain't even go to class, beuller".It was bad
-Homophobic attitude still very persuasive, intrinsic in gangster rap.
-Female rappers,though equally talented, are, for no apparent reason, constantly getting ridiculed. Azealia Banks rap's better than a lot of equally successful male artists.
-Hip Hop, and metal (?) are really the only the only genres i can think of as male dominated as hiphop

Right because no other person would have thought of any multiple syllable rhymes ever. Public Enemy's production IS better, that's my main point.
I understand. Can you really enjoy slick rick then? He raps about being a ganbanger.

I can empathize with Public Enemy because I believe oppression at the hands of the government exists, whether or not i am part of the lowest socioeconomic minority or not.

Totally agree with these. I was actually going to mention the first one myself but couldn't think of how to word it.

I feel this is the case with A Nation of Millions.

Yeah sure, I know it exists. But the plight of the black man in the 80's doesn't really interest me in 2012.
Slick Rick was in character, it's not supposed to be taking literal, check Children's Story. It's just enjoyable for being off-the-wall and imaginative, as the title suggests he's a great story teller.
The fact he has the unique mix of African American and Londoner accent definitely helps.

As for production, you can't say that hasn't aged with time, you think A Nation of Millions sounds like something Clams Casino would turn out today. I don't.

:afro: :p:

I'm not all that interested in the political message. It's the music I like, and I think It Takes a Nation has some of the best production of any hip hop album of that era. For me still holds up very well and has more bite to it than a lot of much more recent hip hop.

Agree.


Public Enemy - Show Em What You Got - YouTube

I don't buy that A Nation of Millions sounds as good in terms of production as Cancer for Cure, R.A.P Music, Good Kid Maad City or any other recent hip-hop album.
Sure, I could point at really bad new albums such as anything by Lil Wayne and say 'ah music these days, not like Public Enemy' which I'm sure a lot of people use as logic but I'm not going to.

As far as being considered one of THE hip hop albums that one must hear, there's nothing all that great about it in my opinion. Usually when the media harps on and on about an album you expect it to have some form of redeeming quality, but I just felt as if A Nation of Millions insists too much on itself, saying 'Look at me, I'm a political revolutionary album; praise me'

I shall not.

Knew there'd be someone being technical.

My point is that I think a lot of people highly praise the media acclaimed older albums such as A Nation of Millions or Ready To Die for no real reason.
They're not as good as Rolling Stone would have you believe.
And they don't stand up to the top albums of today.

It's cool how you responded to something I didn't say. Good work.

it's **** like this that annoys me.

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As if listening to Public Enemy makes you profound. I'm sure this '15 year old' could have listened to Kendrick Lemar or something and been equally impressed.
There seems to be an elitism attached with this group and from just clicking one random Pubic Enemy video I was able to find one of the fanboys I detest.
It gives me further reason to be off-put by this average at best group.

The kid did have a point with Drake, Lil and young money.

It's the ignorance of the 'music these days' mentality that just annoys me.
These people have no idea what they're talking about.

But PE > Kendrick Lamar.