I'm not a fan myself. But when people say this, I just shake my head. People used to say the same thing about jazz and the blues 50 years ago, and now you'll pay $75 to sit in a concert hall and listen to the same music.
There is no comparison and you know it. Please find some 50 year old jazz lyrics that are comparable to the following, and tell me who’s paying $75 to listen to it today.
"Niggas in the church say: kill whitey all night long. . . . the white man is the devil. . . . the CRIPS and Bloods are soldiers I'm recruiting with no dispute; drive-by shooting on this white genetic mutant. . . . let's go and kill some rednecks. . . . Menace Clan ain't afraid. . . . I got the .380; the homies think I'm crazy because I shot a white baby; I said; I said; I said: kill whitey all night long. . . . a nigga dumping on your white ass; f*ck this rap sh!t, nigga, I'm gonna blast. . . . I beat a white boy to the motherf*cking ground… I kill a devil right now. . . . I say kill whitey all nightey long. . . .I stabbed a f*cking Jew with a steeple. . . . I would kill a cracker for nothing, just for the f*ck of it. . . . Menace Clan kill a cracker; jack 'em even quicker. . . . catch that devil slipping; blow his f*cking brains out"
--"Kill Whitey" Menace Clan, Da Hood, 1995, Rap-A-Lot Records, subsidiary of The EMI Group, United Kingdom.
"Devils fear this brand new shit. . . . I bleed them next time I see them. . . . I prey on these devils. . . . look what it has come to; who you gonna run to when we get to mobbing. . . . filling his body up with lead, yah; cracker in my way; slitting, slit his throat; watch his body shake; watch his body shake; that's how we do it in the motherf*cking Bay…"
"Heat-featuring Jet and Spice1"; --Paris, Unleashed, 1998, Unleashed Records, Whirling Records.
"Won't be satisfied until the devils-I see them all dead. . . . my brother is sending me more guns from down South. . . . pale face. . . . it's all about brothers rising up, wising up, sizing up our situation. . . . you be f*cking with my turf when you be f*cking with my race; now face your maker and take your last breath; the time is half-past death. . . . it's the Armageddon. . . . go into the garage; find that old camouflage. . . . cracker-shooting nightly"
--"What the F*ck"; Brand Nubian, Everything Is Everything, 1994, Elektra Entertainment, Warner Communications, Time Warner, USA.
"Bust a Glock; devils get shot. . . . when God give the word me herd like the buffalo through the neighborhood; watch me blast. . . . I'm killing more crackers than Bosnia-Herzegovina, each and everyday. . . . don't bust until you see the whites of his eyes, the whites of his skin. . . . Louis Farrakhan . . . Bloods and CRIPS, and little old me, and we all getting ready for the enemy"
; -- "Enemy"; Ice Cube, Lethal Injection, 1993, Priority Records, Thorn EMI; now called The EMI Group, United Kingdom.
"My own kind blind, brain-trained on the devil-level. . . . chasing down loot, Dole or Newt, who do you shoot. . . . rough stuff to the babies, spread like rabies"
--"Niggativity . . . Do I Dare Disturb the Universe"; Chuck D, Autobiography of MistaChuck, 1996, Mercury Records, PolyGram
Rap has some incredible talent. The rythyms are beyond superb in some works. The dance ability and style are yes...distinctive and the vocals...unique. However, and that's a big however, the majority of the crap played on mainstream radio is dialogue that has very little to no redeeming value. The bulk of rap music videos are simply narcissistic at best. And most speak to the decline of what I consider higher ideals.
Tell me otherwise.