Rap 101- History, Cultural Relevance, Merits and Flaws

Rap isn't solely about one's self - truly great MCs can rap about anything - love, politics, society etc etc. Listen to someone like Mos Def (not the world's greatest MC, admittedly) and he raps about rain, water, women - all with real intelligence and innovative flow.

My biggest beef with Eminem is that he can't stop rapping about the same issues - himself, his problems, his critics, his fans, his child, his ex-wife and his mother. It's all started to get a bit boring....

You should check out Nas' The Lost Tapes - that's an album that approaches lots of different subjects and always sounds brilliant...

And if you wanna talk about brilliance, then you gotta talk about Gang Starr!!!

 

My main problem with the article is 1. It says Hip Hop is a synonym of Rap, it isn't.

Hip Hop is:

Djing
Rapping
Breakdancing
Graffiti
Beat-Boxing

4 of the 5 elements have little or nothing to do with his article.

2. It seems to make Gangsta Rap out to be the *only* thing in Rap, what about groups like Jurassic 5, Black Eyed Peas, A Tribe Called Quest etC. Positive Hip Hop isn't death yet, but the article likes to talk as if it is.

 

This is a tad off-topic but when I first saw this thread I thought it said Rape 101. I was what in hell...