Bottom line: Radio they’re rappers, or I guess you can say, entertainers that rap. Your favorite rapper may have a hit song getting 100′s of spins a day on the radio but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he or she is a true MC. You can ask today’s average fan to list their 10 favorite MC’s and at least half of the ones they name are average at best or downright wack.
Bottom-line: Hip-Hop, as a culture, needs to be resurrected and moved forward in having an impact on the world socially, politically, religiously, economically and not just exploited to make greedy opportunists rich.
That’s a record that’s been played many times. But Hip-Hop could also be a leading influence in changing that. But I won’t simply dwell on how men treat women in Hip-Hop. I agree with those who say that the degradation of women in Hip-Hop is influenced by society’s treatment of women.
But to have that position would be selling Hip-Hop culture short. We can talk about any other music genre and some of its biggest names are females. The women of Hip-Hop still haven’t gotten their due. Maybe it’s the nature of Hip-Hop and rap music.
What I’m really troubled by as far as women, is the fact that there are just not enough females in the game on the mic. MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, Lauryn Hill. Who’s representing for the ladies? these ladies and others are great MCs in their own right. Foxy Brown and Lil’ Kim both can go toe to toe lyrically with anybody in the game; past and present! I don’t mind saying that some of my favorite MCs are females.
I grew up an avid reader of Hip-Hop themed publications. There was a time when I thoroughly enjoyed reading these publications waiting anxiously for the new issues to hit the newsstand or be delivered in my mailbox.
When I was a teenager, I loved Big Daddy Kane but I also loved and appreciated the soulful sounds of Marvin Gaye. I was a student of music, fairly knowledgeable about history and not just hung up on the latest song on the radio. Many of my peers were the same way.
The music is too loud. Nowadays, MCs just don’t have a clue of what it takes to satisfy an audience. There are way too many people on stage. Is that the best they can come up with? Often what you have is a bunch of guys on stage as if they’re standing on a street corner. There’s so much wrong with Hip-Hop performances today. MCs are too cool or too tough to dance or simply groove with the music. The stage show just lack true excitement and creativity.However, after speaking with hip hop artist Mase, he decided to return to rap. MC Hammer is a super star in the social networking site, Twitter, ranking in the low 30s with just shy of 1. He will be planning on releasing his next two albums, Walk with Me Now and You’ll Fly with Me Later in the latter part of 2009 or 2010. He continues to produce songs and is living a relatively decent life less expensive hip hop jewelry, exotic cars and large entourages. In 2009, DMX claimed that he would pursue preaching much like MC Hammer. This may spark a return of the Ruff Ryers and DMX to widespread popularity.
This article will provide a quick run down of the rise and fall of two of the best know hip hop rap artist in their time; MC Hammer in the late 1980s to the early 1990s and DMX from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. As the saying goes, “what goes up, must come down. ” How fast one comes down and how one comes down from their stardom solely depends on the day-to-day decisions of the artist.
Remember, most of the clubs where your music is going to be played are going to have pro surround sound systems, so you might as well take advantage of them. Using panning in order to create multiple dimensions in your music will give your jams a movement that is irresistible. While most producers and mix engineers these days use reverb and delay to create a greater sense of “space” around their music, another secret to mixing is the use of panning to create additional dimension.
Next, extrapolate what you learn from performing into the competitive world of music. You need the same skills. In fact, you need the feedback of your audiences and countless sampling of various beats and combination of beats before you are ready to face the grueling task of breaking into the music business. It requires the same process.
Fashion is very fickle minded owing to which an array of styles has appeared and vanished in the blink of an eye. The industry of fashion is a gamble indeed. However there are some panache’s which remain exceptional and thus everlasting. Hip-hop fashion is such an exception, it was here to stay. Right from the very beginning of its emergence the hip-hop style has continued to gain immense popularity amongst the masses.
Now if a female artist puts on an outfit that promotes sexuality auto tune can make up in the areas where she lacks creativity. It solely depends on how well you can dress or how much money you’ve made from your glorious hustling lifestyle. Lyricism no longer counts in a world that corporate America has taken over. In order to make it within the world of hip hop in times past you would have to have real talent. It seems as if women are no longer able to think consciously aloud. Lyrical skills no longer matter. The big question is why do U. corporations continue to spread propaganda in hip hop/rap music throughout the face of the earth keeping urban youth subjected to an old crack epidemic lifestyle. What does it take to succeed as a female rapper in today’s industry? All black women are not uneducated, and many have decent paying jobs, college educations and live a positive lifestyle with her husband and kids.
When it comes to success as a DJ or producer, being able to create the grooves or melodies that have this kind of effect on people is a key to becoming an artist that people will remember. This means that you have to be able to take these ideas to the next level in order to demonstrate that you have a secret ingredient to get the club rockin’ that no one else has. The last time that you were in a club or at a concert, you might have noticed that there were some hip hop rap beats that really jolted the emotions of the listeners and made them want to get up and get moving. Here are a few things that can help you to accomplish this with hip hop rap beats online. However, new Internet recourses have given all aspiring artists access to pro loops,samples and instrumental riffs.
Millions of cds, videos and dvd’s are sold each year in the Hip Hop genre of music. Even today Rap/Hip Hop music is still a multi billion dollar genre. And there is no sign that Hip Hop will be slowing down or taking a back seat to anyone anytime soon. This new sound called Rap evolved in the early 80′s and took off as a sky rocket in the late 90′s and New Millennium as Hip Hop/Rap.
Bottom line: True MCs who are in the game for the love of it should be more visible and the more popular MCs who dominate the charts and grace the covers of magazines should challenge themselves and be challenged to step their rhyme game up.
Battling is the foundation of MC’ing. Battling is competition; what happens in sports for example and of course Hip-Hop music. Let me start out by saying that there is a big difference between “beef” and “battling”. Beef is what happens on the streets and even in the boardroom.
In fact according to statistics, 69. Every female in the world has their own story. 7% have never been married. There are countless amounts of men that do promote mental growth, knowledge, education, and understanding such as Common, Mos Def, 9th Wonder, and so forth. When choosing a female hip hop artist that can relate to the real issues of life, record labels have failed us. But today’s female artist seems to be more materialistic and immature mentally. That’s not to say that there are not a countless amount of men within the genre that are negative. All women are not single or even desire to lead a single life. With statistics rating so low, for single women it is amazing how most music is geared around those who lead a single and promiscuous lifestyle. But the fact is that there is a huge variety of men dominating the game on both sides, but few women are heard throughout the industry that promotes positivity through their lyrical content. 3% of American women have been married, divorced, widowed, or separated.That can be insulting not only to the average black female but her daughters as well. This is something that young black girls should be mindful of when conducting such behavior. When the popular culture promotes this type of image to masses of people, they give the world that same impression of urban women. When they are not informed of the things that happened within their own history, they lose sight of their own cultural identity, and as an end result, they allow themselves to be used in a way that Saartje Baartman was used. Although the story of Saartje Baartman has been broadcast through stage plays, spoken word performances, blogs, and books, apparently it has failed to make its way inside the homes of urban women in America. Hip Hop labels, promoters, producers, managers, and so forth (black or white) feed young women false information on what it takes to make it as a female rapper. According to African American history, black girls in times past have been blamed for rapes, abusive relationships, and accused of being weak willed and materialistic. People perish continuously for the lack of knowledge. Their whole goal is to accomplish their own personal agenda. At the end of the day, when the industry is done using her, she is pushed to the side as if she is nobody as she watches mainstream producers and so forth gimmick her through someone else. Nicki Minaj) Even more than that, they monopolize from their so called beef. But how does this affect the black community? African-American adolescents 13 – 19 accounted for 1,919 AIDS cases alone. What’s more disturbing about it is that even black people, some which are educated continue to promote this image because they see it as a step towards success for themselves and the African American Community. 63% of the teen population within the United States suffered an STD for the year 2010. More than a few black men lead other cultures to think that it is OK to disrespect the average black girl in this manner. (Respect Your Mind, Protect Your Body) Hip Hop Magazines, blogs, and so forth go out of their way to promote negative images of black girls because that’s what’s hot within the popular culture. When others speak on it, racism is the levee that holds the propaganda in place which further gives political parties the motivation to mock blacks such as the President of the United States through stereotypes promoted in mainstream media. In the year of 2010, there were 434,758 live births from parents ranging between the ages of 15-19 years old. Speaking out against things that affects the black community has become an act of hating and doing wrong has become the history of the African American culture according to the stereotypes that are often promoted through mainstream media. According to Eric Bolling of Fox News, Obama chills in the white hizzouze with thugs while popping forties. 5 live births per 1000 with African Americans having the highest rate according to the US Census Bureau.
In the 80s, MC Hammer was a music sensation in his prime, arguably rivaling the popularity of the late Michael Jackson. Along with his house, he also purchased 2 helicopters, 17 expensive automobiles, bad investments, and very high-priced antiques. Coupled with further album sales, tours, endorsements, and merchandise, he raked in millions upon millions. With the release of Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em, MC Hammer realized approximately $33 million in profits. Hammer spent $12 million on his home alone.
It will always play a significant part in the hearts of millions who embraced it’s sound back in the early 60′s, and continued to pass that sound on to their children throughout the 70′s, 80′s and 90′s. So what happened to the Motown sound. The Motown sound will never die out.
This is a secret ingredient that the master composers have been using for centuries and it is something that the use of modern mixing technologies can help you to accomplish with ease. Of course, this might mean that you have to actually spend some times mastering the newer audio production applications such as Logic Studio (used by artists like T-Pain), the Yamaha Motif, the Roland Fantom or MV8800 (used by the RZA) or even Propellerhead Reason (Used by Mix Master Mike of the Beastie Boys). Instead of having to use several different hip hop rap beats online or instrumental riffs for one song, simply repeating the same loop throughout the entire song and see how many individual ideas you can draw from one simple idea.
But the last 5 years or so, the “Hip-Hop press” has let the culture down. For example, the two biggest and most successful magazines (I won’t name them. And these publications themselves have engaged in on-going beefs between each other! ) in my opinion have perpetuated, instigated and contributed to pushing on-going beefs between rap crews.
After giving so many years service and great music to the City of Detroit, Motown moved out and Rap/Hip Hop moved in. Instead of hearing someone singing My Baby Loves Me or My Girl, you began to hear new sounding lyrics of street experience expressed in rhythms with the mouth, chest, hands and feet as such had never been heard before.Music production is constantly evolving and nowhere is this more evident than the case of hip hop, rap, gangsta and other urban sounds. If you want to start making beats there are so many different options available to you depending upon your experience, musical ability, preferred production style and of course budget. For example, if you are an experienced producer then you probably already have access to a professional recording studio but are maybe looking for something more portable whereas a complete novice may need something to get going on a with a tight budget.
Oh yes, Motown had it going on! They were songs that spoke about true love, current events and the heartache and pains of life experiences. But just like George Benson said in one of his recordings “Everything Must Change”, and sure enough, he was right about the music. The songs that were written by Motown songwriters during the 60′s I may not agree with the lyric but I can certainly enjoy the music. The connection between a rapper and his fan is not just the instrumental and the rhythm; but also the experience and feeling. There are also songs that I like although they may not represent me as a person. It is the emotion that creates the strong bond and the fan-following.
Of course, nowadays some women embrace these derogatory terms, seeing themselves in this way and calling one another by these names. Some feminists wouldn’t like those terms but at least they’re spoken as a compliment to women. Most women are offended by being referred to as a bitch or a hoe.
Just look at the master bad boy Eminem and the level of success that he has managed to achieve and to maintain because he has been true to his own ideas instead of giving in to the opinions of others. The same is true for many of the modern masters of keeping the faith such as the legendary rock band “Kiss,” the pioneer of popular electronic music Trent Reznor, and even the masters of long ago such as Ludwig Van Beethoven and Wolfgang Mozart. Following in the footsteps of these Masters by being your own biggest fan, no matter what, will put you on the road to becoming a master yourself.
Hip hop is a cultural movement characterized by five key stylistic elements that include rapping, disc-jockeying, sampling, scratching and beat boxing. It originated from South of Bronx, New York, in the early 70′s and was pioneered by Keith Cowboy. The use of drum machines in modern rap gave birth to Hip-Hop drum beats, which are today the core of producing Hip-Hop.
Sometimes, as you are writing and expressing your feelings, this will help your creative juices start to flow again. Let this be the bridge to new thoughts and solid writing topics. This is a great way to learn to write rap lyrics in a natural and authentic way.
Whether it is for a crowd or for an individual, know what is popular before you make your move. Take a lesson from the new masters and learn from the old. You can take the simpler rhythms of Dirty South and combine the looped drum of Crunk. From this, you can create your own personal form and it may, just may, result in you getting that signing. If you decide to prepare a demo or perform live for a producer, make sure you are a true professional. Choose only professional beats that work for you. The diversification of hip hop, rap, and pop creates a wide variety of beats to tap into and combine. If it is viable, incorporate the material into your own music via the right beats.
Are you sticking with the underground scene and planning on an independent label? Do you want to go national and need music that appeals to a larger audience? Begin with your intent. Do you want popularity or fame? The way you go, the beat you choose, must be based on a number of different but related factors. What is the audience for your music?
Get some hot and original beats. The only problem with free beats is that they are usually voice-tagged protected. There are thousands of great-undiscovered producers out there on the Internet. Many producers out there offer free downloads of their beats. Most A I listen to it on the radio all the time. Not just about going to the clubs and exotic drugs. You see to answer this question you’ll have to understand that hip hop and rap music are two sides of the same coin. As I continued on I began to realize what point the author was trying to make. Rap music is what you listen to on the radio and what you see in the music videos, you know the guys with the truck load of jewelry, the half dressed women and the flashy cars. Hip Hop music is the kind of music that has a meaning and actually uplifts the spirit and mind, Motivational music.I know lots of people do this, but it is just not the best thing to complete. I devote a whole lot of time constructing videos for my net sites and among the issues I run into all of the time is finding background music to play throughout the video. Because of copyright as well as other legal issues, it is not doable to use real music that you would download from iTunes in the videos.
Many credit Schoolly D with making the first Gangsta rap record, “P. ” Ice-T came out with “6 N in the morning”. Boogie Down Productions released “Criminal Minded”. Hip-Hop has always been gangsta. And how could anyone fail to mention “the most dangerous group”, N. and their infamous classic record, “Straight Outta Compton”.
You don’t want to change the order of things just for the hell of it, the changes you make should have purpose to enhance the excitement level of the song so that the remix brings it up even higher, the remix should be able to be heard as an improvement on the original song and if not then should not be done at all. You want the Hip Hop/rap verse to deal directly with the song’s current subject matter while adding another outlook/point of view and excitement to the track. When remixing a song that will retain the original beat/instrumental, you should instead enhance the song by re-arranging the vocal elements of the track and add an 8, 12, or 16 bar Hip Hop verse as an intro to the song over the song’s already popular beat/instrumental. You may want to bring the song’s hook into the mix directly following the rap verse intro, or you may decide to go into the 1st or even second verse it merely entertains. Further exploring the genre will introduce you to various forms of music that the industry offers.
Into this audio interface you can plug in a DJ mixer, which will handle all your mp3, CD and vinyl audio inputs. Add to this some high end interface controller software and sample bundles and you have an amazing set-up. For those with a big budget, the way to go is to get a PC or Mac hooked up by firewire to a 24-bit audio interface. Into your PC or Mac you can also plug in your midi controller or synthesizer.
MAG DVD, is distributed nation wide via Suncoast, Best Buy, Sam Goody, Block Buster, and Net Flix. The show airs in over 40 countries and reaches over 120 million households! Her feature in WWS Magazine garnered such a huge response, she was asked to do the cover for the first issue of their Indie Edition! MAG TV I guess that kind of music isn’t mainstream or commercial enough.
We have all passed through that phase and grown to be who we are. Let the music play because it is only music and not an instruction for life! As adults, it is important to be aware of what our children are going through as well as give them the space to explore their worlds. In the end, a healthy upbringing will always overpower any superficial influence.
The genre had arrived. Among other artists and groups who played a poignant role in the emergence of the genre is Louis Amstrong with his 1925 rap song – “Heebie Jeebies”, Gill Scott-Heron, and the Watts Prophets. They initiated the use of jazzy tracks. They emerged from the Black Nationalist thread of the civil rights moments in the late 1960s and went on to make music which understood social commitment. Following the innovative trends, came the band “Cargo” with the single “Jazz Rap” from the album with the same title; and thus went down as the first recorded jazz-rap-single.
By way of example, in the event you count a beat out in hip hop for two bars (8 beats) it would sound like this (put emphasis on the words in caps): One two 3 four One two 3 4. Not getting a rap or hip hop artist myself, I wondered if it were feasible to make easier and slower beats with this software program, and to my amazement it was not a problem at all. But when you produce swing or jazz beats you’d do just the opposite: one TWO 3 Four one TWO three 4. Make the beat slightly less pronounced and add some brass or violins over the beat, run it for about 16 bars and then repeat the loop. With rap and hip hop, the strong beat hits on the first and third beat of the bar.
The form has always evolved and incorporated the ‘present’. The word ‘Jazz’, which was earlier also written as “Jass”, was first reportedly used for music in Chicago, in 1915. The distinguishing factor here is the type of content in this sub-genre and the musical instruments used. This musical style originated in the early 20th century as a confluence of African-American tradition and the European musical traditions. Jazz rap is specifically a hip-hop sub-genre which has evolved through the late 1980s and early 1990s. The music is influenced by hip-hop rap beats while the lyrics are sung out in a rap-style.
When you record in the privacy of your own home, you can take your time perfecting your song and lyrics and not worrying about the cost. Today’s equipment and software enables recording artists and producers to make professional quality music comparable to what you get in a recording studio if not better. The technology advancements have allowed society to make quality music from the privacy of our own homes. For your microphone I recommend the perception 420, which is a very affordable yet quality microphone. Look into recording at home. There are plenty of quality microphones out there. Recording artists will also feel more comfortable and be able to deliver their lyrics more naturally. You will want a good compressor microphone. Stay away from USB microphones. Some great DAW software out there is ProTools, Logic, Ableton and Reason. You will also want to sound proof your room. I recommend getting a reflector filter, which sits behind your microphone along with a mesh filter screen. The reflector will block out all sounds behind and on the sides of your microphone, giving you a much cleaner and clearer vocal recording. These can be pretty expensive. You will also need an audio interface, preferably one with phantom power for your microphone. They sell sound-proofing kits on most music websites.I can generate a background track with drums, horns, and violins for my videos now in about a half an hour. As an example, the video beneath has the first track that I designed. Its not the ideal, but it is a very good example of how straightforward it is actually to generate beats for rap or hip hop.
The first thing to consider when planning a Hip Hop remix is to decide if you are going to keep the general focus of the song the same as the original while just adding Hip Hop elements to the track such as a rap verses and/or beat replacement or if you are going to change perspective of the song from say a female point of view to a male point of view or vice versa. If the song’s original beat/instrumental is found to be a huge factor in the overall success of the song just make sure to silence your phone when recording your lyrics. With using your Smartphone to write your raps to, you can go back and change lyrics to make them flow better. The more you write and practice your rapping with your lyrics, the more natural and professional you will sound when it comes time to record. Write, write, then write some more. Using your Smartphone to write your lyrics is a great idea.
This is where it can also get tricky at! When you lease a beat, all you’re doing is purchasing a LICENSE to use the beat. For example, some beat leasing sites only allow you to use the beat for non-profit purposes period. (Demos, background music for web pages etc. Non-exclusive purchases or beat leasing, whichever you call it, that too is the same. 9 times out of 10, a license will always come with restrictions. Once that limit is reached, a new license must be obtained. That figure with those restrictions vary greatly by site. ) Others will allow you to sell a LIMITED number of completed songs containing that beat. I can’t stress enough, know your Terms the rough life and many a times the life we are not accustomed with. In fact, we can understand this from the very origin of this genre; it stemmed from ghetto and gang communities of youngsters in the troubled streets of Africa, in the 1980s. These themes may, hence, seem inappropriate to the sophisticated mind. The streets are no heavens. Most of the artists who rise to fame come from such modest backgrounds. Rap lyrics have content derived from people who face these circumstances and the things that are important to them. But when you analyze this music from the writer’s point of view and the listener’s perception you will understand the ‘connection’. Many of the artists face prison-time and indulge in abuses because they aren’t from the well-kept, well-educated and ‘fortunate’ backgrounds like all those of reading this article.
Rotem that got him the recognition he so desperately deserved. E-Class of Poe Boy records got DJ Khaled of WEDR 99 Jamz to play the “Hustlin” record on the radio and soon everyone outside Miami took notice of what the local people into the music scene already knew. Rick Ross was caught in a bidding war between the music industry’s major record labels, but ultimately signed with Jay-Z and Def Jam Records. Ross started in the music industry as a ghost-writer for many famous Hip-Hop artist. Ross dropped several independently produced mixtapes, but it wasn’t until he dropped the major hit record “Hustlin” produced by J. Miami / Carol City rap artist Rick Ross, born William Leonard Roberts II on January 28th, 1976 took on his name from the “Freeway” Ricky Ross who was a drug trafficker on the other side of the country. For 12 years under Ted Lucas of Slip-n-Slide Records, Ross received little if any spotlight.
Although it seems that both artists have turned themselves around after hitting their major lows, it is unfortunate that this cycle of hip hop rise, fame, and crash seems unlikely to be broken anytime soon.
R the rhythmic delivery of rap and the use ofinstrumentation by a DJ. In the early 1970s, the cultural movement of hip hop music was born.
Often, it is the negative that is highlighted; the “ill-effects” are mentioned. But it all isn’t as bad as it looks. Since hip hop music is such a youthful form of music, there has always been speculation about how it affects the youth of our country. It portrays the life outside one’s comfort zone. So many people write so many things and talk so much about the hip hop culture. I am very impressed with motivational rapper Marcus Parker’s words when he explained that rap music is about everything that happens out in the streets.
The other method and most entertaining is where a live microphone would be at a party and the two rappers would be given a set amount of time to come up with insults to defame their counterparts. In these battles you could either record a song in which you would insult a rival rapper and this song would play in all the local house parties and dance clubs where both rappers would frequently attend. Hip hop rap battles were the most personal and shaming of all the battles. If you were to lose a live rap battle you would not only ever be able to show your face around there anymore but your career as a rapper would be in extreme jeopardy as well.
Hip-Hop is no longer a culture, it’s a business. But the truth is Hip-Hop is indeed a culture that has been commercialized, therefore, compromised. Corporate America, whether you’re talking about corporate-owned record labels, magazines or cable channels, are in complete control of Hip-Hop.
The lyrics are often Afro-centric; laying emphasis on the importance of African people. One can understand, hence, why this genre isn’t a popular choice or a favorite among many. It talks of reality and the reality that affects all of us. One of the most renowned South-African groups which laid the foundation for this kind of rapping and influenced hip hop music greatly was the “Last poets”. People choose to turn a blind eye to the “ill” of our society because it is a simpler path to take. Jazz-rap on the other hand, makes the bold attempt to lurch forward and uplift the set-up in which we live. They themes also follow political consciousness, historical awareness, intellectual thoughts, conscious rap and the general positivity.
