Why are hip hop fans so easily impressed by corny lyrics?

[BlackZilla]

I blame rappers like Wayne and Papoose.

 

[markp]

Nah I think a lot of people who I've seen praise the line are serious, but I'm not talking just that line in particular that was just an example. I'm talking about all the corny lyricism in hip hop. Look at Drake, Lil Wayne, Kanye West the Clipse, etc. They have albums and mixtapes filled with lyrics like that line and fans eat it up

 

[CASHAPP]

Nobody brought up the fact that this guy is a big fan of Gucci Mane is talking about corny lyrics?...



and please don't come with some predictable BS about how its different because Gucci is speaking in "slang".....

 

[BlackZilla]

and the kids that love this now will frown on the next generation's music. It's just a sign that you're getting older.

Not really...I'm 24. I was 5 when Illmatic came out, and I wasn't even cognizant when it came to Hip Hop until about 3 years ago.

I listen to both new and old school hip-hop and I agree to an extent that the mainstream rappers now are whack. HOWEVER, there are incredibly dope artists in the indie/underground scene though. So I'm not in the "Hip-Hop is dead" camp. The artform is very much alive.

Labels have just found the perfect formula to make tons of dollars.

Braggadocious raps over trap beats.

 

[Billy Ocean]

I agree. People going apeshyt over rhyme gimmicks is basically the reason why most sane hip hop fans have to hear how average MCs, like Slaughterhouse, are the best shyt since sliced bread. Gimme a Jeezy, Sigel, or Game anyday over some of these overhyped cats. nikkas could rippity rap all day but couldn't make a classic song if their life depended on it.

"kicking boring raps, with metaphors is wack...all you motherfukkers need NordicTrack"

"the gimmicks, the wack lyrics...shyt is depressing. Pathetic. Please forget it"

 

[Metta World Movement]

I honestly believe hip hop would be completely dead right now if it wasn't for similes.

 

[Mike Statik]

ummm lack of intelligence... naive, not exposed to real lyrical rappers... society at this point is at an all time low... ill think of more

 

[Turbulent]

i agree with the thread. and i've said it many times. rappers are more concerned with trying to impress people with corny lines trying to sound too clever than actually spitting some real shyt that people feel.

 

[Flav]

I honestly believe hip hop is almost completely dead right now because of similes.

fixed

 

[Still Benefited]

I honestly believe hip hop would be completely dead right now if it wasn't for smileys.

Fixed for accuracysmh at that bein how I read your post at first and actually agreeing like " he's right" that's how wack this shyt is right now

 

[DANJ!]

Nobody gives a shyt, man... good music is good music... some shyt just can't be denied. Everybody doesn't wanna sit around deep in thought like "man, that line has lots of substance" while listening to music. Now sure, some nikkas are mind-numbingly wack, like beyond all parameters of wack- but you really think I'ma listen to some shyt like "Can I Live" and change my mind because yo, one eye open like CBS isn't that complex and deep. shyt, Rakim said "I drop rhymes like a scientist" on "My Melody"- the shyt's an all-time classic track, and I'm sure nobody cares that he never explained how exactly a scientist drops rhymes.

If people had to sit and analyze every rap song on its level of line-for-line depth, nikkas woulda never enjoyed anything.

"Critics care about good taste, regular people just care if it tastes good"- Gene Simmons.

 

[Iceberg Slim]

It's because we refuse to accept that we're in the minority. Hip Hop internet die hards (who I'm 100% positive are or were aspiring MC's at some point) who break down bars from an analytical standpoint. Which can be very cut & dry. Ironically an extremely conservative approach to such a liberal art form.

Also with all of our knowledge sometimes we miss the simple things. Like how the line was said for instance. An artist's vocal inflections or cadence can sell a line & make it doper than it's written form if that makes sense. Performative element can't be ignored but we often do. Shout out to Greg Nice.

 

[BREAD N BUTTERZ]

Corny punchlines metaphors puns and double entendres. Why are hip hop fans so easily impressed by this shyt.

"I keep one eye open like CBS"

If someone said a line like this in real life it would be like, ok i get it. A reference to the CBS logo. Kind of random and very corny but I'll let it slide. But Jay-Z raps it and fans lose their mind over it. People still talk about this line 16 years later like it's some kind of amazing lyricism.

Pusha T says "I'm a genius like Ray". See, it's a double meaning. Because he's not only talking about Ray Charles. He's talking about Raekwon too. Wow thats fukking crafty! A lot of people have the same the name, this isn't clever at all. How does tacky lyricism like this get so distinguished by fans? Do fans just have shytty taste or what?

yeah lets use jay and pusha as a example cause gucci aint got no corny punchlines

 

[BlackZilla]

Nobody gives a shyt, man... good music is good music... some shyt just can't be denied. Everybody doesn't wanna sit around deep in thought like "man, that line has lots of substance" while listening to music.

I can understand that, sometimes people just want a catchy songs, but some of the stuff coming out is borderline retarded.

Now sure, some nikkas are mind-numbingly wack, like beyond all parameters of wack- but you really think I'ma listen to some shyt like "Can I Live" and change my mind because yo, one eye open like CBS isn't that complex and deep. shyt, Rakim said "I drop rhymes like a scientist" on "My Melody"- the shyt's an all-time classic track, and I'm sure nobody cares that he never explained how exactly a scientist drops rhymes.

Except that one punchline doesn't make a whole song, you should be talking about the lyricism in the song as a whole. One line may not make you think, but an entire song that contains lyrics that expand on some kind of subject matter with a some level of depth, creativity and cohesivness will sure be mindblowing.

If people had to sit and analyze every rap song on its level of line-for-line depth, nikkas woulda never enjoyed anything.

This couldn't be further from the truth.

For starters, Rap music, unlike other genres of music, (whose most notable characteristics are either talented voclalists with powerful voices and or talented musicians that can play instruments), apart from having talented producers that make beats, HEAVILY depends on lyricism. It's essentially poetry spoken over a beat.

Rap is more about how well you say something, rather than what you say. That's why good rappers try to use metaphors and similies to get their points across and whatnot.

So therefore, breaking down rap lines is pretty much inherent to enjoying a rap song. Because you can basically go "Ohhh damn, just look at how he said that! That's pretty clever lol". That's the nature of the artform. The MC tries to be clever with what he says, and fans enjoy the beat and flow and delivery, along with the level of lyricism and creativity displayed.

Not to mention that, people can bump a song (And enjoy it) and look up the lyrics later for clarity.

You're sound like someone that just listens to rap just for the beat (Not saying that you're dumb or a sheep or anything), what about what the MC is saying and how they say it? Isn't the quality of poetry (Which what rap essentially is) judged in this manner?

Now I'm not saying that you can't enjoy a club anthem or anything, I'm just saying that you can't knock breaking down/analysing lyrics, because it's something that is natural when it comes to listening to rap, maybe even more necessary now than ever.

"Critics care about good taste, regular people just care if it tastes good"- Gene Simmons.[/B]

This isn't really mutually exclusive, regular people do criticise stuff.

 

[BlackZilla]

Also with all of our knowledge sometimes we miss the simple things. Like how the line was said for instance. An artist's vocal inflections or cadence can sell a line & make it doper than it's written form if that makes sense. Performative element can't be ignored but we often do. Shout out to Greg Nice.

I can agree with the bolded. I think that Prodigy was an example of this in the 90s. I mean, his rhymes weren't overly complex or anything, but he had an ill cadence and delivery. He really sounded and came across as a grimy NY street dude, and he was nice with it.