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General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories. |
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General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories. |
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In Reply to: Oh glorious day! Rap Rules posted by KCK on October 7, 2003 at 08:47:58:
This is a partial repeat of a post I did a while back, I'm sorry I didn't catch this thread when it was new.First of all, you have to view a rap album as the video equivalent of a godfather movie - a movie lauded by many, but put the same thing into music, and watch them protest. And, if you're a "serious" music lover, you have to unclench a bit.
Think the billboard top 10 is bad? Check out the non-rap top 10, it ain't much better. Think Led Zeppelin are genius? Try and be that open minded today, if you are that old, and still can.
For those who are actually able to unclench a bit, and listen to music just for music sake - not just to flatter your stereo (because it won't), my suggestion for rap would be to first of all see the documentary "Welcome to Death Row Records" - a true stunner. I can't suggest seeing that strongly enough. Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg (and others in NWA) sold 5 million albums without any promotion, something that had never happened previously in the record industry, and probably never will again. No video.
Yes, you have to endure very rough content - if you can't watch a godfather movie, then don't buy these albums, but unlike the godfather movies written by guys using their imagination, early rap aka NWA was merely a reflection of the writers daily lives.
Here's a list of truly great music - godfather style - or as snoop would say - doggfather style - great in the sense that it truly "communicates" their vision, and often with some good comedic content - with #1 and #2 on the list the albums most talked about in the aforementioned documentary. Get just one of these 5 (I could list more) - seriously, I dare you. Put away the 20 reference CD's you play over and over to make your stereo sound good, and unclench your buttocks and mind to just one - seriously - just one new CD of the following 5.
[1] Dr Dre - The Chronic - 1992 (see documentary)
[2] Snoop Dogg - Doggystyle - 1993 (see documentary)
[3] Snoop Dogg - The Last Meal - 2000 (awesome in all ways)
[4] Dr Dre - The Chronic - 2001 (great update to 1992)
[5] Snoop Dogg - Top Dogg - 1999 (shmooth)If you think you've heard it all as I did by time I turned 40, think again. If you want to know what rap is all about, starting with these 5 can save you a lot of time, and there may not be much better (but if anyone out there knows these albums and more like them, please reply - like RBX, Mel-Man, King-T, etc???). However this is nowhere near the roots of rap, I only just discovered some of these albums in the last year - many who've watched/listened longer would probably protest these choices, maybe rightly so. I missed a decade of it, and now have to dig back through NWA, etc.
Another album with some of the best cuts ever is "Dr Dre presents The Aftermath" 1996, but it's more of a sampler and more hit and miss than the "whole album experience" continuity of those above.
When #1 and #2 above came out, Dre and Snoop were just very poor ghetto kids (Compton) in and out of jail, and the lyrics are not promo, just their life. Pretty sad when you realize the talent these 2 individuals have, that if not for the breaks with NWA they'd be just 2 more guys in american prisons - it's a real eye opener.
Finally, as an added bonus, I picked these albums because the recordings of all of them WILL suprise you - except for #1 the first Chronic, if you have tubes and/or a smooth sounding system by other means, you'll be tuned right in. Personally, I use the Sunfire Hologram Generator in my tape loop for such albums - because I'll never let my stereo decide what music I can listen to! With the holgram generator, all these albums except the 1st are room-fillers, voices and sounds that shoot at you from the walls will lift you from your chair - and life size - and just as Snoop Dogg quotes of his Debut ablum (#2 on the list above), it's indeed "smooth".
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Follow Ups
- 5 truly great rap albums - longtimequadowner 21:40:05 10/09/03 (0)
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