for every rule theres an exception,

someone please tell me hes not serious...

Hip hop's been around since the early 70's and you people still thinks it's gonna die off? Get real. Hip hop isn't some fad like you people think it is.

lyric:

Adjective
1. a. Of or relating to a category of poetry that expresses subjective thoughts and feelings, often in a songlike style or form. b. Relating to or constituting a poem in this category, such as a sonnet or an ode. c. Of or relating to a writer of poems in this category. 2. Lyrical. 3. Music a. Having a singing voice of light volume and modest range. b. Of, relating to, or being musical drama, especially opera: the lyric stage. c. Having a pleasing succession of sounds; melodious. d. Of or relating to the lyre or harp. e. Appropriate for accompaniment by the lyre.

Noun
1. A lyric poem. 2. Music The words of a song. Often used in the plural.
Etymology
French lyrique, of a lyre, from Old French, from Latin lyricus, from Greek lurikos, from lura, lyre.

There are multiple definitions there that rap lyrics could fall under.

Honestly does it really matter though? You can get technical about it all you want and say that rappers don't sing so they can't have lyrics, but what about metal acts who grunt? If you can call that singing, I can call rapping singing. Most people have this false idea that rapping is easy, just talking to a beat. You still have to factor in flow, voice tone, etc. It's more than just talking, and the majority of the people who say it is just talking couldn't even successfully mimmick another rapper's song, let alone write their own lyrics and form their own flow.

Honestly for a genre as unique and original as hip hop is I don't get why so many people feel the need to ridicule it. Instead of just going with the norm, picking up a guitar and writing rock songs with a new style or flair to create a new subgenre of rock like punk or metal, they turned two turntables into a musical instrument. Instead of going with the norm again, and singing songs with a melody, they used recited rhymes similar to schoolyard rhymes or jailhouse rhymes. Hip hop is a completely unique genre, and I love that, so if it doesn't fit in to your conventional view of what music should be I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing.

Just remember, this is all history repeating itself. There was a time when rock music was considered trash and not music. The day Frank Sinatra's son came home with his first rock album frank hit the roof. Ed Sullivan despised Elvis despite allowing him to perform on his show for the ratings. In 30-40 years, all the Bill O'Reilys and other rap haters out there are going to be the up tight "sqaures" and all the new musicians will be paying homage to rap heroes like Chuck D and KRS-one the same way we look up to Lennon and Hendrix.

look at my signature and take a guess

the thing is - hip hop is destroying it's self right now. people like 50 cent and puff daddy makes everyone belive its all about cars and jewlery and the kids buy into that stuff. you cant turn on mtv without seeing some 'square' getting 'blinged-up' and made cool with the help of some hip hop clothes and a street attitude. modern hip hop is not about the music, its all appearence. thats a sign something is wrong. don't belive me? why else would someone like 50 cent be famous? that guy cant rap if his life depended on it and yet somehow he's one of the most popular rap artists out there today.

i tell ya, if i was around on the 80's and saw what crap hiphop had turned into today - i would have been pissed

That's just the shit on the surface. How do you feel about this statement:

Rock is destroying itself. It's all whiney little bitches who get rich by a bunch of goth wanna be kids thinking that liking their music makes them different or unique. They use their depressed image to try to get teens with overwhelming hormones to relate. How else to you explain a band like Good Charlotte being successful, or Linkin Park having the number one album in 2001?

Of course though those are just the bands on the surface. Despite being a hip hop fanatic, some of my favorite albums ever are rock records. I know that the most successful bands are for the most part crap. Same deal with hip hop, only difference is that even more than half of hip hop's fans don't take the time to dig deeper than the shit on the surface. I know actual rap fans who've never heard of Mos Def. I showed them a picture of him and they said "ohh the guy from chappelle show." Pathetic.

well thats the basic opinion of most fans of rock music.

yea thats what im talking about. kids growing up today get the wrong idea. 50 cent is their hero and thats just wrong on so many levels. what hiphop needs is for the craze to fade out. as it is today, hiphop is the hottest thing on mtv and that can only mean over-exponation and teenybopper fans.

Then most rock fans are just as pessimistic as a damn Linkin Park song.

Nah, the huge mainstream is the best possible thing for hip hop in my opinion. While it hurts it's image, it adds to it's fanbase. The majority of hip hop fans start out listening to mainstream stuff and if the first shit they ever heard was Common Sense or Mos Def they might've never gotten into the genre, because to truly appreciate those artists you need to develope your taste in hip hop first most of the time. The only way you notice things like a good flow, nice rhyme schemes, multis, and lyrics is by listening to hip hop for a while, it aint something that can be learned right away by reading up on it or anything.

I don't care about hip hop's image as much as I care about it having a steady and growing following because the more people that like that type of music, the more artists for that type of music you're going to see. And that's why there's so many bad hip-pop acts out right now, but it's also why we have so many great artists out right now that a lot of people pay no mind to besides their immediate fanbase. But that fanbase would be exceptionally smaller if the mainstream didn't exist. Besides, commercial hip hop is just party music, and some of it is damn good party music at that. You can hate 50's image and lyrics all you want but when it comes down to it, In Da Club makes a great dance song. Just the beat alone does that, but it doesn't really matter because the beat is an essential part of any hip hop song.

where have i seen this discussion before? Oh yeah! Every single rap thread that actually has a discussion...

http://www.radiomute.com/musicthread8119.html
http://www.radiomute.com/musicthread1913.html
http://www.radiomute.com/musicthread12473.html
http://www.radiomute.com/musicthread11906.html
http://www.radiomute.com/musicthread4963.html

I notice your new Viktor so here are a couple threads with some substance:

http://www.radiomute.com/musicthread7682.html
http://www.radiomute.com/musicthread6967.html

Beastie Boys- Thank god they exist, Otherwise rap would be as boring as watching paint dry! A huge majority of the market is 'gangsta' (e.g. 50 cent, chingy, etc). The Beasties talk shit, have fun and lay down some great beats. Props to Big Boi who I've recently gotten into another great sound of today. I'm not saying gangsta rap is shit, I like some of it, but it's boring a good deal of the time.