Manire, Aaron D (amanire@indiana.edu)
Thu, 3 Dec 1998 23:27:02 -0500
Listen,
what I was trying to say was this:
What exactly is Rap?
What is rapping? What is the distinction between rapping and singing? It's
not as sharp as you make it sound. That's why I pointed out the Pharcyde
and Poor Righteous Teachers (Particularly their early stuff, try cuts like
"Other Fish in The Sea" and "Rock this Funky Joint", respectively). They
are not rappers in the ordinary sense. Also, the new Everlast is pretty
soulful (Whitey Ford Sings the Blues). There are many others.
Jazz and no vibes is a terrible analogy because you said you *liked*
singing. Vibes are a discrete instrument. The method of the human voice is
not. Well, maybe on your keyboard you could synthetically create an
instrument half-way between vibes and a sax. Would you dislike that?
What about dancehall reggae/ragga? Different sound entirely. I mentioned
I-Roy last time (not U-Roy, typo). If you've heard his style you'd know
what I'm saying. It aint rap but it aint quite singing and it aint quite
speech. There's no definition of rap except for commercial reasons! And
one other thing. I am *not* saying that Hiphop and rap are synonymous. In
the typical sense, hiphop is a culture and rap is just one aspect of that
culture. Don't forget art, breakin and tha beatz.
As for abstract hiphop, I'm referring to a specific term used by Shadow
Records (not to be confused with DJ Shadow) and Lavelle's Mo Wax and not as
a "nom du jour". I only use it because it has a specific meaning to me,
whereas trip-hop does not. For instance, I've seen the Chemical Brothers in
trip-hop compilations.
seen?
80M
-----Original Message-----
From: MARKEEFE@aol.com [SMTP:MARKEEFE@aol.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 03, 1998 9:38 PM
To: acid-jazz@ucsd.edu
Subject: Re: Any Rapping on These?
In a message dated 98-12-03 19:53:05 EST, you write:
<< What am I saying? I guess I'm
sick of people dabbing their toes in "trip-hop" who have no
conception of
(and sometimes no respect for) its fundamental Hiphop roots and see
only the
narrow representation that "Rap" gets these days. >>
I have no idea how you got all that out of what I said in my
post. When
I said I was a newbie, I didn't mean to imply that I'd just fallen
off the
back of the turnip truck! I've listened to plenty of rap in my day
but have
just grown tired of that as a vocal style. That's all I'm saying.
I don't
see that there's anything wrong with that. My saying that I don't
like rap
vocals in my "abstract hip-hop" (the nom du jour -- sorry if I was
too "last
week" when I used "trip-hop") is essentially the same as my saying,
"I like
jazz, but I don't care for vibes in jazz." That doesn't mean that
I've never
listened to Lionel Hampton, nor does it mean that I disrespect
Lionel Hampton
and his ilk. It's simply a matter of personal preference. I just
happen to
come from a different orientation which is based more around the
other half of
"trip-hop" -- the not-so-black-and-urban,
more-hopelessly-white-and-Euro half
-- the geekier end of the spectrum, I guess. So, while I'm not an
avid
listener to "the roots of abstract hip-hop" (i.e., rap), I
appreciate where
the beats came from and am happy that the music is going where it's
going.
I guess you're right in that I do have a categorial prejudice
against
rap. I'm probably missing out on a handful of good albums because
almost all
the others annoy and/or offend me. That's too bad, I guess. But
there are
plenty of other records out there for me to enjoy without having to
suffer
through 1,000 rap albums to find one I might enjoy.
Thanks for your thoughts on Sabres and "Recipe." I was the
most
tentative about those two, actually, and may just decide to
disregard the
Sabres for now. I'll get "Recipe for Disaster," though, I reckon.
And, yeah,
any recommendations you have would be greatly appreciated!
Sorry to have to be so defensive in only my third post to the
list. I
just didn't want to be portrayed as a musical novice. Cuz I ain't.
Been in
the biz ten years now and own my own little indie CD store. Um, so
there ;-)
Well, thanks all, for hearing me out. Take care!
------Michael K.
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