[Thug Bubbles]

Don't know much about Kanye's lyrical strength but: "I'm like a fly Malcolm X, Buy any jeans necessary" is pretty slick.


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I actually agree with his assessment of the majority of pop rap. I don't see why the point is silly. Am I missing something? I feel the similarly about the use of the word [censored] among black people.

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I think it's difficult to have an intellectually honest discussion about the effects of rap music on "the black cause" with someone who starts off by saying "rap sucks" and lives in Norway. Or hell, someone who uses the term "black cause."

Not an attack on ZeTurd btw.

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Hey, at least I used quotation marks because I felt it was a bit silly myself (edit: re "black cause")!

But yeah, you might say my perspective is very much from the outside, both geographically and culturally speaking. I don't see why that should disqualify me from having an opinion though. If my arguments are asinine it should be easy enough to shoot them down.

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Your lack of understanding the roots of Black American culture is probably why you think violent rap lyrics are so odd or out of place. It's easy for people to complain about a lack of eloquence when they didn't have several generations grow up from violence and poverty. Many like to make comparisons to, say, early German immigrants, or even poor black americans of a similar period, but those don't hold water because the social dynamics were completely different across the board. It's not just about being poor, or being black, as much as it's the culmination of dozens of factors related to raising our youth. The lyrics are a reaction to the environment around them. The language used is indicative of the society that raised them. I can only think of one other culture that has endured a similar treatment from the government and surrounding society, so it's not just a matter of pointing out Rock music as a base of comparison.

The issue is so heavily involved with centuries of social history that broad comparisons insult the depth of the 'problem'. This is ignoring the idea that Hip-Hop and Rap is intertwined with black culture in a way that cannot be said similarly for rock music and other social groups. Also, one simply has to look at the current trending away from gangster rap as a sign of changing times. I'd bet that, within 10 years, Rap will rise to a level of poetic license that holds water with similar genres of music.

I should also point out that when [censored] like this sells and is marketed as quality, it only provokes more people to mimic it.