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Originally Posted by mag
Not all rap music is like a certain artist, no. But there are many similarities in all rap, just like there are similarities in all FPS's. That's what makes it a genre. If somebody listens to a representative sample of rap music and doesn't like any of it, then for any given rap song, there's a pretty good chance she's not going to like it. Just like there's a good chance that most of the hardcore adventure gamers here won't like the next FPS that comes out. That doesn't mean that there will never be any rap song ever that our hypothetical person likes. But even if there were, those handful of songs wouldn't change the fact that in general, that person does not like rap. There are a handful of Metallica songs that I like, but most of their stuff I think is crap. So even though I may like "Enter Sandman" and "Nothing Else Matters," I can still say that Metallica sucks because in general, they do suck.
mag
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Well, no, Metallica don't "suck", you just don't like the majority of their music. They're not a style either, they're a band working within a style - and as you say yourself, some tracks suprised you in one single band. But do you discount the genre of Heavy Metal because you don't like the majority of Metallica's work? Or maybe even a few bands within that genre? Truth is the genre of Heavy Metal includes some sublime musical work, virtuoso performances - even by bands like Pantera, who inbetween some real grinding (and sometimes great) tracks can suddenly break free and create something beautiful. I don't want to lock myself out from what great stuff there is and don't understand why anyone would.
Rap is a vocal performance. People can deliver rap lyrics in so many ways, rap can expound on so many topics, some of the words are as good as the best poetry you can find. Rap can compliment tracks or overbear them. Rap can be done to a beat, or a rythym in the music. You can sing rap. You can chant it. You can make it flow, you can do what the hell you want with it and make a sound your own. You might not like Snoop Dogg. But you might like Kano, Mike Skinner or Ty who rap in totally different manners. Jurassic 5 are about having fun and preaching peace, Dilated Peoples fun in a dirtier manner, Outkast are about experimentation, Pharcyde mix funk in new ways with flowing lyrics, The Fugee's created a real earthy sound with completely different lyricists and voices.
Rap can be personal, political, it can be a different view for each track. Rap can flow over the top of live performances by truly talented musicians. Rap can take old tracks and make something new when coupled with a talented turntablist. Rap is just another form of expression within music, it can be as different as night and day.
How can you turn around and say that someday you might find a rap artist you'll love? It doesn't make sense.
By the way, the comparasions in my first post were purely metaphorical. You know as well as I an adventure gamer might have an inablity to enjoy action games. Most of the people I've been in touch with over the years who keep pressing about how much they don't like action, have nearly always a few titles that suprised them too.
Music's different. Unless you're deaf or have some other condition, you can enjoy it. To shut yourself out and convince yourself you don't like something is totally different, and then to slag it off openly to people who enjoy it isn't particularly clever either. Someone who might love heavy metal may have a go at classical music, but eventually a track is going to stun them into realising that isn't the case. There's no point shutting something out with your fingers in your ears going "naanananaaanananaaa it's rubbish"... because then who's going to feel an idiot when you eventually come across a track you really like, or a group you find you enjoy, and admit so to the very people you've just taken time to annoy by expounding how rubbish it is?
After all, "people who make such assumptions usually end up looking pretty stupid".
