Hip Hop?

Love some of it, hate most of it. I like the old school stuff like Public Enemy, Run DMC, NWA, older Beastie Boys, etc. That stuff sounds like music to me. Newer hip hop sounds like somebody rambling nonsense over a beat they programmed in Garage Band. But then again, I haven't listened to much newer hip hop anyway, so there's probably better stuff I just haven't been exposed to.

It doesn't really bother me that they don't necessarily have live drummers, since a lot of hip hop uses samples of excellent drumming. While some might consider that a bastardization of those sacred drum parts, I think it's a testament to the versatility of those drum grooves.
 
There is some cool drumming in it, but in the more recent stuff there often use drum machines which are dumb.
 
Too many drum machines and elementary programmed bass riffs to even really be considered music anymore. Maybe muzak?
 
No offense but I just cant stand hip hop. I loved Black Sheep, A Tribe Called Quest... even 2 Live Crew. Seems like none of these new acts can hold a note or even try to appeal to drummer-ers. IMO, drum machines can produce a helluva lot of good ideas, if the motivation(for loss of a better term) is there. But its not : (

Its like- "Wheres the Love??"... I would like to see what Tony Royster is doing for Jay Z these days but havent been able to find the time. Kinda like waiting for I Carly' s pre-produced drek coming up with a killer 10 minute solo to inspire kids to pick up sticks and jam out... I digress but hey- drums kick ass! And they always have. Just my input btw...
 
I feel the same way about a lot of what you guys said. There are a good amount of live instruments in hip hop though. The Roots are who made it famous and cool to use live instruments, but Public Enemy, the Beastie Boys, Atmosphere, Mos Def, (who often plays percussion or regular drums at live shows), Outkast, (Andre 3000 is multi-talented, playing many instruments, (I'm not sure if drums are included)), and of course, the sub-par Gym Class Heroes.

In regard to drum machines, although you don't need the patience or discipline to play a steady beat throughout a song, (like ?uestlove of The Roots), or the ability to sit at a drum set and play a beat, (although many modern beat makers can, and do), you certainly need the creativity. Most great producers are very eclectic and creative in the beats they make. Whether they use a drum machine, electronic set, or real set, some of the better producers are very creative in that aspect.

Just my 2 cents.

I would like to see what Tony Royster is doing for Jay Z these days but havent been able to find the time.

BTW, The Roots played for him on MTV Unplugged. Check that out if you get the chance.
 
I like some of it. I have 70 hip hop tracks in my itunes, but that is out of a total of 3000+ songs. My fav artists are Snoop, Dre, Beasties, and The Roots. Still love "Let Me Ride" by Dre, partially because it samples "Mothership Connection" by Parliament. I've also been digging "Think About It" by Snoop which samples a song called "I Need You" by Jerry Butler. Drum machines/loops/breaks are fine with me. If the groove is there, I just go with it.
 
I'm not a big hip-hop fan at all. I would take soul or R&B over it any day. When it comes to rap it all old school for me. NWA, Public Enemy, and bands from that time era. It's a shame to see how some stuff these days is considered music. But for the most part I can at least tolerate that stuff.
 
I like some of it. I have 70 hip hop tracks in my itunes, but that is out of a total of 3000+ songs. My fav artists are Snoop, Dre, Beasties, and The Roots. Still love "Let Me Ride" by Dre, partially because it samples "Mothership Connection" by Parliament. I've also been digging "Think About It" by Snoop which samples a song called "I Need You" by Jerry Butler. Drum machines/loops/breaks are fine with me. If the groove is there, I just go with it.

Yeah the samples are mind-boggling sometimes. AC/DC, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, etc.

Here's a huge list of samples if anyone's interested.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Rock-and-Rolls-Greatest-Hip-Hop-Samples
 
I'm surprised nobody has said Wu-Tang Clan. One of my all time favourite. They were so innovative and I still rock 36 Chambers (first album). I still believe hip-hop needs another bonafide group that causes controversy (maybe while playing instruments) to bring it back to where it should be. Too many drum loops and lyrics about clubs, liquor and leaving the club (that stuff got wack a long time ago).
 
I'd like the excuse to incorporate at least one hip hop beat into our band's set. I don't care for most hip hop I hear but the beats are fun to play in real life. I have very few hip hop tracks in my music collection - The Message, Loose Yourself ... I guess you'd class Deep Forest as more techno than hip hop.

It can be cool, though. Boomstick here did an awesome rocky hip hop mashup in the Seven Nation Army CHALLENGE! thread.

http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=33362&d=1271930423
 
Well i agree with everyone old-school hip hop grabs drummers more and nowadays the roots are easily my fave hip hop band if not one of my fave bands :).... what i dont get is why do hip-hop artists of today have some of the best drummers in there live band but never record with them.
 
Well i agree with everyone old-school hip hop grabs drummers more and nowadays the roots are easily my fave hip hop band if not one of my fave bands :).... what i dont get is why do hip-hop artists of today have some of the best drummers in there live band but never record with them.

Because the appearance of a drummer, (or a full band, for that matter), on stage looks much better than just one rapper. People also get to feel the drums when they get hit. You don't get the same effects by putting some speakers up on stage.

As for why they don't record with these drummers; it's more expensive and more time consuming than making a beat and looping it. Also, few drummers are capable of, or are willing to play the same beat for a rapper for 2, 3, 4, or 5 minutes per song.
 
Galactic with Stanton Moore has a lot of rapping on it. I don't know if I'd call that hip hop. Great drummer.

I also used to really like Eminem. Some of the drum programming was really cool, but most of all, I liked his rapping for it's over-the-bar-line rhythms and use of phonemes. Too much of his lyrical content rubs me wrong, but overall, I have to say I like him because if he had chosen drums for his talent, he could've been monstrous. I used to like to put on headphones to The Eminem Show and play along to his vocal lines, treating the programmed drum parts as a click.
 
Because the appearance of a drummer, (or a full band, for that matter), on stage looks much better than just one rapper. People also get to feel the drums when they get hit. You don't get the same effects by putting some speakers up on stage.

As for why they don't record with these drummers; it's more expensive and more time consuming than making a beat and looping it. Also, few drummers are capable of, or are willing to play the same beat for a rapper for 2, 3, 4, or 5 minutes per song.



My opninion, rap and hip-hop would be epic if they had live drummers for there tracks in studio. It would bring a whole new era of rap and hip-hop now, because they use a drum machine, or drum and beat loops with like Reason or Frooty Loops
 
I put it in the same class as Country music. I have no need for it at all.
 
Anyone remember the LL Cool J Unplugged? I never found out the drummer in that show but it was definitely a rockin jam-out session with everything played on actual acoustical instruments. I was so inspired I forced my old band to cover "Mama Said Knock You Out", including the breakdown when they played the main riff from The Black Crowes " Hard To Handle".... It went over great and always got everyone dancin and carrying on and what not.

I cant see many rappers today being able to pull this off. A good amount of whats played commercially now is either fixed with a vocoder(?[Lil Wayne]) or sung completely out of key or out of tune(Drake, T.I.).

Now some of these R and B or blues singin females are completely TOO talented for what they are doing. Alicia Keys who is phenomenal IMO... along with a few others, deserve better musicians to back them. Maybe some Hip Hop artists should follow suit and stand out from the rest.

Its all music though so I cant ignore it no matter what I think of it. : )
 
I'm a huge underground hip-hop fan - especially the stuff from Stones Throw Records. I think Madlib is one of the most innovative artists out there and would recommend anyone who isn't a huge fan of hip-hop to give 'Shades of Blue' his remix of Blue Note records a listen - absolutely superb. J Dilla has got to be another fav - everytime I listen to 'Donuts' it's just as good as the first time I ever heard it. As for MCs - DOOM is just genius.

That's my 2 pence.
 
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