![]() ![]() It’s true that early sampling now sounds basic or cheap-take the saccharine M.C. The vast majority of modern rock is derivative, and often in far more obvious ways than hip hop. Just because you don’t create art from scratch doesn’t mean much. Some critics argue that hip hop is basically little more than stolen music or a collage. It didn’t take long for inventive raps to become more harmonious and dynamic, from the aggressive baritones of Chuck D and Ice Cube to the reggae-inflected Mos Def or jazz-inflected Q-Tip-or any inflection you desired. Early rap groups like Run DMC used simplistic flows that relied on templates created by proto-rappers. The timbre of the MC’s voice can be rich and varied. (Maybe that’s why one of his best songs was a collaboration with influential hip hop DJ Afrika Bambaataa.)Īs with those singers, rapping is imbued with harmonic elements. Is there, though? Was scatting or early blues or the “singing” of Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash, Captain Beefheart, and Lou Reed not real music? PIL’s John Lydon isn’t exactly a singer, either, as much as he is a chanter. When slagging rap, critics like to point out that there’s an appreciable difference between singing and spoken rhythm. Although no doubt plenty of readers will find all, or most, of the above, unlistenable, I’ve never heard anyone argue that the genre wasn’t “music.” ![]() Setting aside personal tastes, it’s simply impossible to claim that Reich’s “ Drumming” or “ Six Marimbas” is more intrinsically musical than Nas’ “ Illmatic” or Notorious BIG’s “ Ready to Die.” (NSFW!)Įven early ’80s post-punk bands like Gang of Four, Pop Goup, Minutemen, and Public Image Limited would strip pop down to its foundations, embracing something that approximates funk with speaking parts. In fact, Reich would occasionally abandon other columns of music altogether. Renowned late 20th-century composers like John Cage, Philip Glass, and Steve Reich used repetitive, harmonic rhymes in their music. It’s not only about Ohio Players or New Order, either. Has anyone ever challenged the genuineness of dance music? The visceral appeal of repetitive pulsing sounds were just as popular at 1970s Bronx house parties as they were at 1990s Manchester raves as they are wherever people are dancing today. is in hip hop’s DNA music that heavily accentuated the rhythmic elements of pop. Mid-70s James Brown, Funkadelic, Earth Wind and Fire, disco, etc. Yet, whatever the subcategory, rap certainly it isn’t the first contemporary music to emphasize one of the traditional elements of music over the others. Also like other categories of pop, hip hop offers a wide-range of stylistic variety, so it’s difficult to make sweeping definitive statements about the genre. ![]()
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