Lyrical Lounge Forum Let's start some discussions....

Sooooooooooo..............I want to know who people's influences are. Whether it be a hip hop artist, an author, a family member.......

There is the thought that hip hop is falling to its fate......Nas stands behind that statement. What do you think that artists should be doing in order to resurrect hip hop?

C'mon peoples....lemme see your educated side of things.....let's get intell-ectual!

::smile::

Basically i grew up listening to Eminem, his flow an wit got me into the challenge of hip hop. he broke barriers, played on both sides of the fence, underground an mainstream, an blah blah blah, we all know at least two cents about Slim. I have a lot of positions on the state of hip hop, what sells these days and what i respect are two different restaurants. Commercial rap aka "this is why im hot" is like the fast food that goes right through you, we all succumb to the convenience of the lack of quality. Im not hatin on dudes gettin paid, and club bangers, but yes, i hate obesity an fast food is the number one contributor. Real emcess need to come out with that "rewind that s**t" wtf did he just say type verses...Over ya head till you listen to it a couple times..fulfilling type verses..Complexity that challenges an speaks a lesson/moral with real thoughts..Im not sayin i wish the last harvard Grad made a collab with 50 cent, an artist needs to be able to appeal with cadence an orginal style..Prime examples--Canibus, Royce, Chino XL, an Ras Kass, they got sick flows an content.

But yea, to ressurect hip hop, we need to let our money speak, only reason dudes we dont respect get played on the radio, is becuz people are buyin their s**t, and clubs are playin there songs...If it was lucrative for rappers to branch out an become what hip hop needs then im sure that would prevent a lot of the selling out thats going on. New upcoming talent--Lupe fiasco, the new adpated ras kass.....uhh well that was a small list...i stay lookin for good referrals, Be sure to drop some good names in the following posts/comments...

Lupe fiasco embodies lyrical traits that display complexity, style, wordplay, topics, and refreshing dose of creativity..He is guilty of some 'gangsta rap' dollar menu items, but really!! what to do as a full time artist today?? Real quality music isnt gonna come from someone with a 9-5 job who hits up the studio once in a while with his life savings...And if someone wants to be an artist full time, then they need to earn money with the material they release, and once again, if americans/people today wont stop puttin poison in there bodies, then Fast food america will continue to kill hip hop....

There are a lot of grey areas when it comes to opinions about rappers today. But to sum up my playlist, i hardly even listen to rap anymore, i switched to rock an whatever else, which is disappointing to say the least..

One facet of hip hop that i can say is a breathe of fresh air, is some of the new underground rap, MF DOOM is creative as s**t, comin out with the randomness...Jedi Mind Tricks, comin out with some nice beatz an imagery.

But yea--what rappers need to do to save hip hop..??

they need to fund the means to developing artist...and somehow the world needs to open their mind to the intellectual side of hip hop...

lets all cross our fingers for the best, an stay healthy an avoid the mass produced fast food chains aka hip hop shackles...

when i think about hip hop the first thing that always comes to mind is that Common song: "I Used To Love Her"...A lot of people just look at the title of the song and don't realize what it says or what it implies. It's about more than just being tired of hip hop. It's about the evolution of hip hop. Common shows us how hip hop reflects the people that project it, and how every stage, phase, and growth in hip hop is always gonna be for the greater good of hip hop, whether we like it or not. Now with that being said, I hate most hip hop today. I find it hard to listen to Paul Wall say "H-town baby, you know what it do." But I realize that Paul Wall is afflicted by something beyond his control. He is, as Jim Jones so eloquently put it, a POME (product of my [his] enviroment). So even though hip hop may appear to be dying, as Nas put it, it is alive and well. When black communities begin to fix all the s**t that is going wrong, then hip hop will "ressurect" itself. Hip hop all depends on the state of mind that the rapper is in...Whenever you hear Jay-Z talk about rhyming, he always mentions how he has to be in that "state of mind," if he's rapping about something painful, then he has to think about a painful time in his past. Now, let's apply this thought to modern day hip hop. If the only images that come to your head when you're getting ready to create a rhyme is jewelry and girls in booty shorts, then that is probably what is being reflected in society. So umm...basically to make a long story short...Hip hop is not dead, dying, or anything like that...It has just taken on the face of the society that it is in, and if we want to change the direction that hip hop is going then we need to change the society...that's my 2 cents on hip hop...peace

first off LiLi is tripping. Nas was never the first to say hip hop is dead cuz i know Talib Kweli says "where were you the day hip hop died?" it's just everybody made a huge deal out of it when Nas said it. Hip hop isn't dead...yet. but that's only because there is still underground music. without it hip hop woulda died in the 90s when gangsta rap became popular. hip hop is on a hospital bed and underground rappers are the life support while these mainstream cats keep trying to pull the plug. ENOUGH SAID!!! but i'll break it down further and let y'all know what artists drive me to do what i do

Jedi Mind Tricks- probably the artists i relate to most. Vinnie Paz's raw a*s lyrics mixed with Stouped dark beats make me wanna take it right to the president and the pope themselves

Immortal Technique- beastly lyricist although he can't flow to save his life. same deal as JMT just not as good

Talib/Mos Def/Common- soulful rappers who flow about culture, history, and knowledge of self. all three of em are ill as f**k

Lupe Fiasco- new blood with clever rap style and a Muslim outlook that he uses to be different

Eminem- used to love him. he got me into rap, but now i've lost almost all respect for him after he started making those poppy a*s songs

Tupac- used to think he was the greatest rapper ever. he's good for a mainstream rapper but i think he doesn't compare lyrically to anyone on this list. real s**t

Little Brother- more soulful rappers...

Turbo T Double- college student in California who just raps about the weirdest s**t. but he's creative as f**k. don't sleep on him

I'd have to say that the biggest influences in my life as of now.....were Bone Thugs N Harmony. As strange as that sounds....I loved the harmony. They made their words flow with the music....they spoke some great lyrics if you could actually grasp wha they were saying.

I have found that R & B has actually influenced a lot of the hip hop vibes that I have. Jazz like Billie Holliday. Funkadelics like George Clinton. Earth Wind and Fire influences sound for me. They always mixed in a lot of music that made their statement with no words. You get an emotion through the instrumentals.

I can't sit here and say that I know all the hip hop past....I've studied a lot of it, but some times you have to know the basics....and I know more of the politics.

Hip Hop dying.....I think that more producers need to visualize on TALENT that comes from the mind of an emcee....not just the way that they can fit their voice to a beat. A beat should revolve around a writer.....at leat that is the way I have always found the best compilations. They are funding the wrong side of the game....they think that the thug on the street makes the best artist, but too much mentality is getting overlooked. Artists like Most Def, Common, Nas....they need more publicity. That, or they need that beat with the great hook......but where most artists fill in the commercialized bullshit, they can spit wisdom.

There's my statement..... ::cool::

Mos, Com Sense and Talib will always be some of the most underrated emcees to ever lift a mic. Nas, Pac, and Big are the mainstream version of the other three

My influences basically stand at alotta underground guys who've assimilated this complex and unique style of putting words together while still associating with the people they speak for.

people like:
Slug, Brother Ali, P.O.S., K-OS, Immortal Technique, Murs, Aesop Rock, Cage, Louis Logic, JJ Brown, up until a couple months ago, Schleproc

And then there are others who just kinda got me into the s**t:
MC Hammer no lie, Rakim, Pac, Big Pun, Will Smith, Jay Z from way back, DMX

Theres so many people and not enough time to list em all

MF Doom, Dangermouse, Ceelo Green, Lily Allen, Pharaoh Monch, Black Thought, Mike Shinoda, Styles of Beyond, the demigod squad, Rahzel, Mike Busse, Sonny, Outkast, Bill Cosby, Wu Tang Clan, etc etc

First, how is Jay-Z only on one list of MC's...He might be the greatest rapper to ever pick up a microphone...second, how come nobody said KanYe...alright he might be arrogant as hell, but he is probably the wittiest and deepest lyricist that i have ever heard, and all i do is listen to rap...third, shout out to Baham Jr for being the only one to mention Jedi Mind Tricks. The second best group ever. Right behind The Wu-Tang Clan...also, can Dead Prez get a shout out...No offense to everybody that gave Eminem some love, but he is about as wack as 50 Cent...anyway...those are my favorite rappers listed somewhere amongst that random babbling...oh yea...shout out to Eric B. and Rakim..."you haven't heard true hip hop, until you've listened to Rakim on the rocky mountain tops"

i'm sorry brandon by jay-z may be one of the best mainstream rappers to lift a mic but most underground guys are in my opinion, better. Kanye's not all that good either. he's ok but if he didn't have the beats he has he wouldn't be s**t

All i do is listen to Jay-Z and i think that the lines and rhymes that he has said has affected me more than any rapper

"I just hope I'm hearing right
Karma got me fearing life
Kindly God, you praying for me?
I got demons in my past
But I got daughters on the way
And if the prophecy's correct
Then the child should have to pay
For the sins of the father
So I barter my tomorrow
Against my yesterdays
In hope that she'll be okay"

"People was poor before the hurricane came
But the down pour poured is like when Mary J. sang
Every day it rains, so every day the pain
But ignored them, and showed em the risk was to blame
For life is a chain, cause and effected
N****s off the chain because they affected
It's a dirty game so whatever is effective
From weed to selling kane, gotta put that in effect kid
Wouldn't you loot, if you didn't have the loot?
Baby needed food and you stuck on the roof
Helicopter swooped down just to get a scoop
Through his telescopic lens but he didn't scoop you
The next five days, no help ensued
They call you a refugee, cause you seek refuge"

"If skills sold
Truth be told
I'd probably be
Lyricly, Talib Kweli
Truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense
(But i sold five million)
I ain't been rhymin like Common Sense
When your sense got that much in common
And you been hustlin since
Your inception, f**k perception
Go with what makes sense"

"First thing I wanted to know, what's the reason he was dead?
"More money, more problems, better believe it," he said
"Careful what you wish for you might receive it," he said
I see I said, jealousy I said
Got the whole industry mad at me I said
Then B.I. said, "Hov' remind yourself
nobody built like you, you designed yourself"
I agree I said, my one of a kind self
Get stoned every day like Jesus did
What he said, I said, has been said before
"Just keep doin your thing," he said, say no more"

damn...Jay is SICK...i would've put more but this post would have been like 20-30 pages...some of Jay's verses have literally changed my life...just how he puts his rhymes together too...he's not a traditional emcee in the sense of that simple "AB" rhyme...he's like a modern day Rakim...the kid is sick...SICK

Jay-Z is a great lyracist....the thing with J is that he half commercializes his s**t. He still worries about public's point of view on him. As for him being the best emcee to ever lift a mic.....even though Tupac is dead....he is NEVER counted out. He was a prophet to the game. Nobody can match that style.

Kanye.....he's a cool fellow.....but again, commercialized. He is also very repetitive. We all know that he dropped out of college....we know about his accident.....let's move on! LOL!

His beats....that's another story. He has mad production behind the boards. Still, that's not tops either. Timbaland, Three Six Mafia....those are some HARD beats. Kanye has a certain style...(synthesized voices) that is great...but he is still not ranked up with the best.

His personal demeanor sucks as well. Quite spoiled, you can tell. ::tongue::

OH....and.....I'm honestly lmao about MC Hammer. ::tongue::

seriously read these KanYe lyrics and honestly tell me that they are not witty/clever

"Made it to school with barely 'nuff time to sign in
Yeah I hear the alarm, yeah I hear you mom
Yeah yeah I don't wan' be broke when I'm 31
They said the best classes go to the fastest
Sorry Mr. West there's no good classes, and that's what yo' a*s get
Not even electives? Not even prerequits?
You mean I missed my major by a couple of seconds?
Now I'm in the shop class or the basket weavin
With all the rest of the muthafuckers underachievin"

"How we stop the black panthers?
Ronald Reagan cooked up an answer
You hear that?
What Gil Scott was hearin
When our heroes and heroines got hooked on heroin.
Crack raised the murder rate in DC and Maryland
We invested in that it's like we got Merril-Lynched
And we been hangin from the same tree ever since
Sometimes I feel the music is the only medicine
So we cook it, cut it, measure it, bag it,sell it"

"The devil is alive I feel him breathin',
Claimin' money is the key so keep on dreamin',
And put them lottery tickets just to tease us,
My aunt Pam can't put those cigarettes down,
Now my lil cousin smokin those cigarettes now,
His job trying to claim that he too niggerish now,
Is it cuz his skin blacker than licorice now?
I can't figure it out..."

"Though the fans want the feeling of A Tribe Called Quest
But all they got left is this guy called West
Better take Freeway, throw him on tracks with Mos Def
Call him Kwa-lI or Kwe-li, I put him on songs with Jay-Z
I'm the Gap like Banana Republic and Old Navy, and oooh
It come out sweeter than old Sadie"

"And I basically know now
We've been racially profile
Cuffed up and hosed down
Pimps up and hoes down"...that is probably one of the deepest lines that i have ever heard in rap...those 4 lines have sooo much meaning in them

"I done did dirt and went to church to get my hands scrubbed
Swear I've been baptised at least 3 or 4 times
But in the land where n***a's praise
Yukons and getting paid
It gon' take a lot more than coupons to get us saved
Like it take a lot more than do-rags to get your waves"

"Let's go back, back to the Gap
Look at my check, wasn't no scratch
So if I stole, wasn't my fault
Yeah I stole, never got caught
They take me to the back and pat me
Askin' me about some khakis
But let some black people walk in
I bet they show off their token blackie"

"This is for my n****s outside all winter
Cuz this summer they aint finna to say next summer im finna
Sittin in the hood like community colleges
This dope money here is Lil Treys scholarship
Cause aint no to tuition for havin no ambition
And aint no loans for sittin your a*s at home
So we forced to sell crack rap and get a job
You gotta do something man your a*s is grown"

"And everybody selling make-up, Jacobs
And bootleg tapes just to get they cake up
We put s**t on layaway then come back
We claim other people kids on our income tax
We take that money cop work then push packs to get paid
And we don't care what people say
Momma say she wanna move south
Scratchin lottery tickets Eyes on a new house"

KanYe West...most underrated emcee EVER!!!

You are strongly defending that brotha ain't you? LMFAO!

Sorry, but lyrics get deeper then that s**t. Kanye has even admitted that he knows his flows are not the best.

"Now who's to say if I was right or wrong?
To live my life as an Outlaw all along
Remain strong in this planet full of player haters
They conversate but Death Row full of demonstrators
And in the end drinkin Heneessy made all my enemies envy me
So cold when I flow eliminatin easily
Falls to they knees, they plead for they right to breath
While beggin me to keep the peace (haha)
What I can see closer to achieve
In times of danger don't freeze, time to be a G
Follow my lead I'll supply everything you need
An ounce of game and the trainin to make a G
Remember me, as an outcast Outlaw
Another album out, that's what I'm about, more
Gettin raw 'til the day I see my casket
Buried as a G while the whole world remembers me
Until the end of time"

"We probably in Hell already, our dumb asses not knowin
Everybody kissin a*s to go to heaven ain't goin
Put my soul on it, I'm fightin devil niggaz daily
Plus the media be crucifying brothers severly
Tell me I ain't God's son, n***a mom a virgin
We got addicted had to leave the burbs, back in the ghetto
doin wild s**t, lookin at the sun don't pay
Criminal mind all the time, wait for Judgment Day
They say Moses split the Red Sea
I split the blunt and rolled the fat one, I'm deadly -- Babylon beware
Comin from the Pharoahe's kids, retaliation
Makin legends off the s**t we did, still bullshittin
Niggaz in Jerusalem, waitin for signs
God promised, she's just takin her time, haha
Living by the Nile while the water flows
I'm contemplating plots wondering which door to go
Brothas getting shot, comin back resurrected
It's just that raw s**t, n***a check it (that raw s**t)

And I remember what my papa told me
Remember what my papa told me, blasphemy"

"They just can't stand the reign, or the occasional pain
from a man like me, who goes against the grain
Sometimes I do it in vain, so with a little bass and treble
Hey Mister! It's time for me to explain that I'm the rebel
Cold as the devil
Straight from the underground, the rebel, a lower level
They came to see the maniac psychopath
The critics heard of me, and the aftermath
I don't give a damn and it shows
And when I do a stage show I wear street clothes
So they all know me
The lyrical lunatic, the maniac emcee
I give a shout out to your homies
And maybe then, the critics'll leave your boy alone, G
On the streets or on TV
It just don't pay to be, a truth tellin MC
They won't be happy till I'm banned
The most dangerous weapon: an educated black man
So point blank in your face, pump up the bass
and join the human race
I throw peace to the Bay
Cause from the Jungle to Oaktown, they backin me up all the way
You know you gotta love the sound
It's from the rebel -- the rebel of the underground"

"This is defaintly ahhh words of wisdom
AMERIKA, AMERIKA, AMERIKKKA
I charge you with the crime of rape, murder, and assault
For suppressing and punishing my people
I charge you with robery for robbing me of my history
I charge you with false imprisonment for keeping me
Trapped in the projects
And the jury finds you guilty on all accounts
And you are to serve the consequences of your evil schemes
Prosecutor do you have any more evidience

Words of Wisdom
They shine upon the strength of an nation
Conquer the enemy on with education
Protect thy self, reach with what you wanna do
Know thy self, teach what we been through
On with the knowledge of the place, then
No one will ever oppress this race again
No Malcolm X in my history text
Why is that?
Cause he tried to educate and liberate all blacks
Why is Martin Luther King in my book each week?
He told blacks, if they get smacked, turn the other cheek
I don't get it, so many questions went through my mind
I get sweated, They act as if asking questions is a crime
But forget it, one day I'm gonna prove them wrong
Now every brother had to smother on the welfare line
The american dream, though it seems it attainable
They're pulling your sleave, don't believe
Cause it will strangle yah
Pulling the life of your brain, I can't explain
Beg as you can obtain from which you came
Swear that your mother is living in equality
Forgeting your brother that's living her apology
Thought they had us beat when they took our kids
But the battle ain't over till the black man sings
Words of Wisdom
But the battle ain't over till the black man sings
Words of Wisdom"


There is an obvious difference in what Kanye puts forth and what a legendary emcee puts forth.

Not knocking Kanye in any way.....but.....ummmm.....he's got a long way to go.

all i am saying is KanYe is good...not 2pac good, but obviously the KanYe has some talent...he's really witty with his words...I'm not saying he's a legend, but he doesn't get enough credit for his lyrics...I hear people talk about KanYe like he doesn't know how to rhyme at all...All i'm saying is can KanYe get a little bit of love...He's been a huge influence in my life, and is definately and underrated emcee

Yes, he is highly underrated...but I think part of that is due to the way he holds himself. Throwing a fit that you will not attend an award show unless you get an award.....C'mon now. This is music, not preschool!

He makes himself stay underground because of his arrogance. I like the guy. Never said I didn't. He can just be a little fruit-loopy at times. ::tongue::

i don't think Kanye's underrated. he's not that hot. Jay-Z's played out too. he had his time. he shoulda stayed retired. he new he wasn't leaving the game. he did that s**t purely as a publicity stunt. when you need a gimmick, your time's up. and Kanye is very commercial....come on now. how many times do you hear Ye rappign bout hoes and money and CLOTHES. i'd still cop his cds but there's so much better s**t out there. and Pac's deep but he's only so good of a rapper. i like him more as a poet than as a lyricist.

Quote:


J is played out, but he still knows what it takes to make good s**t. I think that he just wanted to be a follower of Michael Jordan. LOL! ::tongue::

Kanye, he is all commercial. He doesn't have any sense of philosophy, or intellect in half his rhymes. He simply knows how to put words to a beat that rhyme. Lol! That was harsh.....but truth of my opinion.

Still one of the best groups when it came to lyrics was Wu-Tang....as nasty as they all were.

LOL!

oh and for whoever still thinks Jay-Z is the s**t, go to You-tube and type in "biter not a writer". it should be the first result that shows up

My main influences:

Method Man and Red Man... are just the greatest rappers alive. (IMHO) They're funny as hell and their music just makes you want to start a damn mosh pit!!!! I like their clever uses of metaphors and similes and just how silly they could get.
(Tell me you didn't love their "Tear the roof off" video and you didn't bang your head to "Da Rockwilder" and I'll call you a liar! )

Wutang Clan are just straight psycho, ill spitters and I have always respected them for being hardcore and making music that makes you wanna beat the CRAP outta somebody. I still blast "Wu Tang Clan Ain't Nuthin to F**k with" and "Gravel Pit"! They were the first music group I really listened to.

Eminem was definitely a big influence for me, but I've lost interest in him as of late... When he was battling Ja Rule and Murder Inc, he was just stomping them a new a*****e! The Marshall Mathers LP was probably one of the most amazing things I've heard in my life.

DMX... he's still doing his thing... but damn he used to be one of the biggest deals for a while. I know he came out with that "Year of the Dog" CD recently, but I didn't get to hear anything from it yet.

I guess you can say, I was influenced by lyricist who liked to start ruckus, go crazy and just party... man...

no wonder I'm so effed up...

Biggest influences?
Probably Jean Michele Basquiat, the documentary Scratch, and Linkin Park. Oh, and FaithSFX. And Saul Williams.

1) Linkin Park
Whitey's first introduction to rap these days is Linkin Park. The reason they've been around longer as a rap/rock group is Mike Shinoda. They didn't just tell the lead singer to rap- they got a f*****g MC. Hybrid Theory was the first album I ever really loved, and it's still (to me) the greatest album ever...if I wanna pop I put them on. If I wanna bang my head, I put them on. Just amazing.

2) Scratch
I pretty much assumed at that point that all black hip-hop was money and drugs and sex and murder because that's all I ever heard. This documentary proved there is a whole other side to hip-hop: one that's creative and energetic. The s**t Mix Master Mike and DJ Qbert do with records is otherworldly...

3) Jean Michele Basquiat
Most hardcore graffiti artist ever, and the first (before Keith Haring) to be considered a real force in the art world. Watching "Basquiat" and "Downtown 81" changed me and made me a graf artist (even though i'm a toy)

4) FaithSFX
I've been beatboxing since 6th grade, and I had a hiatus from 8th to 10th grade...listening to him made me remember why I loved it so much. Gathering in the b-ball court and just dropping hot s**t and freestyling...those were (and are) the days. Every time I learn a new technique I think of how I will never be as good as Faith and how I gotta get better...even though people will always compare me to Blake Lewis.

5) Saul Williams
The reason I started poetry again.



And a note about Grime music...
Alot of people think that it's not that serious, or that it's poorly produced (almost as bad as anything from Texas or Atlanta these days) but frankly I feel it's too unique and rapid and impressive vocally to be ignored. That's all.