Listening Then And NowA Story by Luke LIt's interesting listening to music you listened to at a different time in your life. I remember when I was in high school and really got into listening to rap music. It was around 2003/2004 and I found rap music from earlier than 95, 96, 97 generally boring. There was really a change in the rhymes (becoming more complex) as well as the beats becoming more interesting somehow around that time. At least I felt that at the time. Back then to find some of the dopest rap albums I'd never heard of I would search The Source Magazine's list of Five Mic (perfect in their out of five mics rating system) Classic albums. I would listen to The Low End Theory, Let The Rhythm Hit Em, 3 Feet And Rising, among others. These albums would just leave me flat compared to more current albums I was into such as The Eminem Show, The Ownerz and Get Rich Or Die Tryin'. These albums were somehow just more fun, more emotive, more complicated, more varied. However now over a decade later I actually enjoy listening to Let The Rhythm Hit Em, The Diary and Death Certificate. I was listening to Let The Rhythm Hit Em by Eric B & Rakim, which was released in 1990, when I was 3. In a way the music was somewhat simple compared to modern rap albums , but man those simple choices were so effective. At the time it must of have been mind-blowing hearing the complex rhyming of Rakim compared to the Sugar Hill Gang and Kurtis Blow, just a few years earlier. A lot of the complexity of Rakim's double and triple rhymes as well as internal rhyming wasn't regularly adopted till the mid 90s. I also listened to the beats Eric B put together, noticing when every instrumental element would drop in and out. The beats were somewhat simplistic, but so effective and a lot of what he introduced as far as dropping elements in and out, and forming different intros and outros are used today to great effect. There's a lot of Hip Hop that hasn't moved far from those type of beats. This isn't intended as a criticism, because let's face it, those elements and methodology are so effective. You could call them 'classic'. Also a lot of rap music is centered on emphasizing what the rapper is saying, rather than overpowering it. It is difficult to add a lot more to it without taking away from that. It's a fine balance, based on a repetitive, minimalist style. Again some of these words make it seem as if I'm dissing the music, but I love repetitive music. I love minimalist music. Just because something is simple doesn't mean it isn't f*****g awesome!
© 2016 Luke L |
StatsAuthorLuke LVictoria, British Columbia, CanadaAboutI love music. I love writing erotic stories and poems. Follow me on Twitter: @LukeLesterMusic Here is my blog: http://luketalkstuff.blogspot.ca/ I write random things on there and link .. more..Writing
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