And further to my rant about Grime - of which I hadn't heard before today -
I don't like the Rap because I can't follow the language: can't hear it clear enough, and what I can hear is a different language spoken in English of a sort.
What annoys me is this - I'm fairly certain the stories told are honest, witty, fresh and clever but I can't understand them! And I'm also certain I'm not meant to. So sorry if I scorned a favourite music of yours.
( Larry Vest One day at a time, sweet Jesus, FFS., Sat 24 Apr 2010, 0:09, 1 reply, 16 years ago)

Most of it's shite.
And most of the stories told are neither honest, witty, fresh nor clever, they're self-aggrandising, pointless bullshit, but it hasn't always been like that. There are brilliant critiques of that whole 'I'm a gangsta' bollocks like the marvellous 'Time's Up' by OC, in which he scorns that whole nonsense, and in a clearly-understandable language too:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzyaaMUCpWs

But also, can't you enjoy music that's in a genuinely foreign language? I think you can still feel the emotion and/or attitude in some records even if you cannot understand a fucking word of it. Just ask Japanese rockabillies...
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Sat 24 Apr 2010, 0:16, Reply)

Music, yes, but the lyrics get lost.
And I can only discern one tune used by all rappers. And it ain't much of a tune anyway.
Is it intended for white males pushing sixty?
( Larry Vest One day at a time, sweet Jesus, FFS., Sat 24 Apr 2010, 0:20, Reply)

No it's not
but neither is the heart-wrenching majesty of the Delta blues. Great music transcends all barriers of race, class and experience.

And I have to say you either aren't really listening or haven't heard the breadth of styles contained within the genre (which is perfectly fair enough). There are hip hop records that are based on everything from blues, doo-wop and jazz through the funk of the 70s right through to pioneering electronica like Kraftwerk.

If all you've heard is chart bollocks then you can be hugely forgiven for thinking 'it all sounds the same' but that's like assuming all rock'n'roll's the same because you've heard Elvis Presley.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Sat 24 Apr 2010, 0:25, Reply)

Very good point.
Of course, I can understand Mississippi John Hurt but I have to work at the allusions. 'Candy Man',eg, you now ain't about sweets, so you have to think about it.
Are you saying Grime is worth the effort?

*edit* sorry mate - I'm falling asleep. I'll read any reply and follow up when I can.
Good weekend to you.
( Larry Vest One day at a time, sweet Jesus, FFS., Sat 24 Apr 2010, 0:31, Reply)

On the whole, no.
It really is shit. But I can still appreciate the verbal dexterity and inventiveness of some grime MCs - particularly when you consider that the practitioners are frequently chaps who've been written off by society as stupid and useless when there's clearly an intelligence and quick-wittedness at work that most people can only dream of.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Sat 24 Apr 2010, 0:36, Reply)

Precisely as I suspected.
On balance I've decided to respect the privacy of those individuals. It seems they aren't addressing me so why should I eavesdrop?
You guess correctly - what little of this genre reaches my ears is in short snatches while, say, tuning in a radio, or my son's playing his iPod in the car, or some mindless retard insists on sharing from his GTi. (Believe me, when you're trying to work and some prat is paused in the road outside your window, car stereo jacked to 11 blasting bombastic gangsta crap - this happens a dozen times a day - in does not endear you to that genre.)
*Breathe* I shall now tune the wireless to radio 3 and have a nice cup of tea.
( Larry Vest One day at a time, sweet Jesus, FFS., Sat 24 Apr 2010, 9:46, Reply)

Hip Hop is for scallies on buses. Fact.

(The Boy Monders I have ginger bits in my beard., Sat 24 Apr 2010, 11:44, Reply)