The enthusiasts here are apparently not hip and likely have very little hop.
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Most of the demographic on the Audiogon forum just doesn't match the demographic of the Hip Hop community. I stopped listening to Hip Hop and Rap when it became more Hip Pop in the early 2000s. I have a good amount of Hip Hop and Rap LPs and CDs from the 80s and 90s that I'll put in every so often into my systems. I couldn't tell you which rapper just died unless I searched for it. One thing I find is some of those albums while great lyrically or musically recording quality wise they are lacking. I remember one Jedi Mind Tricks album where Vinnie Paz would start rapping and I swear I could hear the backing track volume being lowered by the guy behind the booth. Listen to Deep Cover by Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Doggy Dogg. It sounds like a very unpolished demo. |
There’s a hip hop cd from the 90s that I play for my wonder bread pleated pants pals just to blow their mind. Guru - Jazzmatazz, Vol 1. Seriously, it’s head shaking good. Apparently it was the first to merge jazz with hh. I have yet to find anyone who doesn’t start smiling immediately, asking ’what is this? It’s awesome!’ A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory is similar and also great. The latter has Ron Carter on upright acoustic bass (!) and sounds like an organic recording. Check out their documentary. Beastie Boys - Check Your Head is quite listenable. The Boys actually play instruments on it. |
There is very little more certain in Psychology than people like what they are exposed to most. I listen to Classical music 90% of the time but would rather listen to hip-hop than rock because I find it more intelligent . I doubt if anyone raised on rock, aka 90% of American population , would agree with me . |
Schubert, very interesting observation. Never thought of it that way, bias always enter into the picture when dealing with humans. Taters certainly has a chip on his shoulder about Rap and Hip Hop, this is his third denigrating post in the last month or so. Give it a rest ... With respect to "the grandfather of hip hop dies ..." I have no idea who he is referring to. I did a quick search and the only name I came up with is Gil Scott Heron, a name many of us here know, but he died in 2011! |
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Well why didn't he say this from the beginning? I don't read the NY Times anymore and never saw any alerts on it. When I was in college one of my dorm mates had a couple of Blowfly records. For males in their late teens this was raunchy and of no significant cultural value, in other words the best! Yes indeed, RIP Blowfly. |
Generally, I would imagine it is because he is not considered the "grandfather of hip hop," as he did nothing to develop the break beat style that defines hip-hop music (other than provide some samples for hip hop artists to use). Blowfly was nothing more than a character - author of such "inspiring" tunes as "My Baby Keeps Farting in My Face," "Shitting on the Dock of the Bay," "Spermy Night in Georgia," and "It's a Faggot's World" (I apologize for any offense, but these are actual titles of his music). If DJ Kool Herc had passed, you would definitely hear of it. |
I have held my peace for a while on the hip hop posts instituted by taters, which are both uninspired and clearly denigrating, but have reached the point where I have to respond to bpoletti's comments in view of taters' overall theme. Audiophiles should be the LAST people commenting on others' musical tastes, given some of the dreck that passes for "music" among the audiophile community. I find the pablum that I hear at most high end shows to be dull at best, and mind-numbingly insipid at its most common. Limpid female vocals, bizarre and esoteric pop, and Tibetan bowl players seem to have become standard demo music in the audiophile community. As an example, I have three words for you - Amanda frickin' McBroom! Who listens to this stuff other than audiophiles? However, I do not go out of my way to denigrate those that appreciate such forms of music as having no taste or standards. Sure, I do not enjoy it, but as long as those folks appreciate the reproduction of music at the highest levels, I have to applaud them for their commitment to this hobby, which, let's face it, not all that many people share. Indeed, audiophiles should be openly willing to embrace any types of music, as well as any folks that appreciate high performance audio, regardless of their tastes. Taters, please cease the endless commentary on a musical genre which you not only do not appreciate, but clearly fail to understand. Audiogon will be the better for it. |
We have to try keep an open mind on all types of music but it don't mean you have to embrace it all. I like the singer Weekend, excellent voice to say the least, not sure if this current singer could be classified as rap, maybe R&B. But I have to admit that I'm shocked that what could be classified as hard core rap has lasted this long and still be as popular as it is. Even Disco from the seventies did not last more than five years and many people in the end burned their disco albums in protest. I have listened to my daughter boyfriend's rap music and I can honestly tell you that a lot of it degrades women and promotes violence. In retrospect one could say that Hard Rock promoted drug use. Soft rock groups like America seem to promote nothing less than a joyful listening experience in my opinion. But again keep an open mind and thank God that we can choose what we play on our systems. |
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Hey, I down a tablespoon of Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar every morning. I definitely wouldn't want to drink a whole glass. And I don't look forward to that tablespoon in the morning either. rzado ,... I agree totally with you. Its hard to believe what is played at the audio shows to demo equipment. I mean tens of thousands of dollars, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment ... and demonstrated with crappy music?? I don't get it. I don't do CES anymore. Hate Vegas. Always came home sick, not to mention that it takes a week to get the tobacco smoke out of my sinuses. But ... I go to the Newport show every year. Its great. We always take our own music and get great comments from the fellow listeners after the demo. What is it with most recording engineers these days? Why are so many recordings drenched in artificial digital reverb? Its totally unnecessary. I have a lot of recordings engineered by Kevin Grey and he doesn't add that reverb. His recordings sound great. Listen to anything on the Impex label. All engineered by Kevin. I subscribe to both TAS and Stereophile. With every issue, I check out the music recommendations on Spotify, including the music the reviewers use while auditioning equipment up for review. In so many cases, we have that artificial reverb, or just plain zero talent. This is one of the reasons I take the reviewers with a grain of salt. Last year at the Newport show, I sat next to a well known reviewer at a demo. He pulled out a thumb drive and asked the guy in charge to please play some of his favorite music. Pure crap and even crappier sound. What gives? I know this guy can hear. He's highly respected in the audiophile community. His reference system is worth over 300 grand. And he plays crap? Go figure. On Rap music ... is it true that if one listens to a lot of Rap, one develops an overwhelming desire to dye one's hair purple and to get as many tattoos as possible? Just asking ... |
Now that this post has taught me that Blowfly (undoubtedly insightfully) covered Otis wth "Shitting on The Dock of the Bay", I'm even more intrigued. As to Grandfather/Godfather of hip hop, I'm not sure what that means. Gil Scott-Heron and/or Joe Tex are frequently cited as the originators of rap, but I've never seen Blowfly mentioned (prior to this thread). Is that a distinction between rap and hip-hop or did I just somehow miss this? |
I find Outkast very enjoyable to listen to. I dare anyone to listen to: "Happy Valentine’s Day" or "Behold A Lady" and not catch yourself singing it the next day. Anyone listen to "Flip Flop Rock" and not tap your foot or start dancing? Listen to "The Way You Move" and tell me that is not good. "So Fresh, So Clean", "Rosa Parks", "Aquemini", "Ms. Jackson", "B.O.B." all are very, very good. Just saying’... |
Herndonb - I’ll second you on Outkast’s Mrs. Jackson. Digable Planets is worth checking out too. I’m really not that much of rap or hip hop fan and don’t know Blowfly but I do think an argument can be made for Gil Scott Heron as well as The Last Poets being hugely important in the origins and development of rap/hip hop. |
I put on phones and checked out Mrs. Jackson based on the double recommendation above. Good music on the chorus, but I don't think I'll be giving it a second listen--so much better stuff to listen to out there (not necessarily current stuff). Gratuitously nasty lyric in places which I don't care for (not happy with Zappa when he did that, either. At times it was funny and/or to the point, but often just juvenile and unnecessary). Overall, more listenable for me than a lot I've heard. That's saying a lot. |
I always thought of myself as being a generation removed from Rap. I don’t listen to or have any desire to listen to most rock, any metal, or country. But I respect those that do, and don’t find it necessary to denigrate music I don’t enjoy. Doing so says a lot more, imo, about the person doing the denigrating, than it does the music. It’s a big world with lots of variety - deal with it. |
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I love hip hop and can’t believe there are others on here. Damn. Gotta say though, Blowfly was definitely not a big influence in hip hop. He may have had a small influence somewhere, but I've read loads about hip hop, interviews with tons of artists, magazines about early influences and culture and I've never heard him mentioned. For you jazz fans out there, check out madlib, also known as quasimoto. The man is so prolific it’s incredible. He samples loads of jazz and has very complex rhythms. Plus, he’s not a gang banger, so his lyrics are clever, often insightful, almost never violent or misogynistic. One of his uncles, a jazz musician, gave him cr*p about hip hop not being music, so he started playing instruments, sampling himself, and putting together fake jazz bands: yesterday’s new quintet, the Joe mcduphrey experience, Ahmad miller... He’s quite the musician. |
Yeah this looks like someone I would go see.........(rolls eyes). https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2015/02/18/get-nasty-with-blowfly-at-ralphfest |