I had this come my way from one of my students last week. "Do you know who the best rapper in the world is? Mystikal." I seriously considered just failing him regardless in every assessment for the rest of the year. I think I need to bring some music to class next week.
That's a classic record man. What about it is to you??
This is why people on soulstrut should never talk about hip-hop. Ever.
It's good, but I think the whole edansloppywhitefastrap trend blew it up like its the second coming. I just don't think its worth all the fuss, maybe I'll put it back on the platter this evening and give it another listen.
I do like that the 12 has an a capella and inst.
Wait...waitwaitwaitwaitwait....where to begin?
1. This song was a Red Alert underground hip-hop classic for like 20 years before Edan so much as thought about putting it on a CD. I remember hearing this song as a kid and getting straight up amped. The use of Sport is sick and the lyrics are so fucking real-talk-well-delivered-entertaining. Your whole frame of reference is suspect. But yeah, at least it has an acapella.
2. Putting that minor issue aside, whoever believes that EPMD is overrated doesn't like hip-hop, period. I swear, for a bunch of self-appointed music nerds, on a site ostensibly dedicated to hip-hop culture, y'all dudes spout some of the most insupportable bullshit I've ever heard. EPMD IS hip-hop. One of the most influential groups, one of the few to give us four classic albums, a group with THE freshest dj, not to mention a group who helped unearth a TON of other talent from Redman to KSolo to Stezo. Mighty fucking suspect.
1. This song was a Red Alert underground hip-hop classic for like 20 years before Edan so much as thought about putting it on a CD. I remember hearing this song as a kid and getting straight up amped. The use of Sport is sick and the lyrics are so fucking real-talk-well-delivered-entertaining. Your whole frame of reference is suspect. But yeah, at least it has an acapella.
Listen back to it w/o the Edan fuss and it still holds up - and it's one of the 12"s from '87 to '90 in my collection that I've not gone back to and weeded out... How is Edan an arbiter of what's good and/or bad anyway? I've not really checked out his retro-comps nor original material 'cause havin' lived through it, there's really no point in havin' some young jack try to hold forth and pontificate...
2. Putting that minor issue aside, whoever believes that EPMD is overrated doesn't like hip-hop, period. I swear, for a bunch of self-appointed music nerds, on a site ostensibly dedicated to hip-hop culture, y'all dudes spout some of the most insupportable bullshit I've ever heard. EPMD IS hip-hop. One of the most influential groups, one of the few to give us four classic albums, a group with THE freshest dj, not to mention a group who helped unearth a TON of other talent from Redman to KSolo to Stezo. Mighty fucking suspect.
I remember when the 1st 12" dropped on Fresh/Sleeping Bag - it just sounded right... 'Nuff said - I am wonderin', though, about the median age of people on this board (no slight nor patronizin' condenscion here) - I know that Ph*l and JB are in their 30s would've been there when all this went down - it's hard to read revisionist pronouncements (as w/ the Dismasters single) although it does make for inadvertent comedy...
That's a classic record man. What about it is to you??
This is why people on soulstrut should never talk about hip-hop. Ever.
It's good, but I think the whole edansloppywhitefastrap trend blew it up like its the second coming. I just don't think its worth all the fuss, maybe I'll put it back on the platter this evening and give it another listen.
I do like that the 12 has an a capella and inst.
Wait...waitwaitwaitwaitwait....where to begin?
1. This song was a Red Alert underground hip-hop classic for like 20 years before Edan so much as thought about putting it on a CD. I remember hearing this song as a kid and getting straight up amped. The use of Sport is sick and the lyrics are so fucking real-talk-well-delivered-entertaining. Your whole frame of reference is suspect. But yeah, at least it has an acapella.
2. Putting that minor issue aside, whoever believes that EPMD is overrated doesn't like hip-hop, period. I swear, for a bunch of self-appointed music nerds, on a site ostensibly dedicated to hip-hop culture, y'all dudes spout some of the most insupportable bullshit I've ever heard. EPMD IS hip-hop. One of the most influential groups, one of the few to give us four classic albums, a group with THE freshest dj, not to mention a group who helped unearth a TON of other talent from Redman to KSolo to Stezo. Mighty fucking suspect.
after reading this thread, i really think some of yall need your passes revoked. i mean cough up the rap records cause yall just dont deserve to listen. i understand some things are a matter of opinion, but some shit i'm reading here makes people sound real green. "anything on urban rock"... FUCKOUTTAHERE. all those dismasters records are good. dont like "small time huster"? flip the record over, cause "lets do this" is insanity. "Black and proud" is great too. DBL crew... Mr X and Mr Z? toyboys need to put in some work at the listening station.
If you just started REALLY listening to rap 5 years ago, I think it's great. I'm glad you found something you can enjoy, but you might want to muzzle your uninformed opinions. If you didnt listen to EPMD when you were a kid, and you tell me it sounds "dated," i really think you should be smacked.
this is the kind of thread MYLATENCY should be deleting.
3 Feet High and Rising suffers from the same blind cult love as Dr.Octagon.3ft changed the game as far production and sample choices. Dr.Octagon was Kool Keith's "resurrection" lp for the cats who did catch him on late night radio spittin' freestyles. Paid In Full is an overrated Lp but just for the fact cats got to hear Rakim for a full lp is enough to keep it as a classic. Its really just 3 previous radio classics surrounded by some side dishes. As Far as Redman goes- Im a fan. I still bump his first 4 lps + the Blackout lp. Just remember when you suck on EPMD nuts, realize REDMAN wuz ghost writing for them.
The Dismasters' 12" you've been goin' back and forth on - I remember pickin' it up around '87; I don't recall major noise generated and I think I was checkin' for it b/c of Chuck Chillout's involvement(?)... It's still in my crates close to some 20 years later - it's aged well from my vantage point...
The radio would bump the instramental for minutes then play the lyrics.Small Time Hustler never got dusty on me. That bassline iz some real NYC gangsta shit. Hearin' that shrill coming from a money green acura at 4 am on a hot summer night................
after reading this thread, i really think some of yall need your passes revoked. i mean cough up the rap records cause yall just dont deserve to listen. i understand some things are a matter of opinion, but some shit i'm reading here makes people sound real green. "anything on urban rock"... FUCKOUTTAHERE. all those dismasters records are good. dont like "small time huster"? flip the record over, cause "lets do this" is insanity. "Black and proud" is great too. DBL crew... Mr X and Mr Z? toyboys need to put in some work at the listening station.
If you just started REALLY listening to rap 5 years ago, I think it's great. I'm glad you found something you can enjoy, but you might want to muzzle your uninformed opinions. If you didnt listen to EPMD when you were a kid, and you tell me it sounds "dated," i really think you should be smacked.
T -
In some ways, this thread reminds me of a conversation I had in high school, back in '86 - person said somethin' to me to the effect of:
'Do you really think rap will last?'[/b] I was headin' out of district to a magnet-like public high school where Alphaville and 2-Tone were the order of the day musically - me, I headed downtown every day after school to trawl for 12" singles - unknown names/titles starin' @ me in the face... So Hashim, the Imperial Brothers, DJ Cheese, Beauty & The Beat Records, etc. were my musical lexicon...
I didn't really answer him 'cause what do you say to someone who quotes verbatim an OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) lyric in the space allocated for the last words caption in his/her high school senior yearbook?
Me? I was tryin' to cop 'Big Apple Noise' @ the time...
Small Time Hustler is bangin'. Underrated in my books.
I liked the 1st Redman lp a lot. Did he have any moment afterwards that came close to "Time 4 Sum Action"? Mike Tyson came out of retirement to that tune. There isn't one Redman song since that I think comes close - maybe a few tracks that you could use as backround music to Iron Mike's porno or a frat party. He can still kick a rhyme IMO, but he gets little in the way of beats. That mixtape he dropped was kinda nice - I liked "Brick Intensions".
Dr Octogon is kinda cool - I'll play that sometimes. I won't say that its an overrated lp because kool keith has dropped pure & utter crap ever since.
Talib Quali is overrated - his music gets played all over & he's a lousy mc. When he spits, it sounds like all the words are fighting to get out his mouth.
I don't understand why Common is so loved. His music is boring like the Roots. Shit is dull.
He was fairly competent in his day, but for people to actually refer to him as "the greatest ever"??? Utter nonsense. Most definitely a one trick pony... once everyone figured out his style (if you want to call it that) he was done.
Obviously overrated. His subject matter is totally boring and his style is too complex for anyone to follow. He can't even rhyme on beat, for chrissakes! Look at his hat.
His defenders are quick to say "but he's got skills!" Memo to Eminem cockriders: he has NO skills. The few times I tried to listen to his garbage I got a headache and diarreah at the same time. Please put this ass out of his misery, NOW.
The "teacher"? Please... on his best records (not that they were any good, they were just the best out of a woefully sorry lot) he butchered the english language by saying things like "unrational" and "laryn-EX". I didn't like his nose in 1987 and I don't like it now.
Not one person with any kind of musical taste whatsoever can listen to any of their garbage in 2005. Jazzy, smooth, cool... no, soft, tepid, downright at times. How can you bump that kind of shit in the club? You can't, because it sucks wrinkled balls.
The very DEFINITION of overrated. I'll bet you 50 bucks that if you ask any of their members what the hell the next dude in the group is saying in any given lyric they won't be able to tell you. Why? Because they don't even know what they're talking about THEMSELVES in 90% of their lyrics! The music is terrible, offbeat and unpolished. How they ever got past the demo stage I will never know.
If anybody disagrees with me they can eat a dick hoagie. My opinion means just as much as the next person, regardless of the fact that I am 14 years old and just started listening to rap music last Tuesday. I know what I'm talking about and you don't- simple as that.
Putting that minor issue aside, whoever believes that EPMD is overrated doesn't like hip-hop, period. I swear, for a bunch of self-appointed music nerds, on a site ostensibly dedicated to hip-hop culture, y'all dudes spout some of the most insupportable bullshit I've ever heard. EPMD IS hip-hop. One of the most influential groups, one of the few to give us four classic albums, a group with THE freshest dj, not to mention a group who helped unearth a TON of other talent from Redman to KSolo to Stezo.
He was fairly competent in his day, but for people to actually refer to him as "the greatest ever"??? Utter nonsense. Most definitely a one trick pony... once everyone figured out his style (if you want to call it that) he was done.
Obviously overrated. His subject matter is totally boring and his style is too complex for anyone to follow. He can't even rhyme on beat, for chrissakes! Look at his hat.
His defenders are quick to say "but he's got skills!" Memo to Eminem cockriders: he has NO skills. The few times I tried to listen to his garbage I got a headache and diarreah at the same time. Please put this ass out of his misery, NOW.
The "teacher"? Please... on his best records (not that they were any good, they were just the best out of a woefully sorry lot) he butchered the english language by saying things like "unrational" and "laryn-EX". I didn't like his nose in 1987 and I don't like it now.
Not one person with any kind of musical taste whatsoever can listen to any of their garbage in 2005. Jazzy, smooth, cool... no, soft, tepid, downright at times. How can you bump that kind of shit in the club? You can't, because it sucks wrinkled balls.
The very DEFINITION of overrated. I'll bet you 50 bucks that if you ask any of their members what the hell the next dude in the group is saying in any given lyric they won't be able to tell you. Why? Because they don't even know what they're talking about THEMSELVES in 90% of their lyrics! The music is terrible, offbeat and unpolished. How they ever got past the demo stage I will never know.
If anybody disagrees with me they can eat a dick hoagie. My opinion means just as much as the next person, regardless of the fact that I am 14 years old and just started listening to rap music last Tuesday. I know what I'm talking about and you don't- simple as that.
What do all the rappers pictured above have in common?
The "teacher"? Please... on his best records (not that they were any good, they were just the best out of a woefully sorry lot) he butchered the english language by saying things like "unrational" and "laryn-EX". I didn't like his nose in 1987 and I don't like it now.
In fact, Ms. Melodie (his wife @ 1 time) had better skills, rhymes, concepts, etc. - what was Kris thinkin' not devotin' his energies to just her material alone?
Boogie Down Productions on Jive - a bloated (literally given Melodie's girth) operation somewhat given all affiliates (not the core unit though)...
In fact, Ms. Melodie (his wife @ 1 time) had better skills, rhymes, concepts, etc. - what was Kris thinkin' not devotin' his energies to just her material alone?
In fact, Ms. Melodie (his wife @ 1 time) had better skills, rhymes, concepts, etc. - what was Kris thinkin' not devotin' his energies to just her material alone?
YOU MUST BE JOKING!!!!
Alas, I needed a sarcasm graemlin there... She's the very definition of nepotism in hip-hop; no amount of Kris (and Scott La Rock - he's in here!) studio magic could ever compensate for her pretty poor abilities on the mic... I do think that Spyder-D and Sparky-D made for a better couple sonically...
This is why people on soulstrut should never talk about hip-hop. Ever.
It's good, but I think the whole edansloppywhitefastrap trend blew it up like its the second coming. I just don't think its worth all the fuss, maybe I'll put it back on the platter this evening and give it another listen.
I do like that the 12 has an a capella and inst.
Wait...waitwaitwaitwaitwait....where to begin?
1. This song was a Red Alert underground hip-hop classic for like 20 years before Edan so much as thought about putting it on a CD. I remember hearing this song as a kid and getting straight up amped. The use of Sport is sick and the lyrics are so fucking real-talk-well-delivered-entertaining. Your whole frame of reference is suspect. But yeah, at least it has an acapella.
2. Putting that minor issue aside, whoever believes that EPMD is overrated doesn't like hip-hop, period. I swear, for a bunch of self-appointed music nerds, on a site ostensibly dedicated to hip-hop culture, y'all dudes spout some of the most insupportable bullshit I've ever heard. EPMD IS hip-hop. One of the most influential groups, one of the few to give us four classic albums, a group with THE freshest dj, not to mention a group who helped unearth a TON of other talent from Redman to KSolo to Stezo. Mighty fucking suspect.
after reading this thread, i really think some of yall need your passes revoked. i mean cough up the rap records cause yall just dont deserve to listen. i understand some things are a matter of opinion, but some shit i'm reading here makes people sound real green. "anything on urban rock"... FUCKOUTTAHERE. all those dismasters records are good. dont like "small time huster"? flip the record over, cause "lets do this" is insanity. "Black and proud" is great too. DBL crew... Mr X and Mr Z? toyboys need to put in some work at the listening station.
If you just started REALLY listening to rap 5 years ago, I think it's great. I'm glad you found something you can enjoy, but you might want to muzzle your uninformed opinions. If you didnt listen to EPMD when you were a kid, and you tell me it sounds "dated," i really think you should be smacked.
this is the kind of thread MYLATENCY should be deleting.
Cool man, I'm glad you like their stuff, you should keep listening to it. I didn't think this thread was called "Bad Hip Hop," I thought it was called overrated hip hop. Like it or not, there are a bunch of hipster (well it might not be that hip anymore, I can't tell you) kids out there throwing loot on ebay and digging through crates hoping like hell to find some urban rock cause they heard "random rap" is the new hot shit. Small Time Hustler ain't a bad track, never said it was, I just think it and its label are overrated by said crowd. I'm gonna go listen to some EPMD now and have a bowl.
This is why people on soulstrut should never talk about hip-hop. Ever.
It's good, but I think the whole edansloppywhitefastrap trend blew it up like its the second coming. I just don't think its worth all the fuss, maybe I'll put it back on the platter this evening and give it another listen.
I do like that the 12 has an a capella and inst.
Wait...waitwaitwaitwaitwait....where to begin?
1. This song was a Red Alert underground hip-hop classic for like 20 years before Edan so much as thought about putting it on a CD. I remember hearing this song as a kid and getting straight up amped. The use of Sport is sick and the lyrics are so fucking real-talk-well-delivered-entertaining. Your whole frame of reference is suspect. But yeah, at least it has an acapella.
2. Putting that minor issue aside, whoever believes that EPMD is overrated doesn't like hip-hop, period. I swear, for a bunch of self-appointed music nerds, on a site ostensibly dedicated to hip-hop culture, y'all dudes spout some of the most insupportable bullshit I've ever heard. EPMD IS hip-hop. One of the most influential groups, one of the few to give us four classic albums, a group with THE freshest dj, not to mention a group who helped unearth a TON of other talent from Redman to KSolo to Stezo. Mighty fucking suspect.
after reading this thread, i really think some of yall need your passes revoked. i mean cough up the rap records cause yall just dont deserve to listen. i understand some things are a matter of opinion, but some shit i'm reading here makes people sound real green. "anything on urban rock"... FUCKOUTTAHERE. all those dismasters records are good. dont like "small time huster"? flip the record over, cause "lets do this" is insanity. "Black and proud" is great too. DBL crew... Mr X and Mr Z? toyboys need to put in some work at the listening station.
If you just started REALLY listening to rap 5 years ago, I think it's great. I'm glad you found something you can enjoy, but you might want to muzzle your uninformed opinions. If you didnt listen to EPMD when you were a kid, and you tell me it sounds "dated," i really think you should be smacked.
this is the kind of thread MYLATENCY should be deleting.
Cool man, I'm glad you like their stuff, you should keep listening to it. I didn't think this thread was called "Bad Hip Hop," I thought it was called overrated hip hop. Like it or not, there are a bunch of hipster (well it might not be that hip anymore, I can't tell you) kids out there throwing loot on ebay and digging through crates hoping like hell to find some urban rock cause they heard "random rap" is the new hot shit. Small Time Hustler ain't a bad track, never said it was, I just think it and its label are overrated by said crowd. I'm gonna go listen to some EPMD now and have a bowl.
How could a group that so few people listen to today be called "overrated"? Is MC EZ & Troop overrated?
How could a group that so few people listen to today be called "overrated"? Is MC EZ & Troop overrated?
H -
Maybe the same criteria might also tag this w/ the overrated designation: Marauder & The Fury "Get Loose Mother Goose"/"Terminator" 12" 1987 Public Records
And if that's the case, then someone needs to get his/her hearin' checked... I listened for days on end for the drums on that single...
I'm relunctant to carry this on, because my feelings on the matter are clearly not as strong as some others on the board, but let me try like this:
I consider this record overrated by the same means that an obscure 45 can be- because many of the people interested in the genre and record speak of it more highly than I would. Looking at this thread I can see that I am right, ha ha.
I'm relunctant to carry this on, because my feelings on the matter are clearly not as strong as some others on the board, but let me try like this:
I consider this record overrated by the same means that an obscure 45 can be- because many of the people interested in the genre and record speak of it more highly than I would. Looking at this thread I can see that I am right, ha ha.
Just because a bunch of newjacks sweat Urban Rock doesn't make "Small Time Hustler" any less of a classic, it was a classic back when the hip-hop-on-ebay crowd was listening to indie rock or fucking Brittney Spears. EPMD is in no way overrated - they are rated for exactly the reasons stated above, extremely influential, top notch quality, exceptional ear for new talent, etc. I can't imagine someone who was actually listening to hip-hop when these came out
EPMD is in no way overrated - they are rated for exactly the reasons stated above, extremely influential, top notch quality, exceptional ear for new talent, etc.
, what is it that you don't get? I like 'em for what they are and what they do. I don't get why people say that they don't get Ugly Duckling. It's not like people hype UD. They don't have that many fans. They're not on the radio or MTV all the time. When you say that UD is overrated, do you mean that there shouldn't be any fans of UD at all? They suck so bad? No skills? No entertainment?
Not trying to get into beef, but I'm wondering what you meant. Just interested. I'd like to hear why you think that they are overrated.
This is why people on soulstrut should never talk about hip-hop. Ever.
It's good, but I think the whole edansloppywhitefastrap trend blew it up like its the second coming. I just don't think its worth all the fuss, maybe I'll put it back on the platter this evening and give it another listen.
I do like that the 12 has an a capella and inst.
Wait...waitwaitwaitwaitwait....where to begin?
1. This song was a Red Alert underground hip-hop classic for like 20 years before Edan so much as thought about putting it on a CD. I remember hearing this song as a kid and getting straight up amped. The use of Sport is sick and the lyrics are so fucking real-talk-well-delivered-entertaining. Your whole frame of reference is suspect. But yeah, at least it has an acapella.
2. Putting that minor issue aside, whoever believes that EPMD is overrated doesn't like hip-hop, period. I swear, for a bunch of self-appointed music nerds, on a site ostensibly dedicated to hip-hop culture, y'all dudes spout some of the most insupportable bullshit I've ever heard. EPMD IS hip-hop. One of the most influential groups, one of the few to give us four classic albums, a group with THE freshest dj, not to mention a group who helped unearth a TON of other talent from Redman to KSolo to Stezo. Mighty fucking suspect.
after reading this thread, i really think some of yall need your passes revoked. i mean cough up the rap records cause yall just dont deserve to listen. i understand some things are a matter of opinion, but some shit i'm reading here makes people sound real green. "anything on urban rock"... FUCKOUTTAHERE. all those dismasters records are good. dont like "small time huster"? flip the record over, cause "lets do this" is insanity. "Black and proud" is great too. DBL crew... Mr X and Mr Z? toyboys need to put in some work at the listening station.
If you just started REALLY listening to rap 5 years ago, I think it's great. I'm glad you found something you can enjoy, but you might want to muzzle your uninformed opinions. If you didnt listen to EPMD when you were a kid, and you tell me it sounds "dated," i really think you should be smacked.
this is the kind of thread MYLATENCY should be deleting.
Cool man, I'm glad you like their stuff, you should keep listening to it. I didn't think this thread was called "Bad Hip Hop," I thought it was called overrated hip hop. Like it or not, there are a bunch of hipster (well it might not be that hip anymore, I can't tell you) kids out there throwing loot on ebay and digging through crates hoping like hell to find some urban rock cause they heard "random rap" is the new hot shit. Small Time Hustler ain't a bad track, never said it was, I just think it and its label are overrated by said crowd. I'm gonna go listen to some EPMD now and have a bowl.
So you base your relative like or dislike of a record on the importance placed on by some other group of people? "Oh, that record is overrated because so-and-so really bumps it". Like I said before, just the fact that Edan is your frame of reference for that record renders you and your opinion of it extremely suspect. Edan didn't MAKE the record, he didn't DISCOVER the record, he's not even the first to comp it (I believe credit for that goes to Ego Trip). Like the always-on-point Batmon said, that record was a mixshow staple back in the day, and to me it's as as the day my friend first gave me a Kiss Mastermix tape that had the shit on i when I was eleven.
And again, as for as EPMD, there are some groups whose status simply ain't open for debate, and EPMD is one of them. Their third album is to me THE best produced hip-hop record of all time....
I'm with Delay on this 100%, alot of people on this board need not ever talk about the rap music again evaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar.
No sarcasm here. Rap's that overrated (i.e. not bad but overhyped, overvalued)
1) Tupac. He's got the most loyal core audience ever. I respect that. But his charisma as an icon often exceeded his abilities as an artist.
2) Eminem. Insanely gifted lyricist who puts out so-so albums with mediocre production and repetitive themes. Also, he's got a voice that turns out large numbers of potential fans. You may think KRS was a blow hard but I've never heard anyone complain that his voice was wack.
3) 90% of random rap. It's like the funk 45 craze all over, just on a smaller scale. Don't get me wrong, there's some dumbfuckinghot random rap singles out there but the bulk of songs out there are just trying to cop Juice Crew styles. The market is just way too inflated - "Sir Vere" doesn't deserve to be a $150 single, period. (But I can't knock hiphoptonyd's hustle)
4) Any artist associated with Okayplayer (except for D'Angelo). 'Nuff said.
5) Madlib. He's a one trick production pony with a really good trick but not when he's making 13 albums a year.
6) 90% of current indie rap darlings. Name your poison.
So you base your relative like or dislike of a record on the importance placed on by some other group of people? "Oh, that record is overrated because so-and-so really bumps it". Like I said before, just the fact that Edan is your frame of reference for that record renders you and your opinion of it extremely suspect. Edan didn't MAKE the record, he didn't DISCOVER the record, he's not even the first to comp it (I believe credit for that goes to Ego Trip). Like the always-on-point Batmon said, that record was a mixshow staple back in the day, and to me it's as as the day my friend first gave me a Kiss Mastermix tape that had the shit on i when I was eleven.
Maybe time for holiday to put his copy of 'Small Time Hustler' up for sale to someone who doesn't consider it overrated and may just be excited about coppin' a premium slice of vintage late '80s hip-hop...
So you base your relative like or dislike of a record on the importance placed on by some other group of people? "Oh, that record is overrated because so-and-so really bumps it". Like I said before, just the fact that Edan is your frame of reference for that record renders you and your opinion of it extremely suspect. Edan didn't MAKE the record, he didn't DISCOVER the record, he's not even the first to comp it (I believe credit for that goes to Ego Trip). Like the always-on-point Batmon said, that record was a mixshow staple back in the day, and to me it's as as the day my friend first gave me a Kiss Mastermix tape that had the shit on i when I was eleven.
And again, as for as EPMD, there are some groups whose status simply ain't open for debate, and EPMD is one of them. Their third album is to me THE best produced hip-hop record of all time....
I'm with Delay on this 100%, alot of people on this board need not ever talk about the rap music again evaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar.
Woah, stop putting words in my mouth. Don't get so heated about it.
Read my second to last post, I think it was succinct and consistent with my point.
I used Edan as an example and probably should have realized that was a pandora's box round here, my bad. I don't listen to him and he is not my frame of reference for the music.
Comments
"you kyan blame da yoot."
Wait...waitwaitwaitwaitwait....where to begin?
1. This song was a Red Alert underground hip-hop classic for like 20 years before Edan so much as thought about putting it on a CD. I remember hearing this song as a kid and getting straight up amped. The use of Sport is sick and the lyrics are so fucking real-talk-well-delivered-entertaining. Your whole frame of reference is suspect. But yeah, at least it has an acapella.
2. Putting that minor issue aside, whoever believes that EPMD is overrated doesn't like hip-hop, period. I swear, for a bunch of self-appointed music nerds, on a site ostensibly dedicated to hip-hop culture, y'all dudes spout some of the most insupportable bullshit I've ever heard. EPMD IS hip-hop. One of the most influential groups, one of the few to give us four classic albums, a group with THE freshest dj, not to mention a group who helped unearth a TON of other talent from Redman to KSolo to Stezo. Mighty fucking suspect.
Listen back to it w/o the Edan fuss and it still holds up - and it's one of the 12"s from '87 to '90 in my collection that I've not gone back to and weeded out... How is Edan an arbiter of what's good and/or bad anyway? I've not really checked out his retro-comps nor original material 'cause havin' lived through it, there's really no point in havin' some young jack try to hold forth and pontificate...
I remember when the 1st 12" dropped on Fresh/Sleeping Bag - it just sounded right... 'Nuff said - I am wonderin', though, about the median age of people on this board (no slight nor patronizin' condenscion here) - I know that Ph*l and JB are in their 30s would've been there when all this went down - it's hard to read revisionist pronouncements (as w/ the Dismasters single) although it does make for inadvertent comedy...
If you just started REALLY listening to rap 5 years ago, I think it's great. I'm glad you found something you can enjoy, but you might want to muzzle your uninformed opinions. If you didnt listen to EPMD when you were a kid, and you tell me it sounds "dated," i really think you should be smacked.
this is the kind of thread MYLATENCY should be deleting.
3 Feet High and Rising suffers from the same blind cult love as Dr.Octagon.3ft changed the game as far production and sample choices.
Dr.Octagon was Kool Keith's "resurrection" lp for the cats who did catch him on late night radio spittin' freestyles.
Paid In Full is an overrated Lp but just for the fact cats got to hear Rakim for a full lp is enough to keep it as a classic. Its really just 3 previous radio classics surrounded by some side dishes.
As Far as Redman goes- Im a fan. I still bump his first 4 lps + the Blackout lp.
Just remember when you suck on EPMD nuts, realize REDMAN wuz ghost writing for them.
The radio would bump the instramental for minutes then play the lyrics.Small Time Hustler never got dusty on me. That bassline iz some real NYC gangsta shit. Hearin' that shrill coming from a money green acura at 4 am on a hot summer night................
T -
In some ways, this thread reminds me of a conversation I had in high school, back in '86 - person said somethin' to me to the effect of:
'Do you really think rap will last?'[/b] I was headin' out of district to a magnet-like public high school where Alphaville and 2-Tone were the order of the day musically - me, I headed downtown every day after school to trawl for 12" singles - unknown names/titles starin' @ me in the face... So Hashim, the Imperial Brothers, DJ Cheese, Beauty & The Beat Records, etc. were my musical lexicon...
I didn't really answer him 'cause what do you say to someone who quotes verbatim an OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) lyric in the space allocated for the last words caption in his/her high school senior yearbook?
Me? I was tryin' to cop 'Big Apple Noise' @ the time...
Small Time Hustler is bangin'. Underrated in my books.
I liked the 1st Redman lp a lot. Did he have any moment afterwards that came close to "Time 4 Sum Action"? Mike Tyson came out of retirement to that tune. There isn't one Redman song since that I think comes close - maybe a few tracks that you could use as backround music to Iron Mike's porno or a frat party. He can still kick a rhyme IMO, but he gets little in the way of beats. That mixtape he dropped was kinda nice - I liked "Brick Intensions".
Dr Octogon is kinda cool - I'll play that sometimes. I won't say that its an overrated lp because kool keith has dropped pure & utter crap ever since.
Talib Quali is overrated - his music gets played all over & he's a lousy mc. When he spits, it sounds like all the words are fighting to get out his mouth.
I don't understand why Common is so loved. His music is boring like the Roots. Shit is dull.
h
He was fairly competent in his day, but for people to actually refer to him as "the greatest ever"??? Utter nonsense. Most definitely a one trick pony... once everyone figured out his style (if you want to call it that) he was done.
Obviously overrated. His subject matter is totally boring and his style is too complex for anyone to follow. He can't even rhyme on beat, for chrissakes! Look at his hat.
His defenders are quick to say "but he's got skills!" Memo to Eminem cockriders: he has NO skills. The few times I tried to listen to his garbage I got a headache and diarreah at the same time. Please put this ass out of his misery, NOW.
The "teacher"? Please... on his best records (not that they were any good, they were just the best out of a woefully sorry lot) he butchered the english language by saying things like "unrational" and "laryn-EX". I didn't like his nose in 1987 and I don't like it now.
Not one person with any kind of musical taste whatsoever can listen to any of their garbage in 2005. Jazzy, smooth, cool... no, soft, tepid, downright
The very DEFINITION of overrated. I'll bet you 50 bucks that if you ask any of their members what the hell the next dude in the group is saying in any given lyric they won't be able to tell you. Why? Because they don't even know what they're talking about THEMSELVES in 90% of their lyrics! The music is terrible, offbeat and unpolished. How they ever got past the demo stage I will never know.
If anybody disagrees with me they can eat a dick hoagie. My opinion means just as much as the next person, regardless of the fact that I am 14 years old and just started listening to rap music last Tuesday. I know what I'm talking about and you don't- simple as that.
AMEN.
What do all the rappers pictured above have in common?
They all SUCK in 2005!!!
Peace
h
Disagree
In fact, Ms. Melodie (his wife @ 1 time) had better skills, rhymes, concepts, etc. - what was Kris thinkin' not devotin' his energies to just her material alone?
Boogie Down Productions on Jive - a bloated (literally given Melodie's girth) operation somewhat given all affiliates (not the core unit though)...
YOU MUST BE JOKING!!!!
Ms Melody told me that KRS ONE's left nut was also overrated.
Kisses
h
Alas, I needed a sarcasm graemlin there... She's the very definition of nepotism in hip-hop; no amount of Kris (and Scott La Rock - he's in here!) studio magic could ever compensate for her pretty poor abilities on the mic... I do think that Spyder-D and Sparky-D made for a better couple sonically...
Cool man, I'm glad you like their stuff, you should keep listening to it. I didn't think this thread was called "Bad Hip Hop," I thought it was called overrated hip hop. Like it or not, there are a bunch of hipster (well it might not be that hip anymore, I can't tell you) kids out there throwing loot on ebay and digging through crates hoping like hell to find some urban rock cause they heard "random rap" is the new hot shit. Small Time Hustler ain't a bad track, never said it was, I just think it and its label are overrated by said crowd. I'm gonna go listen to some EPMD now and have a bowl.
How could a group that so few people listen to today be called "overrated"? Is MC EZ & Troop overrated?
h
"Hurry up Batmon, there's a gang of haters tryin to claim the city,help!"
H -
Maybe the same criteria might also tag this w/ the overrated designation:
Marauder & The Fury "Get Loose Mother Goose"/"Terminator" 12" 1987 Public Records
And if that's the case, then someone needs to get his/her hearin' checked... I listened for days on end for the drums on that single...
I consider this record overrated by the same means that an obscure 45 can be- because many of the people interested in the genre and record speak of it more highly than I would. Looking at this thread I can see that I am right, ha ha.
Just because a bunch of newjacks sweat Urban Rock doesn't make "Small Time Hustler" any less of a classic, it was a classic back when the hip-hop-on-ebay crowd was listening to indie rock or fucking Brittney Spears. EPMD is in no way overrated - they are rated for exactly the reasons stated above, extremely influential, top notch quality, exceptional ear for new talent, etc. I can't imagine someone who was actually listening to hip-hop when these came out
saying that EPMD is overrated.
No argument there, EPMD is and always has been
I don't get why people say that they don't get Ugly Duckling.
Not trying to get into beef, but I'm wondering what you meant. Just interested. I'd like to hear why you think that they are overrated.
So you base your relative like or dislike of a record on the importance placed on by some other group of people? "Oh, that record is overrated because so-and-so really bumps it". Like I said before, just the fact that Edan is your frame of reference for that record renders you and your opinion of it extremely suspect. Edan didn't MAKE the record, he didn't DISCOVER the record, he's not even the first to comp it (I believe credit for that goes to Ego Trip). Like the always-on-point Batmon said, that record was a mixshow staple back in the day, and to me it's as
And again, as for as EPMD, there are some groups whose status simply ain't open for debate, and EPMD is one of them. Their third album is to me THE best produced hip-hop record of all time....
I'm with Delay on this 100%, alot of people on this board need not ever talk about the rap music again evaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar.
1) Tupac. He's got the most loyal core audience ever. I respect that. But his charisma as an icon often exceeded his abilities as an artist.
2) Eminem. Insanely gifted lyricist who puts out so-so albums with mediocre production and repetitive themes. Also, he's got a voice that turns out large numbers of potential fans. You may think KRS was a blow hard but I've never heard anyone complain that his voice was wack.
3) 90% of random rap. It's like the funk 45 craze all over, just on a smaller scale. Don't get me wrong, there's some dumbfuckinghot random rap singles out there but the bulk of songs out there are just trying to cop Juice Crew styles. The market is just way too inflated - "Sir Vere" doesn't deserve to be a $150 single, period. (But I can't knock hiphoptonyd's hustle)
4) Any artist associated with Okayplayer (except for D'Angelo). 'Nuff said.
5) Madlib. He's a one trick production pony with a really good trick but not when he's making 13 albums a year.
6) 90% of current indie rap darlings. Name your poison.
Maybe time for holiday to put his copy of 'Small Time Hustler' up for sale to someone who doesn't consider it overrated and may just be excited about coppin' a premium slice of vintage late '80s hip-hop...
Woah, stop putting words in my mouth. Don't get so heated about it.
Read my second to last post, I think it was succinct and consistent with my point.
I used Edan as an example and probably should have realized that was a pandora's box round here, my bad. I don't listen to him and he is not my frame of reference for the music.