Unnecessary Roughness: Finally, a rapper with a positive side
Editor's note: This is the latest installment of "Unnecessary Roughness," a column by Read This! writer Vidur Malik. Watch for this column on the third Tuesday of every month.
In my quest to surround myself with intelligent rap, I find myself mostly listening to old-school artists.
I haven’t been able to find a mainstream, chart-topping rapper who can actually rap and produce complex lyrics and rhyme schemes, and infuse positive messages and creativity. That all changed after hearing “Doctor’s Advocate” by The Game.
The Game might be best known for his falling out with 50 Cent and his G-Unit crew. After releasing “The Documentary” with G-Unit, Game has since left the group, and made them his No. 1 enemies.
On the surface, The Game sounds no different from other “artists” of today. He vividly describes his gang-banging past. With numerous tattoos and bulging muscles, he looks as if he just stepped out of jail. Dig a little deeper, however, and you’ll find that The Game has a positive message in his songs, and, unlike most gangsta rappers, has a versatile flow and delivery.
“Doctor’s Advocate” does have the usual violent and sexual content that comes with the genre, but it also contains positive and even uplifting songs such as “Why You Hate the Game,” featuring rap legend Nas and Marsha Ambroshius, from the R&B group Floetry.
It is this break from the ordinary that we need in mainstream rap. It’s inevitable that a mainstream gangsta rapper will talk about guns, drugs and sex, but The Game is one of the few who includes more upbeat themes to lift our spirits.
Give The Game’s music a chance. You may discover a rapper who can actually make you smile rather than grimace.
Vidur Malik is a senior at Mission San Jose High in Fremont. His column, “Unnecessary Roughness,” appears on this blog the third Tuesday of every month.
very disappointed...
Upon seeing this article my hopes were raised to new levels. For once I would be able to find the possibility of breaking boundaries and bridging the gap. Someone had finally realized that not all rap is piercingly derogatory and degrading.
This comment completely shattered all of that
How sad is it that by the dawn of 2007, people still hold prejudices against different cultures. Hip hop, or rap as you call it, is more than just music, it IS a culture. To see a young person as myself write such a rude statement in a public place, just goes to show how much farther we need progress. By saying that "rap almost isn't even music," you have completely excluded an entire part of our uniquely diverse nation.
Since when is it okay to make general assumptions based on music videos as seen on TV? Oh excuse me...if it's on TV it must be true, right? I’m so disappointed to see such blatant ignorance and closed-mindedness from my generation.
Open your eyes.
Stupid.
At least when I attack the author, I can not sound cliche.
Rap began in the mid-70s with African-American urban youth. It began as a hybridization of poetic lyrics and mangled songs. And there is no logical connection between liking a race and liking the music they like. That's like saying you dislike Mozart, therefore you dislike Austrians or old people.
I personally dislike rap in general for the following reasons: "Gangsta rap" is American rap; it's the defining genre. It's demeaning and destructive with an egregious emphasis on discrimination, materialism, and homophobia. The rap that isn't "gangsta" are just mere shadows of what the real thing is. Imagine taking SexyBack and changing the lyrics into FunnyBack or something; I doubt it'll make first place on Billboard for 7 weeks.
I want you to find for me one top 10 Billboard rap songs in its original form that doesn't feature one racist, sexist, derogatory, materialistic, hedonistic, or religious lyric. Good luck on that.
And about your television comment. It made no sense. Who the **** cares about what's shown on TV? Just listen to rap. You don't even need to see what they're talking about. It's DISTURBING. And quit speaking as if you're one notch above the rest. I bet the writer of this article is alot smarter than you are.
We'll open our eyes when you shut your mouth.
--- The only thing I hate more than a dumb person who thinks he is smart is a smart person who thinks he is dumb.
we crave comercial rap
I'm a big fan of positive rap myself and I came to the conclusion that the reason why we have rap songs that advocate drug use and material objects is because we ask for it. Seldom do we see artists like Hieroglyphics, De La Soul, or Immortal Technique become big recording artists. We're enticed by the bling, the shiny Bentleys, and the girls dancing half naked on the tv screen. We like to see the image of a fantasy life that doesn't exist within our own lives so we buy it through music. We buy that new cd cause it's "what's hot". But do we listen?
We demand the comercial hyped-up rap that we get and that's why artists coem out with mixed tapes (or soemthing to that effect). Rapping is poetry. Poetry is a passion. How can rappers express their passion when record labels are demanding them to produce fantasy fluff? BUY those mixed tapes. They're worth it.
p.s. j-live, sadat-x, and little brother are some really good rappers that are pretty underground right now, check em out
You're Right
I completely agree with you. The artists you mentioned are some of my favorites, and underground rap is where the real passion is. Mainstream has become way too commercial. De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest are gone, and now we have 50 Cent polluting the radio and tv.
Keep reading my column and you'll find that I'll probably be talking about the same things you believe. Thanks,
Vidur Malik
It always amazes me that 50
It always amazes me that 50 cent is affiliated with eminem. eminem may not be the most positive rapper but let's face it, the guy's got talent. 50? not so much.
Some of the best underground is produced in our own backyards. Zion I and mystic [representing the ladies :) ] being my favorites.
I'll definitely check out your columns more. Just got hold of this website; I applied for 'read this' last year. Keep up the good work!
Hmm
Well, it seems to me that you missed out on some big ones. I haven't really been listening to rap lately, but I have heard some mainstream artists with non...violent/sexual songs. Eve and Missy Elliot are some of my favorites. Not too old-school, are they?
I do think that the media is promoting less talent and more sex, drugs, and money these days.
I also agree that old-school rap is definitely a lot nicer.
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Huh?
There's such thing as intelligent rap? There's little to no intelligent music in general these days, and rap almost isn't even music, it's more like the poetic bastard offspring of pop.
Clean rap, perhaps? Non-derisive rap? Meaningful rap?
--- The only thing I hate more than a dumb person who thinks he is smart is a smart person who thinks he is dumb.