B-Double-O-T-Y, Oh My...

So, I was listening to some Tag Team on the way back to work from lunch, and I was thinking about how they just don't write rap like they used to. The following is a post that is going to make me (and probably you) feel really old.

The stuff that is out now all sounds the same. It's all about sex, drugs, money, dubs.... Don't get me wrong, I know all the old stuff was all about that too, but it was more innuendo then just flat out "slap a ho!"

The lyrics were funny, generally complex, and actually rhymed. Now it's like they just say the same line over and over, adding in an "uuuuuuuh, yeeeeeeeeah" every now and again.

The songs were catchy and fun! And even as complex as the lyrics were, we still knew all the words to most of the songs!
"Rollin' in my five-point-o with my rag top down so my hair can blow..."
"Man, parents just don't understand..."
"Yo, let me bust the funky lyrics (you can't touch this)..."
"But Fonda ain't got a motor in the back of her Honda..."
"So don't just stand there, bust a move..."

And who doesn't know all the words to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song? "Now this is a story all about how my life got flipped turned upside-down..." Now you're humming it aren't you?

I don't mean to sound like an old man (Darn kids with their baggy pants and loud music... Get off my lawn!!!). I'm just saying that there is not the same passion and creativity in today's rap music as there used to be. Now you have east coast versus west coast, but it all sounds pretty much the same, with the west coast leaning a little more towards "old school" rap.

And most of it is friggin' depressing - like Emo or something. No wonder "gangstas" shoot each other all the time. THEY'RE DEPRESSED. Every other word is a word that has to be censored by public radio, but half the time you can't hear the lyrics anyway because the bass is so loud! It's like they forgot that there are other variables to music besides bass!

I really hate it for the talented pioneers of rap music. That kind of rap is pretty much dead now. It's been replaced with words that encourage people to hoard money, be promiscuous, and kill anyone that gets in their way. It basically teaches the listener to put more value in things than people.

Note to Self: "In west Philadelphia born and raised..." Yeah, you'll have that song in your head all day now... Better than "Oh I've got a lov-e-ly bunch of coconuts..." Oh dangit.