Holy Shit, Kanye West sucks!

[Rabrrrrrr]

What is this shit he's "performing"?

Christ in a Versace handbag, this is pure unlistenable awfulness.

[Floogeldy]

1. Well, now here is where you and I disagree.

I think he blows.

;)

[Kire]

67. Lollipops!

I think he licks!

[high density]

2. I hear lots of noise

But that's typical for most SNL "music" acts.

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. I'm sure it's "trendy" and "edgy"

I'm also sure it's pure unadulterated garbage.

[Qibing Zero]

9. Did you see who is on next week?

The lip syncing "I only got this act because society is shallow enough to make my slightly-more-talented older sister into a celebrity, then accept that all of her family members must be 'special' as well" Ashlee Simpson.

Yeah, and then they wonder why we're cynical about our society these days. Hmm... 'these days'. I'm barely into my 20s and already saying that. Uh-oh.

[DS1]

4. No doubt

BUT, it's refreshing to not have obvious lip synching

[tjdee]

5. He has the LEAST star quality of anyone, ever.

I'm not watching him now, but his latest video is like watching some camera guy being persuaded to be *in front* this time.... I can't stand him.

OH I can't stand him, although he has said some things I agree with.
(on edit, one or two things, because there's a lot to piss me off in that new video!)

He's very self-involved and just a big baby, seems like.

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. "very self-involved and just a big baby" - well yeah, he's a rapper

That's pretty much the requirement to go into that "art" form.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

14. Wow, a lot of anti-hip-hop sentiment on DU.

Do you guys understand the difference between rap and hip-hop?

[DS1]

18. I don't, what is the difference?

I'd like to know

[alarcojon]

24. Definitions will vary

Here's one: hip-hop is a lifestyle, of which rap is the preferred music. Hip-hop encompasses rap music (which is much more diverse than just "gangsta" rap), clothing, language, and other forms of entertainment - you'll find many more hip-hop aficionados at a professional basketball game than at NASCAR!

Another definition floating around is that rap and hip-hop are both musical styles, but that hip-hop is generally more instrumental and less aggressive - and often more political - than rap.

[DS1]

26. Okay, so to put it in my world

Hip hop = Metal
Rap = Thrash

[alarcojon]

28. I might even say

hip-hop is to rock as rap is to metal.

As for the first definition, I might go with rap is to hip-hop as country music is to rural white culture.

Imperfect analogies, but I hope they shed some light.

on edit: I had my analogies in the wrong place the first time.

[DS1]

29. They do

:-)

[Zuni]

35. no, and I could care less

both genres produce an enormous amount of unlistenable tracks

[Starbucks Anarchist]

64. And what is your experience with both genres?

What legitimate hip-hop artists have you heard?

[ofrfxsk]

6. I wish he was lip synching

Not the brightest.

[Blue_Tires]

7. some ppl are better off in the studio, lol

[Graf Orlok]

8. I would have to agree.

He did suck.

[WCGreen]

11. And what was with the Robert Palmer Orchestra that you

couldn't even hear.....

And those painted on masks....

Jeezz...

It sounded like something put together by a marketing firm to "appeal" to the X generation.....

[driver8]

12. I took my parents and my sister to see the Tonight Show once...

A very good friend of mine writes for the show and always hooks me up. Anyhow, the musical guest was "Nelly" and the took us all outside where they had a stage set up for a summer concert series they were doing.

So, Nelly and his guys come on and start playing and my dad and I looked at each other and go, "what the hell is this shit?" We lasted one song and then bolted out of there. The people in the crowd thought we were crazy for leaving early...but they sucked!

We found out a couple of days later that Nelly had the number one album in the country.

I don't get it.

[RagingInMiami]

13. You're not supposed to get it

Did your parents get the music you were listening to when you were younger?

EDIT: I just realized I don't even know how old you are, but you came across as older than 40.

[Tallison]

20. My parents were right about the shit I used to listen to

They brought me up on Beatles and Baez. As a teenager I broke out, to their predictable dismay. It was a stage. They always knew good music, and we're finally back on the same page. They like new stuff, they just don't like new shit.

[driver8]

39. Ha Ha...I am 42! I didn't realize it was so obvious. I am into all kinds

of music and my father has a band of his own. We both thought Nelly sucked.

You are absolutely right about my parents not getting my music -- especially when I was in my "KISS" phase!!

[RagingInMiami]

54. My parents didn't get my fascination with KISS either

I even used to buy the KISS cards. I just turned 37.

[Heidi]

15. I like Kanye West's new CD.

It's a difference of opinion. It find his music perfectly listenable. :shrug:

[AtomicKitten]

16. I liked it.

I thought combing the orchestra with hip-hop was innovative.
And having Adam Levine (Maroon 5) sing with him was sweet.

You know what they say about opinions ...

[WCGreen]

19. If the Orchestra actually had a role in the music instead of as a

prop.......

They didn;t add anything of substance to the song....

[kwassa]

33. I think the substance was both the theatrical aspect of the group

and they did provide actual string accompaniment to the song

[WCGreen]

57. You could hardly hear.... And what they added was way overshadowed

by the rap basic and the sound effects...

So, in the end, it was nothing special....

[kwassa]

58. Special is in the ears of the perciever, I think

I liked it as a piece of theater. I thought it imaginative.

I still find most rap to be a form of spoken karaoke, though.

[WCGreen]

59. Well Put......

I just didn't see what all the fuss was.....

[VolcanoJen]

23. I'm with you, Kitten

I thought he was great, and Adam Levine sounded amazing!

Then again, I'm a hip-hop fan.

[peekaloo]

17. Amen.

Drivel.

[progmom]

21. heh

I like the record, but respect your opinion. :hi:

[Susang]

37. I dig Kanye too

His performance was the only reason I sat through yet another insufferably bad SNL. :hi:

[smbolisnch]

22. I actually like his new song.

I don't know the rest of his music, but I am sure it is not "unlistenable awfulness."

[kwassa]

25. Sounds like the Generation Gap in action!

any boomers out there that like hip-hop?

[alarcojon]

30. I'm technically a Gen X-er

but I'd be a boomer had I been born a month earlier. And I like rap, though I'm well aware of the problems a lot of it has - glorification of senseless violence, misogyny, homophobia.....and let's not forget a knock we could apply to all musical styles - a lot of the "hip-pop" out there is just slapped together to make a buck, and just plain sucks.

[kwassa]

31. What about it do you like?

I've tried to like it at points, and failed. I can't get past the values expressed in the songs, and the lifestyle it purports to display. I've been listening to R&B, funk, soul, and everything else most of my life. I find most rap to be extremely monotonous.

I know that there are plenty of rock groups that have embraced stupidity, too, but they weren't the ones I listened to. Is there comparable intelligent rap?

[peekaloo]

32. A Tribe Called Quest! KRS-One! Arrested Development (RIP)!

I don't want to be hatin' but KW had no flow.

[WCGreen]

61. Yea, I really enjoyed arrested development....

[Rabrrrrrr]

36. Nah, rap came out in my generation

in terms of hitting the airwaves and becoming institutionalized and an industry.

Hated it then, hate it now.

Same with hip-hop, though at least hip-hop tends to be less shouting inane lyrics and sophomoric "political" "poetry", and more almost-singing and more almost-melodic.

It's the only form of music, along with modern corporatized salsa and merengue, that I literally hate and cannot tolerate for more than the first beat.

[kwassa]

56. Corporatized salsa and merengue ???

What artists would they be?

How do you feel about people like Juan Luis Guerra, or Willie Colon? Ruben Blades?

[Blue_In_AK]

60. I'm a boomer (an "early" boomer 1946), and I like some hip-hop

and I thought I was really going to hate Kanye West on SNL after reading this original post, but actually I liked it, and I thought the orchestral accompaniment was great. I like it when people do things a little differently from the norm.

[alarcojon]

27. I've always felt that hip-hop is better studio music than live

I have seen some pretty bad live hip-hop acts. I have also seen some good live performances. I didn't see Kanye, so I won't comment on how he did.

There is a lot of sampling and heavy beats in this music, which probably needs a lot of sound engineering to sound its best. That's not to justify a lot of the B-) hating B-) I see here.

[Zuni]

34. I am no fan of Kayne West either

At the protest I saw so many people with "Kayne West 2008" T-shirts. One comment about George Bush not caring about blacks and people start hero worshipping a rather bad hip-hop artist (not that most hip-hop is good, mind you)

:eyes:

[ghostsofgiants]

38. Compared to 99% of the mainstream rap/hip-hop out there, Kanye is a genius

That said, compared to a lot of other hip-hop artists (Common, Mos Def, The Roots, Sweatshop Union, etc.) he's defintely not up to par (though ironically he produces for Common and Mos Def quite a bit). But if i hear a Kanye song come on the radio, I'm not reaching to change the station the way I am when a 50 Cent song comes on.

[wiley]

41. Kanye West is an enormously talented genius

This is beyond debate. Guess you're just not feeling him.

Yeah, you can have 50 cent.

[ghostsofgiants]

43. Reading comprehension isn't your strong suit, is it?

Changing the station when 50 Cent comes on means that I DON'T LIKE 50 Cent. NOT changing the station when Kanye comes on means that I LIKE Kanye. I just don't think he's as amazing as some say he is.

[wiley]

48. Got that from your post.

I wasn't suggesting that you like 50 cent, just that you or anyone else can have him. I also get that you like Kanye West. I just dispute your qualifying his genius by comparison to others. Kanye is all that and more.

Why so quick with the insult?

:dilemma:

[ghostsofgiants]

53. You said "Yeah, you can have 50 cent" in a post directed at me

Apparently I was wrong, but it seemed as though you were saying that if I prefered 50 Cent then I could have him, which was clearly not the intention of my post.

It wasn't an insult, just a blunt observation. (And apparently an incorrect one, so I apologize.)

As for whether it's debatable or not? It's always debatable. Whether or not a musician is a genius is subjective for the most part, and there's always going to be disagreement. I happen to think that he's nowhere near on par with the artists I listed. You disagree. That's what happens when personal tastes come into play. Just because you think he's undeniably a genius doesn't make it so. (And the opposite is also true, just because I think he's less of a genius than others doesn't necessarily make that true either.)

[wiley]

66. Thank You for your integrity

:applause:

[bloom]

40. Have you heard his George Bush... song?

It's my sig line.

[tjdee]

44. That's not him...

The folks who rap in it sampled the music and some of the rhythms of his song "Golddigger", but as far as I know West himself had nothing to do with the song. Other than obviously his saying George Bush doesn't care about black people.

I actually like the Katrina song better than the actual "Golddigger".

[ghostsofgiants]

45. That's not Kanye...

It's a pair of rappers known as Dem Knock-Out Boyz. It's just done over an intrumental of Kanye's "Golddigger".

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

42. I like how everyone suddenly jumped on his bandwagon ...

after he said " Bush does'nt care about black people " :eyes: and then is surprised when they buy his CD and find out that its not to their agenda .

[ghostsofgiants]

46. This place jumps on bandwagons constantly...

ANY celebrity says ANYTHING negative about Bush and they becaome Gods. This isn't the first time and it won't be the last.

[Rabrrrrrr]

47. So true! And the opposite, too - any celebrity mentions owning a gun,

going hunting, gets invited to perform at an inauguration or at the White House, doesn't wear the right pin or bracelet at some "event", and wham, they're instantly Satan, no matter how liberal and democratic they've said and showed they are.

But, we do have a lot of socially and emotionally immature people in the democratic party.

[ghostsofgiants]

50. So I've noticed...

And, in the same vein, anyone who doesn't participate in the hero worship or witch hunt is all of a sudden a bad liberal/Democrat (or potential freeper) as well.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

49. I'm laughing because

we all wanted to like him so much!

[wiley]

51. I liked him even before "College Dropout" came out

So, do all the thousands of DUers now not like him?

[TallahasseeGrannie]

52. I had never heard of him until the Katrina relief show

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

63. That's exactly what I am talking about .

I hate it whenever people choose to hero worship someone because of their political beliefs but wants to think they are no longer worthy if they don't fit their agenda ... And he existed waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay before his " Bush does'nt care about black people " statement and before College Dropout .

[LeftyDarthBrodie]

65. I started listening to Kanye before the Katrina relief

I'm 22 and always a bit behind or just not interested in the trendsof my peers. Kanye is actually quite thoughtful, for those DU'ers who might be unaware. Besides his comments on the Katrina relief telethon, I watched an interview with him on MTV in which he said he hoped rappers would stop using the word "fag" or just referring to homosexuals in a negative way. Also listen to "Roses" and the remix of "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" on Late Registration for some progressive themes in Kanye's lyrics.

[ismnotwasm]

55. Aww he's ok

Not the best I've heard. But not the worst by a long shot. Missed the SNL show. I'm 45 and not a huge hip-hop fan, but I can listen to Grand Master Flash to this day and get the chills from certain songs. Off and on, there's been rap/hip-hop whatever you want to call it that I really like. Two of my kids like hip-hop (they also like other kinds of music--Including stuff like the Gypsy Kings) So they turn me on to stuff that isn't on continual MTV rotation. All of them like older rock. A couple of them are more into metal or punk. My son actually likes Alice Cooper's old stuff-- (I was a huge fan as a kid) Which I find hilarious for some reason.
Anyway, he might get better with time. Might not, but let's hope so.

[Blue_In_AK]

62. My 20-year-old daughter

was a huge Doors fan in her mid-teens. She had posters of Jim Morrison all over her bedroom. That cracked me up, too.