Pazar 20 Oca 2008, 19:09

…but people who ignorantly hate rap really do annoy me. Any blind reasoning for hating rap is just that - blind reasoning, and I don't bother arguing with people over it due to the fact that they won't changed their terrible opinions.

I will, however address one argument that I've taken interest in lately: that of sampling.

Recently I've started to look at sampling music in an entirely new light. People may say that it takes no talent to take a part of an old song and mix it in with a new song, but I'd really beg to differ - just look at any of the various mashup DJs producing music (Girl Talk's Night Ripper is a prime example). Any producer who can incorporate a sample into new material and make it sound good is a true music artist in my opinion, which leads me to believe that sampling really is a form of musical art.

Some examples of flawless sampling:

N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton (samples Amen, Brother by The Winstons) - popularly known as the "Amen break")
De La Soul - The Magic Number (samples The Crunge by Led Zeppelin)
Kanye West - Stronger (samples Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk)
Eminem - Sing for the Moment (samples Dream On by Aerosmith - I feel that this one is done particularly well)
Wu-Tang Clan - C.R.E.A.M. (samples As Long as I've Got You by The Charmels)

… and several others. These are just a few random mainstream songs that I could think of off the top of my head - I'm not really bothering to go too in depth with this.

I suppose it really comes down to a matter of opinion, but due to the recent appreciation I've gained for hip-hop music, sampling has really come to light as an art form for me - not necessarily a conventional or traditional one, but an art form nonetheless.

Also, a few more of my unpopular opinions:

- I believe that vocals are an instrument, and so is a computer or a drum machine. Saying that rap isn't music due to its lack of true musical instruments (a flawed argument within itself considering bands such as The Roots) is basically saying the same for Aphex Twin or Venetian Snares.
- Rapping takes a large amount of physical discipline - several, several, several rap songs compress a large amount of lyrics into a short amount of time (see artists such as Aesop Rock orGhostface), and it really does take a toll on your breath to say all of that with such a rapid pace - especially considering the extensive language that a lot of rappers use.
- Black people make better music than white people, and they've had more influence on music than white people have. This is really just an opinion, feel free to disagree with me on this.

This was written rather poorly, and I have a headache, but I was pretty bored so I decided to kill some time with this. Flame away!

P.S. Some more unpopular opinions I have:

- Radiohead is overrated, although I do think that OK Computer is one of the best albums of the 90s - I've never understood all the love for Kid A though.
- I really enjoy the following bands: My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Linkin Park, Hawthorne Heights, and Panic! At the Disco. MCR in particular, they're one of my favorite bands of recent years. I can really start to see any similarities they have with Queen, and The Black Parade was a great album.
- Boston is the greatest band of all time.

An observation that I've made: Most of the people whom I've observed being ignorant and hateful about music primarily listen to metal. Nothing against metal as a genre (black metal is actually in my top five favorite music genres) or metal fans - it's just something that I've noticed.

That's it.