look up the words "Punk Poet" and maybe a name like "patti smith" punk was putting spoken word to a beat long before rap started, so what if rap has no melody at all then it can't be enjoyable either by your standards, I also have played several instruments (lost interest once I got into production), have been in bands, orchestral and otherwise, but didn't list them as it didn't provide nearly the insight to the developement of modern music as my experience on the informational/historical side of the industry
I never said that only guitarists are real musicians, when I saw the beasties in concert, they walked around the stage and swapped instruments on a regular basis and are probably the best freestyle artists that I have ever seen, but then they were playing funk, jazz, and punk songs, mostly when they did that. Nor did I ever say that there was no genre of rap that was respectable, that was why I made a distinction for the more funk based style of hip-hop like Jurassic 5, Ozomatli, Outkast, the Roots, and such, the basic rap and gangster rap is what sucks. That's what's literally formulated, like the black-eyed peas for instance. The whole reason that Fergie is in there was because a team of record reps and producers said they needed a female to appeal to a certain market, this was also about the time they started losing all their cred in artistic circles.
Don't limit your definition of punk to the likes of Suicide or James Chance yelling at a mic, there are also people like Siouxsie and the Banshees, Chrissie Hynde (the pretenders), Chris Cornell (punk with soundgarden, now more rock with Audioslave), Maynard James Keehan (most notably of tool, though it may be hard music he has an amazing voice), hell even blondie got her start as punk before her label sent her to the new wave category. As well as punk being replete with great instrumentalists, which rap can't really claim to have at all (again with most exceptions belonging to hip-hop), like Melissa Auf Der Mar, D'arcy, even Jeordie White of MManson (all bass players), Kim Thayil, Tom Morello, Cobain (guitarists), just to name a very small percentage to both keep it short and since most people don't know drummers and such by name (if tool isn't the pure embodiment of technical drumming then no band is).
Pick up " the directors series" of DVD's by Palm Pictures. They are all great with a broad selection of the most innovative songs and music vid's from all genre and continents from Massive Attack to White Stripes (lego video) to Cibbo Matto. A great investment for anyone, you will not be disappointed no matter what you like. The Spike Jones one illustrates my point exactly, loads of great music accompanied by outstanding videos, Pharcyde's "Drop" which was filmed entirely in reverse with them rapping backwards, then played back so they were falling up stairs and such, Fat Boy Slim Praise You and Walken's dance vid, Chem Bro's, Beastie Boys Sabotage, Weezer's Buddy Holly, Bjork's Oh So Quiet, then it gets to Notorious BIG, and the amazing twist he and Doody, I mean Diddy, can come up with is to have the standard rap vid, cars, pools, wheels, expensive clothes, and the most artistic thing they can do is replace all the rappers with children, wow. If you only get one to try them out on get the Michel Gondry one. I'm sure since it's not software most stores will let you return it if you don't like it.
BTW, I live where the KAZOO was invented, this makes me TOTAL FUCKING GODHEAD OF MUSICAL OPINION.
Last edited by kr@cker (2006-07-10 08:30:25)