How many rap "artists" actually know music ?

How many rap "artists" actually write their own music ?

How many rap "artists" can play a muscial instrument ?

How many rap "artists" can even read or play to a musical piece like this ?

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Some people think rap's all "great", but do your "musicians" have all that much musical knowledge or talent ?

 

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I really don't think that very many of them can. But that isn't what their "type" of music is all about anyway.

 

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More than you would think do have musical knowledge, as in a real education in music at a fancy university (which is what you seem to be talking about), but they have to keep it on the down-low. It often marks the end of a rapper's career when this information is leaked.
The reality is street scum thugs very rarely become rappers, successfull rappers can afford to pretend they are street scum thugs.
Tupac for example was a huge over-educated pussy untill after his first successfull album, then he got cocky and surrounded himself with tough guys and bought ak47s and shit, made up fake gang rivalries with other phonies, all because it was what was cool in the rap scene at the time. He was eventually shot in real life, but he purposefully and unnecessarrily created that threat, he didn't genuinely come from that world (a poor neighbourhood but he wasn't one of the tough guys on his ghetto block), it's not like he was in any danger of being shot untill after he became famous and had the money to construct a fantasy world for himself to really live in with thugs and drive bys.

There's an interview with him as a teenager at his high school and he reminds me of truthseeker, like a massive pussy wearing some hippy bracelet wishing for world peace and saying how jerks in his school disrespect women, but not him, and how come girls like jerks? etc etc (classic fag diatribe).
This is before he was famous, they were just interviewing random school kids, and he wasn't even kind of tough or cool.

Realistically you need a nerd's dedication (with the education in the arts and etc) to become a famous rapper, or you're way more likely to succeed with it. There's a few exceptions, but most of them suck. Like 50 cent, he really is a street urchin, you can tell by looking at his hard ratty face, and he sucks. He's not talented. Dr Dre (a nerd) found a ratty dirty street negro and made him into a product. He just kind of has to mumble out some crap about clubs and haters and "watch the money pile up".

But yes, behind the production of successfull rap there most definately always will be people with huge amounts of music knowledge.

 

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I've been told that Tupac studied ballet, too.

 

"Rap?...its just one note." -Tony Bennett.

BTW, Dr.Dre (most successful rap producer) has no musical education to speak of. He also did poorly in high school and had to transfer due to gang violence.

 

(Insert title here)

I wouldn't hold them to the standard of reading music. Some of my favorite guitarists don't know how to read music. I'm not sure about Pete Blakk, but Andy LaRocque hadn't learned to read music at least into the 1990s. Certainly not when they recorded "Black Horsemen", one of my favorite songs over the years.

As to playing music, I'm torn, because what actually constitutes playing music? At first, it seems intuitive. But given some of the stuff I'll call music—another of my favorite songs is three guitars banging out the same one, open-string note for thirteen minutes—it's a tough call.

Regarding the topic title, though, I don't think the quotes around the word artists is necessarily fair. While there is an arguable debate against calling a rapper a musician, the word artist is most certainly appropriate.

(Is there any reason the score in the picture is upside-down?)

 

It's from one of GWB's piano lessons

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I could take a shit on a piece of paper and smear it around and call myself an "artist". That doesn't make me an artist.

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Although it wouldn't surprise me if some "artist" has already done this.

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Most of the successful guitar players can read music because they also write music. A rapper is not a musician so it may not be expected of them to read music.

 

Rap is poetry. Why would reading classical music scores be involved, necessarily?

I can read and write music from a misspent youth of classical piano and violin, but I've never found that skill of much use in playing the guitar even, let alone reciting poetry.

AFAIK the only musicians around who routinely possess the skills of a standard issue classical bass or continuo player of the era in which most of that stuff was written are jazz piano and bass players.

 

Rap is about lyrics and beat...its different type of music.

 

Jay Z: Sunshine

http://www.vh1.com/video/play.jhtml?artist=1269&vid=8926

 

It is apparent that most (not all) rappers have the same musical skills as Britney Spears.

"Lots of gold and silver they do wear"
-Yoda

 

Dont you dare compare trash like Britney Spears to the supreme ability of rappers like Jay-Z, Tupac, and Dr.Dre.

 

The ability to read music is not a necessary skill for rap artists. The majority of the successful rap artists are not real musicians, but there are a view artists that do have real musical talent.

The Roots (Real music, real hip hop)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=BgQdWoIkbCk&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=TG_BKbkuP44&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=nIVzt_vGyr8

K-OS (He is a poet, a singer, and a novice guitar player that works with talented musicians)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hDFbVrdLu00
http://youtube.com/watch?v=6FznFcFHJvQ&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2CLhdQ81l6w&feature=related (not rap)

 

I wonder how many classical musicians have made similar comments about rock and pop musicians and singers.

If you can do the things you seem to think rap musicians should but can't, then enjoy your own skills.

I really can't see what your problem is.

As far as Tony Bennet, quoted in your post, he made his name, I believe, singing songs he did not write. He did study music, but I have never seen him play an instrument. In fact a lot of crooners, most, did not write their own songs. So what.

If you like rap, like it.
If you don't, don't listen to it.

Is it somehow taking something away from you?

 

This is also a good point. It's much more focused on rhythm. It is not the same kind of music as classical with the latters focus on harmony and melody, which, if the OP writer new more about music in general, would make his choice of example obviously silly even to him.

 

Nope, it's just interesting that there's so many of these "musicians" out there that some people consider musicians.

 

They are making music. I mean Tony Bennett, he just sang songs. But then the voice is an instrument, a very subtle one. You are used to, probably, music based less on complicated rhythms and changes in these rhythms, so you can't hear the differences very well and find it easy to think of it as not music and the ones who make it as not musicians.

I don't know what kind of music you like. If it's classical, well that is a whole different kind of music. If it's rock or pop you have a very similar situation, where perhaps only one person in the band really knows music in the sense you seem to be after. Or none of them do, but they can lay down some basic rhythms borrows mostly from African Americans and sing and play fairly simple melodies over these. Trial and error will get you some nice chord progressions. Hell, you don't even need to know scales and I am sure many lead singers don't.

 

Rap and Hip Hop come from the street, not fucking Juilliard.