Spike Lee on Rap

[freakerdude]

I like rap music but only have about 15 rap CDs. I have a very wide range of musical tastes except for most country. It's funny how 2Pac was always used as a status symbol for other artists. He was the Elvis of rap, but definitley not the originator. I have seen 4 of the 5 documentaries and most of them are good. Tupac Shakur Before I Awake and Thug Angel are good if you like him. If there ever was a hard working rap artist, he was it. He recorded so much music in such a short time that his posthumous released albums far outweigh his released work while alive. He knew he was going to die and wrote songs about it. Even though his time was short, he succeeded at what he strived for.

what few others I have

Outkast
DMX
Jah Rule
Dr. Dre
Snoop Dog
Public Enemy

[Jeremy Blackman]

Tupac Shakur . . . If there ever was a hard working rap artist, he was it. He recorded so much music in such a short time that his posthumous released albums far outweigh his released work while alive.

What makes you so sure that he's dead?

[SHAFTR]

Rap I enjoy

A Tribe Called Quest
Q Tip
Talib Kweli
Outkast

[freakerdude]

interpret as you wish.

59 factors related to his death

on a side note, he also wrote some meaningful poetry IMO.

[Pubrick]

hip hop i rocked this year..

freddie foxxx/bumpy knuckles (a TRUE gangsta, who spits real knowledge)
outkast
kool keith (in many forms)
bubba sparxxx
blackalicious
Roots Manuva
MF Doom (including as Viktor Vaughn)
Pep Love, Del, the whole hiero crew
supremeEX
mos def
do u count DJ shadow?
gangstarr
..

and that's not counting the many decent tracks that make the charts which i enjoyed, such as Nas, Jay-Z, and Missy.. and the classics which never leave the rotation (PE- nation of millions, etc). even so, my hip hop playlist has diminished considerably in the past year. point is, there's good hip hop (refer to list), and there's shit music.. which is what spike was talking about, and is increasingly being sold as real hip hop to the suburban masses. he's right that it's corrupting what used to be a positive thing for real heads.

[Ravi]

Tupac Shakur . . . If there ever was a hard working rap artist, he was it. He recorded so much music in such a short time that his posthumous released albums far outweigh his released work while alive.

What makes you so sure that he's dead?

That he releases a new album each year doesn't mean he's alive.

[Sleuth]

Tupac Shakur . . . If there ever was a hard working rap artist, he was it. He recorded so much music in such a short time that his posthumous released albums far outweigh his released work while alive.

What makes you so sure that he's dead?

That he releases a new album each year doesn't mean he's alive.

I saw him driving once

[Jeremy Blackman]

do u count DJ shadow?

I really like DJ shadow   ...

... so probably not