Thank God I have all old vinyl and tape.... I miss the "yes, yes, y'all..." days of rap.... my faves then and now, are UTFO, Eric B. and Rakim, Kool Moe Dee and of course, Run-DMC.... the UTFO album LETHAL is easily one of my all-time favorite albums ever... took me a year to find it on EBAY in CD format. There were so many fun songs back then...

One of the best concerts I was ever at was something called Fresh Fest. It had Eric B and Rakim, Whodini, UTFO, Joeski Love (Pee Wee Dance), and a few other groups (can't remember now)... it was such a great atmosphere to be in....

When gangsta rap began to move in, I listened to some of it... generally the NWA group... and liked it to a degree, but it didn't have the heart that the older stuff did.... I respect the hell out of Ice Cube's ability to write and rhyme, but it's just too damned dreary for my tastes...

Anyways, I'm curious to hear who you all listened to back when rap was fun......

Eric B and Rakim are one of my favs! I think rap today is getting back to the fun with a little bit of gangsta mixed in. I like it all. The mid-90's was perhaps the worst era of rap ever.

I love it all from the 80's and I can stand a couple tunes here and there from today (the few that actually show some semblance of originality) :p

One thing's gotta be done to improve the state of hip hop and that's the shunning and obliteration of Eminem. I've gone on enough tirades about this assclown, so you know what I think of him already...lol :p

"I think rap today is getting back to the fun with a little bit of gangsta mixed in. I like it all."-quoted by djdaffy

I don't want any more gangsta at all whatsoever. I just want fun. I just want laughs. I want a girl with extensions in her hair. Bamboo earrings, at least 2 pair. A Fendi bag and a bad attitude. That's all I need to get me in a good mood.

This gangsta crapola, on the other hand...Puke! They can keep it!

Sincerely,

John "outofplacechild" Kilduff

I don't want a 90s revival. I lived the 90s and it was my worst decade, and the culture of every passing year reflected how bad things were getting in my life. I just want an 80s-and-80s-only revival! That's my 2 pennies.

Originally posted by djdaffy1227:
<STRONG>Eric B and Rakim are one of my favs! I think rap today is getting back to the fun with a little bit of gangsta mixed in. I like it all. The mid-90's was perhaps the worst era of rap ever.</STRONG>

I remember hearing an Eric B and Rakim song, way back in '88. I just can't remember the title, though.

Coolio does some stuff that is fun. Other than that, I still prefer the old stuff. Whodini, UTFO and the Beastie Boys.

Hmmm..it seems to me that a lot of rap/hip hop music never made it across to Europe. The ones I can remember are Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Sugar Hill Gang, Afrika Bambaataa (sp?), Run DMC, Beastie Boys & Public Enemy.

Although he hasn't done too much lately in the music world, all of Will Smith's (Fresh Prince) jams are fun as well. He's one of the few today that can prove you don't need swears every other word to sell your music and be successful :)

Another group I really liked was The Boogie Boys.... their big song was Fly Girl but I have three of their albums and it was all good....

I just got an '80s hip hop CD with Kurtis Blow, Grandmaster Flash, Sugarhill Gang, Newcleus, et al. on it and it is so fun. There was a different energy about it back then. Except for some Coolio, I haven't been able to stand most hip hop since the 80s.

Originally posted by Kayenne:
<STRONG>Hmmm..it seems to me that a lot of rap/hip hop music never made it across to Europe. The ones I can remember are Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Sugar Hill Gang, Afrika Bambaataa (sp?), Run DMC, Beastie Boys & Public Enemy.</STRONG>

Actually, with the exception of Public Enema (hated them), I listened to all of those groups. Most of them were very early 80's and I think the Sugar Hill Gang may have been late 70's?

Sugar Hill was in late '70's.... Wrapper's Delight was around when I was in 6th grade, which was in 1979....

I liked some of what PE did but it always sounded like Chuck D was trying to cram too many words in each sentence... his rhymes didn't seem to have a flow to me...

Another big fave back then was Kool Moe Dee... his lyrical work on I Go To Work was incredible... he, Rakim and LL are all great lyricists....

Hey, Shakey.... where in Chandler are you? Drop me an email at webmaster@kayfabememories.com....

I live in the Chandler/Awatukhee area, just off of Chandler & Kyrene. Welcome to the board. Don't think we've talked before.

Erhm... *looks around*

*mumbles something about stalking and walks out again*

http://www.isp-choice.com/smilies/clap.gif :D

Question for you :)

I don't know whether this goes under Rap or Freestyle so bear with me :)

Do you remember the song these two very soft rappers took from Madonna.

'Holiday'
'...we're gonna ring a ranga dong for a holiday hey check out the words we just played...'

Who sings this?

Originally posted by Zel:
<STRONG>Question for you :)

I don't know whether this goes under Rap or Freestyle so bear with me :)

Do you remember the song these two very soft rappers took from Madonna.

'Holiday'
'...we're gonna ring a ranga dong for a holiday hey check out the words we just played...'

Who sings this?</STRONG>

It was MC Miker G and DJ Sven, two Dutch DeeJays.
The song was kinda funny until the radio stations played it to death...I can remember that one station played it 5 times (!) during the daytime. :rolleyes:

LOL...I was just thinking of this song a couple days ago.. :p I have it recorded on tape somewhere, but never knew who sang it myself...kooky little tune it is :p

Never really liked rap much, but I did like Tone Loc. I also liked that song by Young MC- Bust A Move.

..

I must say that although I've always been a hard-rock kinda guy, I was a closet rap fan too. :D I have to agree that rap was more fun when it was funny & not about bussin' a cap in somebody's @ss or mistreating your "Ho's".

Kool Mo Dee was one of my faves, the artist formerly known as the "Fresh Prince" was a fave. Sir Mix Alot was also very cool (& funny). I even liked some of the early gangsta stuuf like Easy E.
Occasionally I'll hear a rap song today that I like, Busta Ryhmes has a song or 2 I like, and I like Outkast's "Versatile"...can't really say why. LOL :rolleyes:

Originally posted by nolanbuc:
<STRONG>I must say that although I've always been a herd-rock kinda guy, I was a closet rap fan too. :D </STRONG>

Herd-rock? Is that with such bands as Motley Cows? Sheeps 'N Cattle? Twisted Bison? LOL j/k :p ;)

Aha! edited your post as I was making my wisecrack I see...lol

Originally posted by Roemello:
<STRONG>

Herd-rock? Is that with such bands as Motley Cows? Sheeps 'N Cattle? Twisted Bison? LOL j/k :p ;)</STRONG>

:D Nice...

Some of the eary rap records are the best. My favourite has to be,'The Message' by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious five. Some of these early rap artists were discovering the new synth music from Europe such as kraftwerk, a band many rappers see as an early influence.

Glad you mentioned Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. "The message" and "Electric kingdom" by Twilight 22 are considered the very first gangsta raps. They came out about the same time (I wanna say 1982) so as you can see rap has always had a little gangsta edge to it. Grandmaster Flash was always a little bit political on his records.

I actually have the Holiday Rap song on 12" vinyl. There was also a Cassanova's Rap song which was atake on Levert's Cassanova, I also have that on vinyl.

I'd have to say that Gangsta rap is not whether the artist is making a political statement (would you consider Arrested Development Gangsta Rap??) but more about whether the rapper is rapping (or complaining in many cases) in a very negative attitude towards anything mainstream or either in a hateful tone. Promotion of outright violence with no regard to any morales or principals is a good sign of Gangsta rap. It is possible to rap about life in the hood (see Beat Street Rap) without every other line referingcing killing someone in some fashion or how the rapper is only the victim of society. Gangsta rap is a good example of someone who does not want to take responsibilty for what they do.
And for the record I think Eminem is poster child for what you want your child to not be. I believe in artist expression but I also believe in being responsible for your actions.

PS: If anyone has any Q's about obscure 80's rap stuff just let me know.