Did RAP destroy popular music?

[RCMerchant]

It's early....I'm an early bird-I listen to the radio. I have,basically 3 choices:
.Country stations-Now-I like old country music. But not the modern crap.
.Classic Rock-I can only listen to the Eagles and Stairway to Heaven so much.
.and Hits. Back inna day-I would listen to popular music. I'm not a music "snob". I liked the variety.....BUT-
There is no variety now. It's all watered down rap. I usta like the old hip hop( Easy E and Grandmaster Flash.) But the sh!t on the radio is GARBAGE. It all sounds the same. If not rap-it's some whiny pseudo rock ( Thank BUSH and SILVERCHAIR for that) crap with lead singers with the same vocals.
Whatever happened to rock and roll radio?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJizV-d3sEQ
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[Psycho Circus]

I think it has more of an influence on today's pop music and production for $ure. I know some people here enjoy rap, but I very much feel that the rap music of today pales in comparison to the early records which broke down the doors to the mainstream. I don't mind Grandmaster Flash, Run DMC, NWA, Kurtis Blow, Rockmaster Scott and some 2 Pac. That was when you had hungry young artists trying to make it big, creating original records and delivering meaningful social commentary. Now, like any other genre that gets popular, it's an oversaturated market that has run out of ideas, it's all cliched tripe IMO. "Look how rich we are", "Look at that girl's ass", "Look at my car bouncing up and down". All hip-hop and pop now seems to have the same beat and has to be offensive/risque right off the bat to grab attention and jump on the fad wagon.

I know that those comments (If people strongly disagree) may seem a bit rich coming from a guy who likes "hair metal", but at least the rock bands back in the day toured their asses off to get where they got and could play instruments, plus there's a hell of a lot more musical diversity within the rock genre than there is in the rap genre. But again, just my opinion.

[RCMerchant]

Circus-I agree. Rap "stars" are made by freinds with money-ie: Puff Diddy (or whatever he's calling hinself nowadays). Was a day when musicians started from scratch...touring in broken down buses in bars and backyards. Now all they need to do is sound like someone else and be mediocre (American Idol,anyone?).
As far as rap goes....I don't consider it music if I don't see someone with a musical instrument. Boy Bands? AHHH!!!!! Justin Bieber? When did teeny bobber crap become across the board music and not regulated to Tiger Beat magazine? Is it the Apocalypse?

[Jack]

I detest rap.  I haven't listened to the radio in many years.  So yeah, it sure killed popular music for me.  Thank god for my CD collection.

[HappyGilmore]

I personally like rap, in and of itself.  I think there's too many rappers that're getting a shot nowadays.  Problem is, the internet and radio in itself have killed music.  Twenty years ago, if you did music, you'd have to prove yourself, do shows, get a following, etc., until you could get signed.  Nowadays especially, with things like iTunes and iPhones and iPods, iPads, and YouTube and Facebook, Twitter, Myspace cell phones and other social sites, and e-mail, even I could upload a video, and it'd get passed around the internet.  Now, there's not a lot of people who NEED to be signed.  I could upload stuff to the internet, and if it sells there, radio will play it. 

Plus, right now, there's a surge in not only rap, but electronic influenced music as a whole.  Acts like LMFAO, Lady Gaga, Lil Jon, T-Pain, Kanye West and a few others are using electronic based instruments to accompany their songs.  Their songs get played in a lot of bars and clubs when people are dancing, etc.  And, some record company A&R execs have an unofficial stance of "Rock is dead" and signing only electronic and rap based acts.  It's the record companies.

There are a lot of upcoming bands and acts that are worth listening to that DO get played on radio.  Arcade Fire, Adele, The Black Keys, Mumford and Sons, all talented bands and artist.  People complain about Lady Gaga, but I don't know why.  Granted, her off-stage antics don't help.  But as a musician, she's one of the better ones out now.  She can sing, play piano, play a little guitar, writes her own songs. 

[Criswell]

Rap from the late 80s and early 90s can be good. I don't think Modern rap and hip hop is any good though. The radio is really boring now, but its not raps fault its more of the companies that own the radio stations influencing what is put on the radio instead of having DJ's (Which are useless now) pick the songs to play.

[Mr. DS]

Music kind of goes up and down on the sh!t scale.  It would be hard for me to argue that rap destroyed popular music because I'd say disco kind of did that first.  Me personally I like the originators of rap like the ones Circus mentioned.  When it surfaced in the 80s it was fresh and new.  Post mid-90s it mostly all went to sh!t.  I do like some Lil Jon and Eminem songs here and there but for the most part, its all repetitive sh!t.

As for what they pass off as rock nowadays you can blame that on the bastard offshoots of nu metal.   Bands like Creed, Staind, Nickleback, Fuel kind of put us in this funk we're in now.  I guess you could blame nu metal on grunge.

I really, really hate what they're passing off as "metal" now.  Metalcore drives me friggin' insane.  That and the annoying emo-metal kind of stuff which is a mix of melodic vocals and screaming.  Actually is that metalcore?  Dunno to be honest

I guess the point of my side is everything seems to run it's course and dries up eventually.  Then it repeats itself again every ten years.

[Psycho Circus]

I guess the point of my side is everything seems to run it's course and dries up eventually.  Then it repeats itself again every ten years.

That's usually what I try to get across to people about modern music. It's stagnated. Anyone can say that stuff is fresh and new, and that old records sound dated, that's all down to production values improving and now being used to the point of overkill. Look at the way music evolved from the 50s onwards, there was always some new genre popping up, dominating the mainstream/charts and creating off-shoots and influencing future artists to created another hybrid of a genre. From the mid to late 90s that seems to have ended. No new forms of music, just new formats, new technology, re-hashing old ideas and an endless array of teenage copycats.

[RCMerchant]

I personally like rap, in and of itself.  I think there's too many rappers that're getting a shot nowadays.  Problem is, the internet and radio in itself have killed music.  Twenty years ago, if you did music, you'd have to prove yourself, do shows, get a following, etc., until you could get signed.  Nowadays especially, with things like iTunes and iPhones and iPods, iPads, and YouTube and Facebook, Twitter, Myspace cell phones and other social sites, and e-mail, even I could upload a video, and it'd get passed around the internet.  Now, there's not a lot of people who NEED to be signed.  I could upload stuff to the internet, and if it sells there, radio will play it. 

Plus, right now, there's a surge in not only rap, but electronic influenced music as a whole.  Acts like LMFAO, Lady Gaga, Lil Jon, T-Pain, Kanye West and a few others are using electronic based instruments to accompany their songs.  Their songs get played in a lot of bars and clubs when people are dancing, etc.  And, some record company A&R execs have an unofficial stance of "Rock is dead" and signing only electronic and rap based acts.  It's the record companies.

There are a lot of upcoming bands and acts that are worth listening to that DO get played on radio.  Arcade Fire, Adele, The Black Keys, Mumford and Sons, all talented bands and artist.  People complain about Lady Gaga, but I don't know why.  Granted, her off-stage antics don't help.  But as a musician, she's one of the better ones out now.  She can sing, play piano, play a little guitar, writes her own songs. 

Im Not convinced. My ears say it's run of the mill.
Lady Gaga? Are you serious? You are-scary. Janis wept.

[66Crush]

I hate rap, however I personally think that it is "American Idol" and the greedy record companies that destroyed music. They should have embraced downloading instead of suing teenagers. The porn industry has done that, that's why they are surviving. "Idol" has become the tastemaker. There is no more MTV (it exist in name only) and all the radio stations are owned by the same company. You here the same 20 songs rotated every hour. Bands get crap record deals where the execs own the publishing and if your over 30 and not attractive, forget it! They won't sign you. Older band's exist soley on indie labels. Even if your lucky enough to be young, good looking and signed to a label, if you don't have a hit right out of the box your over! The major's won't take time to promote you, it cost them too much money. They are in the business to make money not spend it. The label's are run by people who couldn't give a crap about music! Today's hip hop is in very different from the early rap. Most black people simply don't like rock music, rap is what they relate to. White kid's like it because rock is so watered down today and rap is the only rebelious sound they hear. People are lazy and won't search for cool new bands, it has to be rammed down they're throats! "Idol" is the easiest way for them to get spoon fed. The crap economy, jaded listeners, and corprate greed destroyed music!

[El Misfit]

Rap? well, say about 90% of it did. some stuff like early Eminem or..... well, as far back from my perspective is, I say that rap today started to destroy popular music, because it is usually the same stuff repeated over and over and over again. But I would strongly say that 99% of the music popular today destroyed the trend. either that, or, just like in every generation, the older generation will complain about the new generation's music.

[Mr. DS]

I hate rap, however I personally think that it is "American Idol" and the greedy record companies that destroyed music.

Very much agreed on American Idol.  I'm guilty of watching that show in the past but I will admit to only watching it in the hopes of an awful performance.  Hence why I like the guy's work over at votefortheworst.com. 

There are many problems with American Idol.  The first and foremost being the facade EVERY contestant is a gem off the street with no former singing experience.  A rags to riches story if you will.  And if one believes that they need to get to the GI doctor because they're full of sh!t.  That has been proved to be a load of BS many times in the past. I recall one season a chick actually had a pretty good record contract going but failed.  They call these people "plants", aka the douchebags who know someone to get into the competition. 

Another idea that blows my mind is how friggin' out of touch the producers are with today's crowd. You have theme nights where contestants have mentors like Elton John and Dolly Parton.  Both very much musical legends of the past but really, their music has already been outplayed in many circles. In other words, what have they done for music since the late 80s/early 90s.  Then the judges harp on the contestants about sounding unoriginal.  Well yeah, the show is based around bad karaoke. 

All we have with American Idol is a pop star factory that juices out the next 15 minute star.  Then we get to see them on the next season's finale. 

[Silverlady]

I love 50's and 60's music.  There are movies today that still incoporate music from that era into their soundtracks.  I seriously doubt that rap will be in movie soundtracks 30 years from now ...

[Ed, Ego and Superego]

I think it ruined popular music no more than Rock, Do Wop, Swing, bebop, Jazz, or even baroque ruined the popular music that came before them.  I'm not saying I like rap or that its good, but its all taste and opinion.

[AndyC]

I hate rap, however I personally think that it is "American Idol" and the greedy record companies that destroyed music.

Very much agreed on American Idol.  I'm guilty of watching that show in the past but I will admit to only watching it in the hopes of an awful performance.  Hence why I like the guy's work over at votefortheworst.com. 

There are many problems with American Idol.  The first and foremost being the facade EVERY contestant is a gem off the street with no former singing experience.  A rags to riches story if you will.  And if one believes that they need to get to the GI doctor because they're full of sh!t.  That has been proved to be a load of BS many times in the past. I recall one season a chick actually had a pretty good record contract going but failed.  They call these people "plants", aka the douchebags who know someone to get into the competition. 

And the whole process is so manipulated. The producers of the show call the shots when it comes to choosing who makes it through to the real competition, and the judges have little say in it. And they are constantly manipulating the show to pimp certain contestants over others. And I've always said the system they use for determining the winner is badly flawed. Each week, viewers pick the worst by voting for the best, and then they're shocked when one of the more popular contestants is eliminated. He could be everybody's second choice for all anyone knows. Ultimately, it doesn't matter who wins, because a bunch of them end up getting record deals every year. Winning American Idol has no particular career benefits over just doing well on American Idol. I admit I like to watch the show, but I can't say I've given a damn about any of the winners after the show ended and they got their record deals. When they're singing karaoke, taking a few chances and showing off, it's fun to watch. Once they get down to business, they suck.

American Idol is just a symptom of what is really ruining popular music - the same thing that's ruining movies, restaurants, television, shopping and everything else. Money. Music has become big business. It's been big business for a long time, but not like today. Not so long ago, recording companies, broadcasters, news media and whatnot were owned and operated by people in their respective industries. People ran a record label because that's what they wanted to do, so the people in charge had some expertise and some real interest in what they were doing. As there was more money to be made, these companies have come to be owned by corporations in the business of making money by owning a lot of moneymaking enterprises that could be just about anything. The people who ultimately make the decisions don't have much involvement in music, nor do they necessarily have any interest in it. It's just one piece of a big, multifaceted operation in which all the pieces are expected to maximize profits by running as efficiently as possible, even when efficiency comes at the price of quality. The control is no longer in the hands of people with a personal interest in the product or the customers.

You can really see it on American Idol. They're not just running a TV show that manufactures pop stars, they're promoting existing stars, plugging movies and other TV shows, selling cars and soft drinks, and anything else that will make them a buck.