Is backpacker hip hop destroying the music?

[J Bananas]

OK, I'm gonna catch a lot of shit but whatever. When i see acts like Atmosphere, Aesop Rock, etc... I cant help but think that hip hop is doomed before long. I know you're gonna wanna say, "no it's the shitty top 40 rappers that are destroying it", No. The thing about mainstream rap is that it is still a black mans game and it still contains the energy and rawness that made the genre so big in the first place. So many underground cats are sick of it so what do they do? make the polar opposite. Now this may attract a lot of white kids and shit who are tired of their SDE tape and want to be part of some intelligent movement, but what these "educated" albums are doing is just making it safe for white people to intervene and do whatever to the music in the name of "art". So many suburban kids have now found an outlet thru these self concious artisitic rappers because they can relate to it, so then they start their own projects, and soon there's a whole white rap scene. The problem with this is, since we live in a white world, its only a matter of time before this gets taken over as mainstream rap, and all the hardcore dudes we dont hear from again. The same thing happened with jazz, and its only a matter of time before it happens to hip hop.

[7even]

no, backpack is tight, there are a lot of skilled white rappers out there

I seriously don't get how you can hate aesop rock or atmosphere.

[SGV]

What most Backpackers don't understand is that they're trying to change Hip Hop. They call Aesop Rock real, but Nelly fake. Nelly is no different than a Sugar Hill Gang. Feel good music meant for partying. Hip Hop was partially born in the Clubs/Parties, it will never change.

They big up Atmosphere, but down Ja Rule. Ja isn't much different than LL. The worst is that they dickride someone like Big L, but they're quick to deny someone like Jadakiss. They're almost the same exact rapper. They has a similar rhyme structure, their content ain't much different. etc. Only difference is... Jada's Platinum.

Backpackers are dying to see their favorite rappers in that spot, but since your Eyedea's, Aesop's and El-P's haven't mastered the art of making "universal music," they'll be stuck in their mediocre ways until they retire.

Its not the artists, it's the fans that make Backpack rap look bad. Just my 2 cents.

[SGV]

no, backpack is tight, there are a lot of skilled white rappers out there

I seriously don't get how you can hate aesop rock or atmosphere.

Probably because they're garbage. Their ear for beats are horrible. Aesop's voice is good, but his flow is terrible. Slug is the opposite, nice flow, shitty voice. Aesop spits non-sensical rhymes... Only people who could/can do that and look good doing it is Kool Keith and ODB, as they made it a style. Overall, they don't have much to offer outside of "lyrics."

[7even]

no, backpack is tight, there are a lot of skilled white rappers out there

I seriously don't get how you can hate aesop rock or atmosphere.

Probably because they're garbage. Their ear for beats are horrible. Aesop's voice is good, but his flow is terrible. Slug is the opposite, nice flow, shitty voice. Aesop spits non-sensical rhymes... Only people who could/can do that and look good doing it is Kool Keith and ODB, as they made it a style. Overall, they don't have much to offer outside of "lyrics."

yea they don't belong to the greatest or some shit... but garbage? no I don't think so. if you only listen to rap for the hooks and the beats, yes. it's nothing for women, that's for sure. no subliminal diss or something (seriously). I like rap that is more focused on the raps. not just written words, also flow etc... rapverses first, rest next. most backpackers focus on raps. But there are of course other rappers out with great raps who are nothing like backpack, like Saigon, Crooked I, Immortal Technique, Tecca etc; they have better beats too.

[Twentytwofifty]

Aesop Rock and Atmosphere are horrible.  I've never heard anything by them remotely listenable.

[7even]

Aesop Rock or Atmosphere are horrible.  I've never heard anything by them remotely listenable.

Ever heard Godlovesugly by Atmosphere or Daylight by Aesop Rock? Tight tracks.

[SGV]

yea they don't belong to the greatest or some shit... but garbage? no I don't think so. if you only listen to rap for the hooks and the beats, yes. it's nothing for women, that's for sure. no subliminal diss or something (seriously). I like rap that is more focused on the raps. not just written words, also flow etc... rapverses first, rest next. most backpackers focus on raps. But there are of course other rappers out with great raps who are nothing like backpack, like Saigon, Crooked I, Immortal Technique, Tecca etc; they have better beats too.

Thing is with Atmosphere, they have a strong female following. Cuz Slug is a chick rapper... I listen for the overall. I don't need mind boggling lyrics if the rest of the song is wack. I think Papoose, Saigon, IT and early Crooked I displayed my favorite type of Hip Hop. Great lyrics & beats, hot concepts, good voices etc. They brougt a complete package. The Slug's of Hip Hop are very one track minded, IMO.

[Kill]

lol at "nothing for women", of course itīs particularly a male tendency to get into this type a shit, but like there are no female backpackers

however, back to the main subject, J Bananas, there is one thing I particularly disagree with: El-P and Anticon or whoeverthehell turning mainstream. What white rappers have had mainstream success? Vanilla Ice for teenie bopper crap hiphop. Eminem because he deserved it...but it doesnīt go that much further. Those deliberately dissonant and weird ass beats, those we-never-heard-of-a-word-called-rhythm flows, the letīs-distort-some-strange-noises stuff - how can you imagine that turning mainstream?

Of course, backpacker rap (I donīt like this type of classification thogh) appeals mainly to white listeners and is mainly done by whites. But the audience will always remain small; itīs not your 12-year old school girl and itīs not your white burb wigga. Neither is it people who seriously try to explore hiphop, or at least they spend little time listening to that stuff. Mostly itīs young urban whites trying to be īdifferentī and intellectual. That will never be a majority and the music itself prevents the genre from becoming popular.

Hence, backpacker music lacks a lot of īpowerī it would take to have a devastating effect on hiphop. To put it simply, let those cats just do their thing, listen to it if you like it and if you donīt, nevermind. Itīs not a threat...

...oh yeah, I agree with most of what SGV said

[WestCoasta]

shit is gay, I agree with SGV

[Machiavelli]

shit gay man, that all I have to say

[Sikotic™]

I like backpack shit and enjoy bumpin Atmosphere. How are they killing hip-hop when they hardly get any exposure? lol Top 40 rappers are doing way more damage.

Backpack rap just brings another outlet in the game. I know personally, I don't wanna hear about gats, gangbangin and other agressive shit 24/7, because that ain't me. Sometimes, I like to bump some hip hop that's more emotional and different. Why people hate on backpack rap so much is beyond me since it gets no attention by the mainstream.

I welcome the alternative.......yeah, and I'm a nigga so go figure.

[BuddenzNasir]

get off the atmosphere Aesop topic...its bout backpackers and they were just naming those two as examples, get back to comparison of  the difference in music. "Backpack" hip hop is tight tho, u need variety in music, some people need the party make um jump up n down shit, and some need the Makes sense bout life shit. problem with people who dont like the "underground" type shit in my opinion is that it makes kids think. i dont think they like that. You put that shit to a hard beat like the ones on the radio's maybe...but i doubt it. All the mainstreams guys make ur body move n kids love it, specially beats n words r simple u can sing along too. i dunno i just think its variety. no ones ruined anything. just sucks publicity wise  lotta rappers make that money to spit such dumb shit sometimes...u gotta admit..SOMETIMES the shit they say is like wow....wut in the world? but hey...its all about what ur into to.

[7even]

lol at "nothing for women", of course itīs particularly a male tendency to get into this type a shit, but like there are no female backpackers

So you think the majority of females really listens to the raps and doesnt care about hooks and beats too much? C'mon nobody thinks that. To make a general statement you have to generalize, which is what I did.

[Kill]

naw, all I say is I know some female backpackers

all generalizations are wrong