West Coast Connection Forum

DUBCC - Tha Connection => West Coast Classics => Topic started by: 2euce 7even on September 21, 2012, 01:21:20 AM

Title: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: 2euce 7even on September 21, 2012, 01:21:20 AM
Example:

Ice Cube-You Know How We Do It

Love The Beat But The Lyrics Are So Cheap It Ainīt Funny Anymore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgRmOVaW_BM
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: Will_B on September 21, 2012, 01:38:24 AM
Example:

Ice Cube-You Know How We Do It

Love The Beat But The Lyrics Are So Cheap It Ainīt Funny Anymore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgRmOVaW_BM

Lotta heart in the track. Maybe u don't feel it so much.


7.5/10 for me. Can be better in the context of the album tho (u know how it works)
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: Gamestarr on September 21, 2012, 03:45:09 AM
Hip-Hop music is much more than spitting the whole thesaurus.

Story telling doesnt need that Rakim, G Rap, Crook level of lyrics.


It just has to sound good.  8)
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: HighEyeCue on September 21, 2012, 06:39:11 AM
maybe not so much on that song but Cube was one of the more lyrical rappers to come from the West
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: KrazySumwhat on September 21, 2012, 06:53:21 AM
 Iam not sure i'd go that far(99%). But yeah it dose seem that most real big hip hop heads that i meet prefer east coast(or local). Also most people i meet that love Snoop and ice cube, etc arent really big hip hop heads as far as underground and that and would put DMX, lil Wayne, Puff Daddy and 50 cent in the same sentence as Ice Cube.
 i think when gangsta rap was so big it gave west coast rappers that bad impression that they all just rapped about the same shit and werent lyrical at all but i mean iam sure its teh same with the south.
 
Title: Re: Let´s Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ain´t Shit Lyrically
Post by: Sccit on September 21, 2012, 07:18:56 AM
ice cube was lyrically a beast....people mistake lyricism for rhyming big words with complex rhyme patterns. you can lyrically convey a message in its simplest form, and if that message has meaning and strength, ur lyrically beastin if ur able 2 paint a picture and grab the listeners mind with it.. simple or complex.
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: 2euce 7even on September 21, 2012, 09:06:02 AM
ice cube was lyrically a beast....people mistake lyricism for rhyming big words with complex rhyme patterns. you can lyrically convey a message in its simplest form, and if that message has meaning and strength, ur lyrically beastin if ur able 2 paint a picture and grab the listeners mind with it.. simple or complex.

coudlntīve said it better.

do you think "you know who" was a lyricist?
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: Black Excellence on September 21, 2012, 11:28:01 AM
ice cube was lyrically a beast....people mistake lyricism for rhyming big words with complex rhyme patterns. you can lyrically convey a message in its simplest form, and if that message has meaning and strength, ur lyrically beastin if ur able 2 paint a picture and grab the listeners mind with it.. simple or complex.
preach.
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: TRAX (SFV) on September 21, 2012, 12:17:58 PM
When I saw this title, I never thought Cube would be mentioned!?!  He'd has some weak tracks lyrically (We Be Clubbin) but his lyrics are way better than these newbies today.  I think Cube's lyrics have gotten better in the past few years because he states the world as it is, not always talkin about drugs, guns, weed, drinks and women.

What's better lyrically: the last Cube album or the last Too Short album??? 

And I'll go so far to say that a high percentage of ALL rappers ain't shit lyrically.  Two of the most popular MC's in the game Jay-Z and Kanye come up with one of the worst rap songs in history "Niggaz In Paris".  Don't get me started on all the ways that song is shit.

Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: Jimmy H. on September 21, 2012, 12:49:45 PM
ice cube was lyrically a beast....people mistake lyricism for rhyming big words with complex rhyme patterns. you can lyrically convey a message in its simplest form, and if that message has meaning and strength, ur lyrically beastin if ur able 2 paint a picture and grab the listeners mind with it.. simple or complex.
I know we don't always see eye to eye but I definitely agree with you on this. A lot of rappers think they have to come off as "super-lyrical" with everything they do and in truth, I think it fucks up a lot of potentially great music because they aren't confident enough to just spit from the heart and go with the vibe of the song. Crooked I, in particular, has had some bangers, that he really could have rode but would take me completely out of because he tried to show-off with a metaphor or something. An infectetous flow can actually make some basic lyrics sound phenemonal. On the other end if you have all these complex lyrics but the way your flow is meh.. then it's kind of tiring.
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: Russell Bell on September 21, 2012, 01:05:04 PM
Sometimes I wanna listen to shit thats more from the heart than a buncha jumbled up words from 12 different senior dissertations that make no sense when combined
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: bouli77 on September 21, 2012, 01:12:19 PM
you a fool if you listen to gangsta rap for lyrical proficiency... not that it's not nice to hear gangsta rappers get lyrical or that none of them are lyrical but it just ain't the point of gangsta music. gangsta rap / g-funk is about the beat, the vibe, and the flow, the way the rapper rides the beat and how melodic his/her flowing gets whereas traditional, boom bap rap is more about lyrical proficiency, who can kick the illest rhymes, the nicest sounding shit even if it doesn't mean shit but just sounds nice.

that's the reason why westcoast and south music appealed to me more than eastcoast rap in the beginning, as a foreigner who didn't understand jack i was attracted by the beats, the vibe and the flow. as well as the story telling. once i became a little bit more fluent in english i started listening to some more lyrical shit.

and ice cube is revered as one of the top lyricists in rap history. that being said you also have a grip of westcoast rappers, gangsta or not, who are super nice lyrically. ras kass, saafir, xzibit, kurupt, crooked I, san quinn, young ed, locksmith, hittman, hitman from rbl posse (rip), goldy, fatha dom, rappin ron (rip), luniz, e-40, gift of gab, ray luv, the dudes from freestyle fellowship, the list goes on.
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: TRAX (SFV) on September 21, 2012, 01:28:10 PM
Gift of Gab ain't no joke.  I just got into Blackalicious recently.  Beats, flow AND lyrics are tight.

I usually need to feel everything: beat, lyrics, flow, originality AND vibe.  Old school rappers had all of that. 
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: Sccit on September 21, 2012, 01:40:03 PM
ice cube was lyrically a beast....people mistake lyricism for rhyming big words with complex rhyme patterns. you can lyrically convey a message in its simplest form, and if that message has meaning and strength, ur lyrically beastin if ur able 2 paint a picture and grab the listeners mind with it.. simple or complex.

coudlntīve said it better.

do you think "you know who" was a lyricist?


if "you know who" is sccit tha shit, then yes 8)
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: Matty on September 21, 2012, 01:53:26 PM
west west y'all
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: Nutty on September 21, 2012, 04:36:26 PM
Hip-Hop music is much more than spitting the whole thesaurus.

Story telling doesnt need that Rakim, G Rap, Crook level of lyrics.


It just has to sound good.  8)

Amen.

Go read a book or something, lol.
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: LAC/EASTSIDE on September 21, 2012, 06:33:26 PM
WTF??? ??? This is stupid. 99% is waaaaay off. Who do you listen to?? There's shitty rappers in West, South and East. It just depends waht you consider to be shit. You really think Slick Rick was a lyrical genius?? I wonder why he's still considered a legend..
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: LAC/EASTSIDE on September 21, 2012, 06:35:12 PM
Hip-Hop music is much more than spitting the whole thesaurus.

Story telling doesnt need that Rakim, G Rap, Crook level of lyrics.


It just has to sound good.  8)

Plenty of dudes spit the whole thesaurus but aren't saying shit haha.
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: BIGWORM on September 21, 2012, 09:55:04 PM
"You know how we do it" was and is a banger BOTTOMLINE.

Rap/Hip Hop doesn't have to be lyrical to sound good. For instance the fellow in your avatar made great music and everyone knows he wasn't lyrical at all beside a hand full of songs on matw album.

What made the west coast was that they put the music into rap not lyrics over break beats like what they was doing in the east.

On another side note 2-Pac's favorite rapper was Ice Cube when he was a kid.
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: Sikotic™ on September 21, 2012, 10:48:40 PM
This is true, but how many lyrical cats u hear that got no mic presence?

Cube ain't the most lyrical, but when you hear him on a track, you pay attention. Not to mention his lyrics in his prime had more substance than most "lyrical" rappers out.

You can be a Canibus clone all day and say a bunch of big words and rap about the stars and moon n shit, but who really cares except for backpackers and nerdy white kids?
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: Recognize on September 22, 2012, 08:49:11 AM
When it comes to gangsta rap, I don't think "lrycism" is one of the more important attributes. I think the ability to tell a story is way up there. If you look at rappers like Cube and Eazy, that was something the both really excelled at. Could either of those guys win freestyle contests? No, definitely not. But they were both great story tellers which is a very important attribute to a good gangsta rap song.
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: Triple OG Rapsodie on September 22, 2012, 10:51:37 AM
ice cube was lyrically a beast....people mistake lyricism for rhyming big words with complex rhyme patterns. you can lyrically convey a message in its simplest form, and if that message has meaning and strength, ur lyrically beastin if ur able 2 paint a picture and grab the listeners mind with it.. simple or complex.
I know we don't always see eye to eye but I definitely agree with you on this. A lot of rappers think they have to come off as "super-lyrical" with everything they do and in truth, I think it fucks up a lot of potentially great music because they aren't confident enough to just spit from the heart and go with the vibe of the song. Crooked I, in particular, has had some bangers, that he really could have rode but would take me completely out of because he tried to show-off with a metaphor or something. An infectetous flow can actually make some basic lyrics sound phenemonal. On the other end if you have all these complex lyrics but the way your flow is meh.. then it's kind of tiring.

I agree with these two posts. Punchlines aren't lyricism imo. Punchlines don't even exist in other music genres like they do in rap. Think about that fact for a moment: the greatest non-rap songs ever made don't even have punchlines. People are bringing up Crooked I but Crooked I's most lyrical songs are the ones where he doesn't use complex rhymes or punchlines. As far as metaphors, coming up with a metaphor simile in one line is child's play. What I'm really impressed by is rappers who can extend metaphors and concepts to entire songs. I Used to Love H.E.R., I Gave You Power, Me and my Girlfriend, etc. Or songs that tell a story or convey a feeling. Until a rapper can tell a story as vivid as A Bird in the Hand, how the hell can they consider themselves more lyrical than Ice Cube?
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: Mr. O on September 23, 2012, 03:52:09 PM
man..fuck that.  west coast ain't about just LYRICS...it's the ATTITUDE that drives this shit into listeners' ears
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: 3331 on September 23, 2012, 04:20:15 PM
always acknowledged that but never stopped me from enjoying the west and listening to it more then the east. theres a few rappers that are nice from a technical perspective but its mostly about the beats and the personalities.
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: kolaboy on September 24, 2012, 10:36:45 AM
http://www.youtube.com/v/2ucV1-N0aI0?version=3&hl=en_US
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: CHUCK KNOXXX on September 24, 2012, 10:50:42 AM
hieroglyphics
pharcyde
freestyle fellwoship and associated good life mc's (too many to name)
blu
sick jacken
blackolicious
dilated peoples
visionaries
self scientific
living legends (grouch, eligh, luckyiam)
murs
bambu
fashawn
ras kass
likwit crew
planet asia & rascoe (cali agents)
pretty much the whole stones throw roster
....just to name a few off top

the only people who agree with op statement aren't checking for anything on the west coast outside of gangster themed music...you'd be surprised, if you actually lived out here you'd find that theres a whole other scene and genre that is for more popular than gangster rap, seriously....the undergound scene in LA may not be as big as it once was but its still large and doesn't really involve any type of gangsta styled music.
 
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: Black Excellence on September 24, 2012, 03:37:05 PM
i believe that there no bounderies on where a lyricist can come from. there are lyricists in every region and the west coast definitely has their share of niggas that are lyrically on point. the west coast was built off of gangsta rap and no one did it as great as they done it and the range of artists that are from the west like: eazy, rass kass, strong arm steady, cube, xzibit, rbx, ren, snoop, kurupt,e40, too short,etc. all those artists i've named they've packed a punch lyrically.
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: Sccit on September 24, 2012, 03:43:57 PM
lol...ur usually on point, but i gotta disagree with u about too short packin a lyrical punch.
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: Black Excellence on September 24, 2012, 03:53:15 PM
lol...ur usually on point, but i gotta disagree with u about too short packin a lyrical punch.
nah i was just making light of the variety of west coast artists. i listed those as an example. LOL
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: Black Excellence on September 24, 2012, 03:57:05 PM
ps. cube's you know how we do it  joint is the shit. i was just bumpin' the o.g. and the qdlll remix the other day   8) 8) 8) 8)
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: Jimmy H. on September 24, 2012, 09:42:15 PM
i believe that there no bounderies on where a lyricist can come from. there are lyricists in every region and the west coast definitely has their share of niggas that are lyrically on point. the west coast was built off of gangsta rap and no one did it as great as they done it and the range of artists that are from the west like: eazy, rass kass, strong arm steady, cube, xzibit, rbx, ren, snoop, kurupt,e40, too short,etc. all those artists i've named they've packed a punch lyrically.
Eazy?
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: GangstaBoogy on September 24, 2012, 10:55:35 PM
I guess we all have different definitions of being lyrical. To me the content is more important than just being cute at knitting words together.
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: Sccit on September 25, 2012, 01:19:15 AM
i believe that there no bounderies on where a lyricist can come from. there are lyricists in every region and the west coast definitely has their share of niggas that are lyrically on point. the west coast was built off of gangsta rap and no one did it as great as they done it and the range of artists that are from the west like: eazy, rass kass, strong arm steady, cube, xzibit, rbx, ren, snoop, kurupt,e40, too short,etc. all those artists i've named they've packed a punch lyrically.
Eazy?


eazy wasnt lyrical, but his ghostwriters were (cube, d.o.c, etc)
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: Black Excellence on September 25, 2012, 09:08:36 AM
i believe that there no bounderies on where a lyricist can come from. there are lyricists in every region and the west coast definitely has their share of niggas that are lyrically on point. the west coast was built off of gangsta rap and no one did it as great as they done it and the range of artists that are from the west like: eazy, rass kass, strong arm steady, cube, xzibit, rbx, ren, snoop, kurupt,e40, too short,etc. all those artists i've named they've packed a punch lyrically.
Eazy?
eazy is not a lyricist but a gangsta rapper and the best gangsta rapper there was. i just used him as an example of how some of the artists varied compared to each other and other regions.
Title: Re: Letīs Be Honest, 99% Of West Coast Rappers Ainīt Shit Lyrically
Post by: Black Excellence on September 25, 2012, 09:11:25 AM
i believe that there no bounderies on where a lyricist can come from. there are lyricists in every region and the west coast definitely has their share of niggas that are lyrically on point. the west coast was built off of gangsta rap and no one did it as great as they done it and the range of artists that are from the west like: eazy, rass kass, strong arm steady, cube, xzibit, rbx, ren, snoop, kurupt,e40, too short,etc. all those artists i've named they've packed a punch lyrically.
Eazy?


eazy wasnt lyrical, but his ghostwriters were (cube, d.o.c, dirty red)