What takes more skill? Rap or Rock?

[j.23]

Many of you biased rock fans look at rap only as what it is on the radio -- a bunch of "fo sheezy", "grabbin' my glock nine", and "fuking 9 hoes in the back seat of my Escalade".

^ agreed


.. i listen to both, but i think rap requires a bit more skill.

[e.z.o]

Just like anykind of music, you cant say rap is all about hoes and bitches, and gangstas and cars. There is many diff artists and they bring a diff flavour to the game. Like, Cash Money Records is part of the cars and bitches, while Kanye West knows how to speak knowledge and morals, Tupac will give the all around game with his gansta talk, money, hoes and everything in between. Biggie will just give you some flat out nasty rhymes, Busta Rhymes will give you a funny type feel, Redman and Methodman will give you jokes, anyways i hope you see my point. Not all of rap is about money, hoes and cars. It differs by the artist, but its the same thing with every other kind of music as well. And ppl enjoy the music they listen to, and they cant help it whether its rap, r&b, rock, punk or country etc.

[-BHZMAFIA-]

Many of you biased rock fans look at rap only as what it is on the radio -- a bunch of "fo sheezy", "grabbin' my glock nine", and "fuking 9 hoes in the back seat of my Escalade".

^ agreed


.. i listen to both, but i think rap requires a bit more skill.

That's what im saying, everytime someone would listen to rap they think its about the same thing. who is that rock band that has a cd out called "American Idiot"??? Whats the story line of that?

[Old School Fool]

Many of you biased rock fans look at rap only as what it is on the radio -- a bunch of "fo sheezy", "grabbin' my glock nine", and "fuking 9 hoes in the back seat of my Escalade".

^ agreed


.. i listen to both, but i think rap requires a bit more skill.

That's what im saying, everytime someone would listen to rap they think its about the same thing. who is that rock band that has a cd out called "American Idiot"??? Whats the story line of that?

That Rock Band would be Green Day.

I actually like the song, and I'm into Rap.

Rap Haters go by whats on the radio, as what GloveGuy said.

[Riot]

But what takes more skill? Rapping or singing and playing an instrument at the same time?

[BMG]

both styles of music takes some skill to do,u gotta be good with words and adlibs to be a good rapper,most rappers nowadays have no skill and i agree that the pimps,hoes and bling bling talk is getting tired
producing hip hop can be hard but if u got some sort of musical training it can be pretty easy
rock is pretty simple to do as well,all u basically need to know is how to play 3 chords and flip it backwards,alot of rock musics lyrics dont make sense sometimes to me tho
it all depends on ur musical taste

[-BHZMAFIA-]

Many of you biased rock fans look at rap only as what it is on the radio -- a bunch of "fo sheezy", "grabbin' my glock nine", and "fuking 9 hoes in the back seat of my Escalade".

^ agreed


.. i listen to both, but i think rap requires a bit more skill.

That's what im saying, everytime someone would listen to rap they think its about the same thing. who is that rock band that has a cd out called "American Idiot"??? Whats the story line of that?

That Rock Band would be Green Day.

I actually like the song, and I'm into Rap.

Rap Haters go by whats on the radio, as what GloveGuy said.

If you just didn't listen to like a song off the radio instead of like listening to a CD of the artist then you would realize that rap isn't all about the same thing

Yea I said that and its very true. You have to really listen to rap in order for you to like it and not listen to some NY freestyle shit all the time.

[Riot]

I have to admit I don't know alot about rap and I don't listen to it because, personally, I think it blows.

But you guys don't listen to rock either so it's not a fair assumption on both accounts. But when it comes to what takes more skill I'll take the the guys who have to play instruments over guys "speaking words really fast".

[J@3]

Rap breeds wiggers. Enough said.

Then, I guess you're just close-minded. I will admit that mainstream, these days are awful and can almost bring tears to my eyes. If you think the only thing those artists (the ones I stated) rap about are money, hoes and bitches then you're as wrong as could be.

Good one Albert, did you not read what I said? I used to listen to rap. Two years ago I would've been here posting about how much skill rap takes blah blah blah... the fact is I've grown up. I'm no longer interested in listening to music I can't relate to, or buying CD's that have maybe 1 or 2 decent songs on them. You little white boys might like sitting around nodding your head like some sort of bobblehead doll but I don't.

Also, you're all saying "well if you hate rap listen to (insert dumbass rappers name)"... how many people here have said "well if you hate rock listen to (whatever)"? We don't. We're not trying to convert you to be rock fans, it's a simple question and a simple discussion. You're as bad as Jehovah's Witnesses. What next? Are you going to go door knocking with a boom box on your shoulder talking about Talib Kweli's "dope beats and ill flow"?



Yeah word up G

[MC Hao]

i like a mix of both, like nappy roots.

[GloveGuy]

Jae, I understand you, because I've been doing a lot of growing up myself. I used to argue with these people all the time of how great Tupac Shakur is. But I have grown to like and love a lot of Rock alternative such as U2 and Ryan Adams. I've even ventured into soft alternative with David Gray.

While I've grown out of the rap genre, I still appreciate the great rap that exists. Great lyricists such as Biggie, 2Pac, Talib Kweli, and Rakim are to rap as what Bono, Kurt Cobain, and John Lennon are to rock. They too are great and immortal, because they have the ability to speak out to you. Tupac Shakur let you into his world, exposing his strengths and his weaknesses. He made you appreciate what you had, such as your family, your home, your life...

Though I am a suburban teenager, I learned just as much from 2Pac as I did from Bono. I've always stayed away from rappers such as 50 Cent, Chingy, and Trick Daddy. But just like every other music genre, rap too has its own lyrical geniuses such as 2Pac and Biggie. While you may not be able to relate to them, a young black man living in Harlem, NY trying to support his mother and kid sister because his dad walked out on his family 5 years ago can relate. Everyone needs an influence.

You have your own opinion on what great music is, but in my mind, 2Pac, Biggie, and Rakim belong up there with Michael Jackson, the Beatles, and Van Morrison because they are the only ones who have the ability to speak out to people like the young man growing up in the ghetto.

I realize that I haven't even answered the question asked in this topic...

[J@3]

While I've grown out of the rap genre, I still appreciate the great rap that exists. Great lyricists such as Biggie, 2Pac, Talib Kweli, and Rakim are to rap as what Bono, Kurt Cobain, and John Lennon are to rock. They too are great and immortal, because they have the ability to speak out to you. Tupac Shakur let you into his world, exposing his strengths and his weaknesses. He made you appreciate what you had, such as your family, your home, your life...

I agree with you, I still listen to my 2Pac CD's, and also stuff like NWA because I still like it. My opinion stays the same though, for every 1 good rapper there's another 30 who are rubbish and unfortunately that's just how it seems to be these days.

As far as the question goes I don't know, I don't sing or play an instrument and I've never tried to rap so it's pretty difficult to say which requires more skill.

[-BHZMAFIA-]

Rap breeds wiggers. Enough said.

Then, I guess you're just close-minded. I will admit that mainstream, these days are awful and can almost bring tears to my eyes. If you think the only thing those artists (the ones I stated) rap about are money, hoes and bitches then you're as wrong as could be.

Good one Albert, did you not read what I said? I used to listen to rap. Two years ago I would've been here posting about how much skill rap takes blah blah blah... the fact is I've grown up. I'm no longer interested in listening to music I can't relate to, or buying CD's that have maybe 1 or 2 decent songs on them. You little white boys might like sitting around nodding your head like some sort of bobblehead doll but I don't.

Also, you're all saying "well if you hate rap listen to (insert dumbass rappers name)"... how many people here have said "well if you hate rock listen to (whatever)"? We don't. We're not trying to convert you to be rock fans, it's a simple question and a simple discussion. You're as bad as Jehovah's Witnesses. What next? Are you going to go door knocking with a boom box on your shoulder talking about Talib Kweli's "dope beats and ill flow"?



Yeah word up G

LMAO! And why everybody talking about Talib Kweli's. Is this the only rapper white people listen to? It's alot more better rappers out there that is better than Talib Kweli The first thing you need to do is if you live in the US, watch 106 & Park on BET. If you don't see nothing on there that you like, try going to a music store and asking who are the best CD's to buy that are rappers. Listen to some Young Buc too. Don't listen to anything that's like rap, pop and r&b in the same song. If you listen to some real hardcore rap that got a fresh beat and everything, then you most likely like it.

Try downloading some songs from Mike Jones, Michael Watts and Paul Wall too.

[J@3]

LMAO! And why everybody talking about Talib Kweli's. Is this the only rapper white people listen to? It's alot more better rappers out there that is better than Talib Kweli The first thing you need to do is if you live in the US, watch 106 & Park on BET. If you don't see nothing on there that you like, try going to a music store and asking who are the best CD's to buy that are rappers. Listen to some Young Buc too. Don't listen to anything that's like rap, pop and r&b in the same song. If you listen to some real hardcore rap that got a fresh beat and everything, then you most likely like it.

You idiot. You missed the entire point... the Talib Kweli thing was because Matt once said he had "dope beats and ill flow" or something, so I was using that in my Jehovah's Witness thing. Seriously mate, grow a brain.

[Riot]

106 and park isn't even on 106 and park

[XianeX]

Rap breeds wiggers. Enough said.

Perhaps so but not all caucasian people who are hip-hop/rap fans are wiggers, such as myself. I don't say "yo, yo, yo, what up mah homies?" or anything. I speak like a normal 14 year old kid would speak; using correct grammar and correct english.

Good one Albert, did you not read what I said? I used to listen to rap. Two years ago I would've been here posting about how much skill rap takes blah blah blah... the fact is I've grown up. I'm no longer interested in listening to music I can't relate to, or buying CD's that have maybe 1 or 2 decent songs on them. You little white boys might like sitting around nodding your head like some sort of bobblehead doll but I don't.

If I hadn't read what you said, then I wouldn't of replied. I'm fine with the fact that you no longer appreciate or enjoy rap but don't just bash it, that shows no maturity or intelligence on your part. People are different; whether it be skin color, music preference, whatever. You may prefer rock, I may prefer rap whereas someone else may prefer jazz. If you "despise" rap then just steer clear of it. Putting down something that other people enjoy just because you don't like it is downright childish.

Also, you're all saying "well if you hate rap listen to (insert dumbass rappers name)"... how many people here have said "well if you hate rock listen to (whatever)"? We don't. We're not trying to convert you to be rock fans, it's a simple question and a simple discussion. You're as bad as Jehovah's Witnesses. What next? Are you going to go door knocking with a boom box on your shoulder talking about Talib Kweli's "dope beats and ill flow"?

We're not trying to convert any of you, either but we are merely trying to show you that all rap is not about money, hoes and bling-bling. I assumed that you only heard mainstream rap so I thought I'd try to show you that not all rappers are the same but actually, very different. No one here has downright bashed rock like you have bashed rap. I don't understand where your line about Talib Kweli comes into effect; it seems to be something that you quicky thought of and decided to add it. It proves no point at all except that you hate rap (which we could of already guessed).

Yeah word up G

Wow, that was cool.

LMAO! And why everybody talking about Talib Kweli's. Is this the only rapper white people listen to? It's alot more better rappers out there that is better than Talib Kweli The first thing you need to do is if you live in the US, watch 106 & Park on BET. If you don't see nothing on there that you like, try going to a music store and asking who are the best CD's to buy that are rappers. Listen to some Young Buc too. Don't listen to anything that's like rap, pop and r&b in the same song. If you listen to some real hardcore rap that got a fresh beat and everything, then you most likely like it.

Try downloading some songs from Mike Jones, Michael Watts and Paul Wall too.

Dear God, just stop him. 106 & Park is the reason why people hate rap. It's all the mainstream that real rap fans hate. Hearing Houston say "Woah! I like dat / I like dat, twirk that back //" doesn't appeal to me or to most other hip-hop fans.

[J@3]

Perhaps so but not all caucasian people who are hip-hop/rap fans are wiggers, such as myself. I don't say "yo, yo, yo, what up mah homies?" or anything. I speak like a normal 14 year old kid would speak; using correct grammar and correct english.

Being a wigger isn't about just talking like that.

If I hadn't read what you said, then I wouldn't of replied. I'm fine with the fact that you no longer appreciate or enjoy rap but don't just bash it, that shows no maturity or intelligence on your part. People are different; whether it be skin color, music preference, whatever. You may prefer rock, I may prefer rap whereas someone else may prefer jazz. If you "despise" rap then just steer clear of it. Putting down something that other people enjoy just because you don't like it is downright childish.

Maybe it's because you're 14, but why did you put "despise" when I've never once said I despise rap? If you're going to mis-quote me at least don't point it out like that. This whole thread was created with the knowledge that people were going to put down rap and rock, it's the nature of discussions here and I understand you might get off calling someone 4 years older than you childish but to be honest I really don't care what you think.

We're not trying to convert any of you, either but we are merely trying to show you that all rap is not about money, hoes and bling-bling. I assumed that you only heard mainstream rap so I thought I'd try to show you that not all rappers are the same but actually, very different. No one here has downright bashed rock like you have bashed rap. I don't understand where your line about Talib Kweli comes into effect; it seems to be something that you quicky thought of and decided to add it. It proves no point at all except that you hate rap (which we could of already guessed).

You can't bash rock, that's the thing. You have no basis to bash it. All rap fans can do is say "Listen to (rapper) and come back and tell me you hate rap" the fact remains that there's maybe 10 rappers in all who are respectable. You can't ignore mainstream rap. You can't say "well we've got 2Pac and Notorious BIG so rap is good"... you still have Nelly, and Chingy and all of these other dickheads. You can't pretend like they're not around because they are. The talent of 10 or so people doesn't make up for the stereotypical cars/women style rap of the large majority.

Wow, that was cool.

You missed the point, congratulations.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume you're of Asian origin, which is what confuses me even more... the fact that a white Australian and a white Asian are arguing about rap, which lets face it was created by black people for black people. I'm not saying only black people can listen to rap, but it was created with black people in mind. I just honestly can't see what you could relate to in the music. I mean please tell me what you can listen to and say 'I know what he's talking about'. You list rappers who are respectable, but they probably have very different lives to you... that's all I want to know, what can you relate to?

[XianeX]

Being a wigger isn't about just talking like that.

You're right. Please do tell me what you consider a wigger.

Maybe it's because you're 14, but why did you put "despise" when I've never once said I despise rap? If you're going to mis-quote me at least don't point it out like that. This whole thread was created with the knowledge that people were going to put down rap and rock, it's the nature of discussions here and I understand you might get off calling someone 4 years older than you childish but to be honest I really don't care what you think.

I'm sorry for misquoting you but that's the image I get after it seems like you only find negatives when it comes to rap. I didn't call you childish but what you said didn't have much thought put into it. No one person's opinion is superior to anothers hence why we both may have good arguments when it comes to positives and negatives of rap.

You can't bash rock, that's the thing. You have no basis to bash it. All rap fans can do is say "Listen to (rapper) and come back and tell me you hate rap" the fact remains that there's maybe 10 rappers in all who are respectable. You can't ignore mainstream rap. You can't say "well we've got 2Pac and Notorious BIG so rap is good"... you still have Nelly, and Chingy and all of these other dickheads. You can't pretend like they're not around because they are. The talent of 10 or so people doesn't make up for the stereotypical cars/women style rap of the large majority.

You are correct in saying I have no basis to bash rock but I could find hundreds of rock bands I don't like but I do like a good amount of rock. Saying that there are only 10 respectable rappers is absurd. I can easily name 10 respected rappers who have been in the industry. Of course you can't totally ignore mainstream rap but I do manage to filter it out and drown the bad rapper with good rappers. Rappers do rap about cars, women and bling-bling, like I said, but you can't be stereotypical to say that nearly all rappers/most rappers do because that's just not true.

You missed the point, congratulations.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume you're of Asian origin, which is what confuses me even more... the fact that a white Australian and a white Asian are arguing about rap, which lets face it was created by black people for black people. I'm not saying only black people can listen to rap, but it was created with black people in mind. I just honestly can't see what you could relate to in the music. I mean please tell me what you can listen to and say 'I know what he's talking about'. You list rappers who are respectable, but they probably have very different lives to you... that's all I want to know, what can you relate to?

Yes, I am Asian but what does that have to do with anything? Me being Asian doesn't limit me to liking a certain type of music like someone being African-American doesn't limit them to liking a certain type of music. Rap was created for black people, yes, but over the years rap has expanded and interested more people (which just happen to be the stereotypical caucasian teen). I can relate to some things rappers rap about and say is because I have had a very tough life, it's definently no walk in the park. I've been around drugs since I was a child, I've been around alchohol since I was a child, I've lived in poor neighborhoods (ghettos), I've been around cheaters, crackheads, potheads and so much more; and I've lost many loved ones.

[Riot]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume you're of Asian origin, which is what confuses me even more...

lmfao I love you Jae.

[Jowe]

Jae's point about the fact whenever theres a rap vs rock thread.. people always pull out the same 3-4 people, 2pac, biggie, rakim... i got no beef with them ( ) .. But thats for the entire history of rap?

I agree also on the point that you can't just count out mainstream rap... because thats the rap artists everyone is buying today. Going from the billboard charts, rap dominates it. But every artist uses the same beat, throughout their career it seems, with minor variations..


Mean while rock has been around for decades, and is always evolving. I could name 20 immortals of the rock genre, and most people would know and respect them..
People were talking about being a great lyricist...
You should take a look at lyrics to some classic rock songs, although they may not rhyme, or flow at frantic pace as rap.. they do still let you into their world.

on the production side, Rock is harder, since the artists have to make up their of beat of their songs. Using instruments, sometimes 2-3 guitarists, a drummer, bass. Then sometimes they add some other effects to it, then vocals.

While from my knowledge, alot of rap these days and maybe in the past has been done by samples, which are used, reused, reused. probably some scratching. Which the rapping doesn't really rely on, or vice versa.


But some people like rap, some people like rock... lets just leave it to that

[J@3]

Yes, I am Asian but what does that have to do with anything? Me being Asian doesn't limit me to liking a certain type of music

I didn't read the rest of it. I just wanted to clarify what I was saying was that it was funny to me that two white guys, neither of which are American arguing about rap. Not that being Asian means you can't listen to rap or whatever.

[idiot]

white Asian

white asian??

[J@3]

Well they're not black are they

[Jowe]

Well they're not black are they

alot of them think they are though

[Matt]

on the production side, Rock is harder, since the artists have to make up their of beat of their songs. Using instruments, sometimes 2-3 guitarists, a drummer, bass. Then sometimes they add some other effects to it, then vocals.

While from my knowledge, alot of rap these days and maybe in the past has been done by samples, which are used, reused, reused. probably some scratching. Which the rapping doesn't really rely on, or vice versa.

not necessarily, check out The Roots....one lead singer/rapper (Black Thought) and then you have a live band