Keith Richards: Rap Is for 'Tone-Deaf People'

[z0sa]

That's the surface of mainstream rap. Terrible music written by producers instead of artists. Keith pals around with those same slimy producers, so he has nary ing room to talk. Good hip hop with a positive message will never make the radio, so you will never hear it unless you dig for it. Selling out means a lot more than just cashing in, Keith, Kanye, Jay-Z sold out a long time ago and are just playing their part.

True dat. I think a lot of people dont realize the lifestyle and production of mainstream music changes very little across the various genres. It isnt a racial thing or even a musical one, its all about $$$. Hence how the whole term, "selling out" was born. And as great as the Stones were in their heyday, to say they havent done their share of selling out is to deny the fact these s have been around for 50 years.

[tlongII]

He's right. Rap absolutely sucks.

[Buddy Mignon]

Richards...

[Chris]

Richards...

[mingus]

I like certain kinds of rap/hip hop just like I like some kinds of rock.

That said I think rock musically has more going for it to make it have a longer lifespan. Rap is musically repe ive and pretty simple compared to rock. The Marshal Mathers LP is a great album but there's not a lot of nuance in it and depth musically compared to say Let it Bleed by the Stones. Lyrical depth is where rap excels compared to rock as a medium. Musicality is not rap's strength. I think even rappers would tell you that. He's comparing apples to oranges.

[Chinook]

Rap isn't as tonal as other genres (though it is much more tonal than just 'yelling over a drum beat' would imply), but it's still musical, and it requires great skill to do well. The best rappers use cadence in a way that most other vocalists just don't. If you listened to how Tupac and Biggie could change up their rhythms mid-verse, you know they had talent.

I don't see this as any different than the backlash to jazz when it first came out. Just because Richards doesn't understand what makes rap great doesn't mean that it's not (or rather that it can't be).

[mojorizen7]

[Avante]

What happens is this....

Black kids get into what they hear on the radio. They have no understandings of the size of that musical world out therre, yep, ignorant. They know nothing about Sinatra, Little Richard, Johnny Cash, those British bands, ZZ Top, Hank Williams...

this....




And few rappers have musical depths while The Stones knew about all those mentioned above, actually paying homage to THE KING Bob Wills.

Rap, is simple, for the simple, just your basic music telling us nothing at all. Just silliness kids can dig because they lack any knowledge of what's really going on.

The Stones knew the origins n the musifc, the rappers are clueless and it shows.

In the last 72 hours I've listened to...

Boz Scaggs
Eric Clapton
Tony Joe White
Tom Waits
Blind Willie Johnson
Big & Rich
Robert Johnson
Bonnie Raitt
Lucinda Williams
Robert Palmer
Miles Davis
Homer Callahan
Jimmie Davis
Dock Boggs
Billie Holliday

while a black kid will listen to the same old just different artist, never expanding his musicaol universe.

[Avante]

i dont think modern bands are better. but if they came about in the 70's or 80's they would have been just one of the bunch imo

Totally wrong, try 100%.

You obviously haven't listened to many bands.

[Avante]

In 1938 harmonica wizard Sonny Boy Willamson (the original) recorded this. Keith Richards knows all about Williamson, the rappers no clue.

Obviously Boz Scaggs also aware of Sonny Boy. This a fantastic cover, a must listen.




1938

[Adam Lambert]

Big & Rich

while a black kid will listen to the same old just different artist, never expanding his musicaol universe.

you know like 80% of rap listeners are white

[Avante]

you know like 80% of rap listeners are white[/COLOR]

So ya know nothing about Big & Rich?

Show me where ya got that stat.

[RGMCSE]

Richards...

Are you pretending to be black now? I thought you were an Asian paki naruto lover muddling through life and dating trannies from dating sites? Or did I make this up?

[mingus]

Stones are overrated. They have a good output of music and they created their own blues, rock, pschy style. But then they pissed away any claim to greatness by stealing their early riffs from blues and putting out several decades of ordinary music.

Mick Jagger is a great singer, they wrote good songs. But they are at best a B+. I think the beatles are in the same class. Great songwriters but not especially noteworthy on their own merits. The beatles were more forward though, broke barriers for white men, and put out truly good albums. And they had the good sense to die off when their era ended.

Black Sabbath is pretty much on par with the Stones as far as lasting impact when you look at how metal was born. Stones just inspired a buch of frat rock bands. Black sabbath also had the good sense to die rather than put out average albums. But the difference in talent between ozzy and jagger is not great. They just had different styles.


It's ok to like the stones.....i do. I just don't think they;d stand out if they started a decade later, great songwriting notwithstanding.


as for rap.....this is my first time hearing wiz and man he is slow monotone rapper. I do like too short though.

The average good band puts out 2-3 great albums. For example the Beach Boys, GnR, Aerosmith, NiN to name a few.

The Stones and Beatles put out 6-7 great albums. Dylan as well. Zep put out around that many too. I'm wondering what specific bands you'd say have a better discography than them.

[Capt Bringdown]

"I don't like rap music at all. I don't think it's music. It's just a beat and rapping."
-Nina Simone

[Clipper Nation]

So ya know nothing about Big & Rich?

They're country-western, therefore garbage.