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Why do people adopt Rap/R&B/Hip-Hop Culture?

Little_Sticks

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This is something I don't think I am capable of understanding. Why would rich white people living in suburban homes find music that talks about being poor in a ghetto, being black, being gangster, going to prison, shooting cops, and murdering people something that they feel they can identify with?

I kind of get how it's sort of a social thing. Maybe people use it for entertainment purposes then and nothing else, like for clubs and partying and stuff. And I get how it has a kind of poetry to it. But it's weird that people would identify with something that is almost opposite to what they represent themselves in society.

Explains to mez, please.
 

UniqueMixture

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People who are safe in their little cocoons of entitlement like to imagine that they are as tough as anyone exposed to the grimmest of stressors.
 

Swivelinglight

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Your question is too general.

There's many forms and topics of rap. There's a lot of universal messages that apply to many people as well, in rap.

If you're speaking ONLY of gangster rap then yeah it makes no sense for rich white people to adopt it.

However, I don't know where you're getting this idea that there are enough people who do so to warrant a thread on such an idea.
 

chickpea

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i mean i'm not rich, but i am a little white girl who lived in the suburbs. i guess i feel that good art can't be created without some kind of pain or struggle behind it, so when people come from backgrounds where they dealt with poverty, life or death situations and having to grow up really early, even if i can't personally relate to their problems i can feel that it's coming from a real place. other sad/angry music might be more universally relatable, but it can also seem more trivial.

plus, it's not always about what they're saying, but how they're saying it. hip-hop has a lot more humor or clever wordplay in it than other genres. and it's a really good genre for just telling a story in a certain way. it's not that different from people watching movies like the godfather or goodfellas or something, just in song form.
 

KDude

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I happened to spend my teenage years doing stupid gang shit, but I was a rocker then. And a rocker now. Many were. I think the friends of mine who are really into hip hop embraced hip hop culture for entirely different reasons. Some went on to be DJs and mcs themselves. They are more into the artistic aspect of that culture. Not all of it is about gangs or shooting cops. Some hip hop is like.. jazz in a way. Urban and kind of chill.
 

UniqueMixture

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@Swivels Obviously you've never been to Sacramento
 

Swivelinglight

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@Swivels Obviously you've never been to Sacramento

When I mention enough of variable A to constitute the making of such a thread. I mean A in a whole population. Not based off anecdotal evidence. My overwhelming consensus is MOST rich white people don't listen to gangster rap. The assumption of this question is that there ARE many rich white people who do listen to gangster rap. Proof is required for such an assumption and until there is any I don't understand how anyone can take the thread seriously.
 

chickpea

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When I mention enough of variable A to constitute the making of such a thread. I mean A in a whole population. Not based off anecdotal evidence. My overwhelming consensus is MOST rich white people don't listen to gangster rap. The assumption of this question is that there ARE many rich white people who do listen to gangster rap. Proof is required for such an assumption and until there is any I don't understand how anyone can take the thread seriously.

i don't know, i think most rich YOUNG white people listen to at least some rap music. however, gangster rap probably peaked in the 90s so this thread isn't even really relevant today. most mainstream rap music is about sex, partying or material possessions.. which is understandable how rich kids from the suburbs would identify with it.
 

Little_Sticks

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Your question is too general.

There's many forms and topics of rap. There's a lot of universal messages that apply to many people as well, in rap.

If you're speaking ONLY of gangster rap then yeah it makes no sense for rich white people to adopt it.

However, I don't know where you're getting this idea that there are enough people who do so to warrant a thread on such an idea.

Lol, it's just a question to get things started. I'm obviously not that knowledgable about the subject; if I was, I wouldn't post a thread on it. Meta questioning the creation of the thread is somewhat fallacious, considering that I'm making it known that I'm not that aware of what's going on and asking for understanding.

When I mention enough of variable A to constitute the making of such a thread. I mean A in a whole population. Not based off anecdotal evidence. My overwhelming consensus is MOST rich white people don't listen to gangster rap. The assumption of this question is that there ARE many rich white people who do listen to gangster rap. Proof is required for such an assumption and until there is any I don't understand how anyone can take the thread seriously.

Lol, calm down. This isn't a court room and I'm not accusing anyone of anything. And none of this applies because I'm only asking about the rich, white people that do listen to this music. In no way did I suggest that all or most do. This is all very trite, unless you question the existence of it happening. But I've been around people that proves it, so I don't know what you'd expect to accomplish other than being annoying.

i mean i'm not rich, but i am a little white girl who lived in the suburbs. i guess i feel that good art can't be created without some kind of pain or struggle behind it, so when people come from backgrounds where they dealt with poverty, life or death situations and having to grow up really early, even if i can't personally relate to their problems i can feel that it's coming from a real place. other sad/angry music might be more universally relatable, but it can also seem more trivial.

hah. I do understand that. I have some Marilyn Manson music I used to listen to just because I liked the obscenity/rage/energy of it all, even though I didn't necessarily identify with its message. I love this song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obkOEDU8Mhs.

plus, it's not always about what they're saying, but how they're saying it. hip-hop has a lot more humor or clever wordplay in it than other genres. and it's a really good genre for just telling a story in a certain way. it's not that different from people watching movies like the godfather or goodfellas or something, just in song form.

Oh, right. I guess that's part of the reason for it being considered as poetry.

I happened to spend my teenage years doing stupid gang shit, but I was a rocker then. And a rocker now. Many were. I think the friends of mine who are really into hip hop embraced hip hop culture for entirely different reasons. Some went on to be DJs and mcs themselves. They are more into the artistic aspect of that culture. Not all of it is about gangs or shooting cops. Some hip hop is like.. jazz in a way. Urban and kind of chill.

Oh cool, do you have any youtube examples? It sounds interesting.

i don't know, i think most rich YOUNG white people listen to at least some rap music. however, gangster rap probably peaked in the 90s so this thread isn't even really relevant today. most mainstream rap music is about sex, partying or material possessions.. which is understandable how rich kids from the suburbs would identify with it.

I'm not even sure if I'm talking about ganster rap, lol. I guess it just seems the same to me when they talk about sex, partying, and material possessions. Isn't that the allure of being gangster, lol?
 

chickpea

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I'm not even sure if I'm talking about ganster rap, lol. I guess it just seems the same to me when they talk about sex, partying, and material possessions. Isn't that the allure of being gangster, lol?

well yeah, but it's even more alluring when mommy and daddy are paying for your lifestyle instead of having to sell drugs for it, lol.
 

Swivelinglight

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And none of this applies because I'm only asking about the rich, white people that do listen to this music.

That's the problem. You're not defining what is "this music".

We both agree Rich white people listening to gangster rap is ridiculous. However, I think we both agreed as well there's not many that do so.

I don't see how there's anything else to discuss if that's the case.

What it sounds like though is you're trying to argue that it's ridiculous for rich white people to listen to any kind of rap, hip-hop, or R&B. Based on your admission that you don't know anything about rap then I'd wager you should listen to some of it before you make judgments on who should and should not listen to it. If you're sincerely interested in your question, of trying to understand why others listen to rap, then you'll view that statement as encouragement. If you're not sincere then you'd see it as an attack. Either way I don't care.
 

FireShield98

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I don't understand it either. I'm not rich (though I'm upper middle class), but I'm white, and, while I don't live in the suburbs, I do live in a town (by definition a suburb has to be right outside a city), and I don't really like it, though most kids my age in my town (the majority of which are also upper middle class and white, though there is some ethnic and economic diversity) like it. The reason I don't like it is not because I can't relate to it, but simply because I don't enjoy listening to it. If there was a song in that genre that I could relate to, I still wouldn't like it because I don't like that type of music.

So perhaps the reason that people who can't relate to it enjoy it is because they like how it sounds.
 

Swivelinglight

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Just because I thought it should be necessary. These are defined as rap and yes I listen to it.


Just a note. If you don't listen to rap then you probably won't be able to keep up with the lyrics. They go too fast to understand them at all levels. I suggest if this is the case then you read the lyrics as you listen. You'll catch hidden gems.

Also the rap videos are game related. If you haven't played the games you won't understand the lyrics as well as I do.


hint: Goto the video on youtube and read the descriptions for the lyrics.
 

UniqueMixture

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@swivels I think you're resisting the stereotype because you like rap/hip-hop

I agreement w [MENTION=7991]chana[/MENTION]. The OP epitomizes the stereotypical thoughts of those w/o exposure to rap/hip hop. Usually white people in the mid-west/Bible belt
 

Swivelinglight

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@swivels I think you're resisting the stereotype because you like rap/hip-hop

I think you haven't read a thing I said and have summed up my whole argument to something ridiculous due to your projection based off what you think my preference or bias is.

Anywho. I specifically said that gangster rap is rediculous for rich white people. Obviously I cannot have a bias for a genre when I say such a thing, since one may say I am apart of that "stereotype" (which is hilariously incorrect). The fact you haven't read my statement that gangster rap is ridiculous, sums up my position on your opinion.

Going on, even if I had a bias it would not make my argument any less right. In fact it would strengthen my argument because it shows that I know what I'm talking about due to having experience.
 

chickpea

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what i don't understand with myself is that i like some pretty misogynistic rap songs and if people were talking like that to me in person i would get pissed off about it but somehow in song form i just think it's entertaining.
 

UniqueMixture

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I think you haven't read a thing I said and have summed up my whole argument to something rediculous due to your projection based off what you think my preference or bias is.

Anywho. I specifically said that gangster rap is rediculous for rich white people. Obviously I cannot have a bias for a genre when I say such a thing, since one may say I am apart of that "stereotype" (which is hilariously incorrect). The fact you haven't read it sums up my position on your opinion.

Going on, even if I had a bias it would not make my argument any less right. In fact it would strengthen my argument because it shows that I know what I'm talking about due to having experience.

Fair enough
 

KDude

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what i don't understand with myself is that i like some pretty misogynistic rap songs and if people were talking like that to me in person i would get pissed off about it but somehow in song form i just think it's entertaining.

It probably means nothing. I like songs that are about collecting little girls skulls and displaying them on a wall. Doesn't mean I'll do it.

I think.
 

disregard

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Everyone can relate to pain and struggle, whether you're rich or poor, so music about that can attract just about anyone.
 
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