When Hip-hop was Hip-hop and not R and B

Thanks to TheTesha for the topic today. These days there is a merging of hip-hop and R and B, and not just Ne-yo being on everyone's single. Today's artists can be considered more well rounded especially when it comes to hip-hop. They have the ability to make radio songs and morph their styles to whatever is hot at the moment. It's all good, but too many of them are forcing their vocals into the r and b range. Look at Lil wayne on Lollipop. Even better, look at the attempts to do both by Trey Songs and the new phenom, Drake.



Personally I like Songz' singing voice more than Drake's although Drake is a better rapper from what I've heard so far. But this is nothing new for singers to cross over. The older r and B groups often had rap breakdowns or bridges where a member came out with 4-8 bars of "rapping".



I know LL jumped into the smooth r and b territory with "I Need Love" but dude was crooning. Other than Mase who I assumed was sort of joking on Harlem World when he started singing "Jealous Guys" but now I'm not so sure. What I do know is that Nelly really took it to the next level with "Ride with Me", then "Dilemma", and yet again with "Over and Over again". Ja Rule did it and 50 Cent bodied him for it then proceeded to do the same thing. Even T.I. and Gorilla Zoe of all people are doing it now.



Now I don't have too much of a problem with it if the song is decent, but this is just another example of rappers not being able to rap and doing something else. Problem is they aren't singers either. Just because you can do it in the studio like 808's and Heartbreaks doesn't mean you should. Put the time into getting your bars tight. If you can't spit anything close to being fire, then I don't want to hear you whispering a "chick track". It's lame and as a man you should have more self-respect and pride than to resort to such gimmicks to sell ringtones cause you damn sure aren't selling albums with this nonsense:



That sucks terribly. Let's get back to the days when bars actually mattered. Let Ne-yo or some other unsigned dude sing your hooks and focus on putting out good music.

Comments

  1. R&B used to stand for rap and bullshit back in the early 90s, even Kris Kross were dissing people doing that - even a novelty act like them were outrapping the cats today!
    It's a shame you don't get really hard rhymers blowing up nowadays like back in day


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  2. cats need to stick to what they're good (or at least better) at. I had an argument with a person about this a little while ago, I just think A lot of people should stick to their lane. Just cause you want to sing doesn't mean you should. Same for singers trying to rap. I'm all for experimentation but talent and good music should always be the focus

    Example: Wayne should never sing. Ever. Not even in his shower by himself. If your singing is the same as your rapping but with a pseudo-melody then kill yourself. But meanwhile there's cats like Mos Def who have talent in both areas

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  3. true, Ron Browz is another one, a failed rapper who raps but with autotune so that it sounds like he is singing. He needs to hang himself from his mic cord with the garbage he puts out.

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  4. maybe God will answer my prayers and his autotune will electrocute him. But even I gotta admit, jumpin out the windows was hawt!

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