Is gangsta rap spiritual?

[AngelBlue]

So after editing my earlier post I feel it is relevant now.
But please note I am not disrespecting , in any way, shape , or form , the gangsta rap community , the actual rappers, or anyone on this forum that is in any way connected to that environment.
Joe mentioned Coolio and Gangstas paradise. Being honest I really loved it. But I feel it was more Hip Hop which was the portal to the opening of gangsta rap.
I "GET " gangsta rap. I really do. They are expressing their emotions and experiences of life through music. But I also agree with other comments about the dark side of music.
If Charlotte Church is the heavenly voice of the Angels, then gangsta rap is surely the voice of the depths of despair ?
I know many many many many people that love this music and I can promise that none of them are spiritual .
I also agree with other comments in that the beautiful music of the great composers , or modern day musicians that create gorgeous melodic songs cannot be compared.
I for one much prefer a classical tune/ beautiful song / acclaimed hymn.
I would not listen to gangsta rap to relax/ relate to/ or want on my playlist.
My edited post said that given the "nature" of the music and it's influence , many of the actual rappers lives are cut short through violence/ gangs/ drive by shootings etc. And that is why I said originally that maybe this genre of music is more spiritual than most as many of the artists end up in Heaven due to untimely circumstance prematurely .
They are writing/ singing about their own world .
So yes. To them , these raps are their hymns of mourning .

[Joe Mc]

Originally Posted by Altair

Pop music is often about love sickness, sadness and carnal attachment.

Just to say I wouldn't be here without this type of music as my Mother and Father met in a dance hall,
I presume these were the general themes of the types of music played. Anyway nice post.

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[Gem]

The spiritual aspect isn't emotional as such. As I say, future AI will probably produce the most emotional music of all time - without a soul. The spiritual aspect is the commitment and dedication toward perfecting your talent and craft.

I think the genre is inane just because it's not really played, but rapping could and should be a technique in a vocalist's musical toolbox. I think beat-boxing should add to vocal technique as well, and different tools should be used tastefully to serve definite purposes.

[Joe Mc]

Originally Posted by Gem

I think the genre is is inane just because it's not really palyed, but rapping could and should be a technique in a vocalist's musical toolbox. I think beat-boxing should add to vocal technique as well, and different tools should be used tastefully to serve definite purposes.

Can also be a good skill set developed learning how to use DAW and acoustic
technology. I met some of the rappers of the time at a local College I was working at. Like most kids they were quick with the tech.
Pro Tools was only emerging at time for general use in the populace, not sure it was even out tbh.
And the chap in charge of it all, the music department, was a Hare Krsna !!! lol Can't get much more spiritual than that.

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[Altair]

Originally Posted by Joe Mc

Just to say I wouldn't be here without this type of music as my Mother and Father met in a dance hall,
I presume these were the general themes of the types of music played. Anyway nice post.

Yes there is a place for different genres. I don't listen to only peaceful sounds, although I do think it is superior.

[Gem]

Originally Posted by Joe Mc

Can also be a good skill set developed learning how to use DAW and acoustic
technology.

You know Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush? Well KB is a genius, but at my gym they have a computer generated re-edition of that song, and they even sampled her vocals. I'm sure there's some technical wizardry to it, but it's absolutely pathetic. I think people just hear the 'catchy bit' and buy into it, but the discerning ear hears blasphemy.

On the other hand a rock band redid Zombie by the Cranberries, and Evanessence redid Chains by Fleetwood Mac. They did it as a tribute to original artist, and because they have respect for it, they have something to 'live up to'.

I guess people can't tell the difference, but when Eva Cassidy covered Songbird, something special happened and when whoever-it-was regenerated Running Up That Hill, it was a desecration.

If you love rap. It could bring you mental peace. I am just suggesting that the frequency of spiritual music is not fixed on the classical. The determination to keep the music static brings stagnation & decay

[Bluto]

Gem, I think something of the creative soul, or the creative consciousness of the singer somehow gets impressed or embedded into the song itself, and any listening soul recognises it. No matter how good AI and auto-tune get, I don't think it will ever pass the listening soul's bull **** meter, nor replace the authentic conscious impressions made.

That Kate Bush recreation sounds truly dystopian by the way.

[Joe Mc]

Originally Posted by Altair

Yes there is a place for different genres. I don't listen to only peaceful sounds, although I do think it is superior.

Yes, fair enough, I heard an argument years ago, 30 years ago at least, so hopefully outside the incendiary debates of Wokeness etc., that gave a kind of hierarchy to music and an art in general, in terms of it's efficaciousness as a spiritual medium. So Joseph Turner would be much more important to the author than say Damien Hurst, or Bach to Elton John etc. The roots of this approach may also have something to do with the German Philosopher, Fredrich Nietzsche, Nietzche amongst others in History probably lent a certain weight to the argument but not entirely sure. Anyway I didn't grow up listening to Classical Music at all so this type of hierarchal appraisal of music in general is problematic for someone like me. I understand the rudimentaries of Jazz and play it a little and I am attracted to it as a medium just to say. Also I understand how music has become cheapened, wholesale and marketised. Ok take it easy.

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[Joe Mc]

Originally Posted by Gem

You know Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush? Well KB is a genius, but at my gym they have a computer generated re-edition of that song, and they even sampled her vocals. I'm sure there's some technical wizardry to it, but it's absolutely pathetic. I think people just hear the 'catchy bit' and buy into it, but the discerning ear hears blasphemy.

This is it, not hard to spot for a musician like yourself. Because I have always been brought up on the Lyrics and the melody,
I probably have a more forgiving attitude to the musical package if the words grab my attention but I hear what you're saying.
Is it that Eva Cassidy's Songbird resists other 'shocking' translations because of it's tempo and clarity of lyric and guitar playing ?
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