I knew fuck all about rap until 2007 or so, I thought Eminem was a band. One of my friends got me into it. His tastes were pretty mainstream, but at least I was able to learn something. The songs they play on TV and radio about pimpin' bitches and flashing your bling and gat in da 'hood after doing dope in the club isn't all the rap there is, nor the best. If you look at stuff from the 90s and 80s, like 2Pac, Biggie, NWA or Grandmaster Flash, you'll see they knew how to show something or tell a story. Eminem never had those bragging and self-congratulatory lyrics either. Or, as a certain girl said...
With all that said, here's an actually good 50 Cent track.Code:"You know what's a neat form of literature?"
"Rap!"
"I actually used to hate rap music..."
"Maybe just because it was popular, or I would only hear the junk they play on the radio."
"But some of my friends got more into it, and it helped me keep an open mind."
"Rap might even be more challenging than poetry, in some ways."
"Since you need to fit your lines to a rhythm, and there's much more emphasis on wordplay..."
"When people can put all that together and still deliver a powerful message, it's really amazing."
"I kind of wish I had a rapper in the Literature Club."
"Ahaha! Sorry if that sounds silly, but it would be really interesting to see what they came up with."
"It would really be a learning experience!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D3crqpClPY