Rap vs Hip Hop

[yoshi]

i was like 13-14 when i heard this guy once and this was his way to explain the difference between rap and hip hop lol "so, see, rap is like.. hip hop without the beat" i didn't have much to say about it back in the days when i was 13, but then i worked the difference out myself

i just wanted to know how do you guys see the difference. for me it's like rap is just a kind of music, and hip hop is a culture, a movement, which includes rap, graffiti, breakdance, dj-ing, beatboxing and so on..

i always lol @ people who are like "well.. Usher ain't rap, he's hip hop" or "rap/hip hop artist, Eminem" - wtf

dunno, that's just me. anyone's got a different point?

[,-,'-{Bar}-',-,]

im basically with you on this.



hip hop is a culture rap is the music.


but if anyone asks me what i listen to i say hip hop not rap, and discuss hip hop and rap as if they were seperate genre's, its eiser that way.


example. i meet someone for the first time and we are chatting they ask what i lsten to i say, rap mostly, the reply "oh ahve you heard akon, lil wayne, t-pain" im like.."no they dont do rap, there like pop starts rapping but not rappers" and straight away its an argument or an annoyance trying to get my point across.

if my answer is "i listen to hip hop" the question always changes to "what like lil wayne and that" my answer is then "nah more like rakim royce da 5'9 jin akala sway, they arent really mainstream artists as such" and they get what i mean. so even though i say i listen to hip hop the person understand i mean i live hip hop and listen to rap, as in if i just say i listen to rap they think im a normal person who likes mainstream rap

[yoshi]

sometimes i say rap, sometimes hip hop but if they say "ooh, 50 cent, lil wayne blah blah" - i'm like - nah, that's shit, not rap.

oh, there's another thing lol people tend to think that "rap" is more "underground" than "hip hop" blahah, that's hilarious^^

[Ak25]

I listen to both kinds - mostly Rap

[Tash8]

my friend is an idiot, and we were in the car and he was like here listen to this it's not rap it's hip hop, i'm like wtf u talking about idiot?

agree with ya yoshi..

[DelinQuent]

i look at hip hop as being the club stuff and rap being the grittier stuff.

[Emadyville]

I see hip-hop as the whole, the dress, the style, the dj's, the clubs, the money, the alcohol, etc. I see rap as being part of hip-hop along with R&B and soul, maybe even jazz just because of the roots.

In regards to artists I think lyricism is rap (Em, Jay, Nas, Lupe, Luda, Pac, Big, etc)
And that's because rap is freestyling and battling, which all involves lyricism, punchlines, humor, rhyming, etc.

And in regards to hip-hop I see artists like- 50 cent, Dre, Jeezy, Wayne, etc.
This is because they seem to focus more on the culture then the actual lyricism shit, although they all have songs that would fit my idea of "rap", so it's obviously debatable.

There are obviously also some that will mix, at least in my mind. For instance Game has always been pretty lyrical but he's basically the definition of hip-hop too. That's why I think this is such a hard thing to define.

great topic

And souja boy I consider exploitation of hip-hop.

[Urban Punk]

Historically, rap music comes from hip-hop culture

[*MIRANDA*]

i see rap more as lyrical music

i look at hip hop as being the club stuff and rap being the grittier stuff.

i kinda agree with that,
hip hop for me is more the culture and what is "hot" today, more mainstream like T-pain and stuff
rap forme is the more talented people that can actually write sum lyrics
hip hop artists of today are more into the whole culture, it got tangled together
theyre celebrity's, they plug a phone or a sneekerline in their videoclips, it all goes together now,
thats why allot of people try and wanna be gangsta its like the culture is as big as the music
back in the day u would just rap inyo coat onna freaking bench inyo videoclip lmao,
but people listend to it cuz the music was good
thats why nowadays rappers are hip hop forme
and i consider the oldschool stuff, and the newer people that do sumthing differant and have actual talent more rap

[Xray]

i look at hip hop as being the club stuff and rap being the grittier stuff.

word

and

hip hop is a culture rap is the music.

word

thats exactly the definition of rap and hip hop. cause take Immortal techniques myspace page. he has his genre as "Hip Hop/Rap" like most rappers he lives hip hop and he writes & records raps.

[,-,'-{Bar}-',-,]

ok rap might mean Rhyme And Poetry, but for hip hop to be looked as as the "mainstream" outlook shouldnt be allowed.


Hip - "being hip" having knowledge understanding it (knowledge of the culture)
Hop - making a movement


Hip Hop = Moving and Expressing Knowledge


the way this knowledge, could use the word culture coz it grasps the concept better, so the way this culture is spread is by , Mc's, Break Boys, DJ's and Graffiti Artists. dont take my word for it, take the guys who invtented this shit and people who stay true to it ( like rakim and KRS-one bein good examples, ive quoted them twice already in the post lol)


so Hip Hop is the smarter genre if your trying to seperate a soulja boy rap from rakim rap. the pop listener who likes lil wayne may say he is hip hop because lil wayne and many other imposed the image of hip hop in there music and there appearence but the music doesnt express the true meaning of the word in any way.

Rap (rhyme and poetry) is what lil wayne does, because you do not need to be hip hop to rap, rapping is a vocal style like classical singing or rock singing ect. rapping is basically the style you "sing" on the beat. because there are plenty of people rapping on techno and hardcore beats ect. and they are rappers but they are not Hip Hop in anywae whatsoever apart from they use hip hops singing style in the form of Rap.


i myself prefer getting called a MC rather than a rapper, because i dont cross over to other genre's or change my ultimate style that is Hip Hop, i may express it in different ways from time to time but its always the core elements of hip hops true meaning. a rapper doesnt do this a rapper does a song that means nothing and does it to sell (lollipop) that POP fans like because they like music that is just music with good vibes and beats. Hip Hop fans want that original meaning of hip hop shown to them through-out the track and the way the artist projects that to them is what makes them who they are.

thats why eminem is so highly debated because he somehow caters both the rap fans and the hip hop fans, and his ultimate alligence to what one he himself see's him as is always up in the air.

[Sleepy]

Rap is something you do
hip hop is something you live

KRS-ONE said it best

[yoshi]

all of you made some interesting points.



^ i bought this book last year, it's 'Beats, Rhytm, Life - The Lexicon of Hip Hop Music' - it's a fantastic book, for real. it was written in 2005 by guys who really are into the history of the whole culture. here's what he said [i'm translating it from polish^^]

Do you really need any knowledge to admire the art, architecture or music? I think no. This kind of knowledge might be even a kind of barrier - it leads to futher analysing, comparing and shit. What for? Music is like a pair of jeans - yesterday tight, today baggy, tomorrow - who knows? The thing is that you feel comfortable.

On the other hand - everything has to have a beginning. Everything's got its history. You cannot judge the present or foresee the future without knowing the history. Especially when we talk about hip hop music - a melting pot of years of slavery, jazz, racial issues, blues, discrimination, funk, Malcolm X, poverty, Black Power and blaxploitation. A dynamic, changing collage, which is basically a recirculation of the whole musical heritage of human race. Like Busta Rhymes told me once: "you can turn every music into hip hop, but you cannot turn hip hop into anything else".

In general there are 4 basic elements of the hip hop culture: graffiti, breakdance, DJ'ing and MC'ing [plus beatboxing, often forgotten but how important at the same time]. 2 of them - DJ'ing and MC'ing constituted rap music.

..and it goes and goes for the next 8 pages, forgive me for not translating them anyway, on page 513 starts chapter about different styles of rap. this might be kinda funny, but i think it's what explains everything - the difference between Lil Wayne and Nas, between Talib and Soulja Boy, Eminem and Outkast or NWA and Guru. there's a short note about each style, i'm just gonna list them and write a sentence or two, explaining it and also name artist who represent each style.



Abstract Hip Hop: mostly instrumental hip hop, but also experimental projects - mixing rapping with poetry. DJ Krush, DJ Shadow, RJD2.

Dirty South: 'third' coast rap, rap from Georgia, Louisiana, Texas and Florida. Lil Jon, OutKast, TI, Arrested Development.

Crunk: 'party' rap, which originated from the Southern rap. Lil Jon, Ying Yang Twins,

Dirty Rap: sexual content. Goldfinger, Kool Keith

Christian Rap: religious. Gospel Ganstaz [LOL!!], 12th Tribe

Conscious Rap: which often has got political background, but it's about social problems. Arrested Development, Talib Kweli/Mos Def [Black Star], Common, The Roots.

Kid Rap: rofl - Lil' Bow Wow, Lil' Romeo this shit's weird, but yeah, obviously it's a genre..

Eastcoast Rap: positive, afrocentric movement, somewhere between 80's-90's - Native Tongues [De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, ATCQ], Jay-Z, Eric B & Rakim, LL Cool J, Jeru The Damaja, Ultramagnetic MC's and so on.

Electro: mix of funk and rap. Kraftwerk, Planet Patrol, World Class Wreckin' Crew

Emo-hop: (blahahahahah, that cracked me up!! ) - a journalistic idea mostly, regarding to artists whose lyrics are every emotional and private. Atmosphere, Emanon, Sage Francis.

Freestyle: we all know that rofl.

Gansta Rap: same here.

G-Funk: close to gangsta rap, more chilled though. characteristic organs, bass and funk samples.

Hardcore Rap: you can use this term to describe different types of rap, i.e. gangsta rap. it can be used in terms of lyrics and beats. DMX, Method Man, NWA

Hip House: mix of rap and house music. Big Daddy Kane, De La Soul, Queen Latifah.

Jazz Rap: obvious.

Miami Bass: deep, pulsating bass, fast beat, sexual content.

Old School Rap: Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow, Whodini.

Underground Rap: far from mainstream. it can be used to describe different styles, it pertrains more to labels than to actual lyrical content. ya dig?

Political Rap: ya dig?

Pop Rap: mostly the very mainstream like Flo-Rida, T-Pain n shit. you get it, right?

Alternative Rap: far from popular styles and beats, mixing rap with gospel, rock, reggae, folk, soul. The Roots, OutKast, De La Soul, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien.

Latin Rap: latin artists, i guess it's more about origin than actual content.

Rapcore: rap + rock.

Trip-Hop: british answer for hip hop. it originates from Bristol, so UK artists tend to call it Bristol Sound. jazz, funk, soul, electro mixed with rap.

Turntablism: turntables + mixers.

Westcoast Rap

Golden Age: 80-90's rap.



omg, a long-ass post, but i just wanted to make it clear. i agree with what that guy wrote. it's important though to understand that there's no strict border between each style. like for example, Jazz Rap and Eastcoast Rap, or Hardcore and Westcoast. artists can connect between styles, that's the beauty of music.


also, from my point of view you can use "hip hop" while talking about the music only, because rap is actually part of the whole culture. you cannot use "rap" while talking about the culture in general though. i hope you get what i mean, it's like every square is a rectangle, but not every rectangle is a square lol. but stating the difference between "rap music" and "hip hop music" is totally pointless for me. or inventing a totally new genre called "rap/hip hop" - for heaven's sake, what the fuck is that?..

[Sleepy]

porn rap

necro-fucking 50 bitches

[Darkblade44431]

I think of people like Eminem, Nas, Big L, 2pac, Proof, etc..... not just sayin them, those are just some of my fav.'s, but, i think of them as rap. I think of stuff like soulja boy and all that dance music and all those weird beats with all the hype to them as hip hop. And i don't really like hip hop. But i don't consider that stuff rap, even if they rap some in the song..so it's all good.