I know some of you dislike rap/hip-hop in general, I don't care. I was wondering what you thought of these few quotes by an artist named Nas. Whats your opinion on these quotes? Can you get past the stereotypes and see that rap CAN be an art?

"The hardest thing is to forgive, but God does
Even if you murdered or robbed, yeah it's wrong, but God loves
Take one step toward him, he takes two toward you
Even when all else fail, God support you"

"Job well done, you lived threw you sons and your grandchildren
Jesus finally got his bride, mommy dance with him!"
-Dance This was in a song devoted to his mother after she died.

"I switched my motto -- instead of sayin **** tomorrow
That buck that bought a bottle could've struck the lotto"

"What's love when you don't give your man enough dough?
He wanna stick you
What's love, you got beef?
Nobody rollin wit you
What's love, you locked up, and your family don't care
Is love a four-letter word, that deceives the air?
What's real, when you know your man's girl is a hoe
And you don't even let him know, cause you ****ed her befo'
What's real, when you talk behind a man's back
then you see him and give him dap, now explain that?
What's trust, when they seperate your case
When you at your court date, your co-de', can't look in your face
What's trust, when you keep your wife away from your man?
And he never crossed you, but you claimin he's fam'?
What's trust, when you get bust, your niggaz don't retaliate?
They blaze purple haze with em the next day?
God forbid one of my niggaz get hit, I'ma go haywire
Won't hesitate, I'ma spray fire
But everybody's different, you won't know how you react
til you in that position, and that's an actual fact"

Kissed my lady, her blood on my lips, I said "Amen"
Put the nine to my head, pulled the hammer, held her close
Squeeze the toast, said to her, "Now unto God, we elope"

"I’m like the farmer, plantin words, people are seeds
My truth is the soil; help you grow like trees
May the children come in all colors, change like leaves"

"My tongue is power;
It thrills women, kills demons;
Long as I'm still breathin' I'm still winnin' I'll teach 'em"

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Massassian since: March 12, 2001

[=-"The hardest thing is to forgive, but God does;
Even if you murdered or robbed, years wrong, but God loves;
Take one step toward him, he takes two toward you;
Even when all else fail, God supports you." - Nas-=]

[This message has been edited by Sol (edited December 20, 2003).]

What?

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GhostOfYoda - General doer of stuff.

I guess its sorta poetic..

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Snail racing: (500 posts per line)
---@%

I don't really understand how he can talk about God like that and then switch to talking about niggaz and ****ing *****es and robbing banks and about how much bling they have.

I'm sorry, but ghetto slang really takes away from the "art" aspect. I mean, how can you artistically use a language if you don't know how to speak it correctly?

But if you enjoy it, then enjoy it man. I've gotten sick of people hating others for their musical taste.

Personally, I think these are awesome lyrics:

call everyone to arms
we'll fill the heavens
with the poisoned dreams of man
call everyone to arms
we forged these weapons
with the strength of our own hands

we shot the sun from the sky
apollo dead at our feet
we wander lost in the rye
we gather round in the street

for centuries we watched the sky
and burned to bridge the great divide

call everyone to arms
we'll fill the heavens
with the poisoned dreams of man
call everyone to arms
we forged these weapons
with the strength of our own hands

eclipse the body with stones
and lay him down with the rest
i smile when i am alone
and shed a tear for the press

for centuries we watched the sky
but now we burn with power and pride
cause we dug the body up
we drank his golden blood
and light shone from our eyes
but it was not enough
and we still dream of deicide

for centuries we watched the sky
we burned to bridge the great divide
but now we burn with power and pride

[This message has been edited by powertickle (edited December 20, 2003).]

Heres my feeling about rap, sure, the lyrics of SOME ARTISTS can be poetic, but they butcher it by rapping it in a manner which you cant comprehend

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Happy "Diseased" dud: You said I'd be like this guy. Boycotting everything..
Happy "Diseased" dud: ted kazcnisky. That's who it was.
Happy "Diseased" dud: Wait, That's the unibomer.
Happy "Diseased" dud: Wrong guy.

Sol, next time, don't mention rap at all in the orignal post. That way, you'll get unbiased opinions from people.

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I'm not an actor. I just play one on TV.

The last was Nas I know...I can't put my finger on the others. I don't like most of rap, but some touches me...Zion I, Jurassic 5, SOME Nas. But of course, I'm a blader at heart, so that may have something to do with it. But yah, if you've ever seen Def Poetry on HBO, you know that some rap is just a form of expression, and their shortening and twisting of words is no different than, say, some of Shakespeare's sonnets. Are they all exact, precise, down the the letter words? Or does he cut some things out to make it rhyme and fit?

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There is no signature

Well, he does sometimes, but rarely will he totally butcher a word to make it rhyme.

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Massassian since: March 12, 2001

[=-"The hardest thing is to forgive, but God does;
Even if you murdered or robbed, years wrong, but God loves;
Take one step toward him, he takes two toward you;
Even when all else fail, God supports you." - Nas-=]

And neither do rap artists. They simplify the word, not butcher it.

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There is no signature

I can't say I really like his use of grammar. He also commits a big mistake in the first one, rhyming a word with itself.
It's forgivable though, Peter Murphy does it in his awesome song Cuts You Up (I bolded the offending lines)

You know the way it twists and turns
Changing colour, spinning yarns
You know the way it leaves you dry
It cuts you up and takes you high
You know the way it's painted gold
Is it honey, is it gold
You know the way it throws about
it takes you in and spits you out

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All you need is love.

Befo'?

Notice I stated in the same post, not all rappers/lyrics are poetic

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There is no signature

[This message has been edited by Dj Yoshi (edited December 21, 2003).]