Today, I would love to talk about some of my favorite
bands/artists. Personally, I am very picky about my music. I like bands and
artists who have a good sound, with meaningful, or clever lyrics, and artists
who put their heart and souls into each and every song. To be honest, in
today’s mainstream music, it is really hard to find a band or artists with
these qualities. But, I’ve managed to find a few underground and
semi-mainstream artists who meet my criteria. These artists include, Hopsin,
Tyler- the Creator, and Eminem. The genres I want to write about is hip-hop.
Let’s
start with the hip-hop genre, and rapper Tyler, The Creator. Most people have
heard of his huge rap group, Odd Future, or OFWGKTA. Tyler is a skating, often
depressed, offensive, and controversial artist. His songs use tons of offensive
language, and he specifically targets certain celebrities and artists, such as
Bruno Mars, Tegan and Sara, B.o.B., Taylor Swift, and many others. Tyler, The
Creator is an atheist, who often mocks religion. This, alone, offends many
people. Tyler is also famous for using homophobic lyrics and slurs. I like his
type of music because he stands for what he believes in. To me, that is a huge
quality not often seen in this world anymore. Another reason is that he is
always himself, no matter what other artists or critics tend to think. In one
of my favorite songs by him, “Nightmare”, Tyler expresses his deep, emotional,
suicidal side. In many of his songs, Tyler talks about his father who left him,
and his past. These songs in particular are a huge reason why I like Tyler so much.
How deep he can be is extremely relatable to. But, in his songs of a more
twisting image, he always stays himself. He has never let a critics words
affect him in his music, and that quality is admirable in my eyes and to my
ears.
Sticking
with hip-hop, I want to move on to Hopsin. Hopsin is a west-coast rapper,
mostly known by his “Ill Mind of Hopsin” videos, most hitting well over a
million views. To me, Hopsin is one of the rappers who are reviving the hip-hop
game. Hopsin has a flow everyone can love, but he also has complex lyrics that
follow a complex rhyme scheme. Not only does Hopsin have an amazing flow, but
the meanings in his lyrics are mostly positive, and he attacks society, and
speaks the truth. His song, “Nocturnal Rainbows” Hopsin talks about society in
an inspiring, and beautiful way. Hopsin is also known for dissing celebrities
and artists. The artists and celebrities include: Tyler, The Creator, Lil
Wayne, Soulja Boy, Eazy-E’s wife, Lupe Fiasco, Drake, Rick Ross, and many the
artists and celebrities. One thing I admire by Hopsin, as long as Tyler, is the
straight-edge image. Hopsin is against drugs, and puts them down in many of his
song, such as the “Ill Mind of Hopsin 5.” Hopsin uses a lot of rhyme inside of
rhyming schemes, such as “Welcome to the ill mind of Hopsin, where real life’s
an option, the ill lines that I spit, make you realize you’re not sick.” My
all-time favorite Hopsin song is “Heather Nicole.” In this song, Hopsin talks
about how he was abusive and neglected a girl, who he realizes he still has
strong feelings for, and still really wants, but he hurt her too much. That’s
why he made her the song, in hopes to reach out to her. The reason Hopsin’s
music appeals to me so much is mainly based on the fact on how personal he is.
It’s really deep, and it’s very easy to relate to his music.
Another
one of my favorite rappers is Eminem. Eminem is known for creating controversy.
In several of his songs, he uses homosexual slurs, offensive language, and just
other vulgar and slanderous words. But, Eminem always is capable of expressing
himself. He has always told his life story, and a lot of people admire him for
this. In music, Eminem takes his bottled up emotions, and unleashes them with
every rhyme. It’s amazing how Eminem always writes what he feels, no matter who
it would offend or bother. I admire Eminem because of all he has done for
hip-hop. It’s insane to think that one rapper, mainly due to his skin color,
can affect and open the doors for an entire, world renowned genre. When I was
younger, I would only listen to Eminem. Unfortunately, I used to be a Stan.
But, now that time has passed, I still love his music, but I have opened my
eyes to many different artists. Another thing that I love about Eminem is how
beautifully his songs are put together. His songs, “Beautiful,” “Sing For The
Moment,” and “Lose Yourself,” are so well put together. I also consider Eminem
one of, or the greatest, lyricist in all of rap. Have you ever really paid
attention to the lyrics and rhyming in the first verse of “Lose Yourself?” I’m going to put a comma after each rhyming
word. The way he utilizes syllables is perfect.
“His palms, are sweaty, knees, weak, arms,
are heavy, there’s vomit, on his sweater, already, mom’s, spaghetti, he’s
nervous, but on the surface, he looks calm, and ready, to drop bombs, but he
keeps on forgetting.”
The
rhyming in this verse is just amazing, and is honestly one of the reasons why I
consider him to be such a complex and great lyricist.
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