My brother generally dislikes rap (with a few exceptions), and for some reason today he felt it necessary to tell me out of the blue, “You really need to stop listening to rap.” Naturally, my first response was to ask why.
The first (and only) example of a bad rapper my brother brought up was Rick Ross. He stated that Rick Ross is “unimaginative”, “raps in the same voice all the time”, “says ‘Rozay!’ in most of his songs”, and is only good because of his production. He also said that Rick Ross is a good lyricist.
First, I asked my brother to name a couple songs where Ross says “Rozay!” He thought about it, said Lord Knows (by Drake) and couldn’t name anymore. I told him that an obvious example would have been King of Diamonds since the whole chorus is, in fact, simply Ross repeating “Rozay!” But clearly my brother was unfamiliar with the song.
I can agree that the production is a big part of why I can enjoy Ross’ music. Lyrically, not really, and I had to laugh when my brother said that Ross was good lyrically. Not to say Ross can’t be good when he actually tries, but I doubt my brother has listened to Free Mason or Rich Forever either, so I’m not sure where he got that from.
But even when Ross isn’t trying, he can still be entertaining. My brother disagrees, and finds Ross’ voice boring and monotonous. Personally, I see nothing wrong with having a consistent voice. It’s not like Ross is delivering a class lecture; it’s a 16 bar verse. He’s recognizable and can certainly change up his voice when he pleases.
As for Ross being “unimaginative”, I see no problem with this either. What’s wrong with making music that doesn’t push some musical boundary? Not everything has to be an attempt to revolutionize music. Ross fills a niche, and he does it well. I brought up the song Hold Me Back (my brother has heard this song) because I felt like it is song that serves a certain purpose. It’s become my personal “pump-up” song for playing video games, and my stepbrother openly shares this sentiment. My brother says that repeating “Deez n!ggas won’t hold me back” over and over isn’t good music, while I think the repetition is great because it takes my mind off the lyrics and lets me focus on gaming while still giving a blood rush.
After this, my brother finished with, “You people (by this, I assume he means Rick Ross fans) are fake.” I tried to ask him what he meant by “fake”, and he responded “Made in China” ಠ_ಠ
The conversation ended after I pushed for him to explain himself and he abruptly changed the topic by talking about some TV show, which I responded to by walking away.
I’m sure I come off as biased, but everything here is what was discussed, although I don’t have a transcript of the conversation so you’ll just have to take my word for it. My question is, regardless of your own thoughts on Rick Ross, did I make a decent argument? I’m hardly the biggest Ross fan, but I do feel like my brother voiced a couple ignorant opinions that he really couldn’t back up, and he backed out when it went downhill. I don’t think anyone could possibly agree with his argument, but if you do, please feel free to say so and explain why.
Inb4 “tl;dr”
BQ: Have you ever been in a similar situation, where you tried to argue with someone who knew relatively little about rap and/or had misconceptions about it?
BQ2: General thoughts on Rick Ross?
BQ3: By separating the question into paragraphs instead of one big wall of text, did it make it easier for you to read?
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Rhh: What Do You Think About My Argument With My Brother About Rick Ross?
Posted on May 4, 2013.
Rick Ross is a rapist and tl;dr
BQ: every day
BQ: dope tbh he is a good Lyracist and has good production gets to much hate Imo
BQ: doesn’t matter to me tbh
I think you did, not because you made an excellent argument, but because you forced him to make one (and he couldn’t, so he looked like an idiot)
BQ: My brother dislikes rap (he liked DMX for pump up songs), but he doesn’t really care what I listen to. I’m the only one in my family who listens to hip hop. (both my brothers did at a time. Actually, my brother was the one who introduced me to Deltron 3030)
BQ2: He’s okay.
BQ3: I suppose…
“Don’t argue with idiots because they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.”
bq: like dozens of times in Y!A
bq2: his blood type is rocky road
bq3: yes it did. thanks for the consideration.
Rick Ross is a poser. He’s never been through tough times like other rappers Ex. Mobb Deep, Tupac, Biggie etc. What does that tell me about the possible content that he might produce? It tells me that he’ll rap about nothing but money, girls, and “dealing drugs”. Rap is all about telling a story, many people have started to forget the true meaning of rap, they get swayed by the catchy beats instead of the lyrics. Sure many rappers are great at getting money from albums but sometimes money aint everything.
I understand your argument but if I don’t blame your brother for not understanding it
BQ: I got into an argument with this hopsin stan that thought he was the greatest
BQ2: I personally find him annoying
BQ3: Yes
Lol at you thinking hold me back is a good song
BQ: Yes
BQ2: Mediocre and can’t carry an album by himself he relies on features I don’t like him
BQ3: Yeah i didn’t read the whole thing though skipped through different sentences
Okay so the real question is did you make a decent argument? Not really.
First of all, let me say that he was wrong for trying to use Rick Ross for an example of all rap. That’s a f*ckin stupid generalization and you could’ve ripped him a new one just based off that. Anyways…..
Also LOL for proving him right that Rick Ross does repeatedly shout one of his stage names all over a song. Okay, real analysis….
So, you were more focused on judging “the sound” Rick Ross puts out, but it seems like that your brother was more focused on Rick Ross himself, the rapper. However, you weren’t saying much about how his ability to compose these simple sounding songs that “sound nice” could add to his overall artistry and be more appealing than a rapper who is more lyrically skilled and imaginative with their lyrics. When does Rick Ross try though? I didn’t see any specific examples. He tends to embody this one sound/theme on every song and I know that’s his niche but its a niche that can get really boring really fast for anyone. Repetition is monotonous and boring, and what I’m getting from your argument is that his lyrics only serve to add more focus to the beat (not everyone can just listen to a beat and be happy btw)? So why even listen to him if the beat is doing all the work? It sounds like Rick Ross himself shouldn’t have been in the argument at all lol, should’ve just debated the quality of his beats because apparently that’s where his artistry is at. Overall, thought it was kind of a weak argument and didn’t make the music or Rick Ross seem any more appealing.
BQ: I’ve stopped trying to change people’s opinions on hip hop matters unless they are willing to be swayed.
BQ2: Used to heavily f*cks with him, now not so much…
BQ3: Nope.