What is wack and what is dope?

[Xray]

In your words, how can one define a rapper as wack or dope? What aspects do you look at? Is it their lyrics or is it their beats, or is it their popularity that makes you think they are good or bad?

Many of you here, don't know what is wack and what is dope. Many of you think you know, but you don't. Many of you here, seem to rely on popularity to get your dose of rap. Many of you here, think complexity is what defines a talented rapper. Many of you here, concentrate on who's collaborating with who, to lurk the woods and find a new MC. If you are either one of those, your hip hop is wrong.

Underground fans, I know some of you only give a shit about lyricism, and who's got the best rhyme-schemes, but that's wrong, because you are concentrating on lyrics more than the actual music you're listening to. A rapper's talent isn't only writing, it's how you create your sound using writing and recording. To me, originality is dope, style is dope, message is dope, subject matter is dope, lyrics, as dope as them but not greater. Especially in this modern world, everyone raps these days.

It's hard to seperate people from one another because everyone seems to be doing the same thing. Everyone is trying their best to write their best of their ability, or hear their best of their ability, but why so much concentration on lyrics? I mean without a message, a character, style, or originality, lyrics won't mean much. It's the little things that you think aren't that important that counts, sometimes.

Things to look at when you are studying someone's music;

*Beats
*Lyrics
*Flow
*Delivery
*Message
*Style
*Character
*Originality
*Subject Matter

Things NOT to look at when you are studying someone's music;

*Sales
*Popularity
*Features (collabs)
*Complexity

Hopefully this has left some sort of impact on your judgement the next time you call something wack or dope. If not, it's fine, but please do explain why you disagree.

[Block]

Why not complexity? A large vocab and great rhyme schemes fall under complexity, and they both attract me to rappers. If a rapper doesn't have a decent vernacular and rhyme scheme to back his subject matter, he's boring to me.

Edit: to me, lyricism is the defining point of any rapper. That goes under message. It's not just about rhyming everything, it's about what you say and how it's said. word placement is very important to me. The right word choice is also very important.

Then again, I also enjoy just good music. Be it rap or any other form of music. I believe the worst thing anyone can do is limit themselves to listening to a certain genre, even inside hip hop.

To say anyone is wrong for their opinion on music is a little drastic, though. I mean, if dudes wanna listen to soulja boy and jeezy, why is that wrong? Some people's entire music catalog consists of the billboard top 100. They're not wrong, they just want to stay "in fashion". It's a different mindset than u or I possess.

[Devil'sAdvocate]

very well writtin explanation man.

that is why a handful of underground rapper are real rap artists

example:Copy and sadistik and diabolic.

[Tornado]

No one element can make a rapper dope. Some like the Multis in rap but would you be listening to Em and his multis if his delievery was dead and boring? Would you listen to a Punchline rapper if he had a bad flow? Shit you can even make a track with a great subject content but if you're on a shit beat/ usuing pre-school rhymes/ usuing somebody's style then that aint no good.

End of the day, you gotta judge a track overall and not just by the flow, or beat, or message. Sometimes i understand you want to hear some lyrical shit, go check Rhyme Asylum for that, but for actual great songs, they combine most elements of what make a good track effortlessly.

Take something like Redman's Pick It Up and Nas's Small World. Two completely different styles of dope hip-hop but what makes then dope overall is the feel of the track. Redman's flow & style stand out even though there's no deep subject matter whilst Nas paints a story with with more lyrical rhyme scheme.

[xxTrigger1989xx]

Em is wack, Wacka Flocka Flame is dope. That's that.
























Nah but really, I pretty much agree with the OP.

[Raids-God]

Em is wack, Wacka Flocka Flame is dope. That's that.

Perfectly Put.

[Mahmoud48]

for me good is
nice voice
hot beat

idc about the rest

[One Mic]

for me good is
nice voice
hot beat

idc about the rest

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_Cent

[mcZu]

Don't over analyse music, if you must, do it after you've evaluated if you actually like the music. Music is how feelings sound like, if it speaks to you, and if you can relate to it in some kind of way, then it's dope to you. If the music in question does not appeal to you in anyway possible, then it is wack to you.

[Master Chief]

*Beats
*Lyrics
*Flow
*Delivery
*Message
*Style
*Character
*Originality
*Subject Matter

Yeah, those pretty much are the things i look forward to when listening to a rapper (not all at once, of course).
I agree with you, underground rap is dope of course, but it gets boring sometimes...
There is no music, its just a simple beat and rapping...But on the other hand rappers like Tech & Royce have managed to be musical and lyricists at the same time, that is why you never see someone saying any of them is wack....

Yeah, that's why those two artists are among my favorites

[GenePeer]

"Dopeness" is relative, man. How can you say some people don't know what is dope? Stop imposing your opinion on everyone like it's a fact. For one, I see complexity being just as important as everything else you mentioned. With complex rhyme schemes, the flow and delivery become smoother. You don't have to focus on the what's rhyming with what to realize that a verse sounded really good. Isn't that what music is supposed to do, sound good?

[dead prez]

Agree with you character and style (how you present yourself in the mic) is often overlooked, who the fuck wants to listen to a drab lifeless mc who just spits but has no personality whatsoever. One of the reasons I like mcees like Ghosface is cause of his personality on the mic, almost like a comedian if you will. Now I'm not saying every rapper should have some other alter ego Quasimoto, MF doom, Dr Octagon, and to a lesser extent Slim Shady, but it's still entertainment and I'd rather listen to someone with originality and charisma than some guy that rhyme a hundred syllables but feels like he's reading off a piece of paper.

Originality is also often overlooked, so many mcees try to sound like others and try to be the next "Big L" and imitate someone else and their gimmick, I know you can be inspired there'snothing wrong with that i.e. Eminem being inspired by Chino Xl and Esham is a good example, there's a big difference between that and someone like The Realest (Biggest Pac jocker ever) and Guerilla Black, lol.

As far as complexity I sort of agree, I mean I like "book smart" mcees as much as the next guy (Lupe Fiasco, Aceyalone, J live) but people shoouldn't automatically take someone who can recite the whole dictionary as automatically a good lyricist, execution is important and this is where people start throwing around pretentious just because said rapper knows a bunch of shit. I guess it's probably cause my main form of Hip Hop is street hardcore hip hop like Mobb Deep, but I can easily bang something from Gift of Gab, Aceyalone, Lupe when I get tired of that too. Still being "smart" isn't exactly a good way to label someone as a stellar lyricist some of Em's most complex songs have him rapping about nonsense, same for Edan who's also dope.

[SlimShadyX313X]

For me, whack, is when you only could listen to it once, like you don't want to listen to it again.
Dope is when you want to listen to it even though you heard it like a million times.

[Cube23]

- Beats
- Lyrics
- Flow
- Delivery
- Hooks

Usually how I judge an album or artist.

[Robbie G]

Someones dope if they make songs that I want to listen to more than a few times.