A Question...
 

I kno dis might be a dumb or a newbish question
but how can u tell if a rap song is pop?
just wonderin ya kno
Change Clothes is pop rite?
how can u tell?

i can't speak for everyone else.

but 'pop' to me means music that can't be defined by one genre... like that broad brittany spears, she does shit she thinks is hip hop or rock or r&b, so you can't classify her as one specific thing. she's not hip hop, she's not r&b...

'Pop' is, music popular to the masses (brittany, nsync, etc). And those pop stars trying to appease the masses (*ahem*sellout) will do any genre of music...

as for Jay-Z... i wouldn't consider him pop or that song for that matter... but he is mainstream and he is definately in mainstream's so-called-hip hop... almost as bad as pop music...

^Pop means popular music as you said.

But also catchy music. May not be popular. May not be good. But catchy and 'hooky'.

Also the less meaning it has, usually the more 'pop' it becomes.

Work witht hat i guess...

^that too...

but if somethings catchy, doesn't that mean people like it (whether they want to or not)? thus making it popular...

Not just catchy.

Pop is a mixture of the most "appealing" elements of rock/urban music. Therefore, it appeals to a wide variety of people since it has the most appealing elements of that type of music. Sometimes they mix it up with techno & dance as well.

It's usually identifiable by 3 things:

1. Very little or no meaning
2. Beats that are "dancy"
3. Hooks that are catchy in sound terms

When i say catchy in sound terms, i mean they SOUND catchy. Underground rap can be catchy cos of the rhyming, flow etc.. but pop is usually defined by sung vocals that sound catchy, as in the way that they wanna make u dance, if you know what i mean.

That's why Nelly for example is considered pop. He has beats that are make chicks wanna shake their asses, has practically sung hooks, and his songs have no meaning past the same thug love crap that appeals to most teenagers. He's not pure pop, since he technically doesnt sing his vocals, but he comes very close, with his high pitched voice changes etc.

Dont get me wrong, mainstream rap isnt always that bad. There are rappers that can make catchy pop songs but still have meaning (nas etc.) and decent beats that arent made simply for selling.

Finally, since pop-rap is essentially made to sell records, there is little need for lyrical complexity or meaning, which explains the lackluster content and weak lyrics in most mainstream rap.

Hope that helped.

thanx yup dat helped

No, just cos it's 'catchy', doesn't exactly make it popular.

And yes wogzta, that's kind of what we said, like.

gotcha ^^, but usually when i think somethings "catchy" i secretly like it, but my ego won't let me admit to it... but thats just me...

nah, there are different songs aimed at different markets


1-eminem has at least one song on each album, which is geared towards the 'pop' audience.
without me
real slim shady
my name is

nearly every rapper has to do these nowadays, thats why so many rappers are considered 'pop'

every rapper needs a song that's geared towards the mainstreme audience...but ONE song doesn't make a rapper pop....a perfect example of a pop rapper to me is Ja Rule, especially during 2001 and 2002...I think it was in 01 when he had NOTHING but songs with little piano beats and they were almost all love songs with R&B bitches singing...I mean nothing's wrong with a love song every once in a while but an album of bullshit? Nelly also is a straight pop rapper...

to me a pop rapper is either a rapper that just makes what the pop audience wants to hear (love songs, happy shit, songs about cash, little or no cursing...) or a rapper that focus's his/her songs on the club reaction....most Dirty South rappers are like that..they might rap about fucking bitches and gettin high n shit, but really all everybody is listening to is that hott ass beat that the producer made so that everyone in the club would dance to the shit....

that's how I see it..and I'm perfect lmao....(don't take that part seriously)

^ you nailed the meaning of "pop"

And, Jes I know what you mean. But the thing is, for example... I love that song "Lady" on Obie Trice's album. I like it cos it's catchy... yet I know its crap. So basically, I admit that I like something crap. And as long as you acknowledge its crap, I dont think theres a problem with liking it.

But technically, Eminem can be considered a pop/rap crossover. Not a pop-rapper like Nelly or Ja Rule, but a pretty definite crossover. Example:

1. Curtains Up (skit)
2. White America - chorus and rock beat can sell
3. Business - club beat & catchy chorus
4. Cleanin Out My Closet - pop chorus
5. Square Dance - club beat & catchy chorus
6. The Kiss (skit)
7. Soldier
8. Say Goodbye Holliwood - pop chorus
9. Drips - the chorus
10. Without Me - club beat & pop chorus
11. Paul (skit)
12. Sing For The Moment - rock beat & chorus
13. Superman - subject matter & chorus
14. Hailie's Song - SINGING
15. Steve Berman (skit)
16. When The Music Stops
17. Say What You Say - club beat
18. Till I Collapse - Nate Dogg hook
19. My Dad's Gone Crazy - pop beat & chorus
20. Curtains Down

as you can see, only 2 songs could really be considered "raw". The reason most of the other ones cant sell is cos of the content (say what you say, drips). So technically, he does impliment heaps of pop things in his songs, but he does put work into his lyrics and flow, and meaning, so you cant consider him a complete sellout. The Eminem Show was incredibly dodgy though.

put it this way, your on RB.com, you can't be pop on key raps, so dont worry about it :)

Er, what's wrong with 'pop' music? Just cos it's pop, doesn't mean it can't be 'raw' or have 'emotion' or 'meaning'. Some of the best songs of all time were 'pop' of some sorts.

It shouldn't matter whether something is 'this' or 'that'. If it sounds good to you, then you like it. Can't let a society views dictate your taste.

Though artists do sometimes come into it (authenticity n all that...but even then..).

^ your 100% right, but its just the image of pop that is bad. Pop is the only music named after its success rating rather than its style or sound or roots. That in itself proves that pop music is simply about selling, without meaning or emotion. Some rock/pop or rap/pop crossovers might have meaning, and might even be good, but usually arent. Pure pop is NEVER good. Trust me on that. It is made to sell, nothing less, nothing more.

ok here's my definition.

Beats that sound like they were made on a little electric piano are pop.

Beats that were made up of samples and a drum-kit, has loops, and cuts'n scratch's on it, thats raw.

A rapper that needs no hooks with bitches sing'n "oooohh-aaawww" in the background, thats pop

A rapper who uses all the symbols in lyricism such as meta's, multi's etc, thats raw.

A rap video on m,uch music, and they ain't wear'n winter coats, thats pop.

A rap song that ain't got a music video. If they DID have a music video, they'd be wear'n a winter jacket, thats raw.

Or anything that get's radio-play, and the artist actually made a clean version, thats pop.

or a song that got play'd on the radio cuz it's like a special show, and you can't hear half of it, cuz they blank'n the curses, thats raw.

ok maybe not my last point. But BIG-UP CANADA.