Rap music on high-end speakers


Hello,

I have audiophile taste in gear, but not in music. I listen to rap music, and occansionaly R&B. Is there anyone out there like me? What do you listen for when buying gear? I was wondering what are the benefits in getting better gear? I want to upgrade the speakers to either proac response 3.8 or wilson cubs. Here is my system:

Levinson No.23
aranov ls-9000
Platinum audio reference 2
Paradigm servo 15
kimber speaker wire
esoteric component wires
amc cdm7
tru

Showing 4 responses by raguirre

That puts "audiophile hip-hoppers" in the minority

And audiophile jazz cats, and audiophile funkaholics, and audiophile classic rockers, and audiophile spacerockonauts, and audiophile electronics whizes, probably even audiophile classical connoisseurs. As for the rest, I'm sure your East Egg perspective is charming, but to judge an entire genre of music based on anecdotal evidence of mass behavior is at best irresponsible.
High fidelity is wasted on hip hop. Why? Hip hop producers aren't concerned with fidelity. How do you know? Well, whenever I hear hip hop, the fidelity is horrible. Oh, so you listen to it at home? No, I don't like hip hop. Oh, but then you must have audiophile friends with hip hop tastes? No, none of my audiophile friends would bother with that. So how, exactly, do you know that there is no high fidelity information in hip hop if you've never listened to a hip hop recording on a high fidelity system? Ummm...
Sean - perhaps I misunderstood your earlier posts, and I thank you for continuing to clarify. It seems as though you do recognize that the generalization of modern hip hop artists is a convenience and largely a product of marketing hype and an increasingly disillusioned youth culture. More, it sees like you agree with the notion that the form isn't inherently unlistenable, but perhaps it's most well known ambassadors are. These were really the points I wanted to make. To me, music has always been a gateway into new cultures and ideas. As such, what I listen to tends to range from European electronic exotica like Mouse on Mars to the excellent songsmithing of Leadbelly. One thing that I have observed is that there are plenty of bad music and plenty of bad music fans in every genre. And that's fine, but if you really want to hear what any music type has to offer you must be willing to wade through the crap (or better yet, find a reliable guide who's already familiar with the form). To dismiss anything before really giving it a shot is just cheating yourself.
Tru - I thought this thread was dead, too. I see a few listed objections to rap: glorifies violence and misogyny (unlike, say. the blues, right?), rappers don't sing, music is simply played off records, listeners listen to the music too loud. I can't help but think these are stereotypically ignorant statements. Take a band like, say, The Roots. I had the opportunity to see them perform a few times last summer and immensely enjoyed the sound. All music came from instruments (drummer was as solid as any I've seen this side of a 'big name' jazz performance) that were played well. Their performance was no louder than any of the other performers on the marque (another rap group, two rock & roll groups, and a not so unfamous electronica musician). While the words weren't recited in the melodic tradition, they were certainly sung, that is they showed rhythm, tempo, dynamics, and phrasing (When the poet writes, 'I *sing* of a man and of arms', what melody do you think he had in mind?). And finally, the lyrics were for the most part positive and well written. It's OK not to like rap. It's OK not to like Mozart. You just shouldn't go around criticizing an art form that ultimately you know very little about using arguments that are intellectually dishonest and easily dismissed by a single counter example.