U2- Hip-hop and Rap

When rap and hip-hop music were originated, they had very simplistic musical styles. Most DJ’s and Emcees used very basic bass and snare beats, with light sound effects underlying the beat. Rap music used to be about the lyrics. If you really listen to some old rap music, you hear a story. Anybody who doesn’t think that rappers are poets, are just wrong. Just because they choose to express themselves in a way that a lot of people do not think could ever be a liable form of self-expression is absurd. I think it is a shame that rap has started to go in the direction that it has been headed. It has stopped being about the lyrics. It is very rare that you hear a “rap” song on the radio that has any meaning whatsoever behind it. Granted that getting money and flaunting it has always been a big part of rap music, it is being taken to a new extreme. Artists of today 

are too focused on their profit, instead of the actual music. I have taken a lot of time in my life studying rap and hip-hop music. I have listened to the original gangster rappers like Tupac Shakur, and Biggie Smalls. I love both of their music, and I personally think that for both of them to have died at such a young age is a shame. They were both such fantastic writers. It makes me sad that they died so young. I cherish the music that they did release though. Rap and hip-hop is a unique genre of music. There are so many different sub-genres, and different kinds of rap and hip-hop. I think it’s awesome. I don’t see the point in taking someone life over a music fight, or a hip-hop beef. It happens all the time though. That is one of the things I hate about it. Making songs that go back and forth is one thing, but to actually kill someone over it just isn’t necessary. It isn’t often that I hear a rap song on the radio today that I like. When I do though, I look up everything else I can find by that artist. Hip-hop music is dying in the United States in my opinion. We have a few real artists left such as Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z, Mac Miller, Atmosphere, and a few more, but other than that hip-hop music is just turning into mainstream garbage. Canada is just getting started with hip-hop music though. Canadian artists are getting better every day. Artists like Snak the Ripper, Evil Ebenezer, Merkules, Madchild, Caspian, and Classified are the future of hip-hop. The world of rap could learn a lot from these rising stars. I would really hate to see my favorite type of music die out. I can only hope that the artists of today realize what they are making is garbage, and try to revert to their roots. 

U1-Tom Morello

 Tom Morello was born in Harlem New York, on May 30^th, 1964. He is best known as the lead guitarist for “Rage against the Machine” and “Audioslave”. His mother was a Caucasian school teacher and activist. His father was a Kenyan, who fought for his country’s independence from the British. Raised in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois he picked up a guitar at the age of seventeen. Inspired by his love for punk rock, and metal he began to play music. Morello is a graduate of Harvard University, which surprises most people.  Morello teamed up with Zack De La Rocha, Tim Commerford, and Brad Wilk who all eventually formed Rage against the Machine. It was with Rage when Morello became famous for his style of guitar playing. Morello has one of the most distinct guitar styles. When you hear it once, it is not something you quickly forget. When Rage went on hiatus, Morello got in contact with Chris Cornell formerly of the band 

“Soundgarden” to become “Audioslave”. Morello’s crazy guitar style clashed very hard with Cornells mid tempo vocal style, but it created something awesome. The band released three commercially successful albums. Audioslave ended in 2005, and Morello greatly wanted to stay involved in music. He created an alter ego, whom he calls “The Nightwatchman”. He recorded his first solo album in 2007. His guitar style was greatly different from his days with Rage, and Audioslave. The Nightwatchman was an acoustic based, folk music. Morello is a phenomenal musician, who sends out a very good message.  I think he will always be a part of the music industry. Hopefully one day, Rage against the machine will do a reunion tour. I along with thousands of others would love to see Morello and the rest of Rage perform live.

R1-Mumford & Sons

Usually, I am not a very big fan of bands that would be classified as "folk" anything. Mumford is an exception though. Being one of my favorite bands, the amount of musical talent they have alone should be enough to gain the respect of musicians, and music lovers all over the world. The amount of passion and emotion that they put into their work is something that you don't find much of these days. Formed in December of 2007, the band is from London. The band consists of Marcus Mumford, Ben Lovett, Winston Marshall, and Ted Dwane. Later in their career, they would be known as one of the "West London folk scenes", but Mumford insisted they were neither folk nor a scene, but rather a non-exclusive community. I just chose to describe them as folk music to give people a general idea of the kind of music they play. In 2008, the band signed with 

Management Company Everybody's which delivered them to A&R at Island, Louis Bloom. With no record out yet, the band traveled all around U.K., U.S. and Australia, performing materials which would later become "Sigh No More". This amount of traveling, they were steadily gaining followers. It was time to start recording. In May of 2009, the EP “The Cave and the Open Sea” was released. The EP got them some notoriety , which in turn earned them a record label with Island Records. The first single off of their first full length album was “Little Lion Man”.  The album “Sigh No More” was released in 2009. The album received phenomenal reviews with music critics, and fans of folk music. People were able to connect with the group. It’s easy to see that the band is passionate about what they do. Their music also inspired people to try and learn guitar. All in all, the band is composed of a group of phenomenal musicians. I would highly recommend checking them out, if you haven’t already.