10 Things Rap Haters Say-And How to Respond

Rebutting the lames.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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It’s the year 2013, and there are still people out there who hate hip-hop. People who still think it isn’t real music, that it’s just a fad that's just going disappear, people who think it's bad for society and want to actively stop it. (Surely, they will fail. Tell 'em, Jeru!) Of course, you don’t need to suffer these retrograde relics in silence: Most arguments against hip-hop can be dismantled with good old-fashioned logic. That's why we put together this friendly guide wherein we run down 10 of the most common things that hip-hop haters say—and how to shut them down with a bulletproof response.

Written by Alex Gale (@apexdujeous)

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Sampling is cheap, easy, and essentially just stealing someone else's music.

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Rap promotes violence.

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I can't understand what they're saying.

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Rappers are all criminals.

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But didn't Nas say hip-hop was dead, like, YEARS ago?

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It's a bad influence. Think of the children!

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I think my dad used to listen to rap. It's so passé and mainstream now.

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Rap is just talking.

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Oh yeah, Diddy. Fuck that guy.

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But live rap shows are the worst.

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Like any genre since the advent of recorded music, rap has suffered its share of onstage bombs, performers who shout sloppily over pre-recorded tracks while aimlessly sauntering back and forth. (This was no doubt exacerbated by the fact that bigoted venue owners and promoters wouldn't book rap shows and tours until the late '90s, meaning that MCs had little incentive to step up their live game.)

But in 2013, saying that live rap shows can't be good is just lazy. Even for the "rappers don't play instruments" crowd: The Roots are widely recognized as one of the best live shows on the planet, and many rap acts have taken their lead by incorporating the explosive, loose energy of live bands into their show.

Not that they necessarily need it. As anyone who saw Run-D.M.C. in their heyday, or even, believe it or not, Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff in the pre-Fresh Prince era (check "Live at Union Square November 1986"), can attest, a well-coordinated DJ and MC team can be just as powerful. And nowadays, with rock and pop stagnating commercially, rappers are the ones pushing the envelope onstage. Here's Kanye describing his Glow in the Dark tour on his much-missed blog:

ROBOT DESIGNED BY ACCLAIMED ARTIST CHRISTIAN COLON ... CREATURES BY THE LEGENDARY JIM HENSON'S CREATURE SHOP ... LIGHTING BY MARTIN PHILLIPS AND JOHN McGUIRE, RESPONSIBLE FOR LAST YEARS FESTIVAL ANNIHILATOR, DAFT PUNK'S PYRAMID, POSSIBLY THE GREATEST LIGHT SHOW OF ALL TIME!! ... WE'VE GOT HOLOGRAMS SHOT BY HYPE WILLIAMS!!!

For once, he wasn't exaggerating.

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