5 ms·

Why entrepreneurs should love rap music

28 points by randall 16y ago

ronnier 16y ago
I listen to so many podcasts that it's hard for me to fit music in. I've started listening to "This Developers Life" which mixes in some nice music though. http://thisdeveloperslife.com/ http://thisdeveloperslife.com/
mindcrime 16y ago
I have to say, I'm more a metal-head than anything... about 90% of the time, I want Metallica, Iron Maiden, In Flames, Children of Bodom, Testament, Slayer, Mötley Crüe, Queensryche, Dimmu Borgir, Cinderella, Exodus, Incantation, Nuclear Assault, Overkill, Megadeth, Finntroll, Gamma Ray, Kamelot, Stratovarius, etc. playing... But the other part of the time, I freely admit to having a soft-spot for gangsta rap, especially Dr. Dre, Eminem, 50 Cent, Tupac, Obie Trice, Snoop Dogg, N.W.A., etc. There is definitely an attitude present in that music that is very motivational in it's way. Like the article says... there's a lot of focus on hard-work, on success, on achievement, etc. Something like "Till I Collapse"[1] by Eminem gets me as fired up as anything. Then again, that's not to take anything away from a song like "Keep Your Eye on the Money" [2] by Mötley Crüe, either. \m/ [1]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUwXJODauxs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUwXJODauxs [2]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kGOCcjPqnY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kGOCcjPqnY
- michaelchisari 16y ago
  Not to mention that even the most gangsta of gangsta rappers still have songs on their albums that are focused on telling stories in a poetic way. Even 50 Cent, who's one of the most anti-intellectual of mainstream rappers, writes lyrics like "God's the seamstress that tailor fitted my pain." People write off hip hop, and it's really unfair. Sure, there's a lot of crap out there, but if I wrote off rock music because of Fallout Boy and Creed, I'd be seriously missing out.
michaelchisari 16y ago
I'm just gonna drop this here, because I think it will appeal to the geeks here. Last Emporor's "Secret Wars", which is a fantastical tale about a battle between his favorite emcees and his favorite Marvel comic book characters. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SPjPGeYlMU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SPjPGeYlMU What if I had the power to gather all of my favorite emcees With the illest comic book characters and they became arch enemies? Inconcievable? Unbelievable? Yet as wild as it seems The Emperor and Stan Lee would coach the two opposing teams
- Tycho 16y ago
  You might like this, storytelling rap EP about apocalyptic human-AI war (from the robot perspective...) http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=240817 http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=240817
thomasb 16y ago
Wow, these "why entrepreneurs should..." articles weren't very to good to begin with. Now, they are just outright silly.
- eitland 16y ago
  Agree. Post is mostly just authors personal opinions, marketed as the truth. Example: >> or redneck issues (country). Country music has a lot of texts about hard work too.
  - Tycho 16y ago
    I think the author has a good point though that rap is the only genre that really embraces commercialism/capitalism/enrichment in the lyrics themselves (albeit usually mixed in with a criminal fantasy element).
- justin 16y ago
  This was more my tongue-in-cheek personal opinion than a recipe to startup success. Please feel free to like other types of music.
rossmeissl 16y ago
One of my favorite lines from rap music for entrepreneurs: "If it ain't about that dough, ain't about me neither" -- Lil Wayne
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
omarchowdhury 16y ago
Here's a rap song I'm sure everyone of us here will like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdS3WVYr834 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdS3WVYr834
twism 16y ago
This is on heavy rotation over here http://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Hustle+Hard+remix+noshout+/3xvuWw?src=5 http://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Hustle+Hard+remix+noshout+/3...
onfye 16y ago
No one should "love" the kind of rap music that the author is talking about. The love and worship of "gangsta rap" has the black community in shambles.
- Anechoic 16y ago
  > The love and worship of "gangsta rap" has the black community in shambles. Do you seriously think "gangsta rap" is the cause of ills among blacks? Do you similarly blame violent video games for teen/young adult violence?
  - gnok 16y ago
    I'm not entirely sure the comparison is valid. Music tends to have a greater cultural influence than video games. Not to mention having real-life idols that proscribe to the 'gangsta' way of life. In fact, I think its people rather than the music that causes the deeper cultural influence. Admittedly, gangsta rap that describes the ways of inner-city life is an artistic statement. I suspect the parent was talking about the certain sub-genre of gangsta rap that eulogizes and encourages a violent life. To answer your first question (even thought you asked the parent), I can't believe that music of any form can possibly be the cause of ills among the black community.
    - onfye 16y ago
      "I can't believe that music of any form can possibly be the cause of ills among the black community." That's because you aren't black, and you wouldn't know. It's not just music, it's the mainstream media as a whole, and how they depict a successful black. The black youth don't get to see the successful black businessman, lawyer, doctor or politician. The ghetto drug dealer who became a rapper and now has millions, athlete, etc. are the only success stories we are fed with, on a daily basis.
  - onfye 16y ago
    I KNOW for a fact that it's a major cause, if not THE major cause. The glorification of thug life, drug-dealing, fast-money has mis-guided youth following the wrong foot-steps. I know because I was one of those, and I see them everyday. They don't just listen to the music as a preppy white kid would, they LIVE by the music, and get thrown in jail or murdered.
Tycho 16y ago
Somewhat ironically, the best rapper ever (IMO) is a staunch Marxist. Although I guess he's also an entrepreneur. I'm taking about Boots Riley - completely disagree with his politics but can't deny the unparalleled quality of his two masterpieces: Me and Jesus The Pimp in a 79 Grenada Last Night Fat Cats, Bigga Fish
_delirium 16y ago
I don't get quite the same sense from most hip-hop, though I agree it does have some of the elements he lists. But there's a vague anticapitalist current buried in even the bling-rapping, where capitalism is seen as a rigged game that you have to figure out how to beat, whether by legal means or otherwise.
guptaneil 16y ago
It all makes sense now! "Move bitch, get out the way" must be about surpassing your competition!
protez 16y ago
He's making a good point. However, he's overlooking the crystal clear fact that psytrance, a subgenre of electronic, is about transcendence almost above and beyond everything imaginable in this particular universe.

28 points by randall 16y ago

I listen to so many podcasts that it's hard for me to fit music in. I've started listening to "This Developers Life" which mixes in some nice music though. http://thisdeveloperslife.com/ http://thisdeveloperslife.com/

mindcrime 16y ago

I have to say, I'm more a metal-head than anything... about 90% of the time, I want Metallica, Iron Maiden, In Flames, Children of Bodom, Testament, Slayer, Mötley Crüe, Queensryche, Dimmu Borgir, Cinderella, Exodus, Incantation, Nuclear Assault, Overkill, Megadeth, Finntroll, Gamma Ray, Kamelot, Stratovarius, etc. playing... But the other part of the time, I freely admit to having a soft-spot for gangsta rap, especially Dr. Dre, Eminem, 50 Cent, Tupac, Obie Trice, Snoop Dogg, N.W.A., etc. There is definitely an attitude present in that music that is very motivational in it's way. Like the article says... there's a lot of focus on hard-work, on success, on achievement, etc. Something like "Till I Collapse"[1] by Eminem gets me as fired up as anything. Then again, that's not to take anything away from a song like "Keep Your Eye on the Money" [2] by Mötley Crüe, either. \m/ [1]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUwXJODauxs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUwXJODauxs [2]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kGOCcjPqnY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kGOCcjPqnY

michaelchisari 16y ago
Not to mention that even the most gangsta of gangsta rappers still have songs on their albums that are focused on telling stories in a poetic way. Even 50 Cent, who's one of the most anti-intellectual of mainstream rappers, writes lyrics like "God's the seamstress that tailor fitted my pain." People write off hip hop, and it's really unfair. Sure, there's a lot of crap out there, but if I wrote off rock music because of Fallout Boy and Creed, I'd be seriously missing out.

michaelchisari 16y ago

I'm just gonna drop this here, because I think it will appeal to the geeks here. Last Emporor's "Secret Wars", which is a fantastical tale about a battle between his favorite emcees and his favorite Marvel comic book characters. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SPjPGeYlMU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SPjPGeYlMU What if I had the power to gather all of my favorite emcees With the illest comic book characters and they became arch enemies? Inconcievable? Unbelievable? Yet as wild as it seems The Emperor and Stan Lee would coach the two opposing teams

Tycho 16y ago
You might like this, storytelling rap EP about apocalyptic human-AI war (from the robot perspective...) http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=240817 http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=240817

thomasb 16y ago

Wow, these "why entrepreneurs should..." articles weren't very to good to begin with. Now, they are just outright silly.

eitland 16y ago
Agree. Post is mostly just authors personal opinions, marketed as the truth. Example: >> or redneck issues (country). Country music has a lot of texts about hard work too.
- Tycho 16y ago
  I think the author has a good point though that rap is the only genre that really embraces commercialism/capitalism/enrichment in the lyrics themselves (albeit usually mixed in with a criminal fantasy element).
justin 16y ago
This was more my tongue-in-cheek personal opinion than a recipe to startup success. Please feel free to like other types of music.

rossmeissl 16y ago

One of my favorite lines from rap music for entrepreneurs: "If it ain't about that dough, ain't about me neither" -- Lil Wayne

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

omarchowdhury 16y ago

Here's a rap song I'm sure everyone of us here will like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdS3WVYr834 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdS3WVYr834

twism 16y ago

This is on heavy rotation over here http://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Hustle+Hard+remix+noshout+/3xvuWw?src=5 http://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Hustle+Hard+remix+noshout+/3...

onfye 16y ago

No one should "love" the kind of rap music that the author is talking about. The love and worship of "gangsta rap" has the black community in shambles.

Anechoic 16y ago
> The love and worship of "gangsta rap" has the black community in shambles. Do you seriously think "gangsta rap" is the cause of ills among blacks? Do you similarly blame violent video games for teen/young adult violence?
- gnok 16y ago
  I'm not entirely sure the comparison is valid. Music tends to have a greater cultural influence than video games. Not to mention having real-life idols that proscribe to the 'gangsta' way of life. In fact, I think its people rather than the music that causes the deeper cultural influence. Admittedly, gangsta rap that describes the ways of inner-city life is an artistic statement. I suspect the parent was talking about the certain sub-genre of gangsta rap that eulogizes and encourages a violent life. To answer your first question (even thought you asked the parent), I can't believe that music of any form can possibly be the cause of ills among the black community.
  - onfye 16y ago
    "I can't believe that music of any form can possibly be the cause of ills among the black community." That's because you aren't black, and you wouldn't know. It's not just music, it's the mainstream media as a whole, and how they depict a successful black. The black youth don't get to see the successful black businessman, lawyer, doctor or politician. The ghetto drug dealer who became a rapper and now has millions, athlete, etc. are the only success stories we are fed with, on a daily basis.
- onfye 16y ago
  I KNOW for a fact that it's a major cause, if not THE major cause. The glorification of thug life, drug-dealing, fast-money has mis-guided youth following the wrong foot-steps. I know because I was one of those, and I see them everyday. They don't just listen to the music as a preppy white kid would, they LIVE by the music, and get thrown in jail or murdered.

Tycho 16y ago

Somewhat ironically, the best rapper ever (IMO) is a staunch Marxist. Although I guess he's also an entrepreneur. I'm taking about Boots Riley - completely disagree with his politics but can't deny the unparalleled quality of his two masterpieces: Me and Jesus The Pimp in a 79 Grenada Last Night Fat Cats, Bigga Fish

_delirium 16y ago

I don't get quite the same sense from most hip-hop, though I agree it does have some of the elements he lists. But there's a vague anticapitalist current buried in even the bling-rapping, where capitalism is seen as a rigged game that you have to figure out how to beat, whether by legal means or otherwise.

guptaneil 16y ago

It all makes sense now! "Move bitch, get out the way" must be about surpassing your competition!

protez 16y ago

He's making a good point. However, he's overlooking the crystal clear fact that psytrance, a subgenre of electronic, is about transcendence almost above and beyond everything imaginable in this particular universe.