Need Rap song suggestions
 

Hope I didn't miss a thread already...
Need a list of Rap songs with "acceptable" lyrics for FIRST-type events.
Suggestions?

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

I doubt to the highest degree you will find any popular rap songs devoid of problematic lyrics or implied sexual/criminal themes, in fact the only ones I would imagine that don’t have those would be gag ones, like raps concerning computers, religion, ect.

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

Search for lyrics of the "radio edit" versions of popular rap songs.

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

Hey, what's so bad about nerdcore? (Yes, that is an actual subgenre of hip-hop.)

I found this thread with some options, although I have to question some of those songs (including Beastie Boys' "Fight For Your Right To Party"--read the lyrics sometime--and DMX's "Party Up", whose lyrics are past the line for a FIRST event, even when edited). Any way you slice it, someone's going to have to put 'em all on the iPod (or Walkman, if you're old-school) and give them a listen before using them.

Paging through my collection, a few that come to mind:

-Virtually any Will Smith (try "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" and "Miami" from Big Willie Style--avoid Willennium at all costs)
-Black Eyed Peas, on occasion (suggested: "Let's Get It Started" from Elephunk--note that the original edit was called "Let's Get Retarded", so check the label)
-Any Linkin Park (but listen first on Reanimation--it doesn't have a PA sticker, but I know there's a few choice words on there).

If I think of more, I'll edit.

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

Public Enemy- Bring Tha Noise.
Almost everything by Will Smith
Mama Said Knock You Out by LL Cool J

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

Rap songs with acceptable lyrics... Isn't that some sort of oxymoron? :p

Anyways, if you look in the official FIRST event music playlist, you can see a list of some rap songs that are allowed at FIRST events. You will definitely want to search for the "Radio Edit" or "clean" versions of these songs, as they will be more FIRST appropiate. Here are some of the rap / hip-hop songs from the FIRST playlist:

50 Cent - Disco Inferno
50 Cent - In Da Club (Radio Edit)
50 Cent - Wanksta (Radio Edit)
Ashanti - Happy Feat
Ashanti - Rock Wit U (Aww Baby)
Ashanti - Wonderful Feat
Ashanti - Foolish Clean Feat (Murda Inc.)
Baha Men - Who Let the Dogs Out
Beastie Boys - (You Gotta) Fight for your to party
Beastie Boys - Brass Monkey
Beastie Boys - Ch-Check It Out
Beyonce - Me, Myself Aand I
Beyonce - Check on it
Black Eyed Peas - Don't Phunk With My Heart
Black Eyed Peas - Let's Get it Started (Spike Mix)
Black Eyed Peas - My Humps
Black Eyed Peas - Hey Mama
Black Eyed Peas - Where is the love?
Ciara - Goodies
Ciara - Oh
Ciara - One Two Step
Destiny's Child - Independent Women
Destiny's Child - Soldier
Destiny's Child - Jumpin Jumpin
Destiny's Child - Survivor
Destiny's Child - Bootylicious
Eminem - Lose Yourself (Edited)
Eminem - Sing for the Moment
Eve - Let Me Blow Your Mind
Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc.
Gwen Stefari - Hollaback Girl (Clean)
Gwen Stefari - Rich Girl
Ja Rule - Living it Up (Edited)
Jay Z and Linkin Park - Numb / Encore
Juelz Santana - Here It Go (The Whistle Song) (Edited)
Kid Rock - Bawitaba
Ludacris - Stand Up
Mariah Carey - You'll Always Be My Baby
Mariah Carey - Don't Forgot About Us
Mariah Carey - It's Like That
Mariah Carey - Hero
Mary J Blige - Family Affair (Edited)
Missy Elliott - Lose Control
Missy Elliott - Work It
Missy Elliott - Aall N My Grill
Missy Elliott - Hot Boyz
Missy Elliott - Sock It 2 Me
Missy Elliott - The Rain (Supa Supe Fly)
Missy Elliott - She's a $@#$@#$@#$@#$@# (Clean Version) [ChiefDelphi censured the five letter B-word...]
Nelly - Dilemma
Nelly - Number 1 (Edited)
Nelly - Hot In Herre (Edited)
Nelly - E.I. (Clean)
Outkast - The Way Your Move Featuring Sleepy Brown
Outkast - Hey Ya
R Kelly - Ignition (Remix)
Reel 2 Reel - I Like To Move It
Snoop Dogg - What's My Name
Usher - Burn (Radio Mix)
Usher - Caught Up
Usher - My Boo
Usher - Nice and Slow (Remix)
Usher Feat Ludacris & Lil' Jon - Yeah
Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby
Will Smith - Switch
Will Smith - Miami

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

I'm not a rap fan in anyway, how ever I have two songs that are just tooo good to not mention, on top of being a good song, they are clean too!

U Can't Touch This - M.C. Hammer
Push it - Salt 'n Peppa (who can't listen to this song and not think of someone breaking out their dance moves)

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

There is some discussion that some of these songs are not appropriate so I was casting the net again. "Who let the dogs out" is considered rap? Boy am I confused.

Billfred, I forgot what a great resource you are. For those of you who are not aware, Billfred assembled something like 200 hours of "free" music for me last summer. Now it was mostly French techno-pop but .... :D

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

I thought Who Let The Dogs Out was classic? :D

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

<memo to self: don't let Jenny know that it was closer to 12 hours>

Also, you might want to look into RJD2's Since We Last Spoke. It's borderline electronica, but WUSC classifies it as hip-hop. The whole album is worth buying, and there's a few gems inside that I could stand to see (err, hear) at a FIRST event. (Try the title track, "1976," and "Iced Lightning" for starters.)

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

Rap, Dance, Hip Hop, Regea.. it's all joined together.
There is no such word as a Genre anymore.

It's mostly clean except for the sexual inuendo's in that song (and a heck of a lot on Art's "acceptable FIRST music" list too),
And, as for Who Let The Dogs Out, don't play it backwards if ya don't wanna hear the F bomb a few times! :p

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

I don't really agree with most of the songs on that list either, but the powers that be must think they're acceptable (or at least they did at some point). I still stick by my previous advice.

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

Actually the powers that be don't think they are acceptable and there were quite a few complaints this year, thus the reason for this thread. I would hate to see rap/hiphop/whatever thrown out because of a perception. I'm a product of the 60's and react accordingly. Personally, the closest to rap that my tastes run are Jason Mraz, and I have an entire portion of my brain filled with song lyrics from the 60's and 70's which causes me to not have room for important stuff like motors, pneumatics, electrical system and green lights...

Billfred-I see I misplaced a zero. Now back to that French techno...You owe me 8 more hours of music.

Elgin-back in my day, it was easy to play songs backwards because of the thing we were playing them on. I spent many formidable hours doing this with the "White Album". How does one now play a song backwards?

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

Digital sound editing software does wonders. No unsteady pattern, just a nice smooth perfect 1-1 reverse sound of what you would hear if you had a really steady hand on a record to turn it backwards at a perfect rotational pace.

It's fun! :) One of the kids on my team does it to random songs, and we have found some weird stuff.

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

There is plenty of rap and hip hop that has a positive, engaging message that most people will immediately dismiss because of its language.

From my own music:
For what it's worth, whoever assembled the list of music acceptable for FIRST events doesn't really seem to know what they're talking about. The list is absurd, out of touch, out of date and is probably an effort best made by an actual DJ.

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

I agree. It seems sort of random and none too clean. For example, Follow Me by Uncle Kracker may not have lots of foul language, but it certainly doesn't seem like a FIRSTish song. And, although I may like Rob Zombie, I realize that his songs are not really FIRST appropriate. Some of the songs seem alright, but I don't see how they can have Aerosmith songs and not have Dream On.

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

One song that comes to mind, that hasn't been mention yet is "Ride Wit Me" by Nelly.
There's always the substitution of Who Let The Frog Out by the Crazy Frog - I'd doubt that you would be able to get anything out of that if you played it backwards. :rolleyes: *rolls eyes*

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla ice (only if you are truly despret)

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

There is a concerted effort to revamp the song list and RoboMom is trying to help the cause for not eliminating rap alltogether, since in many cases it does appeal to students and the energy of an event.

Songs that have a radio edit or radio "clean" versions are not necessarily considered "clean" by the powers that be, or even general public. Many of those songs just mute the word, and that doesn't really make it clean. There are plenty of songs with no language but a lot of inuendos.. again, not "appropriate".

So, continue suggestions - try to avoid giving radio edit versions of songs, cuz if it needs a radio edit, it may not really be all that acceptable to begin with.

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

Repeated for emphasis. Consider the second half of the second verse of Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby" for example (source):

As a DJ, there's only one way to be absolutely sure it's clean enough to air under your watch: listen to that edit of that song the whole way through.

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

It feels like FIRST or whomever it is that comprise "the powers that be" are trying to continue including 'rap' so as to seem to progressive and in tune with students, but are doing so without consideration for the history and purpose of the music.

All drug references are not bad drug references. It's all a matter of context. Likewise with all the other taboo things that are so often saddled upon rap and hip-hop as the cause of their negative message.

These genres are borne from the stories and lives of some of those who have been most underserved by our education system and it seems disingenuous to try to sanitize them by ignoring that and playing only music which ignores their reality.

Of course, that said, I understand that nobody is going to listen to me. I just wanted to make mention of how weird this seems.

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

Ok, I am not going to lie. I went through my entire playlist which is 99% rap and I could find very few rap songs that had no cussing. Maybe that is just due to therap music selections that I listen to. I am just going to say this. It will be very hard to find any new rap music that isn't radio edited that is appropriate to play at a FIRST event.
If you are fine with radio edits, just let me know and I can get you a HUGE playlist of new music that is pretty clean. Just PM me I suppose.

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

Not trying to be mysterious. The "powers that be" would definitely include the contracted event management vendor-ShowReady Events and a few others.

So what is the solution? I was at an off-season a couple of weeks ago, walking by the field and there was a song playing and the only lyrics I could make out were "crystal meth." This event was webcast by NASA.

I believe I understand your point. One of the mottos I try to live by is "pick your battles carefully." Another is "changing the culture is hard work."

So I was thinking rap with "clean" lyrics was middle ground. But maybe not.

These days I'm really into techno and techno/rock and stuff like that -- try searching for these songs:

Thomas Falke "Revolution On The Dance Floor"
Groove Cutter "My Shooter"
Control One "Just A Little Bit"
Ian Carey "Redlight"
Kevin Weg "Dead Radio"
:ahh:
I don't usually go for techno but these are sort of like a wierd crossover between rock and techno/trance.

Here are also some downloads with some other cool stuff too -- http://www.electricfilebox.com/tracks

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

has a reference to illegal drugs in the chorus of that song though. I know there are songs out there that don't have any issues, but it will be VERY hard to find them.

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

I don't think it is hard to find rap that doesn't have reference to drugs, sex, or violence. Finding them on the radio, is difficult. The problem is those songs and artists usually don't have the same amount of energy or 'sound' that are good for FIRST events. I'm currently go through the almost 20 gigs of rap that I have, and it is a challenge to find songs that are clean AND good for competitions.

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

The Second Coming by Juelz Santana and Just Blaze is a very good pump up song in my opinion. And no profanity to.

Re: Need Rap song suggestions
 

Boy howdy, have I got the most awesomest ever rap songs for you!

Well, they *kinda* rap anyway.....

Am I right, or am I right????? :P

By the way, there ARE several FIRST-related raps out there, including the following, which I always kinda liked:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ht=team+45+rap