Rare Candy: the Rap AMV

[RebelSGE]

I'd like to introduce myself if I may. I am the Sage, you may call me the Rebel as that is another of my alias'. You'll notice that while I've been a member of this site for a good year and a half, I haven't contributed much to the world of AMVs, from input to my own videos. I took a bit of a break and learned a few things, though I doubt that I could be able to "hang" with some of the more experienced folk.

Anyway, that intro aside, I'd like to open this little discussion to a particular niche in the land of AMVs that seems to be used mostly for "joke" AMVs: the one's that include Rap music as the backdrop.

My question is this: why are Rap AMVs frowned upon so much? As a person who frequently uses Rap music for his videos in general, I can understand how difficult it can be to find good - or even adequate - songs for various anime without it seeming like you just slapped a random song to an even more random scene from a further random anime. But still the question remains: why is the average "AMV watcher" so quick to look down upon Rap AMVs for no reason other than the music being a Rap song? Never mind the editing involved or the song or the lyrics, good or bad; the song is a Rap song, and so it's automatically disliked by many. And so I would simply like to know why. I can't understand this logic for the life of me.

[Kevmaster]

They simply associate with the mainstream shit, they haven't looked deeper into the genre yet.

[Ingow]

Because there are no anime characters straight outta compton.

Also using good rap usually helps.

People anticipate my rap releases on here more than my other videos so I really don't see your point.

Lil Jon, Lil Wayne and Soulja Boy are parodies in themselves, so the only thing to do with parody music is parody AMVs. Kinda like AMVs to Tenacious D. And real comedy, not parody, AMVs are just as seriously dealing with the music as action AMVs are. Back in the days there were lots of Sir MixAlot, LL Cool J, Beastie Boys and Eminem Comedy releases that had tremendous amounts of effort poured into them.

Also don't be a hypocrite, would you download a black metal video? Really? Be honest.

[8bit_samurai]

They simply associate with the mainstream shit, they haven't looked deeper into the genre yet.

Because there are no anime characters straight outta compton.

Also using good rap usually helps.

People anticipate my rap releases on here more than my other videos so I really don't see your point.

Lil Jon, Lil Wayne and Soulja Boy are parodies in themselves, so the only thing to do with parody music is parody AMVs. Kinda like AMVs to Tenacious D. And real comedy, not parody, AMVs are just as seriously dealing with the music as action AMVs are. Back in the days there were lots of Sir MixAlot, LL Cool J, Beastie Boys and Eminem Comedy releases that had tremendous amounts of effort poured into them.

Also don't be a hypocrite, would you download a black metal video? Really? Be honest.

x2

This is probably rehashing what they said but, how many people who watch anime and listen to Rap? How many people who watch anime and listen to Black Metal? How many people who watch anime listen to Country? Etc etc. Rap isn't alone in the minority of music in AMVs. Well, at least in a non-parody sort of way, if that makes sense :/

[8bit_samurai]

Sorry for the double posting and maybe for over-analyzing the subject too. Also, I think it's how people interpret Rap AMVs. You can mood sync and internal sync of a Rap AMV well, but I think people would look for literal interpretation through lyric sync, and like Ingow said, no anime characters are straight outta Compton. It's possible to metaphorically lyric sync, but that isn't as good as literal, since some people wouldn't really get it (as good as it meant to be).

[RebelSGE]

@Ingow: I understand that AMVs as a whole are more appreciated here and are critiqued as they should be: as compositions and thus take everything into account when it comes to critiques and reviews. But like I said, I haven't to this particular neck of the cyberwoods for some time, so the most common reactions I see to Rap AMvs are, mostly, negative for no other reason than the editor using a Rap song.

And would I download a Black Metal video? I honestly don't know; maybe if I happen to recognize the band or something.

@8bit_samurai: A character doesn't need to be "straight outta Compton"; really, correct me if I'm wrong (and I'm pretty sure I am), but one can count on one hand how many anime even take place in the US. I think I get what you're saying about the sync issues; one would really have to analyze the lyrics in order to understand the symbolism and whatnot.

[Fall_Child42]

understand the symbolism and whatnot.

Because "I'll let you lick the lollipop" is a difficult and complex metaphor.

[The Origonal Head Hunter]

understand the symbolism and whatnot.

Because "I'll let you lick the lollipop" is a difficult and complex metaphor.

"Discovery Channel" by Bloodhound Gang is full of deep symbolism and literary criticism.

[tyrocks00]

my guess is that they AMV clashes with the stereotypical image of hip hop

[kentoshogun]

I think it's all about the music base of the track, normally i don't like hip-hop, but there are cases where some artists use such a magnificent instrumental base that i automatically love them.

Imagine this song in a Samurai champloo AMV :/
http://tinyurl.com/br4gt5