Check the founders of RapGenius

[L&HH]

They sold out real quick on the "rap" part. Now it's just Genius.com, which was probably their plan from the jump.

Their long term goal was to (and still might be) annotate the Internet.

 

[Piffery]

.

 

[Piffery]

Yep. Once it gained steam just remove any semblance of blackness from the equation for their more cac and non-black viewers that wouldn't click on a site called "rapgenius".

Except the site is incredibly "black" and hip hop related still, they literally just changed the name.
But you're a whiner so you'll bytch about anything race related.
Anyways the actual black artists support it and their perspective matters more than yours.

 

[Crispy]

Their long term goal was to (and still might be) annotate the Internet.

I don't know what that means. Could you break that down ?

 

[re'up]

At first lyrics sites like OHHLA, that I browsed in like 2000, were to find songs, discover artists catalogs, it would be like an equivalent to Youtube, as far as finding rare freestyles, and unreleased tracks, then I'd have to make a list and have someone burn me the cd, as I didn't have one. I heard songs I'd only read the lyrics too, through that process, like 'Drunk By Myself', or Nas freestyle over 'Eye For an Eye', 112 and Shyne 'Anywhere Remix'....And yeah, you could read the lyrics, as some songs had edits, or poor quality, but it was never like an interpretation, which is insulting one, and treats the art and culture like a zoo, for white hipsters. Rarely do I need help with lyrics, even slang I don't know, regionally, it's all in the context. Sites like Rap Genius are really just kind of an insight into how those people really view the genre. They have no real connection to the music, or the lifestyle it can portray, it's all just words, trends, and memes to them.

 

[L&HH]

I don't know what that means. Could you break that down ?

Basically anything that has text on the internet, a breakdown/explanation of what it means can be provided just like on rapgenius. For example our posts on the coli would have a a symbol next to it and you or anyone else could write an explanation for it.

Here's an example they did with the Washington post during the presidential debates. You can create a genius account, highlight text on that page and a popup appears for you to annotate the text you highlighted. There's already text there that's highlighted and annotated.

Annotated transcript: The Aug. 6 GOP debate

That's why they changed it from rapgenius to genius. Originally I think they planned on keeping rapgenius as it's own thing and make genius but I guess they decided not to and just put it all under the same banner "genius". They likely paid a pretty penny for the genius.com domain name as well.

 

[Mr Uncle Leroy]

Audrey Gelman and Ilan Zechory Embrace the Grit and Glamour of Motor City for Their Wedding

Anyone who supports and promote that site is a c00n

why dont yall start a rockgenius site?
why yall hating on whitie?
is it wrong for whitie to make money from black culture?

 

[Piffery]

At first lyrics sites like OHHLA, that I browsed in like 2000, were to find songs, discover artists catalogs, it would be like an equivalent to Youtube, as far as finding rare freestyles, and unreleased tracks, then I'd have to make a list and have someone burn me the cd, as I didn't have one. I heard songs I'd only read the lyrics too, through that process, like 'Drunk By Myself', or Nas freestyle over 'Eye For an Eye', 112 and Shyne 'Anywhere Remix'....And yeah, you could read the lyrics, as some songs had edits, or poor quality, but it was never like an interpretation, which is insulting one, and treats the art and culture like a zoo, for white hipsters. Rarely do I need help with lyrics, even slang I don't know, regionally, it's all in the context. Sites like Rap Genius are really just kind of an insight into how those people really view the genre. They have no real connection to the music, or the lifestyle it can portray, it's all just words, trends, and memes to them.

"These people"
Plenty of fukking black people use Genius, I don't use Genius when I listen to an album other than if I want to read the lyrics after I've played it myself a few times so I know that I'm hearing something right.
But after a few months there's a limit to what you're going to catch on your own accord playing a rap record depending on the artist, and having a site that can break down obscure references and complex wordplay is perfectly fukking fine, but this site is so close-minded and want to make themselves feel as "black" as possible that they won't understand that.

Genius isn't just that either, they probably have the best rap video content/interviews for a site online.
Their Reasonable Doubt 20th anniversary content was amazing, and so have been their interviews/special videos with Kevin Durant, Common, and Desiigner amongst other artists/people.

 

[Mr Uncle Leroy]

At first lyrics sites like OHHLA, that I browsed in like 2000, were to find songs, discover artists catalogs, it would be like an equivalent to Youtube, as far as finding rare freestyles, and unreleased tracks, then I'd have to make a list and have someone burn me the cd, as I didn't have one. I heard songs I'd only read the lyrics too, through that process, like 'Drunk By Myself', or Nas freestyle over 'Eye For an Eye', 112 and Shyne 'Anywhere Remix'....And yeah, you could read the lyrics, as some songs had edits, or poor quality, but it was never like an interpretation, which is insulting one, and treats the art and culture like a zoo, for white hipsters. Rarely do I need help with lyrics, even slang I don't know, regionally, it's all in the context. Sites like Rap Genius are really just kind of an insight into how those people really view the genre. They have no real connection to the music, or the lifestyle it can portray, it's all just words, trends, and memes to them.

whatever happened to Davey D? He is the pioneer in the rap music internet lyric space.

Those sites were popular in the 1990s.

The challenges was the sites were lyrics sites. Most urban listeners already knew or could get the meaning of songs.

White washed blacks or whites or non urban folks had no clue to the meaning of the songs, and rapgenius was born!

 

[Crispy]

Basically anything that has text on the internet, a breakdown/explanation of what it means can be provided just like on rapgenius. For example our posts on the coli would have a a symbol next to it and you or anyone else could write an explanation for it.

Here's an example they did with the Washington post during the presidential debates. You can create a genius account, highlight text on that page and a popup appears for you to annotate the text you highlighted. There's already text there that's highlighted and annotated.

Annotated transcript: The Aug. 6 GOP debate

That's why they changed it from rapgenius to genius. Originally I think they planned on keeping rapgenius as it's own thing and make genius but I guess they decided not to and just put it all under the same banner "genius". They likely paid a pretty penny for the genius.com domain name as well.

thanks

 

[re'up]

"These people"
Plenty of fukking black people use Genius, I don't use Genius when I listen to an album other than if I want to read the lyrics after I've played it myself a few times so I know that I'm hearing something right.
But after a few months there's a limit to what you're going to catch on your own accord playing a rap record depending on the artist, and having a site that can break down obscure references and complex wordplay is perfectly fukking fine, but this site is so close-minded and want to make themselves feel as "black" as possible that they won't understand that.

Genius isn't just that either, they probably have the best rap video content/interviews for a site online.
Their Reasonable Doubt 20th anniversary content was amazing, and so have been their interviews/special videos with Kevin Durant, Common, and Desiigner amongst other artists/people.

Not putting a black or white label on it....just saying my assumption is that's it's more commonly used by those who don't connect authentically to the music. I was a child, and, my first few years listening to LOX, Puff, Mase, BIG, Cam, Jay, some lyrics went over my head, but I'm talking about bars and lines, or references that I wouldn't know, (branson) for example, I assumed was slang for weed, and that's not entirely correct. If you need Rap Genius to grasp the concept behind songs, as an adult, I have to question whether you really get the music. And, the insults are breaking down common and widespread slang, or references, as if you need a translator to understand it. Similar to how Noizy/Vice had subtitles behind Migos in Atlanta.

 

[ProfessionallyTrill]

It's a dope site.

Can't be mad at anyone but ourselves for being slow as fukk to capitalize off it

 

[Piffery]

Not putting a black or white label on it....just saying my assumption is that's it's more commonly used by those who don't connect authentically to the music. I was a child, and, my first few years listening to LOX, Puff, Mase, BIG, Cam, Jay, some lyrics went over my head, but I'm talking about bars and lines, or references that I wouldn't know, (branson) for example, I assumed was slang for weed, and that's not entirely correct. If you need Rap Genius to grasp the concept behind songs, as an adult, I have to question whether you really get the music. And, the insults are breaking down common and widespread slang, or references, as if you need a translator to understand it. Similar to how Noizy/Vice had subtitles behind Migos in Atlanta.

I'm just saying, like I'm not talking about slang, so if I'm playing a trap record there's no chance that I'm going to Genius to break anything down, but plenty of rappers have complex wordplay or references to history/culture or their life that you won't get, that having a site like Genius there is useful for, even when I've mostly understood something going to Genius has been useful in putting little pieces or linking something together.

 

[JerseyBoy23]

Their long term goal was to (and still might be) annotate the Internet.

It might still be but they've could've easily annotated news articles, musicals, or anything text related. Instead they started with Hip-Hop.

 

[porque]

Their long term goal was to (and still might be) annotate the Internet.

This was actually a genius(no pun) idea and one I though would take off

Genius-annotated version of “Check the founders of RapGenius”