What she said about the value of an album and how much an artist has "bled their heart and soul in to that work", there are artists (mostly rappers) who create albums, seeming careless about what they're putting in to their album. I'm not including Macklemore, but other rappers make albums where you can see they didn't put any effort in to their music at all, and they're mostly songs about partying, drugs, and doing/thinking sexual actions/ inappropriate thoughts and degrading women to the lowest of the low. (Robin Thicke).
Rappers such as Lil' Wayne, Flo Rida, Wiz Khalifa, and Jay-Z are also an example of above. About Macklemore, he has respect from many people and you can see how passionate he was on "The Heist". He didn't record songs sounding like the mainstream rapper, but they were meaningful messages in some of them, example: "Same Love". He's one of the very few rappers that actually made an album without the unnecessary need to curse in all his songs, I know some of them are explicit, but not all of them.
IF YOU DON'T LIKE RAP, PLEASE CONSIDER THIS
Although this has already been addressed by another individual, I highly suggest you look deeper into the rap scene. I understand that you aren't calling out all rap and hip hop, but many people single it out as a genre of club themed, drug infused, gender degradation. That simply isn't the case.
To be fair, there exists rap music that you described as above, careless abut what goes into their albums. Many will remove themselves from an artistic perspective when it comes to music. If the message isn't black and white, it must not exist. People will turn away an entire genre the moment they hear a foul word, or a snarky remark about sexual orientation, or gender. But you CANNOT do that. There is a bigger picture to the music. If you wish to understand, you must think, ponder, open your mind to alternative ideas.
TV Shows are a great example. Let's take a look at The Walking Dead. The show can be gruesome at times, borderline demented for some. What is interesting to note, though, is that most people that watch it aren't demented. Most are sane human beings that genuinely enjoy the show. In fact, most that watch become more caught up in the
story itself than the "in your face" content. The interactions between some of the last humans on earth, the question of morality in an unmoral world, the relationships that develop between the characters. Regardless of the fact that almost every episode includes a blood-spattering zombie death, it only exists to add to the story.
Moving back to the music, let's take a look at some artists that are heavily criticized for their content.
Kendrick Lamar is a west-coast rapper straight out of Compton, CA. His most recent album, "Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City", tells a story about his younger life in the streets, witnessing gang violence, drug abuse, and the murder of a friend of Kendrick's. A good example of what I discussed about in regards to "in your face" content, would be the track "Swimming Pools." The track is, in regards to the story, describing alcohol abuse, and how Lamar used alcohol to ease emotions. Unfortunately, many focus on the "in your face" content, and forget to search for the true meaning of the song. Lines like, "..pool full of liquor, I'ma dive in it.." and "..at the bottom of a bottle.." influence people to assume that the song is ghetto trash, when in fact, it is a contributing factor to an underlying theme.
Now to be real, this isn't true in all cases. But there is one other side of rap the flies right over peoples heads; bars. Bars are like metaphors and similes in poetry. They are a way to artfully say something else, in essence. At one time, the intricacy of a rappers bars was a surefire way to determine how "good" a rapper was. One of my favorite examples is, actually, by Lil' Wayne. I challenge you to read it, and try and understand it before continuing it. If you don't get it, go ahead and read.
"..Real G's move in silence like Lasagna.."
Did you catch that? The "Real G" he refers to is, obviously, a "gangsta." But comparing it to lasagna? Well, the "G" in lasagna is silent. I, personally, claim no such "G" lifestyle. I'm not a thug, or a gangster, but when I first heard and understood that lyric, my eyes widened. It really is smart word play, regardless of the content. It's hard to argue a "lack of care for what goes into albums," when bars are spit like that.
And that is my case for hip hop/rap. The genre is so diverse. The problem is, though, many people turn off their brains when it comes to music. They single it out and forget that it is an artform as much as poetry, visual arts, and other music is. You are correct, some people abuse the form and make senseless songs to make money. But just remember, just because a song has the word "lasagna" in it, doesn't mean it's due to a lack of care for the content.
In the words of Tyler, the Creator, "Listen deeper than the music before you put it in a box."
