I feel a need to retort to my fellow whiteboy. The major difference between Craig David and all the other rappers mentioned by Footprints is their musical style. Craig David combines elements of rap with modern R&B and, I think, does it rather well. He also has a smooth voice which would put him closer to Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin than, say, Dr. Dre.
Where's Outkast in all this anyway? I would call Outkast "real men" but they don't always rap about bitches and hoes, glocking people down, killing their mothers and other such crap. Ever heard any Jurassic 5? I have never heard of J5 rapping about that sorta shit, and they're some of the greatest rappers I know. Would you call Fred Durst a real man?
What's wrong with sensitivity? Why do you think that these guys are rappers? Because they couldn't do shit else. Try to imagine Tupac as a Lawyer. Or Snoop Doggy Dogg as a doctor.
Would you call Marvin Gaye or Barry White a pussy? Barry White would be the personification of total and complete pussiness according to you. The man made millions on love songs.
I think you need to check your definition of what a man is, and what a man is about. "But most importantly: he respects his woman. He makes love to his woman.
" What's wrong with that? I make love to my woman, there's no need to treat her poorly. I respect my woman because I want to keep her in my life for more than one night.
While rap may glorify the "Thug Image" they also promote a lot else besides that. It's true that some humans have a tendancy to lean towards darker media, slasher flicks and bad porn,
Hentai and
Duke Nukem, yet another Rocky movie and
Pauly Shore for examples. However Rap has always been about one thing, Reality. If you look at one of the best raps ever
The Message by
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, you'll notice that he doesn't rap about the bitches and hoes, or even being a thug, he raps about his life around him. What he saw in the ghetto at that point in his life. The power of N.W.A. came from the fact that they did the same thing with bigger balls and a meaner attitude than Grandmaster Flash did.
And how can you call LL Cool J a real man and Craig David not? Have you heard any of his songs besides Momma said knock you out? What were his last singles? Yeah, they were all "pussy" R&B songs.