In Defense of Rap Music?

Many don’t recognize rap as a genre of merit and some claim that it isn’t music at all. Not only is it a form of music, but it is also a very diverse one. People who think it is all the same are unaware of what it’s capable of. It deserves much more respect as it has a lot going for it. Two of its strengths are that it is the most lyrical popular music genre and that it is consequently one of, if not the best, at telling captivating stories.

Rap is a legitimate form of music. Music is defined by dictionary.com as "an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color. " (http://dictionary.reference.com/ ) Rap is most definitely sound in time. Is rap an art form? Art is expression. Rap has melody that conveys feeling as well as lyrics which express thoughts and ideas and so is therefore an art form. Beats and the flow of a rapper's voice over the beats constitute the rhythm, melody, harmony, and color in rap music.

Those who would claim that rap has no substance are grossly wrong. Judging rap by what you hear on the radio is like judging all of rock by boy bands. An example of a rap album with a lot of substance is Fear of a Black Planet by Public Enemy which was even inducted into the library of congress. There are many others covering topics such as cultural problems, space opera, brotherhood, ect. To say that rap has no substance is ridiculous. Its orgins can hardly

Rap is the most lyrical popular genre of music. It has a natural emphasis on lyrics compared to other genres. Opponents of rap say its lyrics are meaningless and that it talks about the same things. The argument that rap's lyrics are meaningless falls apart if one listens to rap beyond what's on the radio. The reason for a lot of rap being on the radio being meaningless is that the music on the radio, for the most part, forgoes depth and meaning in place of a catchy hook to draw in listeners and revenue.

Rap is a highly diverse genre of music. There are several factors that contribute to this. One is that sampling in rap music means rap is influenced by a wide range of sources jazz, to rock, to classical, to r&b, tv shows, ect. There are many subgenre's of rap music such as conscious, political, mafiaso, gangsta rap, g-funk, horrorcore, Christian, alternative, and many others.Rap’s diversity is particularly notable in the underground scene where experimentation is much more common. Also worth mentioning is that criticizing rap for sampling is a bit ridiculous when many famous composers of classical music (Sibellius and Tchaikovsky among many others) “borrowed” folk music and incorporated it into much of their music.

Some say that rap promotes gang violence. This is largely untrue as mention of gangsterism in rap music is the result of gang violence, not the cause. When rap artists bring things to public awareness like police brutality and racism people criticize rap music for saying things they don't want to hear. Do you hate a reporter for publishing a story on a disaster? Rap music, if anything, raises awareness about gang violence. To those who criticize rap as being negative are listening to the wrong rap. There are many uplifting rap songs as well as downcast ones. What is also unfair is to criticize rap for its origins as party music. Much of JS Bach’s most acclaimed music is essentially dance music and the standard symphonic form used by Mozart and Haydn contained a dance movement.

In summary rap is an undeniably credible genre of music. It is the most lyrical and arguably the best at story telling. If you need further proof listen to I Used to Love H.E.R. by Common and On the Run by Kool G Rap for examples of storytelling, and Feather by Nujabes and Mastermind by Deltron 3030 for fantastic melodies.