Is Rap Music Really Music?

[Digikid]

Rap is not music at all. It is just random noise and bad language.

Heck more than half the time you cannot even understand WTF they are even saying.

 

[pulse2]

Gangster bullshit douchebag "music" is not art.

who are you to define what is art have you ever been to the inner city and witnessed some of the things talked about in gangster rap...not likely who are you to pass judgment on the value of their work. Your culturally insensitive and a fool gain some world experience and then pass a value judgment...

I write songs, I play guitar, I create my own art using instruments, paintbrushes, pencils etc, I am an aspiring young artist. (also I shouldve put IMO)
I can see that some rap songs talk about how bad life is in the ghetto or whatever, but they dont come off as appeals to help these areas or to discuss it, and young people (mainly chavs) aspire the be one of these gangsters living in a ghetto because it makes them look "baddass".
Dont get me wrong I think rap can be a great genre to work in, but the music as a whole that comes from gangster rap artists is quite bland, I can understand that some rapstars can mainly focus lyrics and what they want to say/express, which can lead to the actual melody and song structure to be weak. But that doesnt excuse the fact that the song as a whole can be repetitive, over produced, bland and uninspiring.
Some of the lyrics/poems that rapstars create can be an art form, a reflection on the world/different parts of the world and to tell people how bad it is, or a story of their lives.
Constantly talking about bling, whores, bitches, rides, guns, and making it sound "baddass" IMO isnt art.

Yes, but you are doing what the vast majority of people do, stick the whole genre into one category because of whats considered 'popular'.

If I was to take that very same opinion, I would never listen to most music:

*Pop is just about fashion and how extravagant you look, they sing the same verse over and over again and there is very little content in the songs themselves.
*Metal is just angry people screaming over a microphone, I can't make out what they are saying because it's just a series of grunts.
*Rock is just about people who like to headbang, they have no braincells left to care about what is said in the song and it doesnt matter because the guitar as been smashed to pieces on the stage and nobody is listening to the words anyway.
*Classical is just about posh totties listening to a woman singing loudly or a man singing like a woman singing loudly and they think they are too posh for the rest of us.

All stereotypes, the problem is, 50 Cent is always going to be more popular today then Nas is, nobody wants to go clubbing and hear well thougth out verses about political veiws, they want to hear the same verse over and over, Rihanna and Katy Perry is going to be thier nonsense of choice. Katy is stunning by all means, but as a lover of all kinds of music, not just for the melodies (whatever that means) but because music inspires me, to me, her music is just for a boogy, I wouldn't listen to it while I'm writing, because none of it would make any sense, nor would it stir my creative juices. My brother like you is a different kind of musical artist, he works with computerised music and alongside singers of all types of music, together, we have learnt to not listen to the mainstream nonsense that people classify as genres of music and instead listen to those behind the scenes, like Styles of Beyond, Noisia, Andy Hunter, Mobb Deep, heck, I even have music that people would call me strange listening to, but guess what, it means I have a greater appreciation for the time, work and dedication put into a proper song in any genre.

 

[AvitaDeva]

Gangster bullshit douchebag "music" is not art.

who are you to define what is art have you ever been to the inner city and witnessed some of the things talked about in gangster rap...not likely who are you to pass judgment on the value of their work. Your culturally insensitive and a fool gain some world experience and then pass a value judgment...

I write songs, I play guitar, I create my own art using instruments, paintbrushes, pencils etc, I am an aspiring young artist. (also I shouldve put IMO)
I can see that some rap songs talk about how bad life is in the ghetto or whatever, but they dont come off as appeals to help these areas or to discuss it, and young people (mainly chavs) aspire the be one of these gangsters living in a ghetto because it makes them look "baddass".
Dont get me wrong I think rap can be a great genre to work in, but the music as a whole that comes from gangster rap artists is quite bland, I can understand that some rapstars can mainly focus lyrics and what they want to say/express, which can lead to the actual melody and song structure to be weak. But that doesnt excuse the fact that the song as a whole can be repetitive, over produced, bland and uninspiring.
Some of the lyrics/poems that rapstars create can be an art form, a reflection on the world/different parts of the world and to tell people how bad it is, or a story of their lives.
Constantly talking about bling, whores, bitches, rides, guns, and making it sound "baddass" IMO isnt art.

I don't remember asking you what artistic ventures you might have made but hell lets talk about it. I play Keyboard for my church I sculpt ceramic statues and i am a cartoonist at my one of my colleges small news papers. This does not make me any more qualified than any one else to judge the medium. You think there are no song which which call for help listen to Nas if you know who that is catch so 2-Pac or Easy-E and you'll find that they call for the Ghetto to be helped. But this should not the focus of every song for that would be repetitive and come across as needy no man with any hint of pride wants to seem needy. and i could say very similar things about artist in other genres that there songs seem uninspired (Disturbed) cookie cutter (My Chemical Romance)or just generally always telling the same Story (Evanescence) You can not charge the whole medium with these crimes for that is not fair you must judge individual artists b their works. And rap music is not what drives kids in under privileged neighborhoods to violence its the socialization they are given. Poor educational structuring leads to two choices become a star or become a thug. Because these choices are so ingrained in these areas rappers tend to discus them more often than not because it is what they were made to talk about. Gangster Rap is an expression of their lives and you simply devalue it their experiences because it does not interest you. This what pisses me of about people whom are not privy to the struggle of the ghetto...get robbed once or twice and then well see how much you can empathize with the struggle.

 

[Busdriver580]

Modern songs are essentially just poetry with notes and rhythms, rap simply subtracts a lot of the note parts. There's no reason why rap should be automatically considered below say rock or classical. But as it stands the "poetry" in what we have today is all either cliched or a dumb club song. Rap was music, music is a dying animal.

 

[Flac00]

I say no. I define music very simply as something having a musical melody. Sung, played, strummed, doesn't matter, as long as it's present. Speaking quickly does not a melody make. Thus rap isn't music.

Which is not to say there's no rap out there worth listening to; on the contrary, some is both worthwhile and socially relevant. However, when the vast majority of it is about how cool it is to be a criminal, or to have hot bitches and big TVs, I think society as a whole can do without that.

Rap is music. I don't like it, but it is still music. Just the same as African dancing music is music, or some guy randomly talking with a beat and techno tracks in the background. It is music, just not good music.

 

[Rouse]

I hope you realise this is very racist.

 

[Bernzz]

I used to be ignorant too! Don't worry, we get better as we grow up.

Speaking quickly does not a melody make? An experienced rapper can easily make a melody, with just their voice.

And if the rapper is too inexperienced? That's why the beat is there. To make the melody for them to rap along to.

 

[pulse2]

Lol, how many of you listen to Bangra? Or Enka? Or African drumming? Would you consider these to be none music because they don't have the 'melodies' you like?

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

Unless someone is playing or acting as an intrument(ie Beatboxing) then it is not music. If it just some rapping or singing then it is not music nor are they a musician. For example a band like Westlife is nothing but a bunch of people singing. Although they do hire people to do music sometimes they are mainly just a group of people singing and are thus technically not musicians. So yes rap is music as long as there is an intrument playing it is techincally music.

Although if you want to go along the lines of music vs noise then that depends on whether the music is well written, follows various rules to writing music, taste, etc.

 

[pulse2]

I hope you realise this is very racist.

No, not at all, Rap is for everyone, not just black people, it may have started off as black music, but it has since been adopted by a vast number of people, to the point where a large portion of the rappers today are chinese, indian, japanese and especially white people. Its not blacks that are being insulted by it being called not music, its just people who love rap.

That would be like saying that those who don't like rock and roll are racist because rock and roll evolved from blues, blues was created by black slaves back in the day.

Same goes for Jazz and gospel.

 

[DiMono]

Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it isn't real music...

Have you actually listened to rap or are you just going purely on what stupid stereotypes say?

Oh how I love when someone reads the first post in a thread and goes no further. Warms the cockles of my heart. I didn't say I didn't like it. I said we could do without people rapping about crime and whores. I'd like to direct you to post 75 on page 3 of this thread, where I lay all this out.

 

[ProfessorLayton]

"Music - the science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity."

It's music by definition, whether you like it or not. And not only is it music, it's art.

It would seem obvious for any rap fan to tell you right now that "you have had a limited experience with rap music, so you don't know what you're talking about", and as much as I would like to be original in this post, I can't find a better answer. You don't know what you're talking about, and it's obvious.

Exactly. Sure, if your only experience with rap is this (even Ludacris thinks that track is foolish) [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGXzlRoNtHU] then I would understand hating rap.

To put this in terms you would probably understand (for this experiment, let's assume you're a metalhead). Imagine someone who has never listened to music before listened to BrokenCYDE and then claimed that all metal is bad and not even music. You would probably say something like "Those guys aren't even metal! Even I think their music sucks!"

By the way, this has a melody:


Sure, it's autotuned like crazy, by you contradicted yourself. That's music by your definition of music, yet it's also rap by definition of rap.

Yes, I'm a massive Kanye West fan and I'm also a Phoenix Wright fan. What of it?

 

[Justanothergamer300]

The VAST MAJORITY OF ANYTHING IS CRAP!!!!
And listen to De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest

 

[Justanothergamer300]

I hope you realise this is very racist.

And how is it

 

[Jake the Snake]

Rap is most definitely music. Not the mainstream stuff like Lil Wayne. God no. But it exists. Try Atmosphere or Brother Ali. It is most definitely music. Hooray for indie music, hooray for indie rap!

 

[lacktheknack]

As long as there's a melody in the background noise, then yes, it's music (I have the same standards as you).

 

[Jkudo]

Rap is the words of street. Search up Flobots, Cyne, immortal technique and Ice Cube. All of them are very political, very outspoken, use a good range of musical talent and blow any argument you had out of the water

Ok good post but it always bothers me when people list rappers/groups and don't add atmosphere....once again great post. Are we done with these threads yet?

 

[The Rockerfly]

Ok good post but it always bothers me when people list rappers/groups and don't add atmosphere....once again great post. Are we done with these threads yet?

I thought we were done with them a few years ago since but one keeps popping up every now and again. You just gotta wack it back down and thank you

 

[pulse2]

I don't even consider Lil Wayne as rap, Lil wayne is that other genre, whats it called again....oh yes, crap, his music is annoying, the lyrics make absolutely no sense, his voice is annoying, he thinks he's bad when in fact he grew up fairly priviliged, he goes on about a fabricated ghetto he grew up in and how he apprently got shot or something.

He's one big charade, but yet, people classify his music as music and unfortunatly, because he is popular, his presence in the limelight represents a genre that really wants nothing to do with him :/

It's like flipping Bob the builder getting to number 1 and apparently representing Pop, I'm sorry people, but Bob has nothing on Michael Jackson, lol

 

[C95J]

Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it isn't real music...

Have you actually listened to rap or are you just going purely on what stupid stereotypes say?

Oh how I love when someone reads the first post in a thread and goes no further. Warms the cockles of my heart. I didn't say I didn't like it. I said we could do without people rapping about crime and whores. I'd like to direct you to post 75 on page 3 of this thread, where I lay all this out.

Well I'm sorry I didn't have the time to read all 86 posts before me. Maybe you should have made your first post a little more informing...