# Does not liking rap make you racist? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 27, 2013, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-not-liking-rap-make-you-racist/669789 "2013-09-27T10:50:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-not-liking-rap-make-you-racist/669789/21 "2013-09-27T12:45:14Z")
> [@huesos](#): > > Does arguing with strangers who disagree with you on Straight Dope make you a “good person”? Yes, because obviously that is the extent of my non-racist ways. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-not-liking-rap-make-you-racist/669789/22 "2013-09-27T12:47:51Z")
> [@huesos](#): > > Does arguing with strangers who disagree with you on Straight Dope make you a “good person”? This is the second thread I’ve seen where your argument comes down to “you’re the one posting, what does that make you”. It’s a rediculous argument. This is the place people come to who want to debate and discuss by posting! What a bizarre argument. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-not-liking-rap-make-you-racist/669789/23 "2013-09-27T12:49:39Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > No love for Beastie Boys? ☹ > > I like rap but think plenty of it is crap too. I can definitely see why someone would say it’s not really music. I think it likely comes from ignorance, or listening to it expecting to be unimpressed, especially when so much of it (like one or two other genres) _is_ so talentless and bland. > > However, **Loach’s** jokes aside, I’ve yet to hear someone say they dislike rap without them also expressing a particular dislike for Eminem, if it comes up. Dammit I do like the Beastie Boys. Paul’s Boutique is the only rap album I own. Maybe I am racist. Nah I love Blues. ---
**Author:** ![huesos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7ab992/32.png) [@huesos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/huesos)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-not-liking-rap-make-you-racist/669789/24 "2013-09-27T12:49:54Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > Yes, because obviously that is the extent of my non-racist ways. So, then, what else are you doing for the cause? I see that your location is Seattle, Washington, US- why not Africa or India? What are you doing living here in the heart of the racist, imperialist empire while your benighted comrades remain oppressed? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-not-liking-rap-make-you-racist/669789/25 "2013-09-27T12:57:20Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > If someone claims to like ALL types of music except rap like the commenter said, that’s just stupid, although not necessarily racist because along the same lines a lot of people do say “everything except rap and country”. But if you just like certain genres and rap just isn’t among them, then obviously there’s nothing wrong with that. > > The people who insist it’s “not really music” and shit like that are likely racist and definitely idiotic. Yep. **Huesos** - you’re new here; do you see that the whole point is discussion? Being “indifferent” to the issue and then questioning others in a quasi-Socratic way (“and what does that make _you_?”) won’t really work unless you have been here for a bit and we have a sense of what points you are trying to make. The biggest issues regarding the OP: - The degree to which a person is “invested” in / passionate about music. Most folks are NOT “into” music and don’t do much more than listen to what’s on the radio/Pandora, etc. To them, they aren’t contemplating the racist implications of not liking rap, they just see a dismissal of the category as a shorthand way to communicate their preferences. - Social niceties - in a thoughtless way, it is considered “okay” to dismiss certain things, without fully realizing the implications of that. When I was a teenager, I _loved_ being able to say things like “Country Sucks!!” or “Disco Sucks!” because I thought it was cool. I now hear how jerkish that sounds - and I am much more open to acknowledging that there’s good and bad in all categories… ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-not-liking-rap-make-you-racist/669789/26 "2013-09-27T13:00:09Z")
I liked Gil Scott-Heron’s stuff. Proto-rap. I don’t think my dislike for rap is due to anti-black attitudes. The stuff I hear is very angry and violent and radiates smug contempt. It’s very loud and aggressive in a form that I really don’t care for it. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-not-liking-rap-make-you-racist/669789/27 "2013-09-27T13:02:00Z")
> [@huesos](#): > > So, then, what else are you doing for the cause? I see that your location is Seattle, Washington, US- why not Africa or India? What are you doing living here in the heart of the racist, imperialist empire while your benighted comrades remain oppressed? It must be because I’m secretly indifferent to racism ☹ ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-not-liking-rap-make-you-racist/669789/28 "2013-09-27T13:07:26Z")
I don’t like rap but I love Jazz and Blues. Does that make me a racist ? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-not-liking-rap-make-you-racist/669789/29 "2013-09-27T13:16:04Z")
> [@DrumBum](#): > > I don’t like rap but I love Jazz and Blues. Does that make me a racist ? I see your listing is Angola - if you _really_ cared, why aren’t you leaving Africa and in Compton, or Queens, focused on establishing closer ties with Rap music? So, yeah - clearly racist 😉 😃 Seriously - from a PC standpoint, it is “more correct” to say stuff like “I typically don’t like rap” or whatever. Most of us realize this, but simply don’t take the time - and that is okay. But there’s a difference between “I don’t like rap” vs. “Rap Sucks!” like I did as a 17-year-old. Jeez, I remember when I finally listened to Public Enemy, Gil Scott-Heron, Whodini, Big Daddy Kane, etc. - what the hell was I thinking when I stupidly dismissed a whole category of music?! Same with hearing Hank Williams, Patsy Cline and other great Country music… ---
**Author:** ![huesos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7ab992/32.png) [@huesos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/huesos)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-not-liking-rap-make-you-racist/669789/30 "2013-09-27T13:26:16Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > It must be because I’m secretly indifferent to racism ☹ More like you’re secretly thrilled at the chance to exorcise your neuroses via Internet, by shaming strangers whom you deem insufficiently “anti-racist”, thereby making yourself into that much better of a person by comparison- sort of like the Christian who just can’t stop judging that next-door neighbor. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-not-liking-rap-make-you-racist/669789/31 "2013-09-27T13:27:24Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > I see your listing is Angola - if you _really_ cared, why aren’t you leaving Africa and in Compton, or Queens, focused on establishing closer ties with Rap music? > > So, yeah - clearly racist 😉 😃 > > . Might not need to, assuming \*\*huesos \*\*would consider [this](http://www.economist.com/node/21551547) as doiing something for “the cause.” Personally, I consider Angolan reggae music much better. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-not-liking-rap-make-you-racist/669789/32 "2013-09-27T13:27:43Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > There’s a radio station here that plays contemporary pop of the milquetoast variety. Whenever it’s promoting itself, it plays a recording of a woman saying, “I like nice people. I don’t like mean people. I don’t want to hear _rap_ music.” Then cue another loop of Maroon 5, Train, or John Mayer. > > I don’t get this. There are a lot of genres out there that sound “harsh” to the unsuspecting ear. Why go out of your way in your promo to bash rap? I’m a “nice” person too, and yet I can listen to rap without turning into a “mean” person. Fortunately I only have to listen to this stupid radio station when I’m sitting in my doctor’s waiting room. The radio station is trumpeting that listeners to that station aren’t going to hear that type of music on their station. > > Seems to me a lot of the “I hate rap” people have not learned that 99% of the rest of us don’t give care. At all. You made it pretty clear the first million times you mentioned it. So please give it a rest. It’s a marketing point to that station; there are probably a lot of people out there who like a more melodic style of music than the various flavors of rap, and who also probably associate anything with a rap-type beat and vocal style as being along the lines of 2 Live Crew, Eazy-E or NWA, even if the song’s nothing like them. I personally don’t like rap a whole lot. I’m not repelled by it, and it doesn’t anger me, but I don’t seek it out or choose to listen to it. I’m the same way about a lot of country, and certain types of country (really hicky / twangy / ignorant stuff) are something I find repellent and irritating. I don’t think not liking rap is indicative of racism at all. I’m not even sure that a general dislike of traditionally black styles is prima facie evidence of racism, unless you say that you don’t like “black music” with the implication that you don’t like it because it’s black. You may just not like the musical elements that black music tends to bring to the party. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-not-liking-rap-make-you-racist/669789/33 "2013-09-27T13:28:32Z")
If you want to get technical it’s probably more of a cultural signifier than a racial one, but there is always overlap. The message might be more like “I need you to know I don’t care about current pop culture, which includes a lot of elements of black/non-white life.” That’s more true now than it was a couple of decades ago. That’s not necessarily racist but it’s not hard to get to racism from there. > [@WordMan](#): > > Jeez, I remember when I finally listened to Public Enemy, Gil Scott-Heron, Whodini, Big Daddy Kane, etc. - what the hell was I thinking when I stupidly dismissed a whole category of music?! Same with hearing Hank Williams, Patsy Cline and other great Country music… Seriously. If you’re not into something, fine. The stuff I’ve heard at the gym/on the radio sucks, but that doesn’t only apply to rap. The issue here isn’t really disliking rap music, it’s why people feel the need to broad that they don’t like rap. (And yes, sometimes it’s country + rap, which is just as dumb.) ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-not-liking-rap-make-you-racist/669789/34 "2013-09-27T13:30:23Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I liked Gil Scott-Heron’s stuff. Proto-rap. I don’t think my dislike for rap is due to anti-black attitudes. The stuff I hear is very angry and violent and radiates smug contempt. It’s very loud and aggressive in a form that I really don’t care for it. That’s also why I don’t like rap. It’s so angry and macho. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-not-liking-rap-make-you-racist/669789/35 "2013-09-27T13:35:28Z")
> [@huesos](#): > > More like you’re secretly thrilled at the chance to exorcise your neuroses via Internet, by shaming strangers whom you deem insufficiently “anti-racist”, thereby making yourself into that much better of a person by comparison- sort of like the Christian who just can’t stop judging that next-door neighbor. You got me pegged. You hear that, everyone who has ever argued with/made fun of anyone on the Internet? You’re all a bunch of thrilled, neurotic fakers! ---
**Author:** ![huesos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7ab992/32.png) [@huesos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/huesos)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-not-liking-rap-make-you-racist/669789/36 "2013-09-27T13:49:11Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > You got me pegged. You hear that, everyone who has ever argued with/made fun of anyone on the Internet? You’re all a bunch of thrilled, neurotic fakers! No, it’s pretty much just you… ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-not-liking-rap-make-you-racist/669789/37 "2013-09-27T13:52:23Z")
> [@huesos](#): > > More like you’re secretly thrilled at the chance to exorcise your neuroses via Internet, by shaming strangers whom you deem insufficiently “anti-racist”, thereby making yourself into that much better of a person by comparison- sort of like the Christian who just can’t stop judging that next-door neighbor. Dude (male or female). Again, you’re new here - lighten up. Are you saying “I tend not to like Rap” and “Rap sucks” are the same thing? If you are saying you are indifferent, then why even post? Before you get all “I have judged you” please take the time to share a POV useful to the thread. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-not-liking-rap-make-you-racist/669789/38 "2013-09-27T13:55:49Z")
> [@DrumBum](#): > > Might not need to, assuming \*\*huesos \*\*would consider [this](http://www.economist.com/node/21551547) as doiing something for “the cause.” Personally, I consider Angolan reggae music much better. Interesting. Sounds like when officials say they don’t like Rap, they take it a lot more seriously. Wow. (link to an article discussing an Angolan rapper whom the government has tried to censor…) ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-not-liking-rap-make-you-racist/669789/39 "2013-09-27T13:57:52Z")
> [@huesos](#): > > No, it’s pretty much just you… I see. You seem to have pretty strong opinions about me specifically. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-not-liking-rap-make-you-racist/669789/40 "2013-09-27T14:02:20Z")
> [@Dervorin](#): > > Now, I don’t like rap. I am well aware this makes me un-cool, but I had no idea it made me a racist. I honestly don’t like the sound of it at all. If it helps, I’m a big fan of Argentinian pan-flute music, but had to Google a “zydeco” to find out what it was. Is expressing a dislike for rap really coded racism, and would you actually see it that way, or is this person merely delusional? While I’m sure you COULD use “except rap” as coded racism, in reality I think it’s reading too much into it. When people say they like “all music”, they’re generally talking about the major popular genres. I wouldn’t expect someone who says “I like all music” to own a collection of pan flute music or 8-bit arcade game themes or plastic recorder versions of “Hot Cross Buns”. They’re just saying that whatever’s on the radio, they’re usually okay with it. Honestly, I think less of the people who use “Oh, so you like ALL music/movies/games/food… Hhhmmmm?” schtick since they’re invariably going to get into a dick measuring contest over who is more worldly and deep. “Do you have this obscure early electronic-vuvuzela cover of Girl From Ipanema? No? Well, I figured since you liked all music…” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-not-liking-rap-make-you-racist/669789.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-not-liking-rap-make-you-racist/669789.md?page=3)