Yes.
With Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Fletcher Henderson, Cozy Cole, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgeralf, Ethel Waters, Jimmie Lunceford, Errol Garner, Lil Hardin, Kid Ory, King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson, Sidney Bechet and more black musicians gracing my computer files, LP collection and a few 45s and 78s, it’s safe to assume that for this white male not liking rap does not a racist make.
Why do adults love The Godfather? Or The Departed? Or The Wire?
Enjoying fictional tales featuring conflicted anti-heroic protagonists isn’t a particularly childish pursuit.
Count me among those who think that if most people listen to enough of any genre they find a subpart of it they like. I think there’s rap for everyone. If Raekwon isn’t your cup of tea, try Brother Ali. If Nas doesn’t do it for you, consider The Roots. Or OutKast! Or Blackalicious. Or Lupe Fiasco. On and on. Not your favorite genre? More power to you. Don’t like any of it? I doubt it.
In my experience, a lot of people who don’t listen to rap (or country) do so for reasons that have little to do with the music and more often have to do with other associations they have with the genre, a narrow view of what kind of music they’ll find in the genre, or a desire to say something about themselves with their musical preferences. Sometimes that stuff is connected to race, sometimes it is but only a little, and sometimes it has nothing to do with race.
Do you have a link? That sounds really interesting.
I liked the Chrysler commercial by Eminem. Not sure that qualifies.
Rap can mean anything. From M C Hammer to what-in-og is that thumping pile of noise coming out of the trunk of an 85 Impala with 24’s.
I’d have to go with Opera as something I universally dislike.
I just googled that. Big Mistake.
For the edification of the rest of you, I present people freezing their balls off, and not catching fish. While singing in an extremely annoying manner. What, do they eat each other?? They sure as shit ain’t catching fish.
You’re welcome.
Two seals. And one guy pissing. I’ve overdone myself.
It’s really time to hang it up, when you become a parody of yorself. Inshallah.
There is, however, a great 1999 documentary about it: Genghis Blues.
My take on things is as such:
Not liking certain categories of pop culture isn’t a crime.
If you do it on occasion, you’re discerning.
If you do if often, you might be a hipster.
I kind of liked it.
I’ve heard worse
Not about rap music but, Collecting and publishing data on crime rates, poverty rates, education, household incomes, populations based on ethnicity / supposed race is actual indicative of the great US “race” obsession.
Some day, a guy from Tuva is going to start a black metal band, and it’s going to be fucking epic.
I wouldn’t spend all day listening to it, but I think it’s pretty cool. I liked that Genghis Blues documentary and I saw a short live set from a Tuvan group once. I have one of their albums on my iPod.
Yeah, I was being flip earlier. In truth I find it both fascinating and intolerable. I mean, I’m delighted that there are people out there who can do that thing with their body, and I’m even more delighted I don’t need to listen to it much. It reminds me in this respect of Kronos Quartet’s Black Angel in its fascinatingly terrible nature.
So, “awful” isn’t fair, but it’s also fair to say I’m not gonna crank it up while cooking dinner. And if someone else adores it, I have no problem whatsoever with that.
The idea that not liking a particular genre implies that that person is racist is a racist idea itself. Sure, generally, rap and hip-hop tend to be associated with blacks, but so what? If someone doesn’t like salsa, does that make them racist against hispanics? Or if someone doesn’t like country, does that make them racist agaisnt whites?
Music, like any art, is highly subjective. I think Stephen Wilson said it best, along the lines that 99% of any genre is forgettable, but 1% is essential, and I strongly agree with that sentiment. When I say I like a genre, it means I’m more likely to enjoy more of that 99% than someone who doesn’t, and if I say I don’t like a genre, it means may like very little or even none of the non-essential stuff. But even though I generally dislike rap, when I hear a good rap piece, I may not fall in love with it, but I can at least appreciate it. By the same token, even as huge metal fan, just because something is metal, it doesn’t mean I’m going to like it.
And for people who say “I like all music”, it’s no different than someone saying “I like all food” or “I like all movies” or “I like all TV shows”. It’s a sign that either they’re trying to come across as artificially open-minded–which, oddly, generally seems okay with music, but not so much with other arts–or they’re just not interested or invested enough to really know what their tastes are. To me, even as a musician, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with not being as into music as perhaps you might think everyone else is, just be honest about it.
You have a right not to like any type of creative expression whatsoever. However, putting a gun to someone else who likes it is very bad.
This idea comes up a lot–“You’re calling me racist? Well, YOU’RE the racist for thinking that!”–and it’s never persuasive.
Nobody, but nobody, but nobody has said that disliking rap makes you racist. What has been said is that when people go out of their way to mention their dislike for rap, or when they claim they uniquely dislike rap because rap is uniquely violent or whatever, it’s a pretty good indicator that the person is racist.
Do you see the difference?
I disagree with that, especially when it comes to food. I may have strong opinions on it, but there ain’t nothing I won’t eat.
I do, but I also think it’s not the most convincing split. I can see how making a point of announcing that you hate rap - to everyone, repeatedly and without provocation or relevance to the subject at hand, can be a pretty good indicator that you’re trying to say something without being blatant about it. On the other hand, people are oblivious enough to the way in which their statements are interpreted that it’s possible they mean it literally. I suppose it’s a question of sincerity, which is very hard to judge in casual relationships.
I hadn’t actually realised how seriously people might take this subject; as far as I’m concerned people are free to like or dislike anything without me enquiring too deeply into their motives. Perhaps that’s a bit naive, but I can’t summon up the energy to really find out what most people care deeply about. With my close friends, sure, but most acquaintances? Naah; they can go around spouting coded racism and I’m unlikely to care very much, or even notice, I suppose.
For the record, if it matters, I’m Indian (of the dot variety) so I’ve come across a reasonable amount of outright racism in my years of living in London. Not oblivious to it, but it’s one of these things that seems too deeply entrenched in some people to eradicate through confrontation or argument. They just have to grow up in their own time.