# Will Rap music EVER go away? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 19, 2002, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426 "2002-04-19T00:47:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/21 "2002-04-19T03:17:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Arnold Winkelried \* > \*\*It’s two against one, Ukulele Ike! Whaddya say to that? \*\* I don’t mess with the **Cajun Man** , man. It stays. ---
**Author:** ![foxfiregrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3da27b/32.png) [@foxfiregrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foxfiregrrl)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/22 "2002-04-19T03:25:42Z")
Probably not. I don’t mind it so much, so it’s alright. What I do mind is that fact that rap music is slowly seeping over into rock music. And this is a horrible, horrible thing. Rap is fine as a genre, it just needs to not corrupt other styles of music. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/23 "2002-04-19T03:27:30Z")
Today’s rap is 20 years old and still controversial. Only jazz can say that. Rap is staying in people’s faces. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/24 "2002-04-19T04:05:53Z")
I honestly can’t stand most of it for more than a few minutes. I’m getting old, I can’t stand Pop for more than a few minutes either and I _love_ Pop. That being said, I just bought Big Boi and Dre Present. . . Outkast. This is a great CD. ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/25 "2002-04-19T04:33:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by \*\*Tarkus \*\*\* > It just seems that rap is a little more nails-on-the-chaulkboard than most and I’m curious as to the mass appeal. Wait, I’m not sure I understand the question – rap is more widely percieved to be annoying, which makes you wonder why so many people like it? 😕 > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by **foxfiregrrl** _ > What I do mind is that fact that rap music is slowly seeping over into rock music. And this is a horrible, horrible thing. Rap is fine as a genre, it just needs to not corrupt other styles of music. And so you would argue that rock is a pure art form that has never influenced or been influenced by any other genres? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/26 "2002-04-19T04:58:51Z")
Not so fast, **Tarkus**. The rest of us aren’t finished with this puppy yet. 🙂 (Why do new users (and I realize that Tarkus could have lost major postage in the Winter of Lost Content, but he seems new) always want to close threads at the drop of a hat? What other message boards have they been to, and is closing perfectly good threads common on them? Criminy.) I don’t know much about rap, but I do know about punk. I think it’s relevant here: At first glance, punk seems a rather shallow form. It’s just loud and fast and obnoxous, right? It’ll die quick and we’ll be ready for the next Ten-Minute Jonez, right? Punk has been around as a distinct form since the mid-seventies, and has roots back to the fifites. It’s not going anywhere. Punk is a music genre that allows surprising richness and variation in form and content. Some punk songs sound pop (‘All The Small Things,’ Blink-182, which did chart pretty high), some sound country (‘Haulass Hyena,’ The Cramps, still one of the most rocking tracks to ever have graced my ears), and some even sound folk (‘Good Riddance,’ Green Day, which I consider close enough to punk to be listed here). What ties them together? Common musical themes (no solos, for example, and identifiable beats) and a common culture that traces back to street dance music in Jamaica in the 1950s, the dive scene in London’s East End in the 1960s and 1970s (where economically displaced Jamaicans found themselves and created a multiracial music scene that predates Nazi skins and other lowlifes), and Queens in the mid-1970s. (Hey, ho! Let’s go! :D) The variation within punk ranges from Emo to straight-edge to skate punk to simple ass-kicking in the style of the Ramones. 🙂 What does this have to do with rap? It’s another example of a genre that on the surface seems fatally shallow yet has amazing depth if one chooses to listen to it, instead of just tuning out. ---
**Author:** ![Kyomara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8edcca/32.png) [@Kyomara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyomara)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/27 "2002-04-19T05:53:55Z")
Won’t people like _you_ ever go away? ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Salads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mr\_Salads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Salads)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/28 "2002-04-19T06:57:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nacho4Sara \* > \*\* > > Isn’t all music deviated from culture? \*\* Rap’s derivation is from urban culture. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Salads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mr\_Salads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Salads)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/29 "2002-04-19T06:59:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by foxfiregrrl \* > \*\*Probably not. I don’t mind it so much, so it’s alright. What I do mind is that fact that rap music is slowly seeping over into rock music. And this is a horrible, horrible thing. Rap is fine as a genre, it just needs to not corrupt other styles of music. \*\* What the hell?! “Currupting” other styles of music? It’s your choice to listen to it! The inception of new music genre should be met with open arms, not condemnation. Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/30 "2002-04-19T07:39:37Z")
Why does rap seem to incite such dislike? I don’t recall country music, or MOR soft rock, or dance music being vilified in the same way. It sounds as though some posters here have a real problem with other people’s musical tastes. Sure, there is good (be it enjoyable, clever or original) rap and there is bad rap (over-derivative, offensive or just plain boring), but I don’t see why as a whole it deserves out-and-out hatred. ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/31 "2002-04-19T07:42:34Z")
Aw, yeah… **Kurupt** G’d up from the feet up. ---
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/32 "2002-04-19T08:12:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by foxfiregrrl \* > \*\*What I do mind is that fact that rap music is slowly seeping over into rock music. And this is a horrible, horrible thing. Rap is fine as a genre, it just needs to not corrupt other styles of music. \*\* i love all music, i have 60 gigs of mp3s ranging from rock, funk, soul, reggae, hip hop, acid jazz, opera, punk, indie, trip hop, drum and bass, house, classic rock, jazz, and many others, but my favorite style us fusion. Fusion artists combine all forms of music to create their art. Noteworthy artists include, United Future Organization, Deltron 3030, David Axelrod, DJ Shadow, Dan “Automator” Nakamura, Femi Kuti (Fela’s son), Talvin Singh, Miles Davis, Boojoo Bajou, Bobby Hughes, Prefuse 73, Brian Eno, David Holmes, Gil Scott Heron, Gorillaz. All these artists are not limited by boundries or labels- they make music, period. There was a time when I did not consider rap or hip hop music, when i thought i could never find a redeemable quality in any rap song or artist, but eventually i opened my mind to it, i learned about its history, and i came to love hip hop and rap as much as i love every other genre of music. Punk was the same way, it took time to learn how to properly apreciate it. I still havent made inroads into country, but i think bluegrass may open me up to it. If you gave hip hop a chance, a real chance, you just might like it. p.s. im mad wasted right now. grey goose is the best. ---
**Author:** ![DaWodin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DaWodin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaWodin)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/33 "2002-04-19T08:14:08Z")
Rap is based on a lifestyle that was not very well liked. To get a better idea of wut i mean watch the movie “Boyz in the Hood” Most of the rap that comes on the radio isn’t that good. Albiet there are good artist and plenty of good songs but many of the rappers on the forefront of media attention, like Cash Money, are rapping about nothing and mearly flaunting cash, women and possessions. If you feel rap is missing a messange try listening to people like Brotha Lynch Hung, Tek N9ne, Tupac or someone like that. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Salads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mr\_Salads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Salads)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/34 "2002-04-19T08:22:48Z")
What’s on TV and in the radio is what companies think of as lucrative, successful money-gobblers. To judge a genre based on what’s on the financial forefront is naive. ---
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/35 "2002-04-19T08:24:59Z")
Good Hip Hop (IMHO): The Coup Blackalicious Quannum / Solesides Prince Paul Deltron 3030 / Handsome Boy Modeling School Aceyalone/ Freestyle Fellowship Bahamadia Peanutbutter Wolf Necro Jay- Z Nas Dre Snoop Outkast Jurassic 5 Lootpack Jedi Mind Tricks The Roots The Pharcyde X-ecutioners Invisibl Scratch Piklz ive forgetten many, but. must. sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Tarkus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Tarkus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarkus)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/36 "2002-04-19T11:36:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kyomara \* > \*\*Won’t people like _you_ ever go away? \*\* ADMIN - personal attack- personal attack!!! But wait Kyomara, who exactly, are people like me; people who question things, people who look for answers? We’d better hope that people like me won’t go away. Getting back to the music question though, I think that there are really two groups of people who listen to music with a specific ear; those with music training and those without. Those without listen to music and just like or dislike what they hear. Those with, I think, are somewhat tainted when they listen to all types of music and the resulting opinion is affected. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/37 "2002-04-19T11:53:14Z")
I hate rap! It’s not hard to find reasons to dislike it: - it’s not music. You know, like notes that go up and down in pitch. - rhythmically it’s boring, boring, boring. This is what rap’s suppose to be strong on. So why do they all follow the same mind-numbing formulaic beat? - sampling the hook off an old record and talking over the top of it is not clever. It’s just being annoying. - the subject matter of the average rap song is either cretinous posturing or clichéd whining. “I’m great, look at my car, look at my bitches” or “It’s tuff in the hood and the cops are after my ass”. Remember, just because it’s ‘from the streets’ doesn’t mean it’s any good. But if you want to listen to it, feel free. Just how about turning it down so I don’t have to? ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/38 "2002-04-19T12:13:28Z")
Won’t Rock ever go away? Won’t instrumental music ever go away, won’t… Music like any art form is an evolving thing, think about it The whole rock Genre is nearing 50 years old and at the time many thought it was a flash in the pan. While not a great fan of the music I recognize the importance and sigificence of that style. Yes, like most music there is a lot of garbage groups and piss poor songs in it, but there are some artists who have something to say and have an actual intellegent style even if most of us don’t see it right away. Let’s face it for every 1 good band in any genre there are 100 crappo rip off bands that imitate the style but have no substance. So to answer the OP probably not for a long time it will just change ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/39 "2002-04-19T12:51:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Futile Gesture \* > \*\*I hate rap! It’s not hard to find reasons to dislike it: > > - it’s not music. You know, like notes that go up and down in pitch. > - rhythmically it’s boring, boring, boring. This is what rap’s suppose to be strong on. So why do they all follow the same mind-numbing formulaic beat? > - sampling the hook off an old record and talking over the top of it is not clever. It’s just being annoying. > - the subject matter of the average rap song is either cretinous posturing or clichéd whining. “I’m great, look at my car, look at my bitches” or “It’s tuff in the hood and the cops are after my ass”. > > Remember, just because it’s ‘from the streets’ doesn’t mean it’s any good. But if you want to listen to it, feel free. Just how about turning it down so I don’t have to? \*\* Yeah, but I’m sure you’d also agree that 95% of pop music, beit punk, electronica, r&b and whatnot are a load of shite as well. Good rap music is not rhythmically boring. Give a spin to some old standbys like De La Soul’s “Three Feet High and Rising.” How can you seriously diss music like that? Or if ya wanna get back to basics, try KRS-One. Or how 'bout some Arrested Development or Wyclef Jean? For me, to dismiss such artists is musical lunacy, but to each their own, I suppose. Sampling, when done well, is clever. It’s recontextualizing pop culture. I find rap music very post-modern in its artistic approach and good rap music, like good pop music, should surpise you. Rap will never go away, nor do I wish it ever to go away. My CD collection consists mostly of bands like XTC, The Clash, The Smashing Pumpkins, Big Star, the Pixies and power-pop-punk stuff like that. But it’s rather small-minded to dismiss an entire style of music as “inferior” without having first at least educated yourself about its history, aesthetic, purpose, etc… It ain’t all about “fuck da police,” “smack my 'ho,” “cap yo ass wi’ my 9,” etc, etc, etc. I honestly don’t get what the hubbub again rap is. One can easily make such sweeping, non-flattering generalizations about ANY other kind of music, especially punk and heavy metal. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/40 "2002-04-19T13:39:09Z")
It’s not for everyone. Why does its worthiness of existence have to come into question? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426.md?page=3)