# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Kyomara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8edcca/32.png) [@Kyomara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyomara)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/81 "2002-04-22T06:01:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kyomara \* > **That depends on whether or not you are the type of lame-o (and not necessarily indicating you here, Tarkas, my previous war-like comments aside…you have not said anything about your own training) whose musical opinions are based on the fact that you have training.** DOH! Before I posted this I **forgot to read the second page!!** …in which **Tarkus** exposes himself as the big lame-o that he is! As for hip-hop afficionados listening to Classic Rock, You would be surprised at how many references to Classic Rock artists and songs you will find in rap songs and interviews with rappers. Many of them were actually _inspired_ by old rock songs. I can’t for the life of me imagine why. I detest the stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Tarkus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Tarkus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarkus)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/82 "2002-04-22T11:14:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nacho4Sara \* > \*\* > > My god, do you always manage such condescension and ignorance toward things you don’t prefer? > And I must say, I find it interesting that you compare rap music, a genre primarily created by and for blacks, to a virus that is primarily targeting blacks. (36 million AIDS cases worldwide, 27 million of them in Africa.) You might want to think before you type. \*\* No, I have to be honest, I don’t. But I try!!! As for the comparison, it was just an analogy. Aids has changed the way people approach sex and rap has changed the way people approach “music”. Let me ask another quesiton - I just can’t seem to drop this - in order to appreciate rap, does one HAVE to listen to the lyrics? What I mean is, when someone says, "Just listen to the “good” stuff, not the stuff on the radio, are they meaning that I have to search for something and really listen to what the lyrics are and what the meaning of the lyrics are? I ask this because, I’ll admit, my ear does not really “hear” lyrics in ANY type of music. I don’t know, it’s just not important to me as what the message of the song is. So, maybe this is what I’m “missing” concerning rap since there really isn’t much to it other than what is being “rapped” about. Rap was created FOR blacks? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Tarkus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Tarkus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarkus)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/83 "2002-04-22T11:20:32Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Kyomara \* \*\* I can’t for the life of me imagine why. I detest the stuff. \*\*[/QUOTE Hummmm, seems as though you’re a little biased. IPerhaps you should diversify a tad. 😃 ---
**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 22, 2002, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/84 "2002-04-22T11:58:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nacho4Sara \* > \*\*And I must say, I find it interesting that you compare rap music, a genre primarily created by and for blacks, to a virus that is primarily targeting blacks. (36 million AIDS cases worldwide, 27 million of them in Africa.) You might want to think before you type. \*\* Let’s not get distracted into a GD debate. Quite apart from the dubious merits of **Tarkus** ’s analogy, it needs pointing out that the connection you’re drawing here is nonsensical and disingenious to say the least. Rap is primarily a creation of American black culture, it was not “created by or for” Africans, regardless of colour. And I don’t think viruses “target” by any physical, social or economic categorizations we might recognise. We’re all people to it. ---
**Author:** ![Sealemon88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Sealemon88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sealemon88)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/85 "2002-04-22T13:50:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Let me ask another quesiton - I just can’t seem to drop this - in order to appreciate rap, does one HAVE to listen to the lyrics? What I mean is, when someone says, "Just listen to the “good” stuff, not the stuff on the radio, are they meaning that I have to search for something and really listen to what the lyrics are and what the meaning of the lyrics are? No more than you HAVE to listen to the lyrics in any other type of song: Not necessary, but it sure helps. And maybe I missed their mention, but add Digital Underground and Jungle Brothers to the list of rappers you might want to listen to. ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/86 "2002-04-22T14:03:30Z")
> [@](#): > > _by longroad_ > Even if they do, I still detest rap. I don’t like soul singers grabbing at their crotches every few seconds either or glorifying gang signs as part of a jibbering, frantic dance. ahh. **longroad** and **tarkus** try to out-stereotype one another. terribly intelligent, chaps. for instance, let us look at the black eyed peas. they are not your typical hip-hop group. they perform with a live band. they are mulitracial, with one member african-american, another native american and the third hispanic/filipino (i think). they combine a vast array of styles into their music, from latin to soul to jazz. they don’t wear ‘gangsta’ clothes or associate themselves with gangsta culture. in their own words, (from ‘fallin’ up’ on their _behind the front_ lp) > [@](#): > > I see you try to dis our function by stating that we can’t rap > Is it because we don’t wear Tommy Hilfiger or baseball caps > We don’t use dollars to represent > We just use our inner sense and talent despite this, they are undeniably hip hop. they are part of the rich tapestry of hip hop music, something more complex and far superior to the latest p diddy or d12 release. and **tarkus** , no you don’t have to listen to the lyrics to like or understand rap. while the lyrics can be important, as they are in all forms of music (what would the sex pistols’ ‘god save the queen’ be without the lyrics? what would the beatles’ ‘yesterday’ be if it had remained ‘scrambled eggs’?) the tone and rhythm of the voice is more important. the voice is an amazing instrument, and hip hop uses it very effectively. by varying the speed, pitch, urgency or a thousand other qualities of their voice, a good rapper will add as much to a song as a good singer or a good guitarist will. take the black eyed peas track ‘weekends’. while the lyrics are appropriate to the music (which samples sly’s ‘family affair’, yet uses it only as a base to build a whole new track from), the music can be enjoyed on its own, without knowing a single lyric. interestingly enough, hip hop does not even have to be vocal. **dj shadow** rarely (if ever) uses rapping in his songs, and jurassic five’s latest lp came with a free instrumental version of the album in australia. oh, and a question - those of you who dislike rap, have you heard, and if so, what is your opinion of trip hop artists such as massive attack - who create music based on hip hop beats, and often have rapping on their tracks - but have more in common musically with the genres of funk, fusion electronica and jazz? ---
**Author:** ![Omnipresent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@Omnipresent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omnipresent)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/87 "2002-04-22T16:14:30Z")
Rap will fade into the background as EVERY musical flavor-of-the-month has done in the past. As we can giggle about the musical rantings of 70’s progressive rock, so to will we giggle about the verbal rantings of rap 10 years from now. ---
**Author:** ![Lux\_Fiat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc79bd/32.png) [@Lux\_Fiat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lux_Fiat)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/88 "2002-04-22T21:29:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dryga\_Yes \* > LOTS of good artists have been mentioned so far (though I haven’t seen Cannibal Ox, a personal fav) Preach it. I think “Iron Galaxy” is the best title I’ve seen, on anything, in ages. ---
**Author:** ![Journeyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/779978/32.png) [@Journeyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Journeyman)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/89 "2002-04-23T00:18:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astorian \* > \*\*That said… will rap EVER go away? Sure. EVERY musical genre pretty much dies off at some point, and rap is no exception. Jazz pretty much died off after a few decades, and now has only a handul of die-hard fans who INSIST it’s still as popular and relevantr as ever. Rock and roll is heading for that status right now. Rock is beginning to fade and die (sorry, rock fans, but you KNOW in your heart it’s true), but hey, it’s had about 50 good years! That’s a nice, long run for a “fad.” > \*\* [Abe Simpson voice] I used to be with it, until they changed what it was. Then what I was with wasn’t it. It’ll happen to you! [/Abe Simpson voice] If we define contemporary rock music as what gets airplay, that yes, it’s stagnating. I don’t dislike what I hear on the radio, I just can’t tell the artists apart. I think you may be right about rap being the new “big thing.” Try standing outside my high school at the end of the day. Practically every car pulls out with rap or hip-hop blaring on their stereo. Fortunately, not everyone is of the opinion that their music is so good it ought to be shared with everyone in the immediate vicinity. Lest I seem condemning of rap for that reason, let me hasten to point out that there are idiots who blare other forms of music at siesmic volume levels in evidence as well. Just not as many of them, since more people are listening to rap. Some of those cars must register on the Richter scale. I personally haven’t heard enough of rap to form a meaningful opinion. I prefer not to use the charts, or what gets airplay, to make decisions about the art form as a whole. There are lots of good rock bands still around, and some very good local acts (I live in the Raleigh Durham area). ---
**Author:** ![Kyomara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8edcca/32.png) [@Kyomara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyomara)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/90 "2002-04-23T03:54:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tarkus \* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Kyomara \* > > \*\*I can’t for the life of me imagine why. I detest the stuff. \*\* > > Hummmm, seems as though you’re a little biased. Perhaps you should diversify a tad. 😃 \*\* Tell you what, **Tarkus,** when we’re through explaining rap music to you, we’ll explain the concept of “a joke.” To be fair, I think **Nacho4Sara’s** question about your rap and AIDS comparison was weird, but the original comparison was even weirder. Do you mean that rap has made people afraid to listen to music? Besides being wrong, that just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. ---
**Author:** ![Hazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/91 "2002-04-23T04:28:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JaxBeachBoy \* > \*\*I wish I felt the need to bash styles of music that I didn’t prefer to listen to. \*\* The thing is, as long as it’s around, as long as it’s popular, it’s impossible to avoid being exposed to it. ---
**Author:** ![Hazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/92 "2002-04-23T04:38:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crusoe \* > \*\*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. \*\* It’s the monotony of it that I dislike. ---
**Author:** ![Omnipresent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@Omnipresent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omnipresent)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/93 "2002-04-23T16:33:56Z")
To be fair, I think **Nacho4Sara’s** question about your rap and AIDS comparison was weird, but the original comparison was even weirder. Do you mean that rap has made people afraid to listen to music? Besides being wrong, that just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. \*\* [/QUOTE] Sure it makes sense, both Rap and Aids originated in Africa, did it not? ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/94 "2002-04-23T16:54:02Z")
Just out of curiousity, what is the age divide on this issue? The only reason I bring it up is that I’ve noticed that people who are in their twenties and grew with rap music being an accepted genre seem to be more comfortable with it. My brother in law is 18 years older than me and while he has some very eclectic tastes, he HATES Rap. So what are the ages of those that really hate the subject and those that don’t dislike it. ---
**Author:** ![Tarkus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Tarkus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarkus)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/95 "2002-04-23T17:18:15Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Kyomara \* \*\* Tell you what, **Tarkus,** when we’re through explaining rap music to you, we’ll explain the concept of “a joke.” I detect an air of pompousness and militance. I wonder if you got that way listening to so much rap. I have read that rap warps the brain into thinking that you can explain things to people unrealistically. ---
**Author:** ![LongRoad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb8c5e/32.png) [@LongRoad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LongRoad)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/96 "2002-04-23T17:59:59Z")
Well, yeah! People growing up with rap and all of the good music reduced to a few radio stations will be brain washed into thinking that rap is cool. Like they think walking around in ghetto pants and wearing trousers halfway to their knees to expose their boxer shorts is cool. It never dawns on them that all they are doing is promoting ghetto life, abject poverty and gangs as being cool. Not when you pay $50 for a set of ghetto pants that mimic the hand-me-downs found in poor black families or the oversized shirts from bigger brothers. I’m in my late 40s and I’ve gone through several music genres over the decades, but rap is the worst. (I was not a big fan of Elvis, by the way.) I liked 80s music and rock and roll, along with some disco and would like the insipid ‘boy and girl bands’ of today to get back to some good ol’ rock and roll. More hot singing and less gyrating on stage to ghetto-dance moves would be nice. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/97 "2002-04-23T20:08:52Z")
Longroad, do you actually shake your fist at the kids on your lawn, or do you just talk that way? I remember once watching MTV with my grandmother, and a Robert Plant video came on. She sat in silence, brow furrowed, and then said to me very tentatively, “I’m having trouble understanding. Is that supposed to be music?” Daniel ---
**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 23, 2002, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/98 "2002-04-23T20:15:16Z")
And what, pray tell **LongRoad** , are ghetto pants, ghetto moves and a ghetto life? If people _you_ know are wearing these styles and boy and girl bands are gyrating in this fashion how is this “promoting ghetto life”? Do you even know what a “ghetto life” is? Or are you just talking out of some misinformed TV generated view of what you believe the inner city is like? Or, probably more likely, talking out of an orifice situated far south of your mouth? ---
**Author:** ![ricecake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@ricecake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricecake)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/99 "2002-04-23T23:04:07Z")
whether you haters like it or not rap is here to stay for a while, and broad generalizations about the music’s style and culture are naive. before you come in here trying to make an argument you should try to make an effort to educate yourself, if you dont at least do that you end up looking like an ass. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426/100 "2002-04-24T00:08:14Z")
Okay…the “disturbing undercurrents” I mentioned on the first page aren’t so much undercurrents anymore. Please, please, please will rap’s critics actually **listen** to some of the recommendations on this thread before making ugly generalizations? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-rap-music-ever-go-away/104426.md?page=6)