It's just that Hip Hop and the Rap style of delivery has it's origins in Black culture. That's not unusual as Soul, Blues, Jazz, R&B, Rock, Ska etc also have their origins in Black Culture. All of this wonderful music then resonates with people all over the world, Hip Hop probably more than most. MLK would love it.

its how it is..... certain styles of any music appeal to a certain demograph more then others. black music isnt just for black people, but black music is more likely to be liked by black people because they are more likely to resonate with it.

i like traditional english folk music, i wouldnt expect a black guy from the bronx to have any liking for that. no ones right nor wrong, but there are differences . rap has an audience here, its also pretty much hated by others, it connects with some, and not with others. there are no strict compartments, just a differing level of proneness between differing cultures and styles.

horses for courses.

I find rap can really enhance certain songs.
I mean can you imagine TLC's "Waterfalls" without Lisa's rap or if her verse was sung instead? It would lose all impact.

Yes, it gives the song another dimension; it adds spontaneity and the flow of the rap is like an extra rhythm on top of the existing beat. That's why people compare it to modern poetry, because rap has internal rhythms and rhymes like poetry does.

Rapping deconstructed -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWveXdj6oZU
Kanye deconstructed -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgJyhKEZ8QU&t=419s

BiB - It would be more accurate to say they had their origins largely in the fusion of African and European musical traditions.

For instance here is a very interesting take on the history and origins of jazz:
http://www.redhotjazz.com/originsarticle.html

Is it?
The lack of melody is one of the reasons why I've never understood why so many people like it. I've listened to loads of different types of music over the years and rap is the only one where I can't see the appeal in any way shape or form, but as they say, each to their own.
I think Rap was probably invented to prove anything will sell.

Do me a favour.
You think Hip Hop probably resonates with more people over the world than Soul. NEVER. If I said to you name as many Soul classics as you can and then name as many Hip Hop classics as you can you'd have far more trouble naming the Hip Hop classics

Yep. I've never made a secret of the fact I've been involved with the whole black music scene my entire life and I'm a little white girl who lives in suburbia.
I've been attending soul/r&b/Hop hop/house weekends and events for early 30 years and it's never been about colour or culture, its about the music, nothing more., I'd go so far as to say it's probably a 75/25 split with white people being by far the majority of attendees. But none of that matters.
I'm massively into soulful house. I listen to it every moment I can and actively seek out the music. It's my absolutely passion. Yet most of the lyrics and the artists are based in gospel music but I'm agnostic. I adore how uplifting and spiritual soulful house sounds and just want to sing and dance when I hear it but I don't believe in the God they are praising. But it doesn't matter.

As CeCe Rogers sang

The world is cold and times are bad.
Everytime I think about it, it makes me sad.
War and drugs are everywhere
and it’s getting so hard to breathe the air.
But it doesn’t have to be like this,
all the rancour and bitterness.
If we can just open our eyes
we can make the world a paradise – Someday.
We’ll live as one family in perfect harmony - Someday.
When we all pull together we will all be free.

Free from the pressure and the prejudice
we can change it all with tenderness.
There’ll be no void between black and white.
We’ll be able to walk the streets at night.
I won’t be fooled while someone dies of starvation,
the whole world will be my nation.
We will walk hand in hand.
I’ll go to South Africa and be called a man – Someday.
We’ll live as one family in sweet harmony - Someday.
If we all pull together we will all be free.

Try humming it.

How would listing soul classics (which have been around a lot longer) against Hip Hop hits be the measure of cultural resonance? Popularity isn't a measure of resonance. I used the word probably in the original post ecause resonance is not not something I can measure easily or accurately. Go and be exasperated elsewhere.

Rap is one of the best genres and can enhance a song greatly, examples of this are Selena Gomez' singles Good For You and Same Old Love which features raps from Fetty Wap and ASAP Rocky.

For me rap music has a different kind of energy to other genres of music. It's more aggressive nature tunes into a part of my personality that other genres don't; I find rap music therapeutic in a venting sort of way. Rapping to music can really make you feel elevated.

I find it quite ironic that the two rap songs with the best lyrics (Rapture and Shakedown) were both written by Deborah Harry.

Some rap can be appalling, some can be (perhaps intentionally) a test of endurance to listen to, but at its best it is great poetry, and in my opinion works best when when combined skilfully with musical (melodic) sections. Listen almost any track on 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill' and you will hear how her raps enhance and complement the music effortlessly, so different from the jarring 'rent-a-rapper' in many current pop songs. As Inkblot says, good raps add 'another dimension', nuance and impact to a song, rather than detracting from it or seeming out of place.

Even when rap lyrics don't have a literal sequential meaning they can also still create a fantastic atmosphere - word music, like Edith Sitwell, and she wasn't from Compton!

I think for me i think the original appeal was it just happens to have been popular in the area i grew up but now i'd say its more the fact that, now that its less gangsta rap and more about normal life, i tend to hear more rap lyrics that i can relate to, whereas i can't really say thats a regular thing with other styles of music.

interesting...

when i was younger , i got my 'anger release fix' off punk and sometimes rock. perhaps as punk and rock arent in fashion now (in as much as they are chart material) some rap is filling that gap, because its more accessible?

i dunno....

What a strange attitude you have.

Try humming what?

There are lots of rap songs you could hum, although i'm not sure that's a pre-requisite of a tune.

Correct me if I'm mistaken, but rap is probably the only genre where you can follow the action on Google Maps. Here's a Google Maps journey through Warren G and Nate Dogg's Regulate: https://storify.com/GerryMcBride/cle...ear-white-moon

..... but so what?..

i dont mind 'regulate' actually

maybe not follow the action as such, but there have been many folk songs that are set in real locations with real events - gordon lightfoots 'the wreck of the edmund fitzgerald' for eg.

They're not tunes or songs.

I'd have no bother whatsoever rattling off a couple of hundred Hip Hop classics. I think a lot of people here and more widely:

1. Put music on ignore if it is Hip Hop. Are simply not prepared to give it ANY attention

2. Stereotype Hip Hop despite having heard about 0.01% of it. In other words they are largely ignorant of it.


No one has to like something. Nevertheless there is some 'Grade A' garbage written in this thread based on ignorance of the genre and deliberate lack of investigation of it.

Rapping is diverse. Reducing rapping to 'aggressive' is like reducing rock to 'loud' or 'noisy'.

(Not to take away from the point you're making - just addressing the generalising).

You could say I'm biased because I love and own a good deal of Hip Hop (of course I also despair about some of it - especially some of the more recent offerings) but it IS. It really is. There is no other genre that rivals it significance, which has evolved within that time frame. which has the broad-reaching cultural influence, which permeates film, literature or art to such a degree.

[quote=scrilla;84455925]You could say I'm biased because I love and own a good deal of Hip Hop (of course I also despair about some of it - especially some of the more recent offerings) but it IS. It really is. There is no other genre that rivals it significance, which has evolved within that time frame. which has the broad-reaching cultural influence, which permeates film, literature or art to such a degree.[/QUOTE
Despite its widespread cultural impact or influence, the genre will never be held in the same musical appreciation as Jazz, Blues, Soul or Rock. Whenever we generally think of or praise musical legends there are almost never rappers and never will be. Nat King Cole, Sinatra, Beatles whatever. There are hip hop greats but they are in isolation to the other genres, and will never be thought of in the same way