Is Rap a valid musical form?

Yes it is and there is a lot of rap/hip hop that isn't "angry, offensive or abrasive." Check out De La Soul's "3 Feet High and Rising."

Holy moley, I'm 50 and this is the most Boomer post I've read in awhile. How old are you, OP?

Throw on some Whodini or Sugarhill's "Rapper's Delight. That's the OG stuff right there.

I mean, it's okay to say you don't understand hip hop or even like it. But please, spare us some kinda pseudo thinkpiece on how it may or may not be a valid musical art form. I mean, people said a bunch of stupid crap about Elvis not being real music back in the day. This is just another version of that.

Personally, I love myself some old school Young MC (who has an economics degree from USC for those elitists who pay attention to that sort of thing). There's all sorts of great rap/hip hop out there including newer stuff, from Childish Gambino to Post Malone and a whole bunch more.

If you only like "music" you can always throw on some Run DMC/Aerosmith "Walk This Way." :)

Watch Blue Note Records - Beyond The Notes.

Outlines the relevance of Jazz in the birth of rap.

I'm old, it's not for me.

I think most rap is noise flavored with trendy vulgarities.  

But this is America and everyone has the right to listen to whatever they want so long as they don't make me listen to it. 

Exactly.

It certainly can't be considered musical by any stretch of the imagination and listening to it with headphones should be compulsory.

As it is there's enough noise pollution without adding more

Rap stopped being valid for me when I heard Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz steal (sorry, I mean sample) the bass line from Steely Dan's "Black Cow".

C'mon, it's only 6 notes - you couldn't have come up with something on your own?

@sonic79 + 1

@whipsaw:

"It's grossly inaccurate to suggest that Rap incorporates rhythm alone. Anyone who asserts that hasn't the slightest idea what they are talking about.

It is true only of some Rap"

You are entirely justified in calling me on my ignorance-- it's always a mistake to try to validate one's subjective tastes via objective arguments.

As a long time fan of other African-American music genres, it's weird to feel as I do about Rap but the Rap I have heard has not elicited any desire to hear more. We each have our esthetic inclinations-- I don't like Big Band, New Country, Hair Metal, or most Pop, either. 

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Meanwhile, in some alternate universe, a thread is made asking if classical is a valid form of music.

All kidding aside. I like Latino rap too. Guys like Pitbull and then mix it up with a lively Caribbean flavor, merenque, mombo, steel pans. If that music was playing all the time there no reason not to stay in shape.. Grab the mail lady or man, and dance. Everybody likes that music. Unless you’re weird.. Like sayin’ you don’t like Donna Summers, or the Pointer Sisters.. "I get Excited".

I like it when someone breaks down what rap is or is not. Like saying Ragtime isn’t or Jazz or la-te-da.. My humming has to please me NOT anyone else. The measure of music is not for someone else to determan. The quality however, only by our peers. Everyone else’s opinions are like sands on the beach, One of many, between my toes and the crack of my _____.

Regards

Rap is a valid music form. Just like a Big Mac is classified as food.

C-RAP

😅

"It's grossly inaccurate to suggest that Rap incorporates rhythm alone. Anyone who asserts that hasn't the slightest idea what they are talking about.

It is true only of some Rap."

Think this is why I seem to be interested in more contemporary Rap which incorporates musical themes and motifs. To me, then it becomes a more complete musical experience.

Sure it is, who's to say any music form isn't valid! I do prefer hip hop to rap, however, like some melodicism in my chosen music.

Yes it is but I do not care for it except some early hip-hop. 

Rap is valid form of art that has nothing to do with music. Same applies to most of rock.

Garcia asserted Rap is not music because it lacks two of the three essential qualities of music-- melody and harmony. In his view, rhythm (the third quality) alone does not constitute "music" and I agree.  

It's grossly inaccurate to suggest that Rap incorporates rhythm alone. Anyone who asserts that hasn't the slightest idea what they are talking about.

It is true only of some Rap.

I stand by J. Garcia's comments on this topic, not because I'm m a deadhead (believe me-- I'm not) but because they make sense to me. 

Garcia asserted Rap is not music because it lacks two of the three essential qualities of music-- melody and harmony. In his view, rhythm (the third quality) alone does not constitute "music" and I agree.  

IMO, Rap is most accurately described as a spoken word art, like Slam Poetry.  

BTW, this topic has been done before. 

@mglik - In a way, yes, but being a big reggae fan, when I first heard rap/hip-hop, I was thinking, 'This is like Jamaican toasting', which had been going on since earlier in the 70's, and it was. But it was different too, so I like both!! 

Have checked out the Beastie Boys before. The problem I have with them and most other older Rap is that I find it monotonous. It seems like Rap has evolved into a more complex and engaging experience. Not to overly generalize.

I did start to watch the Rick Rubin doc. I think that I may gain insight into a way to reconcile the difference and relative value of Rap vis a vis Pop, etc.

How many units sold?

Case closed.

Yes.

Beastie Boys - So What’Cha Want 

Crank that SH!T ;-) 

I guess one can say that the world of Hip Hop and Rap is yet another true American art form. 

It is and it wasn’t always filled with so many colorful adjectives. I worked at a record store for years after high school and saw it grow in popularity. My favorite rap album to this day came out in 1989. De La Soul’s “Three Feet High and Rising”. If you haven’t heard that one you need to give it a try. 

Enjoy.  

I'll stick to Tone Loc, Digital Underground and Last Poets.

I remember the interview with James Brown. "We started that" He claimed to be the original.

I heard Beethoven was a real heavy underground rapper in his time too. He’d sneak across the border and go to other countries under the name of RhymerHoven. Serious pipes and skills.

The conductor/composer thing was really played up.. He was really a rapper at heart.

I heard the Magna Carta was originally meant to be "Rapped". The French were way ahead of the music curve.

As @larsman said – unquestionably "valid".

And for those interested, here is an excellent documentary that is well worth watching:

Rick Rubin: The Invisibility of Hip Hop's Greatest Producer

Among many other remarkable achievements, Rubin resurrected Johnny Cash's career!

Of course it is - It's every bit as 'valid' as any other musical form or genre.

May as well ask if rock music is valid, and I know there are some snobs who think it's not, but I couldn't care less what people like that think about anything. I have no use for arbiters of validity. 

I was in the music business back when Sugarhill Gang's 'Rapper's Delight' came out in 1979, and the genre has been going full on since then - yeah!!! 

And Kendrick Lamar IS pretty awesome, yeah?