Ray Charles - "Rap is not music"

Perhaps. But what percentage of people actually listened to SOUL music back in the days of Motown and Philadelphia Soul back in the day? A very small percentage I’d imagine. So why hide behind Ray Charles words when you didn’t listen to soul when you had the chance?

I still listen to soul from the 60’s and 70’s. I doubt many here do. 

@tylermunns Easy. What percentage of Whites bought those records? A very few, otherwise Motown and Philly would have sold many many more records. Rock ruled the day. Some of that was great. Some not so. Nothing to do with rap. But why agree with Ray Charles when most weren’t buying his records either. That’s hypocrisy. Calling a spade a spade. Now call me racist for calling out the obvious.

How do we know? Because the entire Motown Music catalog sold for a paltry $61M.

Philly Soul sold to Sony Music in 2014, no price available.

But check this out. The top selling recordings all time are music created by whites. Not one black recording among them.

Perhaps black music was “popular”, but only via the radio? The facts don’t lie. Whites did not purchase Black music in large quantities.

No matter how popular it was, it didn’t actually sell in huge numbers. Blacks bought black music, but their purchase numbers could only reflect the numbers of their small population. Facts.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/271174/top-selling-artists-in-the-united-states/#:~:text=Perhaps%20unsurprisingly%2C%20British%20rock%20band,Presley%20with%20139%20million%20units.

You simply cannot expect a bunch of white people to understand rap, which grew out of backlash against racism. Remember the Reagan administration? Or when the CIA knowingly introduced crack into Los Angeles? Those were the times rap was addressing. I wasn’t into Tupac, but even I understood what he spoke of. These were sad times, and the youth today understand the struggle the country faces. Ray Charles was from a generation when being black was a huge handicap. But what do I know I’m a jazz nut.

@tylermunns, not this black person. My first instrument was Cello, then bass, then sax, then piano, and now archtop guitar. I get it, not everyone can fit into a box. But in general, this thread is evidence of the fact that white people can’t be expected to get rap. Otherwise, this entire thread wouldn’t exist.