When rap came out 30 years ago I thought it was just a fad

onhwy61, give me five tracks that you think deserve to be mentioned in the same breath with "the Revolution will not be Televised" and I will listen to them and get back to you.  I will listen with good phones, undistracted and with big ears and an open mind as I usually do.
BTW, FWIW, I like "the Revolution will not be Televised" and find it very musical.  I also like "Revolution" and "Revolution 1" by the Beatles, but don't care for "Revolution 9"--I find that to be performance art and not music. 
You're right when you say the masses get to define standards.  You're wrong to say someone has a closed mind when they don't agree with them.  I scratch my head when I come across the rare person who doesn't like Beethoven or the Beatles, but I realize that their opinion is as good and as valuable as mine.  BTW, I have made a living as a music teacher and performer but I don't think that makes my opinion more important than someone less experienced.  But I bristle when someone someone suggests I may not have the understanding of the elements of music necessary to formulate an  opinion of what's music and what's poetry.  I have studied, listened and played for decades.  What are your special qualifications that better allows you to make this judgement?
 Anyway, I like good stuff so please, tell me your top five "musical" rap tunes and I'll give them a listen ASAP.

Masses don't really make make the choices ,they drink the kool-aid presented to them .

Old Audiophiles crack me up.  Why is everyone so serious about this subject?  If you don't like the music don't listen to it.  Its pretty simple.  Funny thing is the people that whine about rap music is the same people that whine about the next generation not being into Hifi.  Rap discussions come up every so often.  I even started one over 10yrs ago.  I wonder why people on these forums talks about rap in such a negative way, but nobody ever mentions Metal, Techno, or Dub step, which IMHO are the worst forms of music.  To me music is music, and we need to be open about it, so the next generation for hifi doesn't disappear. 

Rap 20 yrs ago to rap now is completely different.  Its more commercialized now.  A lot of the rappers aren't even from the streets.  Theres not a lot of story telling, and a lot of it is repetitive beats to sound good in the clubs and dance to. I don't care too much for the stuff thats on the radio.  Artists like Drake, Kanye West, 50 cent, all kinda sound the same to me.  

I don't really care for some of the lyrics in rap songs.  Especially when every other word is F**** you, or the N*** word.  But I understand that is where they are from, and that is how they talk.  Rap is suppose to be real, and to take all that away from these guys from the streets would make their music sound fake.  Besides people on these forums act like they don't cuss in real life…not a huge issue for me.

I do wish rappers would grow up to learn to be a musician first.  But remember, some of these guys grew up on the streets where being a musician isn't possible.  I know growing up, there was no way I would be able to afford a guitar, piano, or even a Harmonica…lol  However there are plenty of rappers that can play instruments.  Just to name a few….Pimp C, Andre 3000, Pharrell, and Scarface.  

I am a huge fan of rap from the 80s and 90s, and own a good collection of rap cds.  I grew up listening to it, and I still listen to it now.  I just try to keep an open mind about rap nowadays.  I hear myself whining about it sometimes, but every so often I will hear something I like.  

here are a few of my favorite rap songs for you audiophiles to check out.  Curious on your thoughts.

LL Cool J- I need Love

UGK- One Day

Master P ft Pimp C- I miss My Homies

NB Ridaz-Girl

Ghetto Commission-Im a Soulja

Pastor Troy-Vice Versa

"The Revolution will not be televised" is one of the greatest pieces ever because it was raw unyielding and straight truth. Funny how it's not cool to drink the Kool Aid when certain people are pouring it. Drink up Fellas or die of thirst. Lol. Everybody around the world are just Rap Zombies. I liked it more when I was younger but I hope I never become a guy who lumps everybody into one pitcher of Kool-Aid.

"Old audiophiles crack me up" 

Laugh all you want about us old audiophiles. But remember one Important thing. Without us old audiophiles there would be no high-end audio Industry. Most of the serious audio websites are made up of older people that have been doing this for years. When you go to audiophile shows it is mostly older guys with gray hair. The magazines on Audio cater to an older crowd. 

I'm sure when us baby boomers are dead and buried there will be no high-end audio Industry anymore. But it won't really matter to you since rap and hip hop don't require a high end system anyway.