Do you consider rap music?

[ApologiaPhoenix]

Every time I have someone at work ask for an artist on CD and I say "What genre is it?" and they say "Rap", I always want to say that by and large, I don't consider that music. What does anybody else think?

[Conductor42]

There's a lot of good "rap" out there. Underground Rap, IMO, is usually a lot better though. Wyclef Jean could be considered rap, and Atmosphere is an underground Rap group, and they are two of my favorite artists.

[Storico]

Yes, I think rap's music if it includes musical instruments as part of its overall composition. Otherwise, it's just very fast, and sometimes very bad, spoken-word. Really, SOME rap can be very creative, and very clever, depending on the artist and his or her message. I don't personally listen to it, but I've talked to people who are very fond of Christian rap, and I can see the value in that sort of music. My objection to SOME mainstream secular rap is its lack of diverse vocabulary , its mysogyny and sometimes its glorification of violence. For the same reason, I don't like some heavy metal either, although it typically has far less swearing than rap.

[Em7add11]

I think rap has been in its 'disco' era for a while now.

There's some good stuff out there, but by and large the stuff you'd hear on any radio station tends to be vacuous and poorly arranged.

[Dave G]

Yeh, I consider rap an extension of the Jazz era's scat singing.
Most pop rap is pretty poor, but then I don't like most pop.
For some reason most of what I like are white rappers....go figure.
I think Eminem is really great, I don't listen to him because of his mouth and his depressing lyrics, like late Pink Floyd.

[Rubia Warren]

I don't consider it music for the most part.

I don't even consider what is passing as R&B, music anymore.

I think Whitney Houston started a really bad female vocal trend and she must pay. I am considering starting a class action lawsuit against her.

[Lili]

Certain types of rap could be considered music. For example, some old school rap was pretty good, and I've heard that a lot of underground rap is good too. However, most modern rap is just misogynist, immoral, mindless crap.

[Pilgrim]

I think rap has been in its 'disco' era for a while now.

There's some good stuff out there, but by and large the stuff you'd hear on any radio station tends to be vacuous and poorly arranged.

Amen to that. I still don't get why Eminem is touted as this great artist. His meter sucks, his rymes are forced and his lyrics are pedantic, cliche, and unimaginative.

Then again there is some cools stuff out there: http://www.yikers.com/video_snl_narnia_rap.html

[Tladatsi]

Every time I have someone at work ask for an artist on CD and I say "What genre is it?" and they say "Rap", I always want to say that by and large, I don't consider that music. What does anybody else think?

Of course it is music

American Heritage Dictionary - mu·sic(my??'z?k) n.

1) The art of arranging sounds in time so as to produce a continuous, unified, and evocative composition, as through melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre.

2) Vocal or instrumental sounds possessing a degree of melody, harmony, or rhythm.

Why would it not be? Most of the respondents so far have either said whether they like rap or not. I don't happen to care for Wagner's operas much - I find them ponderous and dull (or a Mark Twain noted, "they are much better than they sound") but that does not mean they are not music, just music I don't listen to much.

I happen to like at least some rap music, Kanye West, Marshall Mathers, Public Enemy, and even Melle Mel and the Furious Five. However, most of it I will take a pass.

[Twilly Spree]

Yeah rap is music. I think it takes alot for it to be good though. Look at Outkast, that's definitely some good stuff.

[Michelle]

I think rap is music. The aspects of music are: melody, harmony, timbre, pitch, duration, loudness, and rhythm. Rap is the genre where melody, harmony, timbre, and pitch are de-emphasized, while rhythm rises to be the most prevalent aspect. It might be well done or inept; include uplifting lyrics or be incomprehensible, but it falls within the definition of music.

[Tonybob]

I consider it music, but I don't listen to it.

[Teallaura]

Music, yes; Good, not for the most part (with exceptions, granted). The biggest problem with rap is how much of it is 'borrowed' - actually nothing in the world but using stolen tracks from other artists. That's about as pathetic as you can get. It's a sign of a total lack of talent and its prevalence it scary.

[The Laughing Man]

I considered rap music once. Then I stopped considering it.

In other news, time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

[Summoned n00b]

rap is only good when its wied al.