Describing the (disenchanting) chanting of “Rap Music” as singing or as music is indeed (in either case) a capital misnomer. Real Music is the careful arrangement of organized sounds in the form of notes that then result in a smooth blend of rhythm, tone, and pitch that when united, is quite pleasing to the ear. Rap is not music. The unpleasant-sounding horror is chaotic dissonance and certainly not elegant consonance. Rap is veritable noise pollution that is tastelessly amplified from a cumbersome boom box. Generally speaking, unlike black soul music and traditional black rhythm and blues, Rap is both heartless and soulless. Standard love songs show respect and consideration for a member of the opposite gender but most contemporary Rap lyrics promote a hedonistic “me first” ghetto survival theme that is cruelly perpetuated upon its afflicted listening audience.
When Rap songs first appeared I believed that the clamorous nonsense would be another fad phenomenon that would gradually vanish like ‘70s disco music had slowly but surely lost its clout (along with our attendant intrigue and curiosity). But unfortunately the dunce-like Rap lyrics herald the worst elements of society and the brazen inflammatory words glamorize sex, drugs, random and deliberate violence’ and gang intimidation themes that through-and-through reek with sexism, racism and the glorification of the ghetto mentality.
In most Rap song themes the dysfunctional dregs of the inner city are elevated to hero status while the “entertainers” sound like disgruntled grunting angry contemporary cavemen’ who are advocating the downfall of “white America” with vitriolic words expressing rage, rebellion and social revolution. This expansion of the “easy-money anti-establishment ghetto mentality” is fueling resentment and hostility among “disenfranchised” inner city youth as well as contaminating the gullible and vulnerable minds of suburban teens. But the entire reprehensible...
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