I really don't understand how anyone could say rap isn't music. What is music? Music is creating a melody with harmonies in time (which would be the drum beat). And if you want to include the lyrics as part of the music that's cool but technically that's more the poetry side of it. But still almost every other genre of music has lyrics and those genres are considered music soooo yeah. Anyways, have you ever even tried to make a beat before? To do that you have to program MELODIES and choose notes to make the melody out of and this usually takes some kind of musical knowledge, which makes that piece of music...MUSIC. There aren't places where you just find melodies and noises to put in original beats aside from samples which are only small takes from something only to add to the song. So please, stop saying rap isn't music, because it is, as much as you don't want it to be.
Actually there is such a place where you can find already mixed beats and just layer your own beats on top of. Lots of people use them. Listen to any mainstream song on the radio today and you'll hear it. Hell, most rap songs are already built upon the same base, as are most techno/dance tunes. But I agree, rap is music, and unfortunately so is country. Different strokes for different folks, I suppose. But what rap ISN'T is the shit you hear on, to use a familiar DC example for the OP, shitty stations like 99.5. If you want rap, go back a few years, before all this Lil Wayne and T-Pain bullshit, or start looking towards the underground. Mainstream rap is not rap, IMO.
music is whatever the listener thinks it is. rap would fall into websters definition of music. however, it doesn't fall into my definition of music, i think it sucks "big time." "BUT" that's my opinion, everyone is entitled to theirs.
To me, hip hop is the best because it's got everything. Hip hop is a genre that I feel has basically no limitations.
Word, that makes sense; however, that lack of limitations leads to artists like Soulja Boy. It goes both ways though, how else would we have Del Tha Funkee Homosapien?
Yup, but that's why I love it-I feel like there's something for everyone that would fall under the "Hip hop" classification. Some of it's wack, but also-music is supposed to just be fun sometimes.