by Thomas Hews

Created on: June 11, 2008

With the way the music scene is corrently swaying, Im certain that this question had to be asked at some point; can rap really be considered music? Well, before the question is answered, I must profess my own musical preferences. I have somewhat of an eclectic taste, though my tastes mainly lie within the realms of classic rock, modern indie music and old school hip hop. Now that my biases have been brought to the surface, it's time to get to the question at hand.

To decide whether rap can be considered music you must first define what justifies music. From a recent peruse of the dictionary, I have found that music is defined as the 'art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color'.
Now, surely, with this definition rap can be seen as music. The use of rhythm, melody and harmony within the beats used justifies music within itself. Then you have the convincing evidence that rap artists write their own lyrics. The content of these lyrics are not important: Lyrical content does not affect musical status.
The way I see it, rap, or rhythmically applied poetry, is a natural progression from the blues. Both originated within African American culture, and both portray the struggles of individuals within their day to day life. The only difference that I can find obvious is that blues originated during the exploitation of African Americans as slaves, and rap originated due to the racism that was inherent within the American justice system.
I find that the only argument for rap not to be considered as music is that the rap artist themselves tend not to write the beats of the music, only the lyrics. But if this is just cause to deny musical identity, then surely the genres of dance music, and the majority of popular music should also be denied this identity. Even jazz singers shouldnt be considered musicians if this is the case, as all they do is recite their lyrics over the musical content played usually by a session band. In fact, the majority of jazz singers simply recite old classics, rarely including their own material unless somewhat apathetic to the reaction of the audience.
Whilst rap music is still one of the biggest selling genres worldwide, anyone who tries will have a tough time trying to convince the ever increasing fanbase that what they are listening to cant be considered music, though their reasoning would have to be flawless

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