tarquinh — 9 years ago(July 24, 2016 04:32 AM)

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 in-progress-brainwashing technique that Rap Music demonstrably utilizes is both a sham and a canard that is trafficking affected teens down a treacherous One-Way-Street that leads only to a permanent lackluster socio-economic cul-de-sac. What a pathetic and ignoble social disaster!
In the 50s and early 60s black rhythm and blues imaginatively captured the hopes, the dreams, the ideals and the aspirations of both white and black teens as portrayed in the quality music of Chuck Berry and Fats Domino. Early black music was a unifying force in America. True, Little Richards music was a tad rebellious but it was not downright dirty, immoral or degrading like modern rap is. The early 50s black artists songs paralleled the dreams of both white and black America and the entire country was basically on the same musical wavelength.
And then this constructive and positive racial parallelism continued into the early 60s with the establishment of Detroits Motown where both black and white society shared a common interest in radio renditions of the ideal boyfriend, the ideal girlfriend, the ideal teen relationship and the music beneficially emphasized the stability that typical teenage romance provided. The Temptations, the Supremes, the Shirelles, the Marvelettes, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Mary Wells, Smokey Robinson, The Four Tops and Martha and the Vandellas all espoused civilized relationships between males and females and their songs genuinely advanced the perpetuation of commonalities in our great American culture.
Ironically white performers were very instrumental in contributing to the origins of Rap Music. Certainly Blondies Debbie Harrys classic rendition of Rapture and the Beastie Boys amusing Fight For the Right To Party preceded the appearance of more radical rappers like Vanilla Ice and Eminem. And M.C. Hammers unique song Cant Touch This! gave Rap a happy monicker and the lively tune showed both versatility and great potential for the development of new sounds in the recording industry. But then Run DMC, Public Enemy, Ludacris (Whatever happened to standard spelling?), 50 Cent (Whatever happened to the idea of plural usage in English grammar? I mean, Ive heard of one cent!) and oh yes, Eminem and other rappers gradually emerged and began shouting and ranting words that featured intimidation, class conflict, hatred of authority (including police, parents and teachers), defiance, insolence, animosity, conflict and racial divisiveness.
Rap Music is both uninspiring and generally counterproductive to the good of the order. The scurrilous pox lionizes a mediocre ghetto existence as the epitome of human pursuit. Rap Music is essentially non-creative no matter how creative its performers think they are in writing it or in presenting it. And the rappers have the unmitigated audacity to describe themselves as artists. Well, Michelangelos, Leonardo Da Vincis, Picassos and Rembrandts most of those arrogant buffoons are not. And few rappers can actually sing a strong note like Elvis Presley, Johnny Mat