Rap as a genre doesn't deserve the level of popularity it seems to have. amirite?

Unfortunately, like other popular genres, rap has become a caricature of itself. In the same way popular country is a matter of including as many white rural stereotypes as possible in a song, rap does the same thing with urban black culture.

by No_Yam2152 3 weeks ago

L take. You can't just put country and rap lyrics side to side and draw conclusions about culture and demographics from that.

by Mrazagnes 3 weeks ago

You might not be able to. Meanwhile anyone with half a functioning brain is comparing the two just fine. Skill issue? Skill issue

by Forsaken_Tap3839 3 weeks ago

Someone skipped out on cultural analysis

by Anonymous 3 weeks ago

Black musicians (Mahalia Jackson for example) were essential in shaping what is now known as "country music." Americans are embarrassingly ignorant of where our sort of "siloed" ideas of music genres even originate, and we often whitewash their history.

by Mrazagnes 3 weeks ago

You absolutely can

by Fit-Quiet 3 weeks ago

i think the same can be said for most genres of music. country is typically surrounded around hear break, struggling, and the good ole days/patriotism. rock often explores rebellion and being different. pop music may be the most positive of all the genres with exception of the break up songs. i could go on, however you get my drift. TYPICALLY and i stress typically the most popular of most genres are surrounded by the negative/tougher part of life.

by Least_Passage6683 3 weeks ago

Because most of the people who perform in those other genres don't have those experiences. Rap is typically an expression of the Black American experience and it's a harsh reality

by Limp-Orchid5214 3 weeks ago

"Most positive" yet it may as well be nails on a chalkboard for a good number of us.

by Kasandra54 3 weeks ago

The same stuff used to be said about rock back when rock was the big thing. People just blindly say stupid things about whatever's popular.

by Fun_Scarcity5611 3 weeks ago

I cannot believe how far I had to scroll to find someone pointing this out!

by Time-Paint 3 weeks ago

I will say that I'm not a fan of 99% of rap. But I did enjoy Tupac. The lyrics had a message to them. He took real life experiences and tried to get them out there for the world to see. And the guy really didn't need to cuss, and the song had just the same message. I can say out of all the rap I've ever heard, Tupac's songs are the only ones I can actually understand. I don't get the whole "bitches and hoes money dollar bill" crap.

by Anonymous 3 weeks ago

I don't get the whole "bitches and hoes money dollar bill" crap. Which Tupac also said in many of his raps! 😉 Don't get me wrong, he's one of my favorites, as I own his entire discography—just keeping it real.

by Worth_Cry_4620 3 weeks ago

Isn't that just guilt by association? Even if you think guilt by association is a valid take on a genre, how would you measure a genre's proneness to the things you describe, and how would you control for your own biases on the matter?

by Acceptable-Task 3 weeks ago

It's not really the genre that is the problem. It's that people are willing to give garbage human beings a platform because they are being entertained.

by nathanial89 3 weeks ago

wtf. Referring to rap artists en masse as "garbage human beings"? Gtfo

by Mrazagnes 3 weeks ago

…kid rock…. Morgan wallen… Hank Williams JR….

by Mrazagnes 3 weeks ago

R Kelly was not a rapper, btw 🤨

by kari32 3 weeks ago

It's true.

by Fit-Quiet 3 weeks ago

Ok boomer

by Anonymous 3 weeks ago

Not a boomer, just a normal human who doesn't idolize drug dealers.

by nathanial89 3 weeks ago

You do know that people can enjoy and make rap and not be drug dealers right? Do you hate rock and roll to?

by Anonymous 3 weeks ago

Yeah gangsta and opium rap has gotten out of hand, the best of the eras have always been the boom bap, then whatever jayz, eminem, nas, and a few others were doing, and the 10s had drake, Wayne, kayne, and whatever. Listen to Chance the Rapper, Tech N9ne, or Kendrick Lamar. Really understand what they're saying.

by gianniboehm 3 weeks ago

Have you listened to the lyrics in Eminem's music? Not every song is bad, but some of them are so bad I don't want to listen to anything else.

by Anonymous 3 weeks ago

Drake is alright.

by Anonymous 3 weeks ago

Most art of every form is pretty crap

by lillastamm 3 weeks ago

"Good message and lyrics" DOES NOT EQUAL "good music" What kind of evangelical BS is this?

by Mrazagnes 3 weeks ago

Rap is just poetry, if the curse words and other stuff offends you, just don't listen to it, or switch to listening to Will Smiths rap music.

by Anonymous 3 weeks ago

People should not like what I don't like. That's not really an unpopular opinion.

by Mcdermottmylene 3 weeks ago

Counterpoint: what can an entire genre even do to "deserve" or "not deserve" whatever level of popularity it has? What does that mean? Against what is it measured? Who is the judge?

by Mkerluke 3 weeks ago

Agreed. There is some good, but the majority of rap is garbage.

by Anonymous 3 weeks ago

this isn't an unpopular opinion, it's an "urban-hating" opinion that is quite popular.

by klingabigale 3 weeks ago

I know you're probably not trying to be racist, but God damn.

by Anonymous 3 weeks ago

Far as I'm concerned, when they decided to call it "Rap", they were only off by one letter.

by Kasandra54 3 weeks ago

Honestly it blows my mind that main-stream rap/hip-hop is so popular today. Literally a form of music that promotes everything negative about AA culture in the US. Drugs, rampant misogyny, violence, you name it. But what do we do? We clap our stupid little paws and give Grammys to these morons that are literally destroying their own culture. It's sickening to watch. An entire people-group, essentially committing cultural suicide.

by Anonymous 3 weeks ago

This is always a racist dog whistle

by Eryn91 3 weeks ago

It's not.

by Heaven42 3 weeks ago

you must be smoking rocks

by Anonymous 3 weeks ago

It definitely is not. I don't like rap, but that's a preference. However, I can still appreciate some good rap artists and I'm pretty sure OP said the same thing in less blunt words.

by CompetitiveWin9266 3 weeks ago

No, the racist dogwhistle is insisting that because songs with certain themes are popular and "says something" bad about the genre. Ignoring the fact that most of these artists are people who are signed by big record labels to specifically push out a certain type of image and message based on their blackness and how they portray it in the media. Most people do not care about what black people have to say outside of struggle in rap and out of rap. The stuff that is pushed to the front primarily by the media are negative things regarding the black community and our music. So yes, it's a racist dogwhistle.

by Eryn91 3 weeks ago

If you don't like rap you're racist ?

by Jadyn00 3 weeks ago

This.

by Mrazagnes 3 weeks ago

Rap is dying anyway. It used to dominate but it doesn't anymore.

by Heaven42 3 weeks ago

I'm exactly double your age and I grew up listening to rap in the late 80s throughout the 90s. I couldn't name an active rapper now. Back then there were some good and/or harmless rappers: MC Hammer, Young MC, Diggable Planets, Public Enemy... But you also had the gansta stuff as well. And what wasn't gangsta wasn't exactly wholesome either. Sure, Notorious BIG was good, but he also liked to call women "bitches," a pet peeve of mine. So rap has always had a bit of mean streak to it.

by Anonymous 3 weeks ago

I literally am the youth though, and I've always had this opinion. I think it's pretty easy to single out rap as different from other genres in how violent it often is, even genres present at the same time. Plenty of rock is also bad, but the proportion isn't quite as bad as rap.

by Anonymous 3 weeks ago

Funny enough we've noticed buttttt mumble rap will still be preferred by younger crowds because it's easy to digest. The kids don't want to read let alone listen to a 3 min plus song with actual words. lol. We are so gone.

by Anonymous 3 weeks ago

You gotta listen to The Roots Black eyed peas The Fugees Etc

by Training_Use_169 3 weeks ago

None of these are rap artists

by Mrazagnes 3 weeks ago