What Is Rap

Many schools of history begin the story of rap music as a mutation of southern soap-box blues. Using the basics of the blues style of music, rap is all about emotions and the personal interpretation of reality by the author of the song. Rap, then, should be considered as a definition essay of sort. What is rap? Rap music is an American minority artist creation. Unfortunately, rap music is not perceived by many Americans as an art form, but as a fad which they hope will soon fade away, one can trace the history of rap back to the West African professional singers/storytellers known as Griots. Rap is spoken word, rap is slang from the street corners of your brain. Rap is smoking herb, rappers recite truthful social bombs, preachers even rap it just comes out in a religious form. Rap is the heart and soul of citizens in the tall cold walls of property. Rap is the story of the time when people lost all control. Rap is regional, descriptive, and ethnic.

Rap is regional, much like dialects. Different parts of the nation live in different manners. Every regional has its own story to tell, so in rap a song should tell the story of its region. Whenever a group of people is locked within the margins of American social discourse, that community may find it necessary to scream or chant or rap to be heard. It should come as no surprise, then, that alienation serves to be the medium for counter-cultural movements. Discontentment is only the beginning. Each region should have its on flare, its on personality.

Genuine rap informs its listeners about the current social climate. For example, if the mayor of a city has recently been convicted for misusing public funds, it would surely be in a rap song. If a guy went into a courtroom and shot the judge, bailiff, and the court reporter it would most likely be in a rap song. Unlike most of the lyrics out on the market today, genuine rap contains meaning and it sends a message to the listeners. Although those messages might have bad words, and show images of things that are socially wrong, that’s actually what is going on where they are from. Their music represents their area and their people, and it is no different from a farmer singing about his cows and chickens out in farmland. Besides, Gangster Rap is not the only type of rap music; it is actually only part of it all. What makes rappers remarkable compared to other artists are their strength and choice of words, and their flow, or the melody, of their rhymes to flow on beat.

Finally, rap music should communicate to the masses. Often times when people hear about rap music, they will paint a picture in their heads of black men cussing, guns, marijuana,