My Stance on Rap

Although it’s not commonly regarded as such, rap can be one of the most complex, expressive, and inspirational forms of art and music out there. My theory of rap versus the general public (which unfortunately, has a lot of aversion) is that majority of people have the capability of appreciating it like any other music—as I have been able to win over multiple friends, coworkers, and even people online who claim that they can’t stand it or that it’s not their taste. That’s because they only associate it or stereotype it into gangster rap—and I’m clearly providing the alternatives (Note the ‘S’). Saying that all rap is gangsters boasting about cars they drive, money they earn and women they get is as accurate as or as ignorant as saying that all rock is just emos complaining about how much their life sucks and that they go through changes they may or may not understand. In The End—Linkin Park, Animal I Have Become – Three Days Grace, Gives you Hell—All American Rejects are just some examples—(But just so you know…rock has a place in my heart as one of the genres I like to listen to. I like Muse, Faith No More, Rush, Apocalyptica, Kiss and others--I even have "In the End" on CD)

 Back to my stance on rap, I usually stay away from rap where profanity dominates the lyricism, where excessive slurring, droning or autotune is used in the speech, if the rap is too aggressive or violent, and feature beats heavy on bass drums and clap-style percussion.

Rappers I listen to:

Lupe Fiasco, B.o.B, The Roots, Common, Nas, Dub Pistols, Lecrae, Kanye West, T.I. Styles of Beyond.

Check these 2 different styles of rap, 2 of my favorites:

   Dub Pistols-- Gave you Time: Downtempo, simplistic, relaxing    

Lupe Fiasco -- I Might Just Be Okay: Fast, symbolic, upbeat