Rap is art. It’s arguably more comprehensive and challenging than regular music. There’s more to it – there’s more elements; there’s more focal points; there’s more required execution, probably. It’s just more than pure music in a way.
Yes, rap isn’t just music. It is music. But it’s not just music. There’s more to it than that.
Take a purely instrumental song for example. Throw in some guitars, drop drum set, toss a violin and perhaps a piano. What are you looking for out of all these noise machines? Melody, rhythm and cohesion. All of these noises have to come to produce the song. The end-result is the end-result of all those noises and sounds working well together. Skilful execution and combination shows quality, and it comes down to motivating your brain to shoot dopamine to make you feel good.
Rap is about this too. Rhythm, melody, cohesion. It has to sound nice.
Not solely, though. Rap isn’t purely musical; it’s poetic as well. It requires poetic and rhythmic skill in order for it to work. The rap – itself – has to be the integral overlay and encompassing of the music or beats under it.
Rap needs linguistic proficiency, language ability, poetic skill and overall melodious artistry. Masterful sentences have to be constructed. Lines. Together, they have to work. Meaning, imagery, depth and other poetic tools have to be constructed for a rap. Wit, sarcasm, and cleverness all play a roll in the final product.
Rap can include more meaning, messages, ideas and understandings than music. Since it uses a language. Rap can talk about social conditions, rap can talk about police brutality, rap can even talk about religion – it’s all in the writers cleverness and subsequent application. Rap has to poetry/writing in combination with music/beats for the final product.
To truly recognize rap as an art, you need to understand the two fundamental ingredients you’re looking for: poetry and the music (music includes the execution of said poetry as melody).
To truly appreciate rap, you must understand and analyse these two key facets. Poetry, music. They can make a lovely combo, you just have to know how to pay attention to it. It might even be worth paying attention to some of the messages expressed.
