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Re: No wonder the coffee's so crappy around here

J, you constantly seem to want to engage in a pissing contest, but what’s the point? I never said “rap sucks,” or even that I dislike it. I just don’t consider it on the same level as music. I can’t stand polka, but I’d never claim that it’s not music - as you so amicably expressed it, that would be “idiotic.” I also don’t care for death metal, but its still music. I just feel that rap belongs in a different category.

I base my opinions on what I hear; same as you, but I’m also a professional musician and instructor, and I’ve played with more jazz, R&B, fusion, rock, and funk bands than I can remember. My cousin is a pro DJ, and I’ve even played bass for him on a few hip-hop jobs, along with a drummer. Those guys were so musically illiterate that they couldn’t communicate what they wanted the rhythm section to play, let alone provide charts for us. We had to waste hours learning it all by ear, but it was their money. I’ve taught enough beginners and played with enough people to realize how limited a musician is without some basic musical knowledge.

So, no, I’m not “making this stuff up;” I know what a musical instrument is capable of in the hands of a half-decent player, and a turntable just doesn’t qualify, IMO. Rap may be the most powerful, articulate, emotionally charged form of communication since William Faulkner, but as a form of purely musical expression, it may well be the most shallow, juvenile tripe to ever see a tape head. That’s why I think it’s better not to call it music and relegate it somewhere else; perhaps into the category of social commentary - though even then, it seems (to me) to be inordinately preoccupied with violence, hate, racism, and greed. That doesn’t make it “bad” pre say, but a lot of it is awfully damn ugly.

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