Why I hate most rap. Personally.

I don't like rap because it's the part of a song that's most like poetry - no melody, just recited to a beat or rhythm. I can appreciate poetry, understand some of the 'hidden meanings' but the one thing I cannot do with poetry is write it. I can't because I'm not a poetic person - I've never been. I write frankly with conviction and feeling - I don't beat around the bush or try to cover up what I want to say. I think that's why I'm good at reaching 'the masses' or ordinary people - I say things as they are.

If I can't write it or do it, I can't relate to it. I can't draw and so, I'm not a big visual arts fan - I don't see why people spend so much time staring at one artwork. Yes, I respect every single form of creativity whatever it may be but respect doesn't have to mean personal preference. I may not like it but it's a product of someone's creativity so who am I to tell the person it's wrong or disrespect the creation?

I don't like rap because it's like poetry. I don't like poetry because I can't write it. Thus, I don't like rap because I can't do it. But I don't think that's the only reason.

When I listen to a song, the first thing I look for is a moving melody - without it the instrumentation, arrangement or other elements of the song mean nothing. The minute I get even an ounce of interest in the song, I begin to notice everything else - that's just how I look at music. I need melody for me to like a song.

Rap has no melody. I'm stating it as a fact - not as an opinion. Thus, I don't like rap.

HOWEVER if rap is done tastefully and creatively to my ears, then everything's OK. An example is Craig David's This Is The Girl - the song is predominantly rap and the first thing I fell in love with was the melody of the chorus but over time I noticed that the rap part wasn't as bad as I made it out to be. It's tasteful - no excessive obscenity and the rhythm was interesting. Not that I have a problem with obscenity - if it's what the writer wants, then so be it. As long as the end product tasteful, that's all I ask.

What do I mean by tasteful? To me, taste is something different in every person - it's a matter of personal preference. There is however a certain aesthetic every 'genre' or 'field' must follow. I'm not saying that people shouldn't think out of the box, I'm just saying that rap must be appropriate to the music - nothing else. It must not overpower the music, it must not contradict the music - it's there to compliment and so it should be appropriate to what it's complementing.