How Hating Rap is Anti-Black: A Quick Discussion

 

    As someone who recently started reading and listening to discussions of music, I couldn’t help but notice a certain pattern. When it comes to the discussion of rap & hip-hop, I’ve noticed the music and artists are more criticized and sometimes disrespected compared to artists in other genres. I kept wondering why this was the case for a while until I came across a YouTuber named who is isaiah? (Please check him out.) He made a video discussing people going out of their way to take the rap verses out of pop songs and upload them as a “No rap version” on YouTube, and how weird some of the comments were on those videos. He was also explaining how some of the comments either came across as racist or simply were, also talking about how taking out the rap verses can be racially motivated, but I want to go even further. I want to explain how deeply disliking rap music as a whole can be anti-black. I also want to thank him for sparking this topic. 

    Now, obviously, simply not liking rap isn’t inherently racist. It can even be as simple as music taste and preference. Not to mention, there are several genres of music that people can’t get themselves to enjoy for various reasons. I’ll even use myself as an example. I can’t get myself to listen to a lot of country music because I don’t like the sound of a lot of country songs. Some people simply don’t like the sound of rap music, and that is okay. Maybe some of the instrumentals aren’t for you, or you don't like heavy lyricism. However, that is not the problem. The problem is when people go out of their way to prove that they don’t like rap music or go out of their way to explain why they don’t like it using phrases such as: 

• “I listen to everything but rap.” Depending on the tone being used, this isn’t always a bad statement. Maybe someone’s asking about your music taste, and this is how you respond. However, tone does matter. Expressing an almost disgust towards hip-hop is a bit concerning. 
• “Rap is violent.” or “Rap is inappropriate.” I hope I don’t have to explain why those are bad statements. 
• “I didn’t like rap until I listened to K-pop.” Which is a very…unique thing to say and will be discussed later. 
• “Rap isn’t real music/art.” Again, it will be discussed later. 
• “All they rap about is guns/money/women/violence/sex/literally any other highly stereotypical thing.” By “they,” you already know who people are referring to, letting you know someone’s thought process when those words are said. 

    Again, simply not liking rap is one thing and is absolutely fine, but it becomes a problem when someone goes out of their way to say they hate it or uses phrases like these to explain themselves. The reason this is a problem is because it’s not needed. Simply saying you don’t like rap is enough. Simply saying I don’t like country music is enough. There’s no need for me to say something like “I don’t like country because all they sing about is beer/women/trucks.” It’s an unfair generalization, no matter how much you think the statement is true. It’s also just foolish to say. 

    Now, are there rappers that talk about violence, sex, money, drugs, women, and everything else in between? Yes. Absolutely. Of course. As much as I love N.W.A., Insane Clown Posse, Freddie Dredd, and DJ Quik, I can’t deny that they talk about violent things in their music. However, not only are there several other rappers that don’t talk about those things, but rappers aren’t the only ones who do it. To make it seem as if rappers are the only violent ones in music is an inherently racist opinion. Another thing that bothers me is that a lot of people will dislike rap for being violent or disturbing, but will listen to something like Pumped Up Kicks by Foster The People or Bury a Friend by Billie Eilish with no issue (nothing is wrong with either of those songs, just using them as examples). Is it that rap is too violent, or do you just not like who is saying the words? 

    The “only rappers talk about drugs and sex” is also an invalid statement because once again, they aren’t the only ones that do it. Not to mention, this is also an unfair generalization. Acting as if rap is the only genre that talks about drugs and/or sex when we have artists such as Jhené Aiko, Summer Walker, The Weeknd, Ariana Grande (especially the Positions album), SZA, H.E.R., and The Internet is a very idiotic take (love all of their music by the way). If I were to give specific examples from each artist, this essay would be longer than it already is. However, I encourage you to listen to some of their music to prove my point. Also, again, there are several artists in the music space that don’t discuss these things. 

    Also, to say that you didn’t like rap until you were introduced to K-pop says a lot, considering a lot of K-pop music is inspired by black artists and black culture. One of the main examples that comes to mind is Tinashe and her impact on a lot of current K-pop girl groups. I will link a video of someone discussing the topic way better than I can if anyone is interested. Along with this, a lot of famous rappers in K-pop groups have talked about their inspiration coming from black artists. A couple of examples include RM from BTS with his interview with Billboard and discussing how Nas and Drake had inspired him. He even discussed how hearing Drake rap and sing in his songs gave him inspiration as an artist. We could also use Jennie from BLACKPINK talking about her and her group members being inspired by TLC, and even doing karaoke in a car with James Corden. Additionally, several well-known K-pop songs sound similar to popular songs by black artists, as well as certain Korean rappers having similar cadences to black rappers in the U.S. My point is, liking Korean rap is fine; however, it’s okay to admit that Korean rappers have used or even stolen ideas from black culture. 

    Lastly, to say that rap isn’t real music or art is a highly unintelligent statement. As I am writing this, I tried to research different opinions. Why do people think rap isn’t considered art? One of the main reasons I am seeing is that there is a lack of melody in a lot of rap songs. Of course, there were other opinions I read online, but they came across as disrespectful and will not be discussed. I want to say that rapping alone is considered an art. Something I want to remind people when it comes to this is that rap is poetry. If we want to look at it simply, all rappers are poets. It doesn’t matter how serious or silly the words are, nor does it matter who is saying them. All rappers are poets. Poetry alone is a form of art. Along with this, many rappers have the skill of saying their words a certain way over an instrumental, calling this a flow and cadence. Having a flow that sounds nice over an instrumental can always be considered a melody. If someone were to rap over an instrumental by just talking or using their regular speaking voice, it wouldn’t sound as appealing. Similar to singers, rappers have to adjust their voices, just not as much. Also, just because someone isn’t singing or using high notes doesn’t mean there’s no melody at all. Whether you think so or not, almost every song has a melody, even if a traditional singer is not involved.

    Now I understand that rap isn’t perfect. It never was. As much as I love rap, no one can deny there are themes of misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, violence against women, objectification, and many more topics we haven’t touched on. Especially coming from older hip-hop and male rappers. However, that is not the majority of hip-hop, and I think we are all aware of that. When it comes to people who despise rap and justify their reasoning, I see a lot of them generalize the genre. I also see a lot of them making it seem as if these are the only topics discussed in rap as a whole. To say this downplays a lot of rappers who don’t talk about these things, and the rappers who even uplift the community. It’s unfair to say rap isn’t real music/art when we have artists with introspective views such as Kendrick Lamar, Doechii, J.Cole, Mac Miller (may he rest in peace), and that’s just naming the “new age” rappers. It’s unfair to say rap is violent when we had rappers like Queen Latifah, who was promoting unity in the black community, Left Eye from TLC (may she rest in peace as well), who promoted self-love, safe sex, and confidence, or even De La Soul, who gave a more playful feeling to hip-hop. Lastly, yes, some rappers did talk about violent things, such as N.W.A. As much as I enjoy their music, a lot of the lyrics are questionable to say the least. However, they were also known for shedding light on police brutality and racial profiling, which is sadly still relevant today. Their music alone was a protest, whether we want to admit that or not. 

    Before I finish, I want to make it known that my intention in writing this was not to convince you to listen to rap music. As I mentioned earlier, if you don’t like rap music, that is completely fine. My point in making this essay was to convince people to stop hating hip-hop so much. No matter how much you hate it, you can’t deny that hip-hop has been - and still is - incredibly influential. Along with this, I wanted to show how deeply disliking hip-hop to the extent that we explained can be anti-black because those opinions tend to put the black community into a box, whether it’s intentional or not. I know this statement is constantly repeated, but black people are not a monolith. This statement also goes for hip-hop and rap music. Not every rapper is the same, and not every rapper talks about the same things. To talk online as if all rappers are the same, knowing the majority of rappers are black, is a racist mentality. My intention in writing this was to give more awareness and hopefully change some people’s way of thinking. If you decided to listen to rap music as a result, that is great too. If no one could tell already, rap is one of my favorite genres in music, so seeing the genre being disrespected for no good reason and not being treated as real art upsets me. In the future, I want people to treat rap as an art form and as real music, just like any other genre. Finally, to those who read all the way through, thank you for listening to what I had to say. Rap music for life, y’all! LMAO 

- CD ★

☆ SOURCES ☆ - Click for more info!

• "The Pop "It Girl" who has been here the entire time." by Camryn Suzanne (YouTube Video)
• "Why KPop Loves Tinashe" by naomi cannibal (YouTube Video) 
• "Girl Group BLACKPINK on How They Were Inspired By TLC & Sing "No Scrubs" | April 2023 | TLC-Army.com" by Supernova Leon (YouTube Video) 
  
• "RM Reveals the Influence Drake & Eminem Had on Him, How BTS Used to Be ‘Mocked’" by Gil Kaufman (Article) 
  
• "Rap Music Isn’t Music" by Chase March (Article)  

☆ BONUS SOURCE (FOR FUN :) ☆

This also gives more insight into the K-pop discussion. Again, thank you guys so much for listening. <3