Now I LOVE Hip-Hop, it's one of my favourite genres and I listen to it probably every day. So it frankly pisses me off when some people (and I must stress, SOME) start saying that rap isn't real music or that it isn't worth their time, thinking they're better than those that listen to it.
Now I know some rap has its problems, like Lil Wayne and 50 Cent being derogatory to women and the sheer idiocy of the Insane Clown Posse, but how can you lump that nonsense with the golden age rap of Public Enemy, Grandmaster Flash and the like or the more alternative stuff of Tyler The Creator or Immortal Technique? Hip-hop is a valid art form just like other genres of music.
I've even heard some people (including here on The Escapist) say that rap, by definition, isn't music at all! Webster defines music as 'vocal, instrumental, or mechanical sounds having rhythm, melody, or harmony.' Hip-Hop clearly hits these criteria.
BTW I'm not a Hip-Hop elitist or anything like that. I listen to loads of genres; Punk, Metal, Soul, Funk, Pop, Dubstep, D'n'B, Grime. If it sounds good I'll listen to it. It just annoys me that people are so harsh and dismissive of something I love so much.
TLDR; why are people so dismissive of Hip-Hop? It's a legitimate genre of music, and a legitimate art form.
EDIT: I think there needs to be some clarification here. I really don't mind if people don't like the genre. People have made serious, well thought reasons as to why hip-hop isn't for them, and that's fine. I'm not trying to make people like it, I don't think less of you for not liking it and I hope you don't think any less of me for liking it. What I need to stress, and I really need to stress this, is that I want to know why there is such elitism and snobbery towards hip-hop, not why people simply don't care for it.
Now I know some rap has its problems, like Lil Wayne and 50 Cent being derogatory to women and the sheer idiocy of the Insane Clown Posse, but how can you lump that nonsense with the golden age rap of Public Enemy, Grandmaster Flash and the like or the more alternative stuff of Tyler The Creator or Immortal Technique? Hip-hop is a valid art form just like other genres of music.
I've even heard some people (including here on The Escapist) say that rap, by definition, isn't music at all! Webster defines music as 'vocal, instrumental, or mechanical sounds having rhythm, melody, or harmony.' Hip-Hop clearly hits these criteria.
BTW I'm not a Hip-Hop elitist or anything like that. I listen to loads of genres; Punk, Metal, Soul, Funk, Pop, Dubstep, D'n'B, Grime. If it sounds good I'll listen to it. It just annoys me that people are so harsh and dismissive of something I love so much.
TLDR; why are people so dismissive of Hip-Hop? It's a legitimate genre of music, and a legitimate art form.
EDIT: I think there needs to be some clarification here. I really don't mind if people don't like the genre. People have made serious, well thought reasons as to why hip-hop isn't for them, and that's fine. I'm not trying to make people like it, I don't think less of you for not liking it and I hope you don't think any less of me for liking it. What I need to stress, and I really need to stress this, is that I want to know why there is such elitism and snobbery towards hip-hop, not why people simply don't care for it.