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Rap should not be considered art or music, and the "rappers" should not be considered artists!

Thanks, Pro. Hopefully I can change my opponent's mind about his overly critical and narrow-minded view of rap music. I will begin by responding to Pro's 4 arguments, and then providing contentions of my own... 1. The word rap by definition has to do with crime and punishment. While Pro provides 2 definitions of the word rap, he blatantly ignores the second listed definition from the dictionary. This is intellectually deceitful as he intentionally discluded the definition that would undermine this argument all-together. Included in the defnition of rap is: to utter sharply or vigorously; to rap out a command [1]. Uttering out sharply is indeed what "rapping" is. Hip-hop refers to the subculture including rap music, break dancing, graffiti art, etc. Rap music refers to music in which the artist raps (sharply delivers) usually in rhyme schemes over a particular instrumental. Nonetheless, the point is that this argument has been negated, as rap does not necessarily refer to crime or any particular theme, per se. Instead, it has to do with a tone and is merely a descriptor of word delivery. 2. Pro says rap music talks a lot about violence, sex, drugs and other negative or potentially inapporpriate themes. A) First, rap music is in no way the only genre of music that explores controversial themes. Rock music in particular is known to be just as crude. For instance, one of rock legends' Ac/Dc's most famous songs is called Big Balls which is not so subtly a sexual reference [2]. Sometimes songs may be less subtle but still have mature themes. Lady Gaga's chart topping pop song "Poker Face" is a song about being able to keep a poker face on so that she can be with a man, but sexually fantasize about a woman [3]. In other words, there are questionable lyrics and themes across ALL music genres, so it's unfair and non-sensical to single out rap music specifically. Even country songs curse [4]. If you say rap is inappropriate because of the language and content they use, then this must extend across all genres. B) Not everyone is a parrot. In listening to rap music I hear "the N word" a lot, but that doesn't mean I go around repeating it in my everyday life. A parent could easily teach their child that the words they're hearing are not appropriate everyday language. The media provides entertainment in many forms. Just because people shoot guns in movies doesn't mean kids should imitate what they get out of the arts industry for entertainment value. C) Rappers are entertainers and do not necessarily live the lifestyle they rap about. Eminem for instance talks about killing people in many of his songs, yet if those lyrics were remotely true he would have been in jail a long time ago. Likewise, actors who kill in the moves do not necessarily exemplify the traits they personify on screen for entertainment value. Pro doesn't mention that celebrities of every kind are not always the perfect role models, nor should they have to be. 3. Children shouldn't be exposed to this kind of music... A) It is up to a child's parents to protect what they are exposed to. Parents cannot protect children forever, and eventually people should be free to make their own choices about what kind of music they like and want to hear. B) Exposure to these themes is not necessarily inappropriate. These are the facts of life. In fact many people are exposed to certain themes early on, and rap music is art that helps express and reflect their experience. Some songs such as "Hip Hop Saved My Life" suggest rap music helped profusely as an outlet and potential escape from a potentially dangerous alternative [5]. C) Censorship is bad for society at large. D) Censorship also stifles both creative and personal expression. More about this later when I talk about the meaning of art... 4. Rap is a bad influence; it advocates gang recruitment. A) Anything could be an influence/catalyst propelling one to make bad choices. It would be wrong to single out rap music and ignore all of the potential good of the genre. B) Pro hasn't proven that it's rap music specifically which has led to the statics he described. In fact, there are a plethora of other more reasonable contributions, including but not limited to poverty rates and other economic turmoil that directly cause gang activity. C) Many Catholic priests have been known to molest young children [6]. Would Pro suggest that religion is therefore inappropriate for children because some people associated with religion specifically have not always made the right choices? As I said, parents are responsible for raising their children - not the entertainment industry. And people are responsible for their own choices which are influenced by everything around them (not just rap music). D) A lot of rap music promotes POSITIVE themes. Many rappers specifically encourage staying in school in their songs [7], and some like Lauryn Hill are known to encourage and empower women in a positive way. Pro ignores in his analysis all of the positive influences and messages rap can/does have, focusing solely on the negative which is dishonest and unfair. == Arguments For the Con == Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions and intellect [9]. Music is a form of art, and music refers to a medium of sound vs. silence. It's common elements are pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythym (associated with concepts such as tempo, meter and articulation), dynamics and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture [10]. Rap music deals with every single aspect of "music." At it's basic core, rapping refers to delivering words set to a specific beat or set of beats. Therefore, rhythm, tempo, meter and articulation are certainly important. The texturing of vocals over the instrumental as well as other possible harmonies (such as when you have a collaboration of 2 or more artists) play a significant role. Rap songs frequently sample instrumentals from other genres, including but not limited to jazz, classical, rock and more. Therefore, if you argue that those are legitimate genres of music, rap must be also. Like all art, rap expresses emotions and ideas. People tend to express their ideas and emotions through words, and rap probably has more words per song than any other genre. It is a legitimate form of cultural and artistic expression. Since I've already proven that music constitutes as art, and rap music is in fact music (it contains all the elements of music), then therefore rap artists are in fact artists. However again I'd like to reiterate the purpose of art. It exists as a mode of expression from one's individual conscious experiences and interpretations. It is culturally and psychologically invaluable. Rap is an art form, and all art can be used for positive means. To "rap" merely means to speak in a rhythmic tone over music, and said style can be used to depict a variety of themes including very positive ones. Music has been known to positively influence people in many ways, including rap. We can not single out and focus specifically and only on the bad. [1] http://dictionary.reference.com... [2] http://www.lyricsdomain.com... [3] http://www.examiner.com... [4] http://www.lyricsfreak.com... [5] http://en.wikipedia.org... [6] http://en.wikipedia.org... [7] http://www.rapbasement.com... [8] http://www.softcup.com... [9] http://en.wikipedia.org... [10] http://en.wikipedia.org...