I used to hate rap, but now I'm a Jay-Z and Luda fan, love Nelly and Tupac & Notorious B.I.G. even though they're both gone. All types and phases of music need a gimmick, a hook to draw fans in. It's unfortunate that some rap did and still does go so far to elevate status, money & material things as the reason for living, or that some of it shines light on things we would rather pretend don't exist, like that there are people that are OK with violence against women or hating the cops, and glamorizing drug use. Even as I type that last bit though, I can think of a few rock songs that do the same, dating back to the 60's & 70's.
In the end though, it's a rebellion just as the origins of rock were way back when. What started as blues coming from the fields of slavery eventually grew in to Johnny Cash singing about doing time in a prison he only performed concerts in, and Elvis thrusting his pelvis on TV to the horror of so many ultra-conservative parents. Back then, some of these artists were getting heat for what they were doing too, but it's the gimmick that drew fans in. I see all forms of music as always ever-evolving and trying to find that next niche, and I don't ever see one type of music overshadowing another. They are all completely different, though sometimes they may intersect. I'm a huge fan of soul music too, loved hearing it drift in to Bowie's early efforts in Philly when Luther Vandross was backing vocals on some songs on his Young Americans album. Bowie wasn't trying to ruin soul, he was absorbing a sound he absolutely loved and it worked for him. Young Americans was one of his best selling albums. Luther went on to make his own way as a very successful artist that none would imagine started as a back-up singer in Philly.
Rap has its place among the kids on the streets, where it started. That sound has even recently found it's way it to country music, if you can believe that, and it's sort of worked, sort of. The meshing of all of this keeps music less boring.
Sorry Willie, had to do more than just say I agree or don't agree with your opinion on rap and comment on the vid.
Rap has found it's niche in society for decades now, but I don't think it's ruined anything. If anything at all, it's shown us all how multidimensional music still can be, even if you don't like it, there's some pretty amazing things still being done by rap artists that isn't all bad. There's some crap out there, but there's crap out there in all areas of music IMHO...
Cool vid/song BTW.
