Rap VS Poetry

[Willy]

So I'm a junior at IU taking an American Studies class and we're studying some Langston Hughes.. He's a poet, and to be honest it's hard for me to appreciate his work. I'm retraining my brain to look at things abstractly, sift through the wordage for meaning, but alas, it's hard for to give a shit. This stuff doesn't make me feel ANYTHING. I read a poem and my soul dies, causing headaches. Why do these people receive so much acclaim? What am I missing?

Professors scoff at rap, and gat tuckin' mo'fuckers scoff at poetry.. which makes me wonder... Could the best RAPPERS of today hang with the best POETS of yesterday? Obviously not in a rap-poetry spoken word battle thing... that would be strange.. uh

I'm not even sure how to phrase what I'm trying to ask.. Maybe just look at the title and type what comes to mind, and we'll go from there.

[tadpole25]

depends on the situation.

most rappers just rhyme any random words together just to make multis or to make the song catchy.

that's not poetry.

[Willy]

I would argue all rap is poetry, but that's not what I'm trying to get at..

[momentsgolden]

I have battled with this question myself for a very long time. I mean, there is a distinct different in terms of how its consumed considering the majority of rap is heard and the majority of poetry is read. (Yes, yes, i know that there is spoken word poetry but you dont go to poetry class and play a record)

Secondly, the audience of rap is of a significantly lower IQ than the minds the greatest poets aimed for. I mean, Poets in general view their audience as sophisticated philosophers while rappers appeal to inner city youths with an average age in the mid-twenties and an education of a college degree at best.

Lastly, we all use the language of our environments. Shakespeare used "Where art thou" English snobs would use "Where are you" and the average rapper would probably use "Where ya at" As a result, the sophistication of the words actually used could be somewhat compromised.

I have not read many poets to be honest with you. Neither have i read alot of great authors (Lee Child and Dan Brown do not count in the grand scheme of things). Further, i have not undertaken alot of the classes that deconstruct the greatest literal works with some people having Masters Degrees in that department. By comparison, rappers best explanations are a rapgeniues quote by some random tween in a basement smoking weed.

As a result of all the above, its REALLY REALLY difficult to compare the two really. That said, IN MY OPINION rap's finest could hold their weight with the very best poets. This quote

I'm rolling Sweets, I'm smoking sour
Married to the game but she broke her vows
That's why my bars are full of broken bottles
And my night stands are full of open Bibles

would not be out of place in any contemporary's poets work.

There is a general disdain of rap by academics (my lecturer of Maths once challenged me in class that rap's not music) but that is, i guess the way things happen in general. People tend to value what cam before them more simply because they encountered it first and it made an impression. Not unlike rap fans trapped in the 90's. There have been a few exceptions. There was a hip-hop study by some academics a few years back praising their works and even the Nobel Laurette praised Eminem. I hold hope that 100 years from now, it will gain due respect.

[Guess_Who]

IN MY OPINION rap's finest could hold their weight with the very best poets.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2001/fe ... y.features

[Slim Fiasco]

It's a weird comparison because rapping goes hand in hand with flow and delivery, and that's something that adds plenty to the difficulty of putting a piece of quality rap together (which makes it more impressive to me). As far as the written aspect, I think that poetry can get extremely vague at times and there's this problem that only the poet himself knew what he said. While with rapping, even if there's something more complex, you can still break it down to "reasonable information" if I can phrase it like that.

It also depends on the times. If you look at something modern like Def Poetry Jam (which is still more focused on the spoken part and kinda has a lack of rhymes) the poetry is equal to rap because similar issues get addressed and also the language is utilized in a more clear way. I haven't read a lot of poetry, specially not modern one, so I can't say much, but rap definitely has something that the "vintage" poetry lacks.