I make no excuses for modern Rap in the following. I hate the stuff!

We should remember, though, that "Rap" is not a new phenomenon. It goes way back. There is a Yazoo CD, titled "The Roots of Rap", that you should all listen to. It consists of recordings of "Rap" songs from the 1920s. Bob Dylan wrote a couple of "Rap" songs too. "Standing on the pavement, thinking 'bout the guv'nment. Don't think, kid. It's something you did...". Violence has always been part of our culture, and it has always been expressed in our music. The difference is only in the details.

It has been said that Rap is the Blues of today's urban youth, just the way Country Blues was the music of the rural youth of the 1920s and 30s. The question is one, I think, of relevance. The Blues, a Black music genre, has not been popular with Black people for the last 60 years. It's us old White Folkies who are its audience now. Blacks moved on to Jazz, Electric Blues (Chicago), R&B, Motown, ... Rap, long ago. The White audience has always been a step behind.