There is no such thing as an effect without a cause. With every generational movement, there is the generation that preceded it ready to push back. And that push back is vital and necessary. There's nothing worse than showing up for a revolution without an opposing side. There was a time when those that loved Perry Como couldn't stand those long-haired guitar players singing on the street corner, polluting their city. I can not say whether or not rap is folk music as I am just smart enough to know I ain't smart enough to know what either truly is. I also will not say that I enjoy having Stan Rogers out performed by thumping base that permeates every car within a two-block radius. I personally do not enjoy rap or much that it stands for, but I can understand that it has a cause, an impetus. Whether that impetus is rational and valid or self-serving and delusional, I also can not say. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

Fact is, rallying against the effect has no effect on the cause. I remember a time when I could identify with punk, and as I grew older, so did this genre. As with rap, the source of the frustration and the anger were real. At the same time, youth, especially young men, and I was no exception, are easily addicted to the raw energy of anger. It is the last ditch effort before acceptance of our own mediocrity and insignificance in the "grand scheme." It also gives a high that is rather invigorating but like any drug can lead to a miserable come-down with a disasterous aftermath. But new paths were taken because of punk. The paths that the post-punk era took varied from commercially viable crap to deep and well-structured investigations into social issues and metaphysical concepts. Punk, in its base form, became a cliché of itself, but then again, what is cliché but a cultural forest fire, clearing out the dead wood for the new growth.

I do not understand rap as it is not my era, not my voice, not my basis for comparison. If the kid next door blasted his rap the same way I used to blast the Sex Pistols, I can not honestly say that I would not call the cops. But then that is what I am supposed to do. That is my role. To give them reason to crank it up louder and take the human experiment into directions I never imagined possible. Even if those directions are ones I would rather they did not take.

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Voltaire