I'd rather this thread didn't get derailed by going off-topic if that's alright with you.

The overall point I was making was that genres such as punk, rap and reggae might well have plenty in common, lyrically, with many a traditional folk song.

But that's a different thing to whether they can be considered folk music (unless you radically redefine folk music). Some Bob Marley songs are definitely ingrained in public consciousness in much the same way many Beatles songs have - so they are close to achieving 'folk status'.

So much of punk's power comes from distorted guitars and snarly or sarcastic vocals. That's a very particular form of delivery that doesn't lend itself to the same contexts as folk song (eg unaccompanied singing in a social group).

I have sung X Ray Spex's song 'Warrior in Woolworths' at singarounds once or twice, but that's because it genuinely sounds like a lot of folk songs (it's modal, like a lot of X Ray Spex songs) in a way that no other punk band does that I can think of.

If one were to say 'yes, you can consider rap to be folk' or 'yes, you can consider punk to be folk'... what would that mean or accomplish?