Rap may have folk antecedents. The griots of Africa (Senegal) have a kind of rhythmic pattern of sing/speech that tells the stories of their ancestors and comments on the issues of the times. Rap as a genre as far as we know it so far has a fairly short span but as an offshoot of an African and African-American form of expression, it may have roots that extend back generations. This may be a truly urban folk music. As far I as I can tell, it doesn't limit itself to the commercial music biz but is often practised by those who have never made a recording. As in the case of any traditional folk music, it contains highly objectionable content occasionally. Of course, this "content" is what we often hear on the radio and may not be reflective of the whole genre itself. Thoughts?

Frank Hamilton