I've been suffering with the headache from hell the last 3 days. (happens a couple of times a year) 'Cause lyin' down just makes it worse, usually I'll do a really complex leather carving project to take my mind off it, and listen to music. This time, I was reminded that I joined in a discussion about whether "Rap was Folk" a few weeks ago, and even though I had a vague idea about some of the music and it's better known practioners..I was still talking through my hat. I thought it might be interesting to tune in a black station and REALLY try to understand what I was hearing.
It's been an eye (and ear) opening experience to say the least. I think it took at least 2 or 3 hours of listening to get some kind of handle on the various dialects (we don't speak a lot of "urban black" here in the Beaches area of Toronto). The music that's played here has touches of Jamaican, Trinidadian, and African as well as L.A. street talk. The biggest surprise to me was the variety of sound. I'd always perceived "rap" to be totally repetitive, and as someone suggested in that other thread - mainly doggerel. Kinda the way some of my friends react to bluegrass.
Actually there appear to be many quite distinctive styles, and like all music, there are lyrics that are total crap and some quite brilliant. Most are quite angry of course, and some portray a hoplessness that's very sad. However a lot are joyous and some bitingly funny. In a way they reminded me a great deal of how frightened "straight people" were of rock and roll back in the late 50s. Elvis, Jerry Lee, Little Richard and especially Chuck Berry, and the Stones (a little later on). Granted the times and the tunes (and even the message) were much tamer then, but a lot of preachers thought it was the end of the (their) world.
It also reminded me of when I first heard the political music of Pete, Phil Ochs and bands like Country Joe and the Fish,...and the dreaded FUGS! The same messages were sent out to a lot of middleclass kids like me: rebel, "take it easy, but TAKE it"! Be different, don't end up like your parents. And especially "it's US against THEM!"
A huge part of the audience for urban black music is young white kids, and though that might be bloody scary to their parents,(and white society in general) I think I can see why. 40 years ago Elvis was flat out dangerous..and even though he was part of rock and roll, Pat Boone wasn't much of a threat.(we all knew that when HE sang "Long Tall Sally" - as opposed to Little Richard, he didn't REALLY mean it)

I'm sorry that the amount of violence in rap is so pervasive, and that the singer's message often (but not always) seems to be "I'll be dead or in jail 5 years from now..so stay outta my way, cause I got nothin' to lose". When I think back though, there was a lot of actual and implied violence in the folk(ish) music that captured me completely, but it was detached and distant and certainly not in the first person like a lot of rap.
Anyway, listening to it (probably about 7 hours worth) has been interesting, troubling and definitely worthwhile.

Snoop Ricky Rick