D'Cats--

There have been some really thoughtful and intelligent points raised here. I agree with many, if not all, of them. The only thing I *really* object to about rap is something Lamarca mentioned, and that is the "stars" who are churning out violent music simply to make more money for themselves. If they were turning the profits from their violent music to helping people get out of the cycle of violence, I'd give them more credibility. By taking the money and running, in my mind, they've switched from being part of the solution to being part of the problem. This idea has nothing to do with the folk/non-folk question, nor does it address the issues of general musical merit. It does sort of get into the (gasp) intellectual property issue and the profit motive, and the state of the arts (and therefore humanity) in a capitalist economy.

LONG LIVE THREAD CREEP!!

V (who doesn't like what communism does for art and humanity either!)