Chant and percussion are fundamental elements of African music, and are fundamental elements in the African diasporatic cultures of America,The Caribbean, South America, and Europe.

When some of you make statements to the effect that Rap/Hip-Hop, and by extension, all African music "is not music", you dismiss the validity of their musical culture because it doesn't conform to the aesthetics of your own musical culture.

This is serious, because it denies the validity and legitimacy of cultures that are not your own, and simply on the basis of the fact that they are not like your own.

None of you have presented any credible reasoning as to why chant should not be considered music, and no credible reasoning as to why very narrowly defined western style "folk melody" is necessary for something to be considered music. In fact, there is no credible justification for these ideas.

Basically, this position is chauvinistic, and without much trouble, can be interpreted as racist.

It may surprise you to know this--but generally when someone says "Rap isn't music", people of the relevant culture take is as a racist, chauvinistic dismissal--and tend to respond to it as such.