I have often tried to find something enjoyable in rap music but have failed every time. Many young people visit my home as friends of my children or as students of my music instruction business. Once in a while someone expresses an appreciation of rap but always say they prefer other things and that much rap is not to their tastes.

I agree that rap may have roots which run deep in a culture unfamiliar to me, and I wish as such it was better known. However, all the rap I've heard has either been trite pretenders or modern goons with little or no apparent knowledge of rap's history, and an inclination to capitalize on the themes of violence, vanity, and noise. In that respect I do blame the rappers.

Even if I could put aside my dislike of monotonous droning chant, I fail to see virtue in the message, the image, or the ethic. Educate me.

Whatever happened to peace, love, and understanding?

Mooh.