LDT's Rap Rant
Created | Updated Apr 23, 2003
We live in a relatively civilized age, but musically we are reverting back to the drumbeats and rhythmic chants of the prehistoric jungle. The wildly popular rap phenomenon is the disgusting trend to which I am referring.
To be a rapper requires absolutely no talent – what it requires is a lack of self-esteem. The 'music', usually a generic and mind-numbing beat with a few overlayed effects, is produced in the studio by mixers rather than musicians. The vocals consist of baritone grunting. The lyrics could generally have been composed by a five-year old, and are punctuated (presumably in a feeble attempt to make them more interesting) by an array of vulgarities and curses.
Standards of dress aren't very high either, especially considering that your average bum, hobo, and vagrant lives up to them admirably.
To quote Ayn Rand from 'Art And Cognition', an essay published in The Romantic Manifesto:
A composition may demand the active alertness needed to resolve complex mathematical relationships [a symphony] – or it may deaden the brain by means of monotonous simplicity [rap].
(p.58)
Another quote from the same source from which the reader can draw his conclusions about the cognitive state of rap fans:
Epistemologically, a man who has an active mind regards mental effort as an exciting challenge; metaphysically, he seeks intelligibility. He will enjoy the music that requires a process of complex calculations and successful resolution... He will be bored by too easy a process of integration, like an expert in higher mathematics who is put to the task of solving problems in kindergarten arithmetic...
A man of mixed cognitive habits has, epistemologically, a limited interest in mental effort and, metaphysically, tolerates a great deal of fog in his field of awareness. He will feel strain when listening to the more demanding types of music, but will enjoy the simpler types.
(pp. 58-59)
Clearly, rap music communicates a great deal about the composers and the listeners. The lyrics communicate a great deal too; they are hateful, angry, bitter, and destructive. It is not a good sign that rap is so popular and widely accepted.
