Is Rap Poetry?

[Vatanui AKA Pride]

So why is it commonly considered to not be modern-day poetry?

Is it because of people like Soulja Boy or Lil Wayne? Is it because it's simply brand new? Is it because all the plays on mainstream radio about it have been pretty terrible lately? Because of the many controversies behind it?

Discuss.

"Rap is Rhythm and Poetry." ~ Rakim.

[Isoteen]

Honestly because it is in no way clever, nor does it express fluent knowledge, wisdom, feelings, or highly skilled vocabulary.

Rhyming is considered part of poetry, doesn't mean it's good poetry.

It's like comedy at the movies, nobody respects that genre, but it still is.

Really only the old school rappers expressed their feelings and views about the world, while current rappers only write to attract.

[Vatanui AKA Pride]

Isoteen, it's all a ruse. You have been fleeced by the great, billionaire Birdman and his master plan.

[Isoteen]

No doubt it sounds good.

It's music.

But music isn't always good poetry. There are a number of bands that are absolutely terrible when it comes to that.

Really anything you use words to express is considered poetry.

The very essence of art is the idea of expression.

I just look at poetry as T.S. Elliot, Robert Frost, and others. Rappers aren't poets, man.

[Jinchiruuki]

You can't categorize all of it as poetry but there are some artists who definitly give that vibe.

Notable Artists:

Rhyme Asylum
Sadistik
Grieves
Unusual Suspects
Lowkey
Lost Children of Babylon (whole mess of artists with that group)
Verb-T
Fliptrix
Jedi Mind Tricks

ETC.

Tools like Lil Wayne aren't rapping poetry.

[Vatanui AKA Pride]

T.S. Elliot is awesome. I haven't read much of Frost's works, say from his most famous and commonly known, so I can't comment on it.

Honestly though, IMO, I'mma have to completely disagree.

@Jin: Wayne's newer works aren't even considered music. It's like a book of cheesy punchlines strewn together for a Shia LaBeouf musical.

[Isoteen]

He was actually homosexual and quite the communist.

Just something interesting I read about him.

Really would have never guessed.

My theory is anyone can write a poem and rhymes. Therefore rappers are poets.

But not in the sense of some of the master creative writers.

[Vatanui AKA Pride]

Most of the 'role models' we look at today tend to be quite romanticized in common knowledge.

People like Thomas Edison, Abraham Lincoln, Henry Ford, etc etc.

EDIT: Didn't expect Frost to be a communist though.

I agree that anyone will be able to write some rhymes and a poem, but the difference is if they could write a good one or a bad one.

[Isoteen]

Not Frost, T.S Elliot.

But moreover, Lincoln really only freed slaves to unite the country. He was a logical, brave, intelligent man who really did write some good stuff. But he was a politician. All he really cared about in the war was winning.

Aside from that, Henry Ford was a D-bag.

Edison was alright I guess, don't know a lot about him.

But yes, I was a kid when Eminem put out his first album, and he was a role model for me.

Eminem is a mentally disturbed individual who does drugs regularly.

[Vatanui AKA Pride]

Ah, my bad.

An antisemitism D-bag, that is. IIRC, wrote a book stating that Jews were out to take over the world.

Boy stole a lot of inventions for his own, bankrupted a good amount of people too. Nikola Tesla is a common example, but he's considered the mad lunatic in public perspectives even nowadays.

Em's first album was good, but nowhere near the amount of work he put in The Marshall Mathers LP guaranteed it a classic.

Actually, he didn't do drugs on a common basis until around the Eminem Show album. Stopped somewhere before Relapse, with the help of Elton John.

[Isoteen]

Well I said does, not did.

So I mean now lol

Anyway, he is who he is.

[Vatanui AKA Pride]

Em's still sober. His mind is still twisted though, but sober. I suppose Recovery and Bad Meets Evil was solid evidence of this, seeing as that his lyrical content had improved notably.

[Isoteen]

Recovery came before relapse?

I thought he went back to using.

[Vatanui AKA Pride]

Relapse then Recovery. Bad Meets Evil is his newest joint.

I meant as in the album release date. Some of the joints he had recorded in Relapse were during his hiatus, where he admitted to being hyped up on drugs every day. Eventually, he stopped, and that is what became the result of sober anthems like Beautiful.

Yup. Still sober.

[loganace]

I could consider Rap as poetry. but if people consider it literature then I have lost my faith in human society! The things that people consider art that aren't accually artistic as music goes are POP and RAP. RAP just has rythem and rymes. It sounds like a depressing image of the world in a doctor suess book put in music! I won't discuss my thoughts about POP considering that isn't what this thread is for. Not saying I like RAP ( I hate it to infinate degrees! ) but I don't see why it wouldn't be considered poetry. It rymes. It expresses the feelings of the person that wrote it. But I think that the one who should get credit for the song is the writer. Like normal poetry. The writer gets credit rather than the performer.

[mrsticky005]

Yes it is... It's poetry to a beat. Anything that isn't poetry to a beat isn't rap.

[BoxHead]

It's poetry, technically with rhyming and all. It's just to a beat like mrsticky said.

[sharingangirl]

Yes. It can be good or bad like people said though.

Personally, I actually like the arrogance of most rap songs.

[Amani]

It honestly depends on the singer and artist. It's just like other genres of music, like pop and such; there are some artists who I've seen exhibit a great amount of talent and who have beautiful lyrics. Others? Not so much.

Here would be an example of what I would consider good-quality rap-- rap that actually has meaning. Fort Minor FTW! <3

[Hakumaiu]

Depends how you define poetry.
In my opinion, it is the complete opposite, because how I define poetry is to be metaphorical and has a speaker showing emotions. Poetry isn't supposed to have a set beat, because it doesn't have a set time signature at the begining, for example the Odessey and Illiad are epic poems that don't rhyme.