Is Rap Poetry?

PhormlessPhorm · Post by **PhormlessPhorm** » 27 Jun 2013, 17:03

So I am a rapper and I wonder about this from time to time! Now you might think I would say rap is poetry but sometimes I don't think so. I can't exactly explain why but in general I feel like poetry has a certain quality or texture that one doesn't often find in rap (not that it can't be found at all). I love rhyming and weave in poetical elements into my rap that the average rap listener might not pick up but I don't know if I would call it poetry. My one poetry professor defined poetry as "it moves" which rap lyrics certainly do but that was an exercise in defining poetry in as few words as possible. I would say there are rappers, poets, and wordsmiths. Some could be placed in all three categories, some only in one. Dat's my 2 cents!

zeeshanaayan07 · Post by **zeeshanaayan07** » 07 Jul 2013, 06:47

Woow this is so funny song

suzy1124 · Post by **suzy1124** » 07 Jul 2013, 07:10

Answer....My Litmus Test is : not if it hurts your ears.

jhnellorx · Post by **jhnellorx** » 13 Jul 2013, 15:23

In my opinion, it is poetry, just like other forms of songs

LexieAliJ · Post by **LexieAliJ** » 02 Aug 2013, 20:03

You know I think, and there are persons who may disagree with me on this, that rap is poetry. It still depends on who is doing the rapping but for artists such as Eminem they've found an outlet to tell there stories and to get listeners to understand what they've been through.
Poetry isn't all about flowers and romance and happiness. Good, riveting poetry veers of the normal path and enters dark waters most of the time and speaks about normally hard to even think of topics.
So yes, rap definitely is poetry but it still depends on exactly what the artist rap about and how much effort they put into their lyrics.

brtn2893 · Post by **brtn2893** » 03 Aug 2013, 22:32

While I am not a fan of rap I can admit to it being a form of poetry. I think all music is a form of poetry simply adding various beats to make the words ebb and flow. I won't be listening to rap music anytime in the near future, but I can still appreciate that it is a legitimate expression of poetic license.

pedroyun · Post by **pedroyun** » 04 Aug 2013, 12:04

I believe we should pose ourselves the question of why do we feel entitled to impose aesthetically which limits are to be set to whichever form of expression. Art will always be cruel in its form of judgement: something is beautiful in detriment of something else. In this case, what does the term poetry stand for? Calling rap poetry really ads something to its value as a form of art?

Loveabull · Post by **Loveabull** » 04 Aug 2013, 17:59

pedroyun wrote:I believe we should pose ourselves the question of why do we feel entitled to impose aesthetically which limits are to be set to whichever form of expression. Art will always be cruel in its form of judgement: something is beautiful in detriment of something else. In this case, what does the term poetry stand for? Calling rap poetry really ads something to its value as a form of art?

I wish I could express myself like you...wow...I think to understand rap we have to consider it's origins. The music form of "toasting", the spoken word over a beat, African griots or storytellers are all original influences of rap. Of course rap can be poetic. Subject matter of any form can certainly be deemed poetic

ishu_shami · Post by **ishu_shami** » 15 Aug 2013, 01:52

in my point of view,yes.

-- 15 Aug 2013, 02:56 --

in my point of view, every sentence which have rythem and meaning is a poetry.

BOOKN3RD · Post by **BOOKN3RD** » 15 Aug 2013, 16:35

I believe that rap is poetry. This is because all music starts out as just words. The writer doesn't know the music or anything. The song's words must have good flow, like a poem. So, yes, rap is very much poetry.

KattPascale · Post by **KattPascale** » 16 Aug 2013, 09:41

Rap is based off of poetry - whether rappers want to admit that or not is up to them.
Just like song writing. Half the rap songs out there have a melodic hook that gets combined with the rap into song anyway. I love it all. (Except for jazz - sorry jazzers out there. Just can't get into it. But I totally respect it! Maybe one day!)

TD Matzenik · Post by **TD Matzenik** » 17 Aug 2013, 03:26

Okay, from my avatar you can see I am not from the RAP generation: the grey locks, the chicken neck, crows feet. But then Rap has been around since at least as long ago as 1980. So there are some old Rappers out there. I would like to know what they think about the subject matter.
In essence, Rap is poetry, but that does not mean it is good poetry. I am not taking sides here. Most Rap is doggerel verse which is not highly prized among poets. A great deal of the material concerns the Rapper's sexual prowess and their knowledge of the esoteric subjects which seems to imply a hipness way beyond the aspirations of the average listener.

I was once told that Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues was not nascent Rap, as I contended, "because it had no beat." This was an interesting observation. Rap is marketed through the recorded music industry and rappers are often thought of as musicians. The beat is usually laid down with a heavy bass, drums and other percussive devices. I find it hard to imagine Rap capturing any attention without a backing.
I still contend that Rap did not appear out of a vacuum. I think we can trace its evolution back at least as far as the stream of consciousness poetry of the 1950s. The Talking-Blues which Dylan exploited in the 1960s is a Black American idiom. Rap is usually performed on the 1 and 3, something which would have sounded incredibly square to Jazzers in 1950s, but times change. The Funk music explosion in the 1970s messed with the beat emphasis and brought 1 and 3s back into fashion.

So is Rap poetry, or is it music? I think it can be both, but more importantly, can it be art?
An odd element seemed fundamental to early rap; its rapid verbal delivery challenged the listener to keep up. If they had an important message, it remained esoteric. That attitude is not consistent with most poetry.

Loveabull · Post by **Loveabull** » 17 Aug 2013, 14:03

KattPascale wrote:Rap is based off of poetry - whether rappers want to admit that or not is up to them.
Just like song writing. Half the rap songs out there have a melodic hook that gets combined with the rap into song anyway. I love it all. (Except for jazz - sorry jazzers out there. Just can't get into it. But I totally respect it! Maybe one day!)

May I suggest Weather Report "Heavy Weather"...not straight jazz, not exactly fushion...no vocals, just the hook and everyone takes a turn running with it...Jaco Pastorious awesome

oliveyou416 · Post by **oliveyou416** » 27 Aug 2013, 11:04

If it's good rap that's actually discussing something important, absolutely. There's some serious talent in being able to select words that not only rhyme but also contain the right amount of syllables to maintain the flow.

fatgirl01 · Post by **fatgirl01** » 29 Aug 2013, 00:07

Although I never really liked rap that much, I do respect the fact that good rap takes a lot of time to write a song and make it rhyme. So much "free-flowing" poetry is just senseless and terribly bad. I even had an English professor in college (about 15 years ago) that talked about how so much contemporary poetry is horrible. So, although I do not like the aggressive lyrics and the sound of rap, I do respect how difficult it is to create.