people can't afford instruments...they start buying these really cheap drum machines and dj's are starting to loop and scratch more and more and turn it into a skill. the kids who had the cheap drum machines started getting really good at creating their beats and making them sound good...those drum machines later became really expensive because those kids who got them when they were cheap used them...say like the 808.
as far as the argument of whether rap is good or not, it's an ignorant statement to completely dismiss any genre as being completely devoid of talent or intellegence. if you want some intellegence with your rap and real instruments, check out 2 skinnee j's and the other bands that were mentioned who play their instruments and rap (i believe jurassic 5 and the roots?).
oh yeah...and for the person(s) that mentioned sugar hill gang....they were the led zeppelin of early rap...they stole lyrics from others and got popular off of them...i believe rapper's delight was ripped from the furious five...if i'm not mistaken about what group it was. then again, they were still important in the long run with making rap mainstream....but still not cool to rip off your friends and give them no credit. just sayin'.
okay...my post is done...goodbye.