Originally posted by Big_Chief
and to reply to snimbkar, I have lived no more different than what you have described, and rap, real rap in its truest form to me, is a coulpe of guys around a burning barrel in some ghetto passing beats and lyrics back and forth with their mouth

You are entitled to your opinion and I respect that opinion. I used to find nothing redeeming in Rap. But then I stopped and actually listened closely. What I admire about rappers is their ability to take a sample and use it effectively, to create a new texture. They have to know which samples to use or else their song will crash and burn. Rap is no different than Metal in many respects, both were extremely controversial when they became 'mainstream', both dealt with sexism,violence,misogyny, drug use (Checkout how many Black Sabbath, Deep Purple songs are about drug use),although Rap tends to be far more graphic. Both form of music irritate parents , and came under fire from the Gov't (PMRC).
Many people won't call rap 'music' and rappers 'artists'. I think of them as chefs. Afterall, a chef doesn't 'invent' ingredients to a meal, he takes ingredients that already exist, mixes them creatively, and makes a gourmet meal, as does the rapper, if I can continue with the metaphor.