To be clear, we would initially declare our wholehearted support for Man’s ubiquitous inclination for self-expression by his creation of art, of every genre. Such natural inclination evidences an inclination to the metaphysical contemplation of himself and his environment and is in redemptive contrast to his historically demonstrated inclination to violent and aggressive behavior. Art and music, by contrast, reveal the spiritually creative and contemplative side of Homo Sapiens, whatever may be the form of its aesthetic or analytic expression.
We, ourselves, have been engaged in the extracurricular art of writing poetry and prose for the purpose of expressive inclination of the perceptive nature of our persona and naturally accord great value to all of the diverse forms of aesthetic communication of thought and perception. It has added significant value to our life, in terms of enrichment and effective communication. Notwithstanding such declarations, we have often experienced feelings of incomprehension regarding certain singular styles of aesthetic expression, and have continued to be candidly and unashamedly, at a loss as to their intended message and acknowledged value.
As specific examples, candidly we seem to persist in our inability to understand the recognized accomplishment and monetary value of Rothko paintings, often consisting, simply, of adjacent swaths of color, or Andy Warhol’s artwork evincing multiple, slightly varied, faces of Marilyn Monroe, or simply, his depiction of a can of Campbell’s soup. The highly priced Dali paintings of limply bent alarm clocks with a distorted background, and the numerous, Jasper Johns’ varied images of the American Flag, may, indeed, be priceless to more knowledgeable collectors, but exist as bizarre conundrums to us. Still, they serve to represent the positive value of Man and his artistic creativity.
Our analogous proclivity and engagement in art appreciation, we trust, having been analogously imparted, we would now turn to the contextual subject of this essay, concerning the musical genre.
We have eternally relished the great pleasure of good music, at special times in concert halls and more frequently at home. The miraculous sound of great music has occupied a prominent venue in our enjoyment of life. The sound of music has been worshipped by us from the elegant and uniform tempos of the early “Baroque” period, through the dramatically expressed “Classical” Era, the less disciplined and emotionally more expressive, “Romantic” period, the more dramatic Modern Classical” and freer, less formally structured “Modern” genres. All of the historic stages of music represent the best of the human inclination to a creative, aesthetic, and peaceful nature. We have also enjoyed all musical genres from the engaging beat and mellifluous harmonies of Gospel Music, the exciting tempo and themes of jazz, big band and modern, rock and roll, choral (including sacred) music, folk, pop and show tunes, in short, every species of musical composition, but, nevertheless are troubled by one; the latter constituting the salient theme of this writing, “hip-hop” or “rap” music.
As we are able to comprehend, “rap” music consists of a dominant, recurring beat pattern, as constant background for a rapid, slangy, sometimes angry and assertive, loosely rhyming, street banter intoned by the vocalist. As observed, the ideas and themes often expressed, include assertive narratives, boasts, political and social expression, and ideological personal principles.
While we acknowledge that the contextual genre is a recognized category within the ubiquitous categories of music, analogous to the phenomenon of the varied, referenced, forms of painted art of which we cannot find aesthetic comprehension, we are similarly unable to discern an aesthetic popular and a credible basis for its highly rewarded nature. There is in rap, the total absence of melody, harmony, or noticeable instrumental proficiency; only a repetitive tattoo accompanying strident and rapid, assertive declarations. Our lifetime experience with music, classic, folk, or pop, has eternally featured a less, highly prominent beat, and melody, musically thematic content, harmonies and their aesthetic variations. In rap, there seems to be only the steady, unvarying beat and a series of assertive, at times, loosely rhyming, aggressive emotional assertions.
It would be appreciated by us and conceivably, to others, if the aesthetic musical character of “rap music,” were revealed to us, and other like recipients of such enlightenment.
-p.
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