I have no problem with rap showing up as part of
the trash category at an academic tournament; I'll
never get a question on it but if people want to ask
it--what's the harm.
But, rap does suck as does
almost all popular music. It is without redeeming
musical value and I mean that in an absolute sense not
just as some individual value judgment. Richard Rorty
to the contrary, no one has ever explained to me how
just because a multiplicity of views exist that
necessitates that one of them cannot be more right than the
others. See Amartya Sen's excellent recent article on
this very topic (yes, Sen, who'd you think I was going
to refer to--Russell Kirk?). I'm sure that rap (just
like most other forms of popular music) plays socially
positive value in some people's lives. If my next door
neighbor is in a better mood because he or she listened to
Celine Dion or the Backstreet Boys all day; I'm not
going to complain or knock that; just don't call it
music; because it's not.
My two cents
:)
Nathan Freeburg