Is Rap Poetry?

[Saoirse200]

I think some rap is poetry,it depends,poems don't have to rhyme:)

[Megan Young]

I agree that it should be considered poetry but most of it especially today is just terrible. Back in the 90's I actually liked rap, now I cant even listen to it.

[Zannie]

I think that all lyrics and this includes rap is poetry as they follow the same rules or they would not fit with music

[jessimarimudo]

I would say rap is poetry .. poetry put to music
I like rap I like to read rap lyrics without the music
doesn't sound like jibberish that way

[Zannie]

So true jessimarimundo

[Jo90]

I believe rap is poetry, regardless of how good I think it is. There are some people that are definitely easier to identify as poetry, like Scroobius Pip for example. He's a UK spoken word artist, who works with a dj, Dan Le Sac. They work they bring out together is wonderful.

My favorite poetry, is the same as my favorite rap. Full of of anger. In the same way that I love Blake, or Ginsberg, I love Public Enemy and El-P.

[Misaela]

It all depends on who writes it. It can be crap, if the person isn't meaning to write something poetic. Fo shizzle.

[Starmy]

It is BASED from poetry so I think yes. Of course some is utter garbage! But yes, there are some great rap artists out there who are uniquely artistic.

[mrtip365]

This is kind of a tricky question rap can be poetry but not all rappers have the right skills and intelligence to make it poetry. I would have to say rap is poetry of the ghetto.

[TD Matzenik]

This is kind of a tricky question rap can be poetry but not all rappers have the right skills and intelligence to make it poetry. I would have to say rap is poetry of the ghetto.

I pretty much said what I thought on the subject, but you have raised the possibility of Rap as a valid interpretation of social conditions. Could be, but I have yet to hear anything along those lines that did not seem like an excuse for an egotistical pose. You could include speech writing by the same definition, and indeed, some people do. The main problem with including rap in the art form of poetry is its esoteric nature. I should add that I do not have a particularly high regard for poetry in general. When I read some of it I find it like the lazy man's prose.

[noahadams]

Is this a trick question? Yes, of course it is, in the same way that all music is poetry.

[whybark]

Yes

[Smitha Nayak]

Rapping (also known as emceeing,[1] MCing,[1] spitting (bars),[2] or rhyming[3]) refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics".[4] The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” (rhythm and rhyme), and “delivery”.[5] Rapping is distinct from spoken word poetry in that it is performed in time to a beat.[6][7]

Rapping is often associated with and a primary ingredient of hip hop music and reggae, but the phenomenon predates hip hop culture by centuries. It can also be found in alternative rock such as that of Cake and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Rapping is also used in Kwaito music, a genre that originated in Johannesburg, South Africa and is composed of hip hop elements. Rapping can be delivered over a beat or without accompaniment. Stylistically, rap occupies a gray area between speech, prose, poetry, and singing. The word (meaning originally "to hit"[8]) as used to describe quick speech or repartee predates the musical form.[9] The word had been used in British English since the 16th century, and specifically meaning "to say" since the 18th. It was part of the African American dialect of English in the 1960s meaning "to converse", and very soon after that in its present usage as a term denoting the musical style.[10] Today, the terms "rap" and "rapping" are so closely associated with hip hop music that many use the terms interchangeably.

[morganinga]

i think a large majority of rap consists of violence guns etc. but i know that not all of it does. it is just hard for me to look past that because i cannot hear what they are saying. I think it is poetry, yes, just not a form of poetry that i enjoy listening to

[Fran]

i think a large majority of rap consists of violence guns etc. but i know that not all of it does. it is just hard for me to look past that because i cannot hear what they are saying. I think it is poetry, yes, just not a form of poetry that i enjoy listening to

I agree, most of it is totally incomprehensible to me & seems too "up itself" & just doesn't seem to have a purpose other than to be offensive and vulgar ... and that doesn't take any talent.