Is Rap Poetry?

[jjones3841]

Yes. The original rappers were true poets. Most of the new stuff is just plain awful. There is too much negativity and inappropriate language. Personally, I enjoy Tupac.

[Mbucknor]

Rap can be poetry, but so can most lyrical music if you speak it. The only thing that really separates music from poetry is the singing in my opinion.

[Zeal16]

I think it is poetry.... but often times it's not very good. Most rap could use a bit more creativity.

[Nikki72]

I never thought about this before, but I guess rap really is poetry. Couldn't you then argue that all lyrical music is poetry?

[fifthmayfly]

Of course, rap is just poetry set to music

[Lei101]

Yes, it really is. Rap is great at wordplay and expressing emotions and feelings. I actually think rap is the best music genre in a lyrical sense . Not the mainstream rappers though.

[Blackbeez]

I've always considered rap as an extension of spoken word. Coming from a town with coffee houses and lots of open mike nights, I had the privilege of seeing many spoken word artists including Henry Rollins.. when you look at rap music from that context, it is most definitely poetry. Artists like Tupac (who was a renowned and beautifully deep poet), DMX and Outkast definitely take their writing beyond the generic rap music. If you go back to the beginning of rap music, it started with poets standing on street corners "jiving" for money.. evolved into the street rappers of the 80's. Poetry is an art that gets labeled as "flowery stuff" too much. Take a poet like Jim Morrison or Charles Bukowski and you see great similarities with rappers lyrics. Great topic!

[Immanythings]

I don't know if wrap is poetry but Charles Bukowski knows his stuff. He puts things right where they need to be and if you've ever seen the movie Beautiful Creatures the lines used seem to fit right where they are at the exact moment. He is amazing.

[Gustavsson]

I would say rap is poetry. Like some others here, I think the subject makes a huge difference to me on whether it is poetic or not, that and whether the rapper keeps on repeating himself.
Actually I often prefer reading rap to listening to it. I don't really like it as music (I prefer music with a bit more variation in tone, that sounds more musical) but the lyrics can be quite good. Though, that's true for many song lyrics.

[Beaumont Todd]

Is wrap poetry? It can be. I am a poet, a rapper, a lyricist and a song writer. I personally look at each being separate aspects of my gift but also connected. The fact that rap was started as a means to speak about societal ills and has been degraded by most artist as just another means to spew out who has the most money, women, cars and who can kill each other the easiest does not take away from the fact that it is still an art form that can be used for positive things. I love to rap and mix singing and rapping. Actually before i wrote poetry and knew i could i was rapping. Its my love of rapping that helped me learn to love to write. I believe it is the quality, the content and the purpose of the art that makes the difference. Is rap poetry? It is one form of poetical expression, not the only one or one to be discarded because of the negative exposits that others may use it for. I believe like all music it will truly begin to evolve to be seen as its true poetical heritage as more persons use it to focus on the beauty in life and this world and not just the superficial aspects.

[Stevefromtheblock]

Strictly speaking, I think it is. Whether you like it or not is a different matter.

[cjwatson90]

Yes and No, Not all rap is poetry some rap is just that rap, but some artist purposely use extremely poetic lyric on purpose. Artist like J Cole, and Wale are poetic rappers for example.

[Low Shin-Ji]

I definitely believe that rap is largely poetry. A lot of people have said that Rap God by Eminem contains so many literary devices.

[s_curley]

I never thought that rap was poetry until I met my boyfriend. He opened my ears for sure when he introduced me to Lupe Fiasco, Hopsin and many others. I think that once you get past the language you realize that there is something magical to be said by these men and women. It's just a beautiful way to express their feelings and concerns!

[A-Karson]

When people refute the idea that rap is poetry, it comes from a position of prejudice i think. Refusing to recognise this type of working clas music is a form of classism...'THAT's not music' ect.