When rap came out 30 years ago I thought it was just a fad

I have made this comment a few times in this thread. Rap, whether you like it or not is irrelevant. The biggest problem I have with it is the way it contributes to the dumbing down of America. It's bad enough we have shows like Jerry Springer and the Kardashians.

For being an Industrialized country we are ranked around #37 in education. It would be bad enough if the music was the whole problem. But it is not. The rap-hip hop culture dominates fashion now. It is also the sound track in a lot of movies. I notice a lot of young people speak street slang nowadays. It is an accepted way of communicating. ( Am I am not just talking inner city youth)

The bottom line here is that the rap culture has done very little good in this society. Since it has been around our country's English skills have fallen. Our respect for woman is the lowest I have ever seen in my lifetime. The respect for people in general is down.

Sure it has helped some people get rich and kept some others from going to prison. But the negative effects definitely out weigh the positive.

".....no problem anytime ''....... I get the point as well as understand that music is unique and appreciated differently by all people .........I personally happen to enjoy all classical, jazz, rock...and especially the old '' Delta '' and Chicago Blues artists ......although rap has unfortunately been around longer hat it should have ever been, in my opinion has essentially ; '' dummied down '' America with the thug mentality along with the degradation of woman as objects and songs that really  - what is the point of them ?? Have you actually watched the video's of some of these, really .......if have you have seen one you have seen them all ......that's musical , artistic creativity ? I think not ......'' But dismissing it with a disdainful wave of the hand is simply ignorant ''......... I took offense to that comment because as music lover, student of music as well as a so -so musician, I took the rime to try and understand that medium ....... I do NOT se any substance with it. I will add that according to you ......that anyone who does not appreciate say ; Monet, Degas or Picasso as painters would also be considered '' ignorant '' by your comment and also probably not provide you with a ;   '' clear, unvarnished confirmation ''.........   

In my area rap don't dominate any population or ethnic group.
Black population mostly listens to jazz, soul and classical. Hispanic population mostly listens to heavy metal and white population listens mostly to classic rock. Rap is rarely heard from any private homes or car stereos.
To my taste, I can't even call most of classic rock music or I can't even pronounce "Rock Music". Rock is rock, Pop is pop, Heavy Metal is heavy metal Rap is rap and Music is I guess something else but rock, pop,  rap or heavy metal.

I appreciate that you are willing to engage further.

While it is good to see you acknowledge that there is subjectivity involved in the appreciation of various types of music, that is only the most obvious point. I have already made another important one, which is that you (and other strident critics of rap) lump all artists together. It’s as if you heard some loud, pounding tracks, emanating from beat-up cars populated by "thugs", saw a few videos, and your mind was made up.

Now, I understand that you have a visceral dislike of the genre, and that’s fine. I wouldn’t expect you to do careful research in an effort to root out some rappers who are actually talented musicians, and have something to say. But on this very thread, just a few posts up, I suggested that critics listen to Gil Scott-Heron’s "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised". Scott-Heron was an excellent musician whose lyrics were politically powerful and important. His work was highly inspirational to early many rappers, whose work was in some ways quite different than what you typically hear today.

These are the reasons that I used the word "ignorant". I was not using it in the typical, contemporary sense. I meant that your ignorance of the nuances of the genre preclude any possibility of you arriving at a thoughtful conclusion. What you are essentially saying is that you can’t stand the music, which again, is fine. But dismissing it without understanding either its political and sociological importance, or without even gaining an understanding of the many different types and quality of artists, is ignorant.

Why did you beat around the bush? Why didn't you just title your thread, "I Hate Rap Music!"?