Why do people that are Into rap and hip-hop even want a high-end audio system

You could try to say the same thing about Punk Rock.

There will always be some segment of the population that will wake up in the morning and scream "F#%K YOU!!!" to the rest of the world. They tend to write, play and produce their music accordingly..and anyone can listen to it however they wish. It’s a free country. I like it that way.

Cheers!

Taters,check out Everlast. I really dig his music. The recordings are... in and of themselves... superb. When I first heard his stuff,I was hooked.

True that some rap is produced very well and is a unique listen on a good hifi.  Try it you might like it.   "The Eminem Show"  by Eminem is a good place to start.

I think it's a different concept of high-end with a definite boost of the extreme frequencies.  Look at the Beats headphones which were popular but which no traditional audiophile would want any part of.  But mine is an outsider's view, so take it with a grain of salt.

Lots of bass is definitely an attribute. Audiophiles like bass as well right, as long as there is some quality to go with quantity? Rap/Hip hop recordings are fertile grounds for that and sometimes other unique audio treats as well resulting from sampling and mixing other recordings into the new one. It can be rewarding sonically but still hit or miss like most things. Depends what floats your boat.

You need a good system though that can go loud without distorting, clipping, compressing, etc. to get best results. Sound familiar? Producing lots of quality bass is hard work. Underpowered, undersized systems will be challenged.  I suspect if they can do the job well with a variety of rap/hip hop, there is a good chance that it will not break a sweat with most of the rest ever.   That's almost always a good thing.

I feel my system is much better overall for using rap/hip hop music to help evaluate it as well as all the more traditional stuff that people have used for this purpose over the years.