One of the problems, of course, with staying narrowly on topic, is that as @simao , @orpheus10 , @ghasley and others have helped to illustrate, it is not possible to fully understand the hard-core of the genre without context. And in the current ultra-PC environment, discussing black history, long-standing systemic racism, and life in inner city ghettos, is almost automatically considered to be "political".
So when those of us who have some familiarity with the context, and the value that it provides in helping to illuminate both the tone and lyrics of hard-core rap, come across ignorant comments, by which I mean those born of ignorance of the very context of which I speak, it is natural to want to attempt to explain.
No one is arguing that there is anything wrong with disliking rap, nor arguing the facts related to the topic. But exclaiming that "it isn’t music", or suggesting that it all sounds the same, or is all profane and misogynistic, is patent nonsense, and reveals far more about the person making such comments than the music itself.
In the early ’70s, I travelled with my father to Paris, and we went to the newly opened Centre Pompidou, which housed a modern art exhibition. One of, if not the principal artist whose work was being featured was Cy Twombly. I was outraged by it, not for political reasons, but because, as I later told my mother, who was an artist and teacher herself, it looked as if a child had scrunched up some graph paper, glued it to a canvas, then gripped a pencil in his/her fist, and scribbled indiscriminately. I could not understand how it might be considered "art", nor what might prevent anyone from "creating" something very similar.
She patiently tried to explain that, among other things, it is actually quite difficult for adult artists to "let go", and express themselves in a pure, child-like manner.
Well, I never warmed up to Twombly, but my mother’s ability to build some context did help me to appreciate the work of other artists more deeply, and especially that of Paul Klee, who remains among my favorites.
