Rap Rules And Rock Is In A Gutt Rhetorical Analysis Essay

“Why Rap Rules and Rock Is in a Rutt,” by Robin Davey, expresses a common view among youth today: Rap music is in and Rock N’ Roll is out. Davey believes that Rock music has lost its gusto and should make way for the more relevant genre of Rap. Although I agree that Rap music is more popular and culturally relevant to our current society, I strongly disagree with Davey in regards to Rock’s inevitable demise. One of Davey’s attitudes towards Rock throughout his editorial expresses that it is a genre of music that has become spoiled and unauthentic. He states that Rock “has become about rich kids playing at being fucked up, [playing their] brand new, latest edition, Les Paul, that Mommy and Daddy bought them at Guitar Center.” Last I checked, all of the spoiled rich kids I have ever had the misfortune of encountering have all listened to Rap or Hip-Hop. The only kids that would beg their parents to get them a guitar are likely devoted Rock fans, whose heroes probably include highly respected names such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Chuck Berry, just to name a few. These snobby rich kids often listen to Rap because it reflects many of their own personal traits: fake on the outside and meaningless on the inside. Rap’s content and intellectual maturity does not often extend past the degradation of women, consumption of copious amounts of alcohol and drugs, and of course, sex. Rap simply exists to distract its audience from their surroundings and promotes ignorance. Rap music does not seek to inform nor inspire its listeners the way that Rock does. For instance, let’s compare lyrics from a famous Rock song and famous Rap song. From Pink Floyd’s song “Speak to Me/Breathe”: “Long you live and high you fly/ Smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry/ All you touch and all you see/ Is all your life will ever be.” When compared to one of the most recognizable Rap songs, Lil John’s “Get Low”, whose lyrics include: “She getting crunk in the club, I mean she work it/ And I like to see the females twerking/ Taking the clothes off - buckey naked/ ATL - ho, don't disrespect it,” it is easy to see that it is just generally disrespectful and obscene. Davey also argues that Rap is more relatable to today’s culture. If this is true, then our culture is one of over-sexualization, obsession with fame and wealth, and shallow-mindedness. On the other hand, Rock music is clearly still around today because of its universal and uplifting messages. “Imagine” by John Lennon would not be considered so intellectually stimulating if it weren’t for its thought provoking lyrics, the song would not have captured the hearts of millions of listeners worldwide. Rock music got its big break around the time of Woodstock in 1969. This was a time of rebellion against the Vietnam War through ideas of worldwide peace and love, ideas that will forever be universal. Another reason Rock N’ Roll is superior to Rap is that it has and will continue to outlive it. While Rap artists come in go within a decade (at most), Rock artists like ACDC, Iron Maiden, KISS, Aerosmith, and Metallica are mostly still touring today, all of which started their bands in the early 70s. That accounts for almost half a century of fame and devoted fans. What really sets …show more content…
But if you take the time to look from the other side, you’ll see that Rap music, or any famous entity in general, all follow these traits. So when rappers bash Rock music for being outdated, it is interesting to see them still copy many famous rockers’ attributes. In the end, there may be no changing your music preferences and that is okay. But it may be useful to actually research the reasons why you love it so much and see if they are up to par. Ultimately, you are what you listen to, so make sure you are comfortable aligning yourself with the ideals your music icons exude. The real debate is not whether one music genre is better than another, but how we can use our music to influence others, hopefully for the good, that matters