As a cultural trend, Rap “music” has had an impressive run. It is in a sense the contemporary equivalent of rock, the music of rebellion of an earlier generation—my generation. I never quite grasped the rebellion. I just liked rock, particularly performing it, a lot. Rolling Stone now tells us Rap's run might be over:

Graphic: X Post

I watched the Beatles arrive in America for the first time and watched them in their Ed Sullivan Show debut. I’d always been musical and from a young age could hear a piece of music and pick out the melody and chord structure on the piano and later, the guitar. Guitar, and a first tenor voice that developed early were my vehicles to if not fame, some small notoriety. 

I’d hoped that playing rock guitar might help with young ladies, but later learned while that might attract them, I lacked sufficient understanding of women to keep most of them around. I never projected a bad boy image either, which didn’t help.

In any case, I learned music by ear, and it wasn’t until my 30s when I took a music degree that I learned the why of everything I’d done by ear for so long. Oh, that’s why that’s a G7 chord! Oh, that’s a Picardy third! It all fell into place, and I began to truly appreciate, and perform, the works of the masters like George Fredrich Handel and his Messiah. In performing that work—I stopped counting at 40 performances—I glimpsed the hand of God.

In examining Rap I don’t.

Oh, I’ve used it in teaching. But primarily as an example of what music truly is. Rap has some of the elements of music, but not all, and there is so much more to music than that.

In teaching poetry, rhythm and rhyme are fundamental, and I used kid’s temporary fixation on Rap by having them write a Rap “song”—rudimentary poetry--and perform it with accompaniment provided by an electronic drum machine. We had to have a meaningful conversation about what sort of language and references were acceptable in school writing, and I reviewed their texts before they were performed, though a few kids always tried to slip in a bit of good-natured thuggery.

That’s always been a problem with Rap: glorification of drugs, misogyny, crime, violence, anti-white racism, prostitution, pimping, hatred and more. So, we found white, middle- class kids aping the rage and rebellion of inner-city black criminals. Rappers living the “thug” life on social media and on the streets often died young and badly, yet Rap continued to be popular, spawning record--CD--labels and enriching rappers, who like so many caught up in instant fame lost it all.

Graphic: Arrangement of music in the public domain.

I had something of an advantage. My students, largely western white kids, really weren’t interested in living a thug lifestyle, nor did they have the opportunity, so I snuck in some “classical” music. Really, art music, but most people apply the generic term “classical.”

They were surprised to discover they’d heard every part of the William Tell Overture, either on TV shows, commercials or at the movies. That was true of many master works like  Mozart's Requiem Mass. Before Christmas, we listened to, and wrote about, selections from Messiah, as we did whenever we listened to music. We even listened to The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late). There’s something about singing chipmunks that puts a smile on your face and a squeaky song in your heart. 

On Fridays, we played “Name That Tune” for extra credit. They learned everything from Huey Lewis and the News to classical pieces, including well know operatic arias. Happy, alert kids learn better.

There was, to paraphrase Shakespeare, method in my madness.

They came to understand the difference between mere entertainment and good art. In that understanding, Rap fared poorly. While its rhythm, rhyme and outrage were entertaining, it largely pandered to the worst aspects of human nature. Unlike good art, unlike the complexity, the interplay of harmony and melody of art music, and even good popular music, Rap suddenly sounded repetitive, uninspired and empty.

My evil English/music teacher plot worked!

Perhaps that’s why there is no rap in the top 40 for the first time in 35 years. That may be a temporary abberation, but I’d like to believe we really are entering a golden age. Perhaps young people have discovered there is more to life than hate, conspicuous consumption and destructive behavior. Perhaps they finally see they too can contribute to and appreciate what is beautiful, good and uplifting and in the process, become more than they are, more by far than Rap.

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Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.