JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Musician Message Forum The Art Of Rap

Opera singers work on their breathing, and diaphragmatic control daily. They study and practice for years, and continue building their sound for life, They study voice and music for years, if not decades.

They are born with the talent, and the tools, but greatness is not reached until they put in the time.

Not many pop or country or rock singers can sing like opera singers either. Doesn't devalue what those artists can do.

Why compare rap to other art forms?  Sure the entry into rap may be easier than others, not needing to learn an instrument, or understand music theory, gives you a very big head start, but one thing is one thing, another is another.

Paul McCartney can't dance like Prince, but who was asking Paul to dance?

As was said, apples and oranges.

It requires vocal talent and a sense of rhythm to rap.  It requires the ability to speak clearly and enunciate, no matter how fast the words may be coming out. It requires street cred, and an ability to resonate with people with similar surroundings.  And many aspects of rapping are inborn, great diction, and articulation, for two. If you talk like you have marbles in your mouth, you will never be a great rapper.

one other interesting thing about the film, was the explanation of how hip hop came around. The music programs were being cut in inner cities, so they had to come up with their own art form that didn't require musical instruments. They made turntables into an instrument, and started using rhymes and rhythm to create music.

Nothing to sneeze at.