Rap on Hip-Hop

Killing some time the other morning while waiting for my daughter to wake up and smile at me, I watched bits & pieces of the Grammy Awards Show. Bits & pieces of the spectacle was plenty. Any more than that and I might have ended up killing myself instead of just time. The Grammys are the premiere awards distributed every year to those deemed to have distinguished themselves in the music industry. Not having followed the output of popular music for decades, I was unfamiliar with nearly all of the recordings. (I’d never heard Beyonce but, had heard of her so, how about a point for that?) What I found particularly distinguishing about the performers and their performances was the utter vulgarity of the program. Hip-Hop and Rap are pathetic enunciations of dissonant cacophony; not music. In addition, many of the lyrics are both crude and insulting. Of course, criticizing Hip-Hop & Rap would rouse accusations of racism…particularly from a crowd “lacking diversity” as the one at the Grammies. The great irony to my mind was the fact that this display of rubbish was staged at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. Richard Rodgers had more talent than all the performers and award winners combined. His music was rhythmical and the lyrics, courtesy of Lorenz Hart & Oscar Hammerstein, were sophisticated and…well, lyrical. My guess is that most of those in attendance had no idea who Richard Rodgers was and what he had produced. ‘Oklahoma’, ‘South Pacific’ and ‘The Sound of Music’ are three of his most grandiloquent contributions to the great tradition of American Musicals. Compare them to the tawdry & offensive work that passes for music these days. There is a difference between a harmonious musical composition and an odious, discordant compost. Perhaps, the music of Richard Rodgers is a “White thing” whereas Hip-Hop & Rap are a “Black thing”. I wonder what Ella Fitzgerald would have to say about that.
The more I follow news of the world the less I seem to identify with that world. My wife & my daughter make up the world I care most of about now. The suave gentility of class and style that I so admire has suffered a steady erosion during most of my life. And, that is true across the entire spectrum of human pursuits—sports (excepting snooker), politics, commercial industry and, perhaps most of all, the Arts. There is no one in the world of Arts who reflects the mantle of elegance set by Fred Astaire. Crudeness & vulgarity are the pestilent hallmarks of contemporary Art.
One hundred years ago Igor Stravinsky’s ‘The Rite of Spring’ premiered in Paris. In all fairness, it should be noted that Igor’s piece provoked criticism similar to mine with regard to Hip-Hop & Rap…excessive atonality that offended the aesthetic sensibilities of those accustomed to sonorous rhythms and melodies. However, a hundred years on, people still listen to and appreciate ‘The Rite of Spring’ for the originality of its complex melodies and the sophistication of its composition. I doubt that a hundred years from now people will still be listening to what was on display at the Grammys the other night and pray that no so-called “Rap artist” is ever commissioned supply lyrics to Igor’s piece. Well, enough of this blog. My daughter is now awake and smiling at me. That's really all that matters!