Quote:
Originally Posted by TheBig3KilledMyRainDog
for one thing, the idea of Black People in America is a fairly recent concept. That is to say, the mainstream cultural acceptence isn't that far along. I think I have relatives who were alive when they segregated water fountains in this country.
Not to mention that a culture must be built. One of the more horrifying entities of slavery is the robbery of cultural identity. i didn't intend for this to be a race thing, but theres a scene in Roots where they demand he use his English name and they whip him until he stops saying "Kunta."
Rap also has its roots in the spoken word and slam poetry that came from roughly the 60's. The Black American culture isn't always easily defined, but its strong I'd say. You had tons of people in the 80's wear those shirts that said "its a black thing, you wouldn't understand" well, they seem to believe they've carved out their niche.
As for genre wars, I think the concerpt of folk music predates labels. I'd think it has more relevence than happy hardcore or viking death metal.
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I hope we can all agree that folk is more relevant than viking death metal he , but yes I would consider folk to be a type of meta-genre somewhat akin to pop, which can be outlined in several different ways, not all of them relating to the sonic qualities of the music.
I actually like your point about the relatively short time frame for black Americans to ferment a culture, and hip hop's role in it's growth. So much that I'm tending to agree with you, (perhaps a first in arguments over the internet).
Although, I wonder whether the conditions of the globalised world that rap has developed (and exploded) into, are so different from the development traditional forms of folk music underwent in their relatively insular cultures that it makes the application somewhat pointless.