When rap came out 30 years ago I thought it was just a fad

I appreciate all the interesting comments on this thread. When someone said that 95% of the rappers can't play an Instrument that really summed it up for me. Rap to me is like Porn. It's the easiest way to get your 15 minutes of fame.

onhwy61, I think rap is part of rock and roll tangentially--certain rock songs have rap elements. And what all is rock and roll? Is disco rock and roll? Is Motown rock and roll? I don’t even think a lot of the Beatles’ catalog is rock and roll--certainly a lot of it is. And of course there’s a lot of material that could be argued either way. I’m personally baffled by some of the people voted into the rock and roll hall of fame--not because they are not great artists, but because they didn’t play rock and roll or weren’t part of the pre-rock influences. Which is different from thinking someone doesn’t belong there because of the value of their music.

Wow read this thread.  I grew up in the midst of it.  I guess some people think of rap as a thug genre. It's not.  I remember the wordplay and creativity that was involved.  It's a shame that all people see now is that side of it. The Internet and the monopolizing of local radio stations has been terrible for true hip hop. The Heavy D's and Chubb Rock's of the would have a hard time.  I was listening to LL Cool J aThe other day and Early Run DMC and I smiled. Google a picture of Rick Rubin. He was a long haired hip hop loving white guy but he had a vision and produced tracks with rock overtones with a street feel. Pure entrepreneurs on a street level. Sometimes people are limited by what they are exposed to.  I'm not going to look at Rock music and say they are just a bunch of dopers. I respect all musical genres. Today's rap has its own sub genre that I don't actually like but it is what it is. Russel Simmons half a billion dollars. Dr Dre a billion dollar deal.  Jay Z half a billion dollar deal.  I think today's rap has been dumbed down but I think you can't put all rap or hip hop in the same boat. Our education system or lack of a successful one plays a part.  Low vocabulary and limited life experience and exposure sums up most rap that the general public knows about. I listen to rock country jazz classical pop. It all has its good and bad. I'm a heavy jazz guy. Enjoy all. 

I don't listen much to rap. Almost none at home. To me, it requires the least degree of musical talent of any form of music that I know of.  You don't have to have enough talent to sing a song. You don't have to play an instrument. Those talents are the hallmarks of music to me.
But there is a talent that involves a musical aptitude in "rapping" with, around and between beats and in choosing the right samples. Also, the thickness, tone and timbre of the rapper's voice can serve the song.  Most rap songs that I can tolerate have a hooky sung chorus--so, in that regard, those songs incorporate aspects of music with which I can identify. On the other hand, I like working out to some rap due to the beats I use to push my workout forward. As much as I don't consider most rap as good music--I'd rather listen to most rap over, say, Bon Jovi or others of the bathetic rock genre.