They may have come before the genre we call rap, but I fail to see
any difference whatsoever in the musical content involved, except for
the underlying musical style. They are both words spoken rhythmically
to musical accompaniment, where the delivery may have definite pitch
contours at times and less definite at others.
Current commercial (c)rap - not that I can bear to listen to it for long - is sloppy and
irregular in metre, and has either non-rhymes such as "time" and "fine", or other symptoms
of illiteracy. (Back to the topic of literacy.) Hardly comparable to sophisticated works
from musical theatre.
The idea that rap doesn't involve pitch baffles me. There's a helluva
lot of subtlety to the vocal delivery that is not just in the
incredibly complex rhythms -- there is shape to the vocal lines as
well.
The rhythms are complex because there is no discipline. It is a case of fitting any word
and words desired into 4/4 time. It's a long way down from Shakespeare or Swinburne.
-Rob
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