Originally Posted By: whip
The funny thing is rap and country are so similar. They both have simple lyrics about a supposed day in the life. Yet most diehard fans of each genre, dislike the other.........
Probably because they sound nothing alike. I can't understand what they're saying in most rap songs, so I certainly can't comment on the content, but take a song like Deanna Carter's "Strawberry Wine" or Jeff Carson's "The Car" and compare the rhythm and pace of those songs to a typical rap song and tell me if you can draw any comparison.
I can't. It's not that I dislike rap. I simply can't understand what they're saying. It's like trying to listen to a song in Yiddish. I'm sure the lyrics tell a story...I just can't understand what they're saying to hear it.
I'm not a fan of Waylon or CDB either. Many people consider that "real country", and maybe it is. I hear as much screaming and yelling in those songs as I do in many other genres. I like many of the mainstream artists, but I also like many of the not-so-mainstream, at least anymore. Like Deanna Carter, Chely Wright, Jeff Carson, Billy Dean, Joe Diffie, etc. The common thread is most of their stuff is understandable and with a depth of musical accompaniment that appeals to me. Slide guitars really check my box.
Of course, music is such a personal decision, like whether you like blue or red better, or whether you like dogs or cats. I think the best that fans of certain genres can hope for is not agreement over which is best but a simple acknowledgement that other genres are out there and that they have appeal to certain people. Statements like "country isn't music" or "rap isn't music" are never productive; they just act to further the divide among listeners.