Reply #79: yup

[lazarus]

By the Sugar Hill Gang. It was very early rap.

Rap is, more than any other form of music except, maybe, country and bluegrass, about place. It's about where you come from. Eminem was the first to rap about white trailer park existence, which is one reason he's so hugely popular.

There's a common language in the visuals and the lyrics that can be hard to get a grasp on. I liken it to Shakespeare, to be honest.

No, I'm not saying Eminem is the modern Shakespeare. But Shakespeare's plays can be brutal to read, until you get your mind wrapped around the language and style of it. I will tend to read a play I know very, very well, such as Henry V or The Tempest, before I'll read a new one, because I need to get my mind framed into his world.

Rap is the same way. It's their world that you're looking into to.

Again, just as when watching a Shakespeare play, don't try to understand every word; just let the feelings and emotions flow, and the words will come.