Reply #85: To your list...

[sendero]

.... >> Louie Armstrong,Duke Ellington,Charlie Parker,Jimi Hendrix,Ray Charles, and BB King ... I'd add Al Green, Noel Redding, Robert Johnson, George Clinton,John Coltrane, and countless others.

Try as I might I cannot see placing the likes of Tupak or Chuck whatever or any of their ilk in same universe. It is like comparing today's country music with Hank Williams, early Willie, etc - there just is no comparison - it's comparing art to commerce.

A claim could be made that many of the musicians listed here were not all that famous in their time, that it took time for people to see the genius of their work.

But most rap lyrics are so ridiculous I just don't see that happening. I would not go so far as to say that rap "isn't music". I like stuff like Squarepusher and I'm certain that most of you here would say it isn't music either. The point is that all pop music coming out now is so commercialized, so filtered by the recording companies, it seems almost impossible for anything really good to see the light of day. Everything is reduced to the lowest common denominator. Can you imagine some of the great artists of the 60s and 70s getting a record deal today? It wouldn't happen. I blame that, not the lack of artists. Artists don't get recording deals any more.

Ok, my rambling is done :)