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i agree with that, to a point. i definitely think it is sometimes limited in its potential even by those who are heralding it (and thus sometimes unintentionally). and of course there are a lot of folks who think it a less serious art than X.
but I also think that rapping - as an act, as a thing that one does, and as a skill - is recognized as posing distinct *barriers* to folks wanting to seriously engage it, with three particularly large hurdles:
* it is recognized (by some at least) as having strong roots in a particular culture and thus somewhat taboo for outsiders to engage with seriously.
* it also generally carries certain characteristics, especially youthfulness but also certain elements of tone and presentation, that are perceived as bound up with the art. even if we imagine a musician who wants to try their hand at rapping.
So even if there is a musician who wants to engage rap, there are two big hurdles right there: *may* I do this in a serious way and not be dismissed as a culture vulture; *can* I do this, in terms of aesthetic, tone, and background and how those mesh with expectations in the art.
And I think that we see this in the way some who *respect* hip hop engage with it musically. To point to Glasper and the current wave of jazz-ish instrumentalists again, a lot of these players aren't learning to rap but are certainly engaging seriously with hip hop sound and history, incorporating it substantially into their work.
But to bring this back to Dre (I'm segue-ing to part 2 of this long response), let's not mix apples and oranges here. Rapping isn't the same as playing an instrument. You might learn saxophone and later jump to (trumpet/piano/guitar) to explore a new part of your art. There is a shared foundation that enables that and makes such translations possible.
Rapping is a very different musical skill, one that combines lyricism, rhythm, musicality, and of course vocal/physical technique. It doesn't have an analogue or a parallel --- there's no other "instrument" or skill in music that does this thing in this way. (We forget this!) Particularly the lyrical piece, right? That doesn't mean it isn't an instrument or can't be imagined as one. But it's complicated.
So that third hurdle, in a way, is this weird cognitive/categorical leap a musician would have to take to jump from saying "i am a trumpet player" to "I want rap, *seriously*" --- and certainly that it is different from, I don't know, a country star trying on heavy metal for an album or two.
In this sense, the jump Dre made here is layered:
* it's a genre jump, obviously
* it's sort of an instrument jump, in the sense that he put down rapping and picked up the flute
* but it's not an instrument jump at all, because I don't think rapping and playing an instrument
In the interviews I've read/listened to with Dre, I've always gotten the impression that it's less that Dre thinks rapping itself is limited and moreso that he isn't sure how to be himself/grown up in the context of the form.
Fair or not, it's an understandable fear. One of the biggest flaws in this run of Nas records we've been gifted with is that his subject matter appears diverse on the surface but is pretty limited when you get close up. Its version of aging seems to be... being more comfortable with comfort? But still feeling the need to shout out luxury brands? There's a lot of replaying of the past that feels limiting. The "introspection" provided is pretty superficial.
If you look at his features over the last few years, he's definitely been trying to thread the needle on rapping about older adult shit in interesting ways. (See his verse on that Anderson Paak track from Ventura.) But maybe what's successful to us doesn't seem successful to him?
Ok, rambling now, so I'll stop here.
-thebigfunk
~ i could still snort you under the table ~
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