Why is bad music like rap so popular instead of music like heavy metal or rock?

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The Book of Sirach
Chapter nine, verse four,
“Don’t keep company with female musicians; they will trick you”
 
TheAmazingGrace said:
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friardchips:
Without judgement as to why people make rap music, my judgement of the facts, of the music itself, is that it stirs people into a kind of hyped-up state
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Beethoven does the same for me - much more so than rap.
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No kidding. When I was a boy, it was the ninth symphony that drove me to ecstatic weeping. Now it’s the Missa Solemnis, especially the Gloria and the Dona nobis pacem. That such a genius, who could compose this transcendent, fiery, overwhelming music, should at the same time have led such an unrelievedly miserable existence has always struck me as intensely unjust.

P.S. Also the Grosse Fuge, if you don’t know it yet, belongs to that mysterious late period of Beethoven’s, where the music seems to have been dictated by beings from a dimension wholly alien to ours. It is twenty or so minutes of the pithiest, densest, most frightening music I know.
 
There is something to be said for the decades in which music was made, as to how it is perceived in current times. Rap, while finding its roots in Soul and before that, Jazz (possibly), is, as a genre, a later form of produced sound-type, than Metal, and Rock.
 
Tears shed from listening to an enlightened form of music, such as the ones you have stated (I’m guessing as to the sound), are not necessarily shed because the music appeals to the same emotions that contemporary ‘popular’ music might bring about, or that the tears are shed from just the emotional level, necessarily, either.
 
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exnihilo said:
You are right that not every metal song results in anger. But I do think it tends towards anger. Or it is particularly fitting for anger.
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I think at that point it is on the listener to be selective, and that goes for all music. I personally wouldn’t draw the line at anger, since I think even anger, properly directed, is a right response to some of what goes on in the world, but I do agree that there is a lot of metal that glorifies the immoral and attacks the holy. Again, though, that is on the listener to choose the metal that is more edifying.

And yes, I am rather selective in the music I listen to. There is a lot of metal I choose not to listen to because of the lyrical content. Based on that, I can confidently say that there is a lot of metal that is perfectly fine to listen to.
 
friardchips said:
Tears shed from listening to an enlightened form of music, such as the ones you have stated (I’m guessing as to the sound), are not necessarily shed because the music appeals to the same emotions as contemporary ‘popular’ music might bring about, or that the tears are shed from just the emotional level, necessarily, either.
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The music of great composers of centuries past, men like Bach, Beethoven, Handel, Rameau, Mozart, Haydn and others, can often take over where words fail us in expressing profound emotion. It has the ability to, so to speak, ‘express the inexpressible’. Often when I am moved to tears by Beethoven’s ninth symphony, or Barber’s Adagio, or Handel’s concerti grossi, I have no idea why I am weeping. The music seems to open the door to a world of new, unexplored emotions, almost as if I were seeing, for the first time, colors and shades that have never before been seen on Earth. There is very little to compare with this sort of experience that I know of.
 
friardchips said:
Your post has brought about an interesting concept. To do with the link between the spiritual-intellectual ‘aspect’ to the soul, and the emotional/sensitive aspect: does the spiritual level pull the emotions up into such a state that, it is not so much that the souls is taken away from the emotion, but that the emotion is given its true orientation - that being towards God. In other words, music can help to align the intellect/spiritual with the emotion, bringing, for want of a better word, but kind of apt, a ‘harmony’.
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Good Lord. I really think you may have solved the mystery. I never thought of it in these terms before, but what you say had the ring of truth the moment I read it. Thank you so much for thinking about this question and sharing your thoughts. What has occupied me as an enigma for fifty years or so has been clarified by you in an instant. You are a brilliant thinker! 👏👏👏
 
Sepultura’s Roots’ is a … ahem … unique example of the genre. On the heavier end of the spectrum.

Something like Metallica’s ‘Nothing Else Matters’ might be suitable, not in church but as a bridal.waltz - unusual but not wrong.
 
Generalizing musical genres in broad strokes isn’t something people should do. I mean, there’s a lot of rap/hip hop that has something to say that’s more than just about drugs and girls. I mean even if you don’t agree what’s being said… There’s certainly artists who are trying to say something.
 
Wow, I never would have guessed @Tis_Bearself and @HolySpirit were metal fans!

As a metal fan myself (mostly of the power/prog/symphonic variety), I’ll point out that there’s a significant Christian segment of many metal subgenres, so IMO that blows up most of the evil/angry/debased over-simplifications that I see.

Of course, there’s also Christian rap. I don’t know much of it, but I’m partial to KJ-52 - sometimes referred to as a Christian Eminem. There’s a lot of wisdom in these lyrics:

 
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Our Episcopalian friends have developed a Hip Hop Mass, and sacred rap music.

Perhaps we Catholics will see this as part of our Anglican Use liturgy?

www.episcopalchurch.org

The Episcopal Church

Loving, Liberating, and Life-Giving. Meet Presiding Bishop Michael Curry LGBTQ+ in the Church Read Your Guide to the DFMS New Creation Care Curriculum: ‘Love God, Love God’s World’ Resources for […]
www.episcopalchurch.org www.episcopalchurch.org
 
Since I returned to the church, being a metal fan has made me rethink my tastes.

I no longer listen to songs that dabble in Satanic themes or have real occult connotations.

I don’t listen to as much metal as I used to. It seems more of the world than bringing me closer to God. I like jazz, and I have been listening to Gregorian Chant in the background. I tend to listen to a lot of Catholic radio. I’ve never found any Catholic music that has turned me on. I hope it grows on me.

I wish I had been exposed to power and symphonic metal when I was younger. I discovered it when Sam Dunn did his documentary on metal. I think I could have gotten into it. There are facets of it in the music of my favorite bands. I appreciate big sound and great musicianship.

No matter how old I get, I think I will always enjoy banging my head occasionally.

Once a person is metal, he is always metal. The last time I went to a concert, I was walking to the venue door putting on a metal shirt while wearing a suit bottom. A tailgating kid made a joke about the plight of the middle aged metal fan not knowing who they were. I threw up the horns and kept walking never breaking stride. I got a standing ovation from about 40 middle aged metal fans that were all around the kid. (I guess he was drunk and annoying them.) I hope he learned an important lesson.

Use care when you listen to metal. It can lead you away from God, and you don’t ever want that to happen.
 
Rap is an art form, it is a blend of spoken word, poetry and music. It has roots in jazz.

Fr Stan Fortuna blends both


 
I’ve heard that he has been known to sit in at some NYC Jazz clubs.
 
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