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Rap is poetry set to music. But to me it's like a jackhammer.

I think rap music is rap music. I mean, are there heavy writing aspects of it? Absolutely. In a sense, is it poetry? Yeah. I've heard that so much, growing up in a house with poetry. But I think people like to use that as a shortcut for who's good and who's not. It's like the word 'lyrical' - 'lyrical' is the worst word in the entire world.

I write poetry, and I put it to a beat - I mean, that's what they call rap.

Rap is just somebody getting something off his chest. That's all it is.

I'm not big on rap, to be honest. I just don't get it. It's angry people shouting. I like a song, melodies, people singing.

With rap, it's a funny thing. You can say things, and people can take 'em the way they wanna take 'em.

Rap is poetry to music, like beatniks without beards and bongos.

Just knowing how to rap doesn't necessarily mean that you're a good songwriter.

I don't like rap music at all. I don't think it's music. It's just a beat and rapping.

The problem is that rap is so often a caricature of its own image. Nobody comes to the table with the seriousness of the effect that it can have; nobody is prepared for that.