Is rap technically the most Veeky Forums musical genre?

Not a musical genre

>Rap is focused on "muh beats"
>and the only literary merit that it has (rarely, at that) is that some of the lyrics
not read much poetry then?
currently. bardic traditions are probably the most Veeky Forums overall

allmusic.com/subgenre/singer-songwriter-ma0000002855
>Although many vocalists sang their own songs, including early rock & rollers like Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly, the term Singer/Songwriter refers to the legions of performers that followed Bob Dylan in the late 60s and early 70s. Most of the original singer/songwriters performed alone with an acoustic guitar or a piano but some had small groups for backing. Their lyrics were personal, although they were often veiled by layers of metaphors and obscure imagery. Singer/songwriters drew primarily from folk and country, although certain writers like Randy Newman and Carole King incorporated the songcraft of Tin Pan Alley pop. The main concern for any singer/songwriter was the song itself, not necessarily the performance. However, most singer/songwriter records have a similar sound, which is usually spare, direct, and reflective, which places the emphasis on the song itself. James Taylor, Jackson Browne, and Joni Mitchell were the quintessential singer/songwriters of the '70s, and most of the songwriters that followed them based themselves on their styles, or Dylan's. Singer/songwriters were at the height of their popularity in the early '70s, and although they faded away from the pop chart, they never disappeared. In the late '70s, artists like Rickie Lee Jones and Joan Armatrading that were heavily influenced by the sound of the original singer/songwriters crossed over into the pop charts, as did Suzanne Vega and Tracy Chapman in the late '80s. This resurgence of the style in the late 80's led to a new popularity and exposure for a new crop of contemporary singer/songwriters.

If you're going to be pedantic than rap isn't a music genre either, hip-hop is. Rap is a vocal style that's employed primarily in hip-hop, the same way scatting is a vocal style that's primarily employed in jazz yet can be heard in many other genres of music.

So a specific style of pop/country music

>genius.com/Mf-doom-my-favorite-ladies-lyrics

Here's an underappreciated song by even most rap fans. Personifies all his favorite vices as women, clever idea with some clever wordplay, baby.

>So a specific style of pop/country music
>So a specific style of music
So, in other words, a music genre.

And since you seem to be ignorant to this style of music, it has firm bases in blues, folk and rock.

>You're either being purposely obtuse or do not realise the context of discussion. Perhaps both.
no
read adorno you fuck

Why would I listen to music for literary merit when I have centuries of books to read? Why would I ignore centuries of music good at being music for someone's notebook scribbles?

Classical can also function like BGM which is even more lit in the sense that it stays the fuck out of the way when you're trying to read something.

Because not many authors have to live in a neighborhood full of crackheads, drug dealers, and gangbangers. It's just a different perspective on life, Mr. Fancypants.

I think you chose the most terrible community to discuss rap as a literary subject.
Rap is poetry, if it is done right. Otherwise it can be just another facet of pop culture.
The combination of a beat and spoken word timed to it can be fascinating.

Because the canon's all there is, right? There are plenty of books focusing on the subjects prominent in rap (and singer-songwriter, to show I'm being as unbiased as I can be in this discussion), you seem to be ignorant, willingly or unwillingly, to these works.

I didn't mean to be derisive of it, I was just giving my understanding of your description (which you have helpfully expanded upon)

Listen to better rap.

I don't mean to be condescending when I say this but if you only have a vague knowledge of something as well-known as singer-songwriter you might not be the most well-rounded person to be making this argument. It's a fairly popular genre of music, especially on the internet and with acts like Dylan, Cash, Springsteen, etc, it's also fairly popular in real life.

If it means anything for my money if I had to pick a genre that fits the description of what you're talking about, singer-songwriter and hip-hop would be tied.

Because some music has great literary merit? Even if you are only interested in classics ignoring the value of hymns is a massive oversight.

when you consider the rap game as a whole eminem is pretty gay