(this is branching off a discussion from another thread).
I've heard one interesting explanation that hip hop is a genre of music whereas rap a form of music (i.e. singing, playing guitar, playing drums, etc.). So what we consider "rap music" is actually hip hop music that features rapping. There can be hip hop songs that have no rapping (some mos def tracks) and there can be non-hip hop songs that have rapping (flobots - handlebars).
I've also heard that "rap" only defines music, and "hip hop" is a much broader term for culture (including dancing, clothing, art, etc). So anything that's rap falls into the category of hip hop (excluding non-hip hop songs with rapping... or is that included as well
.Finally, I've heard that hip hop is music that is intellectually/politically conscious and rap is music is not. This seems to kind of put the divide between the artists themselves. i.e. Lupe Fiasco, MF Doom, Black Star = Hip Hop. Soulja Boy, 50 Cent, Drake = Rap. but this is so debatable. Where do artists like 2Pac fall, who has songs about teen abortion but also about fucking and partying? Are only some of his songs hip hop and others are rap?
thoughts?
