Is a Rapper a Singer?

[MISTERQCUE]

...Just curious!

[Gidge]

If the artist only raps, then he therefore could not be a singer by definition (singer - n. a person who sings)....This isnt putting down rappers because there are some very talented ones....

[G-Mac]

If he or she can sing!!! How about a vocalist?????

[CyanJaguar]

A rapper is not a singer.

A rapper is : An artist
A great rapper is a visionary
A bad rapper is : a wannabe

[Gidge]

G-mac, i was gonna say vocalist, but then I looked up vocalist in my pocket dictionary, and the definition was "a singer", so....

[G-Mac]

Then hay? what about BIZ MARKEY singing SO YOU SAY HE JUST A FRIEND, OH BABY YOU GOT WHAT I NEED!!!!!!!he,he,he,......

[Meshuggah]

a rapper is a rapper
a singer is a singer
a beer is a beer, is a beer, is a beer....

[S8-N]

what is it about rappinmg that isnt singing? Every sound that comes form a human mouth has a pitch... so every vocal line is a melody... if it has more than 1 note. Some rappers my be somewhat monotone, but I defy you to find me one that doesnt at least hit 2 notes.
Just because they dont sound like Wayne Newton, doesnt mean they arent singing.



mging. r

sorry about the extra letters... my :delete key stopped working.

i

[Gidge]

I still say rapping isnt singing...when you hum, tones come out of your mouth sometimes making a melody, but it isnt singing, its humming....it's just a word....not saying that rappers arent talented or anything like that....Rapping can be a very beautiful and spitual thing... or it can suck...it can be very artistic, or it can be crap...Rapping and singing are just 2 different things...they both can be bad or good.....u mentioned an album in a post a while back and it happens to be my favorite rap album of all time..NWA Straight Outta Compton...

[CMiller]

I'll throw my opinion in on this one.

I say that a rapper IS a singer. I think S8-N said it best, so read what he said about that.

But I think that the best rap album of all time is Fear of a Black Planet...Public Enemy

[MISTERQCUE]

WORD,CMILLER!!!!!! Though I'm not a rap fan,Public Enemy was
"Da'Bomb-Diggity"!!!! Chuck D's style was inimitable and powerful,especially on "Fight The Power"!!!
...."El-vis..,was a Hero to most,but he never mean't shit to
me but straight-up..racist the sucker was simple and plain...Mutha'f#ck him and John Wayne"...(with apologies to Elvis and John Wayne fans).'Dem boys was straight-up RADICAL
and innovative,just like NWA!!!(Fuck Da' Police!)

[ffmada]

"Every sound that comes from a human mouth has a pitch...so every vocal line has a melody...if it has more then one note."

So anyone that talks is a singer, right? That's good news for me, bad news for the "good singers"

[ffmada]

And "Midnight Marauders" by A Tribe Called Quest is the best rap album ever

[MISTERQCUE]

I can't sing in no way,shape or form to save my OWN mutha's life!

[CMiller]

Yeah Q! Fear of a Black Planet remains one of my "landmark" albums of all time and deserves a place alongside the greatest albums of all time. I'm not a rap fan in any way, but I can recognize excellence when I hear it. Public Enemy dished up a kick ass record with that one.

[camn]

uh... a PERSON can be a rapper. They can also be a SINGER. The two are not mutually exclusive. For instance, Lauryn Hill.

Some people can rap.
some can sing.
some can do both.
some can do neither, but still try.

xoxo

ps. dig plans, new refutation = best hiphop record ever.

[Gidge]

So Camn is saying that a person "can do both", which means that he agrees with me that they are two different vocal forms....

[Jon X]

Fear of a Black Planet is great. BTW, what do they call those guys that fill in on certain words only? Know what I mean? If we say rappers aren't singers, then would those guys be called backup rappers?

[Dragon]

Rap-up singers.

[busboy]

I think the original question is not if a person CAN sing and rap. But rather, if a person is rapping, is that simultaneously considered signing?

singing is singing
rapping is rapping
speaking is speaking

Someone earlier postulated that all sounds from the human mouth have tone and pitch, therefore rapping is singing. Well, by that definition, not only are rappers singers, but EVERY person who has ever uttered even a single word is a singer. Not only that, but everyday conversation is song. I'm sorry, but that's crap. There is more to singing than simply creating a sonic frequency. Dog farts have tone and pitch, but would you care to argue that my dog's ass is singing?

I'm sorry, but singing and rapping are definately mutually exclusive. But this doesn't mean one is better than the other. They are simply different. Much like dogs are not cats. Not because dogs are better...but simply because they are different.

The simple fact that there is a term called "rap" indicates that the the music creates a distinguishable difference from your garden variety singer. Yes, Lauren Hill can rap. Yes, she can also sing. She is a singer AND a rapper. But, she is NOT a singer BECAUSE she is a rapper. Nor is she a rapper because she is a singer. The fact that you notice a difference in the vocal style, MEANS THAT THEY'RE DIFFERENT!!! If they were the same, you wouldn't notice when she switched back and forth. You wouldn't categorize her singing as singing and her rapping as rapping.

I don't hear anyone arguing that singing is rapping.

[MISTERQCUE]

Very well put there busboy!

[Gidge]

busboy, you can explain that until you are blue in the face but those that disagree still will disagree....goes back to my earlier post that if a rapper only raps then he/she is not a singer....im not dissing rappers because it is a cool vocal style if done right, sucks if done wrong, just like singing......

[joanne342]

jon x - that guy is called a hype man.

rapping isn't singing because although words do have tones the rhythmic quality is more important. i saw some guy post on a newsgroups that he hated hip hop cause "most rap idiots rap out of tune" which is clearly nonsensical because it's spoken, not sung. it's just speaking but with extra projection and very precise rhythm. i mean a bass drum is lower pitched than a snare but you wouldn't say that a drummer was playing a tune....

[camn]

incidentally... you would say that a drum was out of tune, if it was.

xoxo

[Atillah]

nope