I agree with you 100% cosmo. My how this conversation has evolved!

Now that we're sort of on the subject of rap, I'd like to drop some funky flows from Shing02 (Who also did work on Samurai Champloo. The theme, I think). I don't really listen to rap, but this makes it onto my iPod, simply because the beginning lyrics are so cool/funny/historical.

You really have to hear it to get a feel for how funny it is. It's just so...unexpected, coming from a guy who's trying to sound like a thug.
[size=75] Ok there's anger, I can sense the danger
another bomber leaves the hangar, who's the arranger
of this particular war? It's the United Nations, United States government protecting the interests of their pacific sanctions, so many situations
It's 1941, Hitler still exists, he's concentrating on the Jews
Hawaii is subdued on the crew's circumstances as WWII advances, technology enhances -
Weaponry, the creation of the atom bomb who the fuck to drop it on?
Japon, the only non-European, human beings in Honolulu
Fleeing, the world is in awe people don't believe what they seeing
It's ill, the Brits controlled by William Churchill, Japan by Hideki Tojo,
Italy by Bonito Mussolini, U.S. by Harry Truman,
Hitler in Germany turning the history, to a blank page, fill it with human tissue,
December 7th, and you can check the issue, discuss it with your grand mommy,
out like a pilot on a mission of fucking Kamikaze! [/size]

The rest of the song is basically about how there's no justification for the attack on Pearl Harbor escalating how it did.

I'm not sure if you guys are aggreeing with me or not....

The general consensus seems like:

"Much of rap is bad, and probably shouldn't be considered 'music'. However, some artists choose to expand the genre, by doing things that are truly powerful, moving, and musical, while still being considered 'rap'.