hip-hop/rap

I absolutely love hip-hop and rap, which actually doesn't get as much respect as it deserves. After the guest lecture from Billy Drease Williams (and I wish all the people that bash hip-hop could have heard him) I feel he brought up some strong points about hip-hop/rap as an art. Many people think hip-hop is garbage, that there are no instrumental elements or components, but I disagree. Billy Drease Williams, for example creates his own beats, so why can't beats be considered an instrumental component? In order to create beats one must still learn to use an instrument (or in this case whatever equipment used to produce beats), practice, master it, and have an ear for a special sound and creativity in order to create that sound. To me this idea deserves the same respect as someone who can play an instrument. Hip-hop and rap also require an artist to write their own lyrics (hopefully, but there are many artists from other genres that don't write their own music who still receive more respect than hip-hop artists), and of course sing or rap. In Billy Drease Williams case, he even produces his own videos, and has created art work to illustrate those videos. I think their are a lot of components and elements of hip-hop that are undermined and go without notice. It truly takes a talented and creative person to be a hip-hop/rap ARTIST. =]