I hate it when people try to delegitimize rap music by complaining that it's all done digitally or on a keyboard instead of the artists playing all of the individual instruments themselves because they're essentially saying "fuck poor people of color whose parents/school can't afford to buy them instruments and lessons for those instruments", like my parents paid about $1100 for my current violin (and the rentals fees for my first violin) and they paid about $100-200 every time we took it in for maintenance and then they paid for all my lessons and all of the costs of simply participating in music class (the uniform, trips, etc), like that shit was fucking expensive, how much must it cost for someone who's super serious about music and plays multiple instruments throughout their young lives. Like, poor kids (especially POC) are lucky if they get any musical experience with shitty schools that have no gym, much less music programs, and parents that are working two jobs just to pay the rent and get food on the table. That's one thing I really like about rap is that it's super accessible to anyone, like all you need is a $30 program, a $20 keyboard, and a $40 mic and you're good to go. I'm not saying we shouldn't praise artists who play lots of instruments, we absolutely should praise their hard work and dedication, but we shouldn't demonize rap artists for not playing a wide array of instruments and making music using new technology. And there's my rant for the day...
