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Are we to believe that rap is on the same footing as Beethoven or Gershwin? How do you listen to the nuances in Snoop Dog or Flavor Flav? Would you spend $10000 on a system to hear the intonation on Yo Yo Yo? Oh, please!

Rock and Jazz is my music of choice. Virtually never listen to Classical, Rap or Hip-Hop

Some rap just sounds awesome on a decent stereo amp/speakers. All the show-pony stuff is just trash (Kanye West etc)

No, no and no. Just...make...it...stahhhhhhp!

it's a shame that they have to sample music and don't have a real band behind them.

I do, indeed. My favourites are Dead Prez, Dr Dre, 50 Cent, and the Gasoline compilations. The Streets and Plan B are pretty awesome, too.

I mean, come on?? I'm only 30 and I did ride the bus to school in the '80s and '90s.

The only genres left are in between. Start with The Roots, you'll never regret it.

Yes I do. Not a lot of it appeals to me, but 'Stay Human' by Spearhead, for instance, is a good example of the better part of the genre. Once you've skipped the rather tiresome "radio insert" tracks, there are some fine songs there.

Sorry, but I still subscribe to the theory that says "rap music" begins with a silent "C." Intellectually, I know that there is sometimes a great deal of skill/talent in the words but when did anyone want to eat gourmet food after it had been wrapped (pun intended) in used toilet paper.

Never, never, never!

Granted, I'm only an aspiring audiophile, but I do enjoy the hip-hop. The fast synchronised rapping of Jurassic 5, or the complex arrangements of Ozomatli, or the dynamic range of N.E.R.D. All demand a lot from your system.

Like Dentist Drills Better!

Stereotype confirmed for this respondent. The word "never" seems horribly inadequate. Right up there with waterboarding and a day spent shopping with the wife on my personal torture list.

Are you kidding? On an LP? Please.

Music is like beer. I can enjoy most but I do have my preferences.

There's more to rap/hip hop than 50 Cent and Xzibit out there. Some French hip-hop, for example has high production values and thoughtful lyrics, with nary an F-word in sight.

I grew up with hip-hop / rap of the beginning of '90s (like The Tribe Called Quest, De la Soul, Public Enemy, Ice-T, MC Solaar, Guru, etc) and I, after being away for a while, actually rediscover them. I do find some of the music of the streets linked to social protest / unrest as having immense power. One should not exclude any genre from listening.

Very rarely. Like when a hip-hop song appears on another disc I'm listening to (Organ-ized, an old Brian Eno disc, etc...). No apologies. It's just not my thing.

It's not music! It's a bunch of goofs talking garbage.

Yep, some mainstream stuff like Jay-Z, Eminem, some timeless genius stuff like Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique & De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising and some cool homegrown stuff like Roots Manuva & your own E-LP.

Hell yes.

Gorrillaz. Is that rap? Or British techno fusion rap?

Most of it is too negative to keep my interest. However, like almost anything there are some things that catch my ear. I have even purchased some. A lot of it is really good for dance party music. I have been demonstrating how it can sound to some of the neighborhood people. I feel an obligation after having to listen to the rolling distortion boxes they drive.

Kids today with the crap they listen to! Public Enemy and Run-DMC, now that's hip-hop! Actually I do like the old-school stuff. Public Enemy was terrific, NWA and Dr Dre was as raw and powerful as anything done since -and so much more sincere. Then the classics like Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Flash, and Afrika Bambadda were all terrific. Eminem's first three albums were outstanding, but he lost it with fame. I like this stuff in small doses, and more in the car or in the gym. Not so much for critical listening. However, some of it is really brilliant.

I don't consider rap to be music. I equate it with beat poetry from the fifties.

Almost never mainstream hip-hop, but yes to the underground "jointz."

How many ways can you say never? Not in my house, not on the radio in my car, if I am at your house and rap or hip-hop comes on I'm leaving, and if I'm in your car, I'm screaming until it stops or you change the station.

Eminem!

Are you kidding? I listen to music, not bad rhyming.