Rock vs. Rap: Analyzing the Characteristics of Two Music Genres

This essay delves into the contrasting aspects of rock and rap music, examining their distinctive features, origins, and cultural impact. It highlights the role of instruments in rock, the focus on lyrical content in rap, and the evolution of both genres. The essay explores how rock emphasizes musical arrangements, while rap prioritizes the flow of words and storytelling. It also discusses the themes of protest and social commentary common to both genres, while acknowledging their differences in expressing personal and impersonal issues. The paper concludes by emphasizing the unique characteristics of each genre, while noting their shared ability to convey messages of protest and affection through music.

Running head:ROCK VS RAP
ROCK VS RAP
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ROCK VS RAP
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Discussion..................................................................................................................................2
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................4
Venn diagram:............................................................................................................................5
References..................................................................................................................................6

2ROCK VS RAP
Introduction
The paper intends to focus on the major aspects of two musical genres. The essay
does not only concentrate on their distinctive features but also seeks to establish the
demarcating line between the two. Analyzing the backdrop of the emerging point of both the
genres, the essay seeks to understand how the two genres should never be mixed with each
other. The motive of the piece is to show how these two genres can be segregated from one
another. Finally, the objective of the essay is to look for how the intensity of rock music
supported by the students is more engrossing than that of rap in general (Carpentier et al).
Discussion
Rock is that sort of musical genre that needs a lot of authenticity and practice
of years to the blending of the essence from different musical genres. The other genres like
“rock-n roll” was nearly popularized around 1960 among rest of the style and eloquence.
Rock music basically consists of interesting patterns of music created through rhythm guitar,
lead guitar, bass and most of the times drums. The use of keyboard is also vehement in this
genre especially a song by one of the most celebrated rock bands, Pink Floyd namely
Echowhere the audience can see how most of the musical part is arranged by keyboard. Rock
music tends to have a huge experimental practice of incorporating instruments especially that
needs tremendous skill and expertise. The considerable amount of skill is put together to form
this genre.
On the other hand rap is comparatively a newly formed genre. In order to be very
precise rap is not even a genre itself rather it is a part of the greater musical community called
hip-hop. It has to be understood very clearly that rap concentrates mostly on the flow of
words and how the quickly uttered words become the fragments of a collage of a bigger story

3ROCK VS RAP
or a message that is tried to be conveyed through the song (Knobloch-Westerwick et al). The
arrangement of these two genres has a basic difference in the use of instruments. Rock has
extreme use of instruments while rap uses one instrument or so and mostly a track as the
background. In case of rock, one on hand, the quality of the tone that is produced by the
instruments is at the heart of the story generated by rock genre on the other rap does not need
the assistance of any musical instrument to utilize it as a device to progress the story.
Rock expresses its opinion through lyrics that is again backed up by a proper
tune while rap does not have a specific tune which is followed throughout the piece rather a
beat is chosen and the beat continues to play till the piece comes to an end. It is already
mentioned earlier that this is comparatively a new genre because it came into existence
almost tem years after “rock n roll” has reached its summit (Friedlander). Although rock
music has been used for the purpose of forming opinion, protest against war and inhumanity
yet the sole intention of the latter genre is to express the frustration that is being suppressed.
The frustration might not always be personal, it can get generated from political instability,
national insecurity, deprivation, poverty and heinous that are taking place everywhere. Rap is
a language of protest. The way Wilfred Own thought the writing “Futility” might help the
readers understand how vague wars are, the same way has also been adapted by rappers who
think that the songs are the channels through which they can communicate anything to the
world faster and better. Therefore in rock, lyric has been given a little lesser importance than
that of the arrangements while in rap, lyrics is the heart of it. If there is no playing of a reef, it
cannot be a rock song similarly without a good set of lyrics that appear in a loop it cannot
also be justifiably called rap. Usually through rock, impersonal issues are addressed however
in this case, rappers take instances from their own lives and put them in the song and do not
forget to make the audience involved with the authenticity and the originality of the personal
grief and bereavement. It is also certain that when the rap songs get impersonal it sometimes

4ROCK VS RAP
loses the dignity of the language and the raw colloquial form of language is put inside the
songs (Partlett). The purpose of these genres is also slightly different from one another
because when rap tries to merely gather the attention of the audience trying to make them
aware of the sufferings of others, rock music tries to touch the heart of the audience with the
lyrical and musical offerings.
However there are some similarities between rock and rap music. The most
significant of them is similarity in the theme. Rap music is a part of the hip-hop music. Both
the composers of hip-hop music as well as rock music have preferred protest against social
issues like racism; claim for equality, justice, hard times, feminism, Sex, cheating in love, as
their favorite theme. Eventually, the themes of rap music also encompass racism, claim for
equality and justice, feminism, cheating in love, sex. This signifies rock music and also rap as
the part of hip-hop music can be used as protest music.
Conclusion
The paper has rightly identified some distinctive features of the two genres
where one is inclined towards music and instruments as a whole while the other only looks
for the opportunity of making people aware of the pain and grief the world is bearing
everyday. Therefore it can be concluded that even their origin and purpose are diverse they
still have one thing in common and that is creating the language of protest and affection
through music even the rock is preferred more than rap.

5ROCK VS RAP
Venn diagram:

6ROCK VS RAP
References
Carpentier, Francesca Dillman, Silvia Knobloch, and DolfZillmann. "Rock, rap, and
rebellion: Comparisons of traits predicting selective exposure to defiant
music." Personality and individual differences 35.7 (2003): 1643-1655.
Friedlander, Paul. Rock and roll: A social history. Routledge, 2018.
Knobloch-Westerwick, Silvia, Paige Musto, and Katherine Shaw. "Rebellion in the top music
charts: Defiant messages in rap/hip-hop and rock music 1993 and 2003." Journal of
media psychology 20.1 (2008): 15-23.
Partlett, David F. "From Victorian Opera to Rock and Rap: Inducement to Breach of Contract
in the Music Industry." Tul. L. Rev. 66 (1991): 771.