American Idol

Everybody who breathes knows that there is a such thing as American Idol. It's gotten so big that other countries have their own "Idol" series, such as Indian Idol, Singapore Idol, and New Zealand Idol (to be fair, it started as Pop Idol in England).

However, it is a singing competition, and outside of rappers singing their own hooks, it's conventionally known that rappers aren't singers. This is true in several ways (or, every way), but it's music, right? Why isn't there a show about rappers wanting to be a rapping idol to "music fans" so they can all blindly buy their CDs, even though nobody knows what they sound like considering all they do is cover songs?

Maybe it's because a lot of people think rap isn't music, or that anybody can rap. YouTube is probably the best way to prove the latter wrong, as you can see tons of footage of kids "rapping" without flow, rhythm, or lyrics that would impress even the youngest of toddlers. Sure, maybe anybody can rap, but anybody can also sing. Sure, some people sing off key or whisper-sing, but they're singing, right? The argument that rap isn't music is so faulty that it makes me explode. Rap is one of the few types of music that evolved from a hobby to an art form, and it has everything necessary in music: musical progression, words/lyrics, "singing," melody, you name it, it's got it.

Maybe it's because having a popular vote rapper attempt to gain a career would be... awful. It takes so much to become a rapper, it takes time to beef up your lyrical skills before you can go out and try to prove yourself. It even takes attempts at proving yourself and failing before you can prove yourself with good results. But to have a show where someone could possibly have just enough skill to rap along with their iPod and win because of their charisma or the bad taste a lot of the voting public has is just not a way to prove yourself. Plus, no real rapper wants to rap someone else's song to make themselves heard. They want to do their own thing, which is where real talent lies.

There's also no way millions upon millions of people will watch a show where a bunch of people rap. Shit, I would watch some girl breaking down "Ladies First" or a bunch of people getting' together for an interpretation of "John Blaze". Maybe a complex verse from "Ice Cream" or a real soloist performance of "Eric B. is President." However, how many people who watch American Idol do you think would even know the original rappers behind those songs?

Shit, I'd actually watch that show. Too bad it will never happen. Or maybe we're well off this way. It's easy to be famous through rap nowadays. Mims had a number 1 hit with "This Is Why I'm Hot," and nobody can say that song is doing hip hop any justice. However, if you have a chance, listen to "Niggas Lie a Lot" by Talib Kweli. It's great. Isn't it amazing what a great MC can do with a wack beat?