"What is pathetic is the denigration of a cultural expression when it does not conform to a person's preconceptions of what is the "proper" way to make music or to woo someone. I love it when my man rhymes for me. Maybe you want to be wooed with an acoustic guitar. I'll take hip hop. Neither is pathetic."
I am ignorant about rap and almost as ignorant about hip-hop. That is, I only listen to it when my kids do. (We have a 50/50 deal on the car stereo: on the way there, they listen to what they like; and on the way back, I listen to what I like.) I'll have to take your word for the fact that it is not lack of musicianship nor instruments that lies at the foundation of rap...and I stand corrected. My sister is a hip-hop DJ and she assures me that turntabling is tough.
On the other hand your reference to my "denigration of a cultural expression" conflates the notion of "culture" with the reality of "commercial culture." I'm willing to bet that the absence of electricity would have a momentous effect on the music we make and listen to, and on our collective ability to make and appreciate music. For example, if I could no longer listen to music by turning the radio on or playing a CD, I bet I'd be willing to do a lot more to learn an instrument or to support (by my attendance) the work and artistry of those who have bothered to learn. As for the marketing of pop culture, again, there's not question that it has had a great and mostly negative effect on the development of various forms: for example on the predominance of gangsta rap and the worse of the hyper-macho crap that bedevils rap.
Joanna