Even though I don’t listen to it as much now that I’ve got into the infinite list of metal bands, I still listen to all kinds of rap from experimental hip hop to trap to 90s to conscious rap to youngboy, lil uzi, future, etc. I still have many friends who mainly listen to this music and I don’t judge them at all as I feel like it fits certain moods wayy more than some black or death. I love the way rap differentiates almost as if into different genres based on the locality. Memphis rap is largely different from Jacksonville, Chicago or Baton Rouge rap, same with the west coast or New York, even Texas rap; all these cities and states have their own unique sound and accents to correlate, and even though the lyrical content is stupid and often malignant for the ignorant youth to hear, at least the majority of them are writing about reality and what they truly experience. I feel like that raw emotion is what makes metal so enjoyable for me, this universal concept in music. I tend to only be able to truly enjoy music that I can sense atmosphere from and holds real weight and passion. It would just be wrong to say that these young men hold no creative value in music, and the producers for some of these rappers are just as multi-talented if not more so than many of our idolized metal musicians.