Metal takes more skill than Rap

As my opponent is both Pro and instigator of this debate, it is his responsibility to prove the resolution with supporting evidence and my job as Con to refute it. I am not trying to shed my own share of the burden of proof and I will present some arguments in this opening round but my opponent will need to make some points of his own, rather than just responding to mine. Pro: "I am here to argue that metal and all of it's sub-genres takes more skill than rap and all of it's sub-genres. " To negate the resolution, I need to prove that "rap" takes either more, OR an equal amount of skill to compose, produce and perform than metal. ___________________ Pro hasn't clearly defined metal or rap but I will assume that he isn't intending to debate the skill requirements of casting steel vs. those of striking a table with one's knuckles and that this is a musical debate. I would like a clearer definition from my opponent of what "metal and all of it's sub-genres" applies to but in the meantime, I will provide my own interpretation of "rap and all it's sub-genres". "Rap is something you do, Hip-Hop is something you live" - KRS One. . http://www.zulunation.com... '(To) rap' is a verb but 'rap music' is the musical expression of hip hop culture . http://en.wikipedia.org... and is more correctly titled as 'hip hop music'. . http://en.wikipedia.org... It is clear from the "all of it's sub-genres" stipulation that this is intended to be a wide range of music, so to clarify; we are talking about hip hop music, including the arts of turntablism and hip hop production (but not the visual/athletic arts of graf and breaking) rather than just the art of rapping. . http://en.wikipedia.org... Also, we are talking about old skool and underground hip hop as well as the commercial rap played on pop radio. _________ Pro: "As a avid listener of all music and literally all music I feel I have a better opinion on this than others do. " My opponent clearly exaggerates wildly here as it would be a physical impossibility for anyone to listen to "literally all music". . http://www.discogs.com... Discogs lists 1,741,335 music releases, many of them full length albums and I have strong doubts that my opponent has listened to all of this music, let alone "all music". Pro's assertion that because he listens to a wide range of music he has "a better opinion on this than others do. " seems naive. Opinions are by definition subjective and most people are of the opinion that their own opinion is correct. I think there is a fair chance that I listen to an even wider range of music than my opponent but I'm not going to suggest that this automatically makes my opinion better than his. _________ My contentions: 1. Lyrics: It requires more skill to write quality lyrics for a hip hop song than to write quality lyrics for a metal song. In hip hop the vocals are generally the focus and because the words are being rapped rather than being sung, the meaning of the lyrics takes precedence. In metal the lyrics are usually not the listeners main focus and in much screamo metal, the words are unintelligible and the vocal performance itself becomes more important than the lyrics. I'm not denying the fact that there are metal songs with great lyrics and hip hop tunes with crap lyrics. The point is that a metal song can still be great if the lyrics are simple, nonsensical or even forsaken entirely for roars and screams. A rap song will always be judged for it's lyrics so the quality benchmark is higher and requires greater writing skill. For hip hop lyrics to be effective they also need to contain complex rhyming patterns that are not necessary in metal, they require greater rhythmic consistency than metal lyrics because when rapping, the voice becomes a lead rhythm instrument. They also almost invariably contain more actual words, because the lyrics are usually delivered at a quicker pace and verse lengths are normally longer. Rappers are also rated for their poetic skills with metaphors and wordplay in a manner that is less associated with the directness of metal. For reference, I have provided some sample hip hop lyrics and metal lyrics. Comparison will back up my statements above. . http://www.absolutelyrics.com... . http://www.elyrics.net... . http://www.lyrics007.com... . http://www.darklyrics.com... . http://www.lyricsfreak.com... . http://www.darklyrics.com... 2. Manual dexterity. An important aspect of hip hop music is the DJ's turntablism. . http://en.wikipedia.org... I believe quality turntablism requires greater manual dexterity and coordination than any standard musical aspect of metal and that it requires a greater volume of hours spent practising in order to acquire this skill to a high enough standard, than would be needed to play most metal compositions on any instrument. I believe that the average person with basic rhythm, an interest in learning and a decent teacher could learn to play one classic metal riff (not solo) on the guitar or one metal bassline or a backbeat on the drums within two weeks maximum. I taught my five year-old daughter (now 6) to play a straight beat on the drums within ten minutes (she never practices but she can still do it now). Performing a classic four finger crab scratch ttp://en. wikipedia. org. .. (scratch) or a basic beat juggling routine . http://en.wikipedia.org... on demand would almost certainly take several months of practice. Note that I am merely comparing specific performance phrases rather than any idea of mastering your instrument or perfecting your craft because I believe that all musical disciplines are equally demanding in that respect. __________ I'll hand over to my opponent now, really looking forward to his arguments. Thanks. Con.