Quick, Before It Melts.

Hip-hop music. It's frightening. Why? It's different. There aren't crescendos, there isn't (guitar/bass/drums-based) instrumentation, and, perhaps most importantly for indie-rock fans, there aren't tons of pasty white boys rocking out in a garage.
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The year is 1954. A man named Elvis Presley is releasing music called 'rock and roll,' much to the disdain of conservative America. Even more, however, to the disdain of people who appreciate 'real music.' This music is not what those with discerning ears appreciate - they appreciate horns and strings played by highly-trained musicians, not guitars played by entertainers.
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Now, I'm not saying that hip-hop music today is the equivalent of rock and roll in the 1950s - I cannot see hip-hop all but removing guitar-based rock music from the world. That said, there are similarities between Elvis' movement and rap music today.
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There Are No Obvious References
Within the scope of traditional rock music, there are no obvious references for hip-hop and, even moreso, it's vocal delivery. It is true that funk and soul can lay claim to many of hip-hop's loop-based beats¹; that some rap acts will make loops based on live guitar/bass-playing; that a lot of today's groups will utilize electronic beats, obviously influenced by Kraftwerk². Still, the connections to these more 'accepted' styles by hip-hop music are no different than the slight connections that Elvis had to country and gospel.

But we're still only talking backbeats - the vocal delivery in hip-hop music (i.e. 'rapping') cannot be attributed to any formerly existing in the music world³. The development/evolution of this style (perhaps the most intimidating aspect of rap music) has been traced quite well (content-wise, at least) at the Wikipedia article on the History of Rap Music. The general idea is that this vocal delivery can be traced to MCs at large funk/soul/disco block parties. The MCs would pick out the beats from popular songs and loop them to extend the funkiest, most danceable part of the song. While the beats repeated, the MCs would talk overtop of them, introducing themselves, talking about the music, etc. As time went on, the MCs triyed to one-up one another, talking with complex rhyme schemes and dissing one another. Socially-concerned poets would later get in on the act, and artists like The Last Poets and Gil Scott-Heron would emerge.
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It Differs Musically
This facet is very similar to the one before, but has less to do with what hip-hop draws upon and more to do with just how different it is from the other genres out there. Just as rock and roll was a step away from the complexity of orchestral music, rap music is one further step away. Not down, mind you, but away.

There is nothing wrong with the fact that hip-hop music doesn't really incoporate crashing crescendos or frequent, dynamic time changes - this is just a part of the style. That said, it is part of what makes rap music quite difficult for people to appreciate and part of why hip-hop will not be overtaking rock music as quickly as rock music was able to completely overtake every other genre (but give it a few years - we're already halfway there). People are used to the standard sound of guitar-bass-drums and many who are refuse to accept the radical idea of hip-hop music and its very repititive style - just as many people were used to horns and strings, as I said before, not guitars, back in the 1950s.
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For the Standard Indie-Rock Fan, It's Hard to Relate To
Not to be overly general, but I've been to plenty of indie rock concerts, and I know which demographic indie-rock appeals most to - a demographic that cannot necessarily relate to the feelings of many rap artists out there. Considering just how personal rap music is, this makes hip-hop something very difficult to appreciate, especially when you are already unimpressed by its departure from your preferred musical stylings.
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For the next few weeks, I'm going to take a look at some important hip-hop acts. We'll start with some acts I feel are easy for the standard indie fan to relate to, then we'll look at acts that make points 1 & 2 less of a problem, even if they are tougher to relate to. After that, though, it's straight out Public Enemy shit.


¹Curtis Mayfield's exuberant 'Move on Up' is sampled in Kanye West's 'Touch the Sky' from Late Registration.

Curtis Mayfield "Move On Up"

²Afrika Bambaataa utilized the rhythm section of Kraftwerk's title track from Trans-Europe Express on his dancefloor monster of a cut, 'Planet Rock.'

Afrika Bambaataa "Planet Rock (12" Version)"

³If the vocal delivery is such a problem, have a listen to Radiohead's 'A Wolf at the Door' off of Hail to the Thief and tell me how different that is from the style of hip-hop.

Radiohead "A Wolf at the Door"