In 2012, NPR asked online readers to name their musical “blindspots,” genres that they couldn’t comprehend. The two most common answers make an amusing couple: opera and rap.

And you know what? It actually makes a lot of sense! Opera and rap can be difficult genres of music to understand because they often fall outside the mainstream of popular music.

 

^{It’s always important to keep an open mind.}

Last September, the hip-hop/classical group Thee Phantom and the Illharmonic Orchestra performed at Bates Recital Hall here in Austin, Texas. The performance featured a live DJ, a full orchestral ensemble, and rap vocals. Their sold-out September performance prompted a return to Bates Recital Hall on March 18th. Yet again, the show sold out well in advance.

This fusion of classical and hip-hop may seem apropos of nothing, but not only have there been intersections between hip-hop and classical for years, these projects have been pretty successful. Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw has recently started collaborating with noted modern composer Kanye West. Shaw was even a featured artist for one of her and West’s collaborations, a remix of the 2008 single "Say You Will."
 

^{Music on Main Staff. http://www.musiconmain.ca. Accessed March 8, 2017.}
_{Caroline Shaw co-wrote and co-produced songs on West’s 2016 album The Life of Pablo.}

Perhaps the biggest hip-hop-fusion hit in the past few years was with the Broadway show Hamilton, which will be coming to Austin in 2018. This fictional retelling of one of America’s founding fathers is “sung” largely in rap and has become a cross-genre success. Hamilton in particular showcases the programmatic and even operatic aspects of rap music. With the sung-through format of the play and the dynamic nature of the narrative, Hamilton is a prime example of how rap is uniquely suited to long-form storytelling.
 

Of all the musical sub-genres that make up hip-hop, rap is where interactions between classical and hip-hop most often occur. This has become more frequent with the continuing trend of program-based music from artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, and J. Cole.

These “rap concept albums,” much like programmatic music, create personal narratives through precisely structured compositions that revolve around a central idea. Combined with rap’s reinvigorated interest in live musicianship (such as with strings, horns, and piano), this new focus is resulting in music that is surprisingly similar in structure to classical works.

In the 19th century, programmatic music was the favorite of composers like Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. The two fiercely championed program music as it faced rejection from the musical elite who thought music should separate itself from the often mundane human perspective. Progressives like Liszt and Wagner believed music could only achieve its true potential by merging with other arts and genres, and that the human perspective was what ultimately made music enjoyable and relatable.
 

^{Portrait of Franz Liszt. Unknown painter (19th century). intofineart.com. Accessed March 13, 2017}
_{In 1882, as part of his Gesammelte Schriften, Liszt wrote that musical considerations like theory should be subordinate to poetic ideas.}

Today, the legacy of program music continues in the classical world and in hip-hop as well. Although the differences between classical and hip-hop are apparent, it’s important to remember that at the center of all these genres are musicians. Musicians that, no matter the century, strive to develop and expand their art form. The programmatic expansion of rap echoes that idea. Though Liszt and Wagner are unquestionably part of the classical lexicon, one could argue that they have more in common ideologically with rap artists like J. Cole than they do with other classical composers.
 

^{J. Cole Nation. www.twitter.com. Accessed March 8, 2017}
_{During the production of his 2016 album 4 Your Eyez Only, J. Cole weighed the pros and cons of compositions based on music theory, reminiscent of Liszt’s 1882 declaration.}

As with any classical suite or symphony, the order of songs in a rap-concept album is imperative in the relaying of the overarching message. J. Cole’s concept album 4 Your Eyez Only tells the story of a young man, who after settling down and becoming a father senses that he’ll soon be murdered. The protagonist’s character is established in the first tracks in the album, where he describes feeling trapped by the cyclical nature of his detrimental environment.

These ideas are soon challenged when the protagonist falls in love and begins to cherish life in a new way like in the song “She’s Mine, Pt. 1.” The album gains a more hopeful and even comedic tone with the following tracks “Change” and “Foldin Clothes.” The melody, instrumentation, and lyrics of “She’s Mine, Pt. 1” return in “She’s Mine, Pt. 2.”  The lyrics are put in a similar but different context as the protagonist describes his newfound purpose in life when meeting his newborn daughter, bringing renewed meaning to the repeated lyric "I’m in love for the first time."
 

Without careful attention to song order and lyrics, the flow and ideas of a rap concept album can be lost or diluted. Childish Gambino’s “3005,” from his album Because the Internet (2013) is a song that can be easily misinterpreted in this way. Alone, it seems like a simple love song with a catchy hook, but it actually represents a traumatic moment of self-reflection in the broader context of the album. At this point in the album, the protagonist is starting to feel dissatisfaction with the success he’s achieved from fleeting internet fame. In “3005,” the protagonist experiences a revelation about these delusions of grandeur, and pleads for help to feel less alone.
 

Outside of the thematic similarities of program music and rap concept albums, there are other examples of artists who are sonically blending the styles and rhythms of hip-hop and classical. The violin duo Black Violin applies classically trained skill at the violin to a modern hip-hop mentality. Composer and classical violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain also applies this fusion of styles with his ensemble DBR & THE MISSION, sporting a school of violin technique he has titled “Dred Violin.” There’s also Paul Miller (aka DJ Spooky), who has collaborated with Ballet Austin and contributed to the Mozart tribute performance Mozart Requiem Undead.
 

_{Gustafson, Kyle. www.washingtonpost.com. Accessed March 13, 2017.
Rapper Kendrick Lamar playing his single “These Walls” alongside the National Symphony Orchestra in 2015.}

Diversity of sound is indispensable in creating a more innovative--and cooler sounding-- future for everyone. Goodness knows music students won’t be able to stand another hundred years of Bach prelude and fugue analysis. At the end of the day, the goal of great composers is to produce compelling music. NPR’s survey respondents can keep on scratching their heads; we’ll be busy listening to J. Cole’s next rap opera.