Is Rap/Hip-Hop the closest to what Rock n' Roll was many years ago ....

[shotgun_blue]

I can see rap's downfall being that lots of the lyrics all seem to be about making tons of money and shagging birds which is fine but I can see people getting very tired of it! Find most of the big name rappers very lazy or incompetent when it comes to lyrics or just plain shallow-like cramming in there name every 2 seconds! whats that all about?! Please excuse my generalisation and i'm sure theres many rap artists that have lyrical talent but I just dont know many!

[gilld1]

True, Shotgun, much like how the 80s hair scene seemed to always be singing about the Sunset strip, coke, whores and their Harleys. 

Check out Kanye West or Common for some intelli-rap.

[Mattman]

I think another reason why rap is so popular right now is because you can dance to it.  Rock 'n' roll was originally music that was made for dancing, but as it got more intellectual and then heavier you heard it less when you went out for a night on the town.  I personally can dance more easily to rock than rap (I'm so white), but I do think that this is one explanation for rap's popularity.  When people critique hip-hop for singing mainly about money, bitches, cars and stuff like that, they're forgetting that these lyrical themes are exactly what makes it so suitable for parties.  When I'm partying I like to rock out to old school hard rock like Van Halen or Motley Crue, precisely because they sang about drinking, sex and partying.  When rock bands embraced angst in the 90s, they left behind the sense of fun that was what rock was originally all about.

[shotgun_blue]

I think another reason why rap is so popular right now is because you can dance to it. Rock 'n' roll was originally music that was made for dancing, but as it got more intellectual and then heavier you heard it less when you went out for a night on the town. I personally can dance more easily to rock than rap (I'm so white), but I do think that this is one explanation for rap's popularity. When people critique hip-hop for singing mainly about money, bitches, cars and stuff like that, they're forgetting that these lyrical themes are exactly what makes it so suitable for parties. When I'm partying I like to rock out to old school hard rock like Van Halen or Motley Crue, precisely because they sang about drinking, sex and partying. When rock bands embraced angst in the 90s, they left behind the sense of fun that was what rock was originally all about.

yeah youve got a point mattman

[Doc Emmett Brown]

I think another reason why rap is so popular right now is because you can dance to it.  Rock 'n' roll was originally music that was made for dancing, but as it got more intellectual and then heavier you heard it less when you went out for a night on the town. 

Arent you forgetting the new crop of bands like The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, etc?  IMO, you can dance to their music. 

Whereas the Crue combined the badboy image with the danceable tunes with the great guitar sound, none of the new bands I've heard incorporate all of these RNR characteristics.  It's like each of these bands is missing a piece of the puzzle.

Rap hasn't replaced rock at all

That is the entire premise of this thread... the original poster asserted that rap has usurped many of the characteristics that were once associated with rock, and hence became more popular.   Judging by the replies, most seem to agree with that.