In rap, as in most popular lyrics, a very low standard is set for rhyme; but this was not always the case with popular music.
James FentonModernism in other arts brought extreme difficulty. In poetry, the characteristic difficulty imported under the name of modernism was obscurity. But obscurity could just as easily be a quality of metrical as of free verse.
James FentonEnglish poetry begins whenever we decide to say the modern English language begins, and it extends as far as we decide to say that the English language extends.
James FentonFree verse seemed democratic because it offered freedom of access to writers. And those who disdained free verse would always be open to accusations of elitism, mandarinism. Open form was like common ground on which all might graze their cattle - it was not to be closed in by usurping landlords.
James Fenton