As a white dude who has played only one instrument, the clarinet, and taught himself how to rap at 14 (written and off the dome), and done so as a hobby with his buddies I can say I truly believe any human who can talk can learn how to rap.

Of course, I have respect for artists who are really doing the damn thing professionally and are successful at it. It takes a certain level of swagger, style, cultural awareness, and self knowledge to become a successful artist. You have to like performing in front of people and you have to get used to recording in a studio, which I personally found to be more challenging than open mic nights. Plus you have to have the voice and the flow.

As I’ve never seriously pursued the art as a career course, it’s always been a sort of pipe dream of mine since I started. The competition is utterly brutal since anyone can do it, and networking seems to be half the battle. Of course, building a fan base, consistently creating, having the looks and swagger are all important, and as with anything else, you have to grind grind grind no matter what and have a little bit of luck (which only cones if you put in the work).

Now, your explanation showed a lack of respect for the Beatles, queen, etc, and I believe that’s an ignorant take. All the hip hop artists you named are legends no doubt, but it doesn’t make the musical legends of the past any less remarkable. The Beatles played for thousands of hours in local clubs before they got their big break, a lot of artists today can go viral in one shot thanks to the internet.

The standards of main stream hip hop are dying with the rest of pop music and culture as a whole. I can only speak for myself and those I’ve spent time with when I say, mastering an instrument/vocals, assembling a band, and doing all the other things hip hop artists do (perform, record, make videos, network, practice) is no less a challenge than mastering the art of hip hop.

TL;DR Anyone can learn to rap, only a few succeed, other genres have a lot of the same components of hip hop and deserve equal respect. Of course, when talking about music, there are so many factors to discuss and I know I didn’t touch on all of them, nor do I think there’s enough time in the world to do so.