No matter what genre one prefers, music is a part of daily life that invigorates, shapes mood, reflects the reality, and builds new worlds. In the abundance of genres, rap and pop seem to be completely non-similar as they are based on different concepts, have differing structure, etc. However, being unlike to some extent, rap and pop have some overlapping areas that make them similar.

Pop and rap music are originally the product of two cultures. Rap is the music of African Americans who put in words their reality. Being placed in a less favorable situation than the white part of the American society, the black representatives dared to sing about the things that lay the basis of their culture. Similarly and differently at the same time, pop music is the reflection of the culture as well. White population dominated in this genre of music. Pop singers were popular with broad masses making crazy hosts of fans.

While listening a piece of pop music and a piece of rap music, a person can easily distinguish one from the other. Rap has a great combination of words being witty and poetic in the wordplay that this genre requires. The fast tempo, the serious and sometimes aggressive tone, and the rhyming stanzas make this genre unique and prominent. Pop music has less strict requirements and basically can gain various forms, e.g. be fast or slow, loud or quiet, sharp or mild, etc. Rap music lacks melody and harmony being monotonous and disjunctive.

It is particularly hard to mix up the genres when musical exemplars arise. The Beatles is one of the most prominent pop bands in the world. 2Pac was a significant rap singer in the hip hop culture. These representatives are as different as day and night. However, they succeeded in leaving the mark in the history of music and the history of the American society. The Beatles as well as 2Pac gathered huge concert halls with lots of fans who knew the lyrics from A to Z. They became the icons of style and for certain populations these people determined the lifestyle and points of view. The drama of similarities goes on as John Lennon from The Beatles and Tupac Shakur from 2Pac were shot.

Of course, time made corrections in every genre. In pop music, The Beatles were completely different from Britney Spears who at some period of time became the most famous pop star. The Beatles carried out the mission of social defenders with songs that brought up such topics as war in Vietnam, love, freedom, etc. Britney Spears appealed to teenage girls who cared about appearance, love affairs, and teenage problems. Pink is another representative of pop music whose creative texts reveal the personal dramas, much deeper than Britney Spears can ever offer. Likewise, 2Pac differs from Eminem. First of all, they are of different races. More modern time allowed white Americans to use rap as the mean of sharp criticism of a broader specter of social issues than ones that concerned only the black society. What originally concerned sex, drugs, and wealth versus poverty has grown into the truth that reached broader audience.

Everyone chooses the genre of music that sounds more melodic as well as chooses the lyrics that echoes the set of mind. This means that an individual does not necessarily chooses one genre of music to nod in tune and in agreement. A person hardly can have Frank Sinatra and Public Enemy in the same playlist. However, the time has erased those strict borders that differentiated black people who listened to rap and white singers and bands whose fans were white Americans.