I blame Eminem.

Prior to his sampling of Dido on his 2000 track Stan, I would have assigned Rap to the domain of angry disenfranchised African Americans like Iced Tea, Tupac Shakur or Snoop Doggy Dog. Now it would seem that most of the Top 40 is riddled with Rap Artists.

So when did Rap become mainstream? Is it that Rap Music has become more melodic or have we just broadened our listening tastes?

Basically Rap is a form of rhyming lyrics spoken rhythmically with a musical backdrop and, love him or hate him, Eminem has managed to bring Rap squarely into the Top 40 realm. Witness the turnaround of mainstream commentators who once claimed he and his lyrics would poison our children