People don’t just listen to music nowadays;  they rely on it to project their feelings and proclaim their identities.

Menacing, toughness-projecting rap music is almost ideally suited to anyone who feels small and insignificant, especially if he also finds his manhood devalued.  The fact that it involves shouting rather than singing makes it a more appropriate way to vent. (How many guys who feel their manhood questioned are going to respond by singing a pretty, tuneful little ditty?)

The lack of a tune also makes rap feel more accessible—i.e., something that every listener feels he might be able to do himself, as opposed to tuneful music, which requires the kind of musical ear that only a small subset of people have.  In a world where people are angry about feeling small and insignificant, it is better not to impose additional hurdles that can compound people’s feelings of inadequacy.

Rap is by no means the only musical style people adopt today as an identity statement.  Heavy metal, for example, is another popular way to project toughness and rage.

For the less alienated and angry, country may offer a more effective means of self-definition.  Country is a great way to add color and flair to a lower-middle class identity that might otherwise come across mainly as dull.