Art & Creativity Quote by Bette Midler

Midler’s line pretends to grant rap its flowers, then yanks the vase away. “Rap is poetry set to music” reads like the polite, culturally approved concession - a way of signaling she’s not ignorant, not reflexively dismissive. Then comes the hard turn: “But to me it’s like a jackhammer.” That metaphor isn’t just “loud.” It’s industrial, relentless, invasive: the sound of construction outside your window, the kind that makes conversation impossible and turns your body into a tense instrument. She’s describing a physical assault more than an aesthetic objection.

The intent is defensive and personal - “to me” is a hedge, a little legal disclaimer. Yet the subtext is bigger than individual taste. Calling rap a jackhammer taps into a long tradition of framing Black urban music as noise, disruption, and threat rather than craft. It’s a familiar move in culture wars: acknowledge the form’s legitimacy on paper, then treat its actual sound and presence as something that damages the peace.

Context matters because Midler is an older, mainstream showbiz figure shaped by an era where “good music” was coded as melodic, theatrical, and legible to the adult consumer. Rap, built on repetition, percussive emphasis, and confrontational realism, can feel like it’s refusing the audience’s comfort. Her metaphor accidentally reveals rap’s power: it doesn’t ask politely to be liked. It breaks ground, whether the neighborhood asked for renovations or not.