Does rapping count as singing?

There have been many great rappers throughout history. Some of which include; Eminem, Tupac, Notorious B.I.G., Nas, Jay-z, 50 cent, and many more. I believe that all of these people are great musicians and deserve a lot of respect. Although people may say that they are just saying words and not singing, it takes a lot of skill to do what rappers do. They are not just saying words, in order to make a rap the words need to flow in a rhythm and make sense. In many cases, their raps tell a difficult story that they went through in life. Eminem is a great example of how he puts all of his emotions into each song. Rappers should be considered singers in my opinion and I hope people understand the difficulty of their work.