Whips and chains have played an important role in Black American’s oppressive history. In the days of slavery, chains were used to dehumanize us, restrain us and keep us from escaping our oppression, while whips were used to reinforce the oppression and our inferiority as a race. Today, literal whips and chains no longer represent the oppression of Black Americans; they have been replaced with the drive to obtain modern day “whips and chains”, or simply put, material possessions- a new, slightly self-imposed slavery. This is evident in the unifying factor of hip-hop music, which glorifies a lavish lifestyle sometimes at the cost of morals, values, and self worth. Growing up in a predominately Black neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan, I witnessed, …show more content…
Many rappers and hip-hop artists speak of the things that they do, or have done, to fund their dedication to obtaining material possessions. In his song, Kno The Meaning, rapper, Future, details what members of his family did to achieve their idea of success; “My Uncle Wayne was a kingpin…My Uncle Don, that niggas used to rob banks and shit, rest in peace. My granddaddy was a boss, he was a king pin…”. He goes on in the next line to basically say that he inherited his drive, his hustle, and his idea of what success is from his uncles and his grandfather. This line alone speaks of the vicious cycle of negativity that materialism causes. A lot of Black American youth look up to the older generation, as Future did with his uncles and his grandfathers. The younger generation see the older generation’s financial successes through their possession of material things and naturally, the younger generation follows in the older generation’s footsteps. Detroit rapper, Payroll Giovanni, discusses this epidemic as it relates to his personal life in his song My Idols: “My role models were all street niggas, my idols were all drug dealers…He (in reference to his father) was rocking platinum, fuck gold, I want the same …show more content…
While my parents own luxury cars, designer bags and shoes, excessive jewelry, and other depreciating commodities, I cannot name a single asset that they have purchased. They, like many other Black Americans, are suffering from economic misdirection. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a consumer. However, we buy things that satisfy our need to overcome the oppression we have faced throughout history, without any consideration for the financial needs of generations to come in the future. We buy things that we feel give us status today, and these things we buy do not provide any future economic support for generations to come. As rapper J. Cole said in his song Chaining Day, “I ain’t got no investment portfolio, but my black and white diamonds shinin’ like an Oreo.” Our materialism celebrates the idea that we should be living for the moment’s glory. As a result, the community becomes poorer and less dollars circulate through our own community, while other communities become wealthier off of our buying power. As a result, we are stereotyped by other communities as being big spenders. In his song, New Slaves, Kanye West terms this “rich nigga racism.” In this song, which is in general about institutionalized racism, Kanye West discusses the way we as a race have been stereotyped and characterized; “And this is rich nigga racism. This that “come in please buy more. What you want, a Bentley? Fur coat? A diamond
“Black Awakening in Capitalist America”, Robert Allen’s critical analysis of the structure of the U.S.’s capitalist system, and his views of the manner in which it exploits and feeds on the cultures, societies, and economies of less influential peoples to satiate its ever growing series of needs and base desires. From a rhetorical analysis perspective, Allen describes and supports the evidence he sees for the theory of neocolonialism, and what he sees as the black people’s place within an imperial society where the power of white influence reigns supreme. Placing the gains and losses of the black people under his magnifying glass, Allen describes how he sees the ongoing condition of black people as an inevitable occurrence in the spinning cogs of the capitalist machine.
In his essay, “On Being Black and Middle Class” (1988), writer and middle-class black American, Shelby Steele adopts a concerned tone in order to argue that because of the social conflicts that arise pertaining to black heritage and middle class wealth, individuals that fit under both of these statuses are ostracized. Steele proposes that the solution to this ostracization is for people to individualize themselves, and to ‘“move beyond the victim-focused black identity” (611). Steele supports his assertion by using evidence from his own life and incorporating social patterns to his text. To reach his intended audience of middle-class, black people, Steele’s utilizes casual yet, imperative diction.
It is hard for elders, such as the current generation’s parents and grandparents, to give career advice to the youngest, “video-game and music-video” generation (Harper xii). The older generation tells the younger generation to pursuit wealth through legitimate, legal means because so many young black men end up incarcerated for going down the wrong path to money. There is a power struggle in that many poor, young men want to appear like they have money so they spend a lot of money on fancy gold watches or shoes. This power struggle leaves the poor with the appearance of money, when in reality they have nothing to show for it other than some material
In “Delusions of Grandeur” by Henry Louis Gates Jr., Gates discusses a big problem and mental state in black communities. He addresses the fact that the mindset of the black youth is in the gutter. In their eyes the only way to fame and fortune is by being a professional athlete. That mindset is destroying and breaking down the black community because out of every black kid trying to be a professional athlete only one out of million is making it to the professionals. Leaving a sufficient gap in black youth striving to be other professionals such as doctors, lawyers, doctors, government officials, business owners, CEOs, accountants, or bank tellers. Furthermore, it ultimately causes blacks to fill out and settle
These products, these commodities, are placed in places where a majority of African American youth would be/see, “the placement of the product in small stores in African American neighborhoods, the ways in which the can of Pimp Juice looks like a can of beer, and the introduction of sports energy drinks in general all reflect the need to expand consumer markets,” (Collins 2009). Another piece of evidence she provides is the prison system. She details on how black men 's commodified bodies are used as “raw materials” for this industry, “It is very simple- no prisoners, no jobs for all the ancillary industries that service this growth industry. Because prisons express little interest in rehabilitating prisoners, they need a steady supply of bodies,” (Collins 2009). She also writes about how black men who have citizenship rights cannot be be coerced into a low pay job, so they have a limited amount of jobs they could do, so most get trapped into the system that was set up to help fail
In the United States black Americans are disproportionately affected by the perils of poverty, such as frequent acts of violence, drugs, failing school districts, and numerous other crimes against person and property. Consequently, in order to address poverty, and the dangers associated, one has to understand the root of poverty. Mos Def examines the way American business intentionally denigrates the working class to demonstrate the exploitation and social control that continuously decimates the working poor’s hope.
... also influences them to partake in negative activities. "Every film shouldn't have to be about some urban, hip-hop drug thing," (Lee.S) the way that blacks are portrayed in the eye of the media is nine times out of ten in a negative manner, this only adds on to the negative stereotypes that come along with being s African American. Music also affects the black youths close ties to fashion, and the news looks. The youth of today are so caught up if the new fads of today that they don’t even acknowledge or take time to educate themselves on their past, they are ignorant to the rich legacy that their ancestors have left behind. This generations has very little to no education about the past so what will they have to pass on to their children at this rate, if someone doesn’t swoop in and relocate the blacks focus to what’s important our rich legacy will soon disappear.
Hip-Hop: from the live performances to the lyrics this here brought up many thoughts in my head. I attended a concert on April 2016 and several other old school concerts at the Queen Mary, front row VIP area which included; Debbie deb, Cover girls, Vanilla ice and so on. Going to an old school/hip-hop concert the songs and experiences as a whole are different with every time. New school hip-hop is narrative and with this you can receive the same lyrical experience every time, as for the concert the experience is the same as the next. I am not saying that an old school concert isn’t different in its own way but I do think their not so far apart performance wise. Example going to a “Drake” concert is more narrative compared to an old school
In Total Chaos, Jeff Chang references Harry Allen, a hip hop critic and self-proclaimed hip hop activist. Harry Allen compares the hip hop movement to the Big Bang and poses this complex question: “whether hip-hop is, in fact a closed universe-bound to recollapse, ultimately, in a fireball akin to its birth-or an open one, destined to expand forever, until it is cold, dark, and dead” (9). An often heard phase, “hip hop is dead,” refers to the high occurrence of gangster rap in mainstream hip hop. Today’s hip hop regularly features black youths posturing as rich thugs and indulging in expensive merchandise. The “hip hop is dead” perspective is based on the belief that hip hop was destined to become the model of youth resistance and social change. However, its political ambitions have yet to emerge, thus giving rise to hip hops’ criticisms. This essay will examine the past and present of hip hop in o...
In today’s world, music is played just about everywhere around the world. There is not many days that go by that you don’t hear some type of music. Those music’s can be broken down into their own sub categories and with that they can become into a subculture that people belong to or just claim to be a part of. To explain it more a subculture is defined as a cultural group within a culture, that often has beliefs or interest that is apart from those of the main culture itself. Subcultures are often made so that those who are actively participating within them can be set apart from those of other groups. They feel the need to establish their own ideas, traditions, languages, and criteria to form something that is their own and that makes them different from anything else. That can also cause for conclusions to be made up in the form of stereotypes that can sometimes be
This essay will explore authenticity in hip hop and if it matters in hip hop in the 21st century Definitions of authenticity in regards to hip hop.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is a professor in the department of African and African American Studies at Harvard University and author of the essay “Delusions of Grandeur.” The statement that the author is trying to convey in this essay is that African American youth need to be educated on the fact that sports is not the only way to become successful in life. Professor Gates states that “too many African American youngsters still believe that they have a much better chance of becoming another Magic Johnson or Michael Jordan...” growing up in a low income, borderline poverty stricken neighborhood, I know first-hand about those dreams and aspirations. Growing up, the only way it seemed to get out of our neighborhood was to either become a rapper, or a sports star because that is all that is shown on television and glorified.
Music has been prevalent in America since before its foundings. From the sounds of the Indians to the music of the Pilgrims there has always been some tone of music in America. In this paper we will look at a newer form of music known as hip hop or rap, although hip hop does not have to have a rap chorus in it to be considered hip hop. Hip hop originated in the Bronx of New York City by African American kids in the 1970’s. Hip hop is a combination of many of the well known genres including but not limited to: Funk, Disco, R&B, Jazz, and Rock. Also, poetry was an influence as well.
Because sometimes you just feel tired, feel weak, and when you feel weak, you feel like you wanna just give up. But you gotta search within you, you gotta find that inner strength And just pull that shit out of you and get that motivation to not give up And not be a quitter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face and collapse. B/W Intro: Yo left, yo left, yo left, yo left, yo left, yo left, yo left, yo left, yo left, yo left, yo left, yo left, yo left, yo left, yo left, y [Verse #1:] Till I collapse I’m spilling these raps long as you feel 'em Till the day that I drop you'll never say that I'm not killing them 'Cause when I am not then I'ma stop penning 'em
Something that I am fairly sure everyone has an opinion on is music. I have yet to meet a person who had to preference to music; everyone has something that they like to listen to. Lately for me that music has been hip-hop.