XXXTENTACION is a very explicit rapper and songwriter who has been on the come up faster than most artists today. His recent music video “Look At Me!” has recently sparked some outrage from social media sources and viewers. The original song is typical of what the rapper usually does, promoting profane content. His audience was expecting the new music video to match the song and preparing themselves for a vulgar video. However, this nineteen-year-old rapper used his platform on social media to clickbait his followers and attempt to spread awareness about the faults in our society, especially in the black community. His five and a half minute video only show cases his original song for roughly fifty seconds until it transforms into a video …show more content…
The first song doesn’t have a meaningful purpose other than to clickbait listeners. The purpose of the second song is to bring up inequalities and lost and forgotten about matters back into view of his audience. The camera pans for the viewers to see three men, one of them being X, hung in gold chains. It then goes into the first tragedy being the death of Emmitt Till followed by the stories of Philando Castile, Rodney King, Heather Heyer, and the Ferguson riots. At the end of the video, X gives a speech about equity and equality. He states “these things [the events leading up to the deaths of Emmitt, Rodney, Heather, Philando, and the Ferguson riots] never come to or remotely remain in the public eye. And the youth is never inspired to take a stand to make a difference. So I will speak for them. The youth, that is, the ones full of innocence.” X does exactly this, speak up for the youth and bring up circumstances that were lost in the media back to the surface through the lyrics of the song “Riot.” He uses amplification to do so; the repetition of a word or expression to convey his message primarily focusing on peace and
In his most recent album, Kanye West raps, “Now if I fuck this model/ And she just bleached her asshole/ And I get bleach on my T-shirt/ I 'mma feel like an asshole.” He suggests that it is the girl’s fault for getting bleach on his tee shirt, which she only did to make herself more sexually appealing. This misogyny in hip-hop culture is recognized to bring about problems. For instance, the women around these rappers believe they can only do well in life if they submit themselves to the men and allow themselves to be cared for in exchange for physical pleasure. In her essay, “From Fly-Girls to Bitches and Hoes”, Joan Morgan argues that the same rap music that dehumanizes women can be a powerful platform for gender equality if implemented correctly.
He points out that “When I dance”, I burse people to fight. Because black men are under the spotlight and things related to them attracts peoples’ attentions. Then he writes, “as I cross/ the street unlooking.” This shows the change in his attitude that he careless about causing another disruption. In this line, “I know all/ a movie needs/ is me/…”, he portrays himself causing troubles as most people presumed and wanting to be at the center of attention.
As someone whose job it is to write about music, their analysis and experience should be taken into account among other things. He brings this up in the article to point to the fact that he had to look back on other points like this in history to see how a song like this could perform so well and consistently. Surprisingly, for someone who delves into number one hits regularly, there was not a time that paralleled Gambino’s situation. This strengthens his argument for the “unprecedented” territory. He goes on to interpret the data and finds even more extraordinary feats, including the fact that the video is one of the main reasons for its number one spot. However, while the video got it to number one, it is streams without the video that are keeping it there, Molanphy notes. Along with the data, he also looks into the song and picks apart parts which he feels resonates with listeners. These include the triple entendres and the melodies featured (but uncredited) artists, such as Young Thug, provide. By addressing these topics, the author's credibility increases and allows more latitude to be given when making his
An identity crisis is defined as a period, at which an individual struggles with one's own sense of self. I believe that everyone goes through such a crisis at one point or another; however, I do not feel it is correct to say, everyone goes through this type of crisis entering their first year of college. Now, I am not say that someone can’t have an identity crisis entering college for the first time, for is was made clear in the essay, that some people can indeed, have a sudden realization of either finding or losing one’s self in college. In turn, it is fair to say that most people do develop a sort of crisis when embarking in the college life. It's a time in your life when you experience the world in a new light—and usually on your own.
In the article from ABC news we witness how Trayvon Martin’s death triggered an uprising particularly from the Black community on how the death of Trayvon Martin and the advocating of justice for his death also hit an all-time high. Due to this fact the article also portrayed his family as leaders of this movement that not only encouraged justice for their son but also the protection of the community. The article showed both of Martin’s parents speak for a brief time and in that your heart went out to them despite the speculations of Martin’s death. Due to the high publicity of the case the claims makers of the case
During the 2015 BET Awards, Lamar performed the song on top of a police car, solidifying the song’s purpose as a protest against police authority and brutality. The next day Fox 5 News aired a segment on the performance and in the editing of the video they highlighted certain lyrics such as: “We hate po-po, wanna kill us dead in the streets fo sho’; My gun might blow” leaving out other crucial lyrics and context to understanding the song. This gave the impression that maybe Lamar’s “gun” would kill a police officer, when in fact he’s talking about killing himself. One of the anchors described Lamar’s performance as “damaging to young African-Americans” and “giving exactly the wrong message.” Lamar responded to the comments in another interview by saying “Hip-Hop is not the problem. “Our reality” is the problem of the situation. This is our music.” He explains that he was rapping about “hope” not “violence.” The messages he sends through hope are within God and using God as a source of relief and belief that eventually, everything will be alright. Lamar insists in the interview that the album is about hope, and that you cannot deny that there are instances of social injustice that or that the judicial system is racially biased. But at the end of the day you cannot take away their hopes and privilege that “we gon’ be
Look Who’s Talking is a comedy, family, and romance film that features Bruce Willis, who plays the voice of Mollie’s son Mikey as the main character, John Travolta as James, Kristie Alley as Mollie, and George Segal as Albert, the dishonest father of Mikey. Look Who’s Talking is a film related to the physical development in infancy. Mikey uses his inner voice to express how he feels and observes life as a baby. This film is an outlook on how most babies who cannot express themselves vocally might view and perceive society. There are several developmental theories and influences of society and culture that are underlined psychological issues related to the film.
For a long time, the popular genre of hip-hop has been criticized for its frequent vulgarity; whether it be its lyrical content, its possible contribution to a violent subculture, its degradation of women, or its praise for hypermasculinity. Out of all of these criticisms, the one characteristic of hip-hip music that has arguably been the most prominent and commonly discussed is its negative and sexual portrayal of women, particularly African American women. In both lyrics and music videos, African American women in much of hip-hop music are sexually objectified in that they are viewed exclusively as a thing to be used sexually by men. Other qualities such as intellect, independence, and most importantly, respect of women are made subordinate. As hip-hop music continues to degrade women in such a way, much opposition and backlash has intensified. An example of such objection was present in the well-known case that occurred at Spelman College, a historically black institution for women, in 2004 when students protested rapper Nelly’s presence on their campus for a bone marrow drive soon after his controversial music video “Tip Drill” was released.
Within the booming business that has become the rap world, certain musical themes and issues are more prevalent than most. In addition to such topics as drugs, alcohol and police brutality, a dominant theme within rap music is the denigration and derision of women. Indeed, as the above lyrics to Akinyele's song “Put It in your Mouth” illustrate, many male rappers use violent and misogynistic lyrics to create an image of women that is both degrading and disgusting. The graphic and shocking nature of this particular type of rap causes it to be widely publicized, and thus it serves as a definition of rap for a majority of people today. However, there are a number of female artists within the rap music genre spreading messages of female empowerment and respect, not denigration. These female artists, often ignored due to the hype surrounding their male counterparts, use their lyrics to create raps which focus on life as women; dealing with issues of love, power, and discrimination. The face of women in rap culture is both multi-faceted and contradictory.
Music, in some cases, can be a reflection of life experiences. Each genre has a different set of emotions and reactions felt by the listener. Rap music’s popularity has grown dramatically over the past decade. However, it has been the center of controversy regarding promoting violence in society. While some of its mainstream content can be rather explicit, rap lyrics altogether do not promote violence. Instead; they endorse positive messages, provide social commentary, and detail everyday life in urban cities.
While, other music genres such as rock and country are known to depict women in subordinate roles, rap is seen to do this in a more sexually explicit and graphic way. (Kurbin & Weitzen. Vol. 1. Pg. 3.) For instance, the rap song U.O.E.N.O, Rick Ross raps the lyrics “put molly all in her champagne/she ain’t even know it. /I took her home and I enjoyed that/ She ain’t even know it.” What’s startling in all these cases is that those involved refuse to see the problem or even the impact it might have on viewers. As Kate Harding perfectly sums up “The entertainment we consume both reflects and reifies the rape myths we cherish. We owe it to ourselves to take it seriously and expect better.” (179.) Unfortunately, there are those, opponents to rape culture, who seemingly do not take it seriously and see the claims of rape culture as exaggerated
Music reflects the times. In the 60's and 70's, musicians preached peace and empathy towards the human race. In the 80's music was a form of rebellion. Today, music has manifested itself into many different forms, one being "hip hop" more commonly known as "rap". In the early 80's, rap was about break-dancing and graffiti. Now, as we approach the year 2000, hip hop has become the most listened-to form of music nation-wide and many rap artists have adopted the new title of "pop-artists", pop. meaning "popular culture". A hip hop single recently took the number 1 spot on the Billboard charts for most sales recorded. The problem here is the message many rappers are telling the world. From the beginning, rappers have flaunted their money with the expensive cars seen in their videos and the thick gold chains they wear in public, not to mention the numerous references made to wealth in their lyrics. However, many rappers are telling tales of violence and wealth as one. In fact, there are more than 10 hip hop songs actually entitled "Crime Pays". In the chart topping single, "Money, Power, Respect", Yonkers based rapper DMX raps "hit him up/ split him up/ shut him up/ then watch him come/ get him up…CLICK, step back like I did work", portraying a beating, then murder, the "CLICK" being the sound made by the trigger of a gun. The chorus then goes on to proclaim "Money, Power, Respect,...
This eight-minute song by Macklemore holds a substantial amount of content which is evident in his verses. Throughout the song there’re many lines which are meaningful but towards the end he says, “If I 'm aware of my privilege and do nothing at all, I don 't know/Hip-hop has always been political, yes/It 's the reason why this music connects/So what the fuck has happened to my voice if I stay silent when black people are dying/Then I 'm trying to be politically correct?” (Lines 82-88). Going back to what hip-hop originally means, Macklemore expresses the idea that hip-hop is closely linked wit the black community and it has always been the genre of music known for addressing issues around the world, especially in urban neighborhoods. Macklemore admits that although he’s white he is connected with the black community because of his ties within hip-hop, therefore he refuses to sugar coat his lyrics simply because it might be addressing him as well. In this verse Macklemore is also expressing the idea that if he is truly trying to be politically correct, he needs to honestly explain the racial issues or he’ll just be part of the problem. “White privilege is a set of advantages and/or immunities that white people benefit from on a daily basis beyond those common to all others. White privilege can exist without white people 's conscious knowledge of its presence and
Dixon, Travis L., TaKeshia Brooks. “Rap Music and Rap Audiences: Controversial Themes, Psychological Effects and Political Resistance.” Perspectives. 7 April 2009. .