“The art of rap is deceptive. It seems so straightforward and personal and real that people read it completely literally, as raw testimony or autobiography. And sometimes the words we use, nigga, bitch, motherfucker, and the violence of the images overwhelms some listeners. It's all white noise to them till they hear a bitch or a nigga and then they run off yelling "See!" and feel vindicated in their narrow conception of what the music is about.” ― Jay-Z Pop music, more specifically, rap music has been brutally scrutinized since its creation just a few decades ago. The music that was meant to embody and expose a disparate, under privileged generation of people has been taking criticism from the masses. Because most raps typically contain …show more content…
vulgar words, violent depictions of life, and celebrate drug use they are seen as non-art and morally degrading. Furthermore songs such as Eminem’s Rap God or J. Cole’s Viluminati which demoralize and marginalize gay men and women; songs like Yonkers or Stan which exploit extreme violence, and songs like Colt 45 which treat woman as objects are the principal reasons for the public’s shame toward rap. Perhaps the public perceives the raps only for their face value and lacks appreciation for their deeper meaning. With songs like Broth Lynch Hung’s brash song Meat Cleaver it is easy to write it off as garbage and insulting. But when the seemingly inappropriate, uncomfortable, vulgar rap is analyzed there is a definite explanation for its obscenity and an argument against the tough criticism most rap faces. One could suggest the wildly obscene nature of Meat Cleaver or any controversial rap is an effective technique in capturing elusive fame and fortune as well as displaying a deeper meaning. Because we live in a society where the lower class, the impoverished, and the misunderstood struggle to make a name for themselves it is important to find a niche.
The use of obscenities in the ‘rap game’ is a fundamental strategy to catch an otherwise uninterested disconnected society. Meat Cleaver for example, depicts murder, cannibalism, and necrophilia. It is not necessarily a poem you could find ‘artistic appreciation’ in but it captures the attention of listeners using shock value, its particular niche. Shock value is defined from a marketing standpoint as a “technique that deliberately, rather than inadvertently, startles and offends its audience by violating norms for social values and personal ideals” (Shock Value). -“Take hoes and put ‘em in the box they may chose I hate ‘em Cook ‘em in Crisco and I filleted ‘em and ate ‘em filleted ‘em and ate ‘em.” It is an insane suggestion to consider cannibalism however Brotha Lynch has employed shock value as his niche and it has made him a small …show more content…
fortune. Kevin Danell Mann [Brotha Lynch Hung] has sold 1.4 million CDs independently, amassing an estimated net worth of $6.5 million (Brotha Lynch).
To the underground rap game, Brotha Lynch is a forefather to a rap sub genre called Horror-Core. He has gained surprising fame, a large number of people want to hear his far-to-the-left raps. And with songs like Rest in Piss, Locc to the Brain, and Meat Cleaver Brotha Lynch can almost pin point his fame to his highly grotesque style. The average listener would truly think this song depicts a deranged escaped serial killer however Hung is just trying to express himself like any
artist. Mannibalector, the album that dons Hung’s Meat Cleaver was actually a therapeutic experience for the artist. The album captures the life of a serial killer and the woes of being an outcaste in society; views that reciprocated in Hung’s life. “…he’s lost and friendless at that point, and like I said a lot of that comes from my own life, when I've let a lot of people go and went my way alone.” Hung added that he “used Mannibalector to get out some of those feelings” (Mannibalector). If the general public had heard Hung’s bleak omission of loneliness before they heard the in your face, scary song that is Meat Cleaver then maybe they would reconsider the nomination Meat Cleaver received as one of the Top 25 Most Violent Rap Songs (Ettelson). Like many artists Hung is just trying to express himself the only way that he believes he can be heard. His style, while prolific is absolutely horrifying to some and displays a very unique perspective unto which we consider “art”. His words quite literally scare an impression into you and adhere. Music is dynamic and progressive, it demands creativity and artists are trying to provide just that. Employing obscenities and a violent vulgar style in music is truly just a way to diversify the art of music. By diversifying the music market, in this vulgar manner, artists are noticing the return of significant dividends in fame and fortune. Blatantly put, bad words in rap won’t be going away anytime soon. It is now the duty of the artists like Brotha Hung to arrange his vulgar prose in such a way to keep capturing the attention of his followers, it is his job and many others to explore techniques of conveying music. Whether artists create scary songs with vivid scenes of murder, harsh tones, or offensive politically incorrect statements, they will always face criticism. But remember, words can never harm you.
In the article “ From Fly to Bitches and Hoes” by Joan Morgan, she often speaks about the positive and negative ideas associated with hip-hop music. Black men display their manhood with full on violence, crime, hidden guilt, and secret escapes through drugs and alcohol. Joan Morgan’s article views the root causes of the advantage of misogyny in rap music lyrics. In the beginning of the incitement her desires shift to focus on from rap culture condemnation to a deeper analysis of the root causes. She shows the hidden causes of unpleasant sexism in rap music and argues that we need to look deeper into understanding misogyny. I agree with Joan Morgan with the stance that black men show their emotions in a different way that is seen a different perspective.
In Adam Bradley’s “Rap poetry 101” he shows us how rap is more than just songs being sung, it is poetry; it is something that has an empowering ability to make the familiar unfamiliar.In this chapter Bradley creates a new viewpoint too rap. Bradley shows us how rap and poetry has become a very similar piece of art that should be further appreciated. In the chapter poetry 101 Bradley describes how rap is a form of public art, and how rappers have become our greatest public poets. The importance of rap as poetry is shown throughout Bradley's book as well as the evidence behind the reasons rap is poetry.
Tupac Shakur was one of the most influential music artist of the 20th Century. “Murda, Murda, Murda, and Kill, Kill, Kill…” these are they lyrics to one of the songs written by Tupac Shakur. Amidst all the controversy surrounding his personal life, this artist has managed to overcome all obstacles and spread his hope/hate message to a surprisingly receptive audience. Tupac’s music is borrowed from the styles of early rap and hip-hop yet its appeal rested in Tupac himself. His persona of “Thug Poet” opened up a portal into the new genre of “Gangsta Rap.” This new style of music revolutionized the music industry and allowed several new artists to break through in Tupac’s creation, Gangsta Rap, such as; G-unit, Eminem, and many others.
People from many generations may think that today’s music shows virtually nothing. This generations rap music mainly circles around how much money you receive from rapping, how much women you receive from rapping, and how much drugs you receive from rapping. There is rare few times where rap artist come out of this circle, to talk about real life experiences, issues within the world, and how this affects certain diversities. Baruti N. Kopano, an assistant professor of Mass Communications at Delaware State University, does a study on the rhetorical legacy of rap music. He starts off in this article how rap music to him is a legacy with rich history, “For rappers, ‘keepin it real’ means being
Many people do not like rap music because they say that it is too violent or the people that are involved are just very violent. Many people say this because most people who rap or listen to rap music, grew up in the “Ghetto”. The “Ghetto” is a place no one wants to be because it is very violent, hearing gunshots and people screaming and fighting because of the situation they are in. The people in the ghetto are in a bad situation because...
A race issue that occurs within the rap and hip-hop musical genre is the racial stereotypes associated with the musical form. According to Brandt, and Viki rap music and hip- hop music are known for fomenting crime violence, and the continuing formation of negative perceptions revolving around the African-American race (p.362). Many individuals believe that rap and hip-hop music and the culture that forms it is the particular reason for the degradation of the African-American community and the stereotypes that surround that specific ethnic group. An example is a two thousand and seven song produced by artist Nas entitled the N-word. The particular title of the song sparked major debates within not only the African-American community thus the Caucasian communities as well. Debates included topics such as the significance and worth of freedom of speech compared with the need to take a stand against messages that denigrate African-Americans. This specific label turned into an outrage and came to the point where conservative white individuals stood in front of the record label expressing their feelings. These individuals made a point that it is because artists like Nas that there is an increase in gang and street violence within communities. Rap and hip-hop music only depicts a simple-minded image of black men as sex crazed, criminals, or “gangsters”. As said above, community concerns have arisen over time over the use of the N-word, or the fact that many rappers vocalize about white superiority and privilege. Of course rap music did not develop these specific stereotypes, however these stereotypes are being used; and quite successfully in rap and hip-hop which spreads them and keeps the idea that people of color are lazy, all crimin...
This quote shows a bunch of different important factors of why he was the king of rap in the 90's. First, he embraces the fact that he comes from a poor upbringing showing those who have similar situations that he can be their voice and show the rest of the world what is really going on in highly impoverished African American projects. While he uses an effective rhyme scheme to back up the fact of his impoverished
...olka, Petr Bc., and Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel. “Black or White: Commercial Rap Music and Authenticity.” Masaryk University Faculty of Arts, Department of
Rap is about giving voice to a black community otherwise underrepresented, if not silent, in the mass media. It has always been and remains … directly connected to the streets from which it came. (144)
The most popular new music to emerge from the ‘80’s was rap music. It first developed in the mid ‘70’s in New York City, and soon in other urban areas, primarily amongst African-American teen-agers. It became very popular with the urban public that it soon began to spread throughout the United States and much of the world. It replaced rock music as the creative force in music of the ‘80’s and ‘90’s. However, as popular as it was then and it is now, the lyrics of many rap songs have caused controversy. Many believe and have charged that these lyrics promote racism and violence and show contempt for women.
The oppressive picture displaying the sexual objectification of women that most hip-hop artists paint while rapping can only be described as appalling. Many artists imply that a woman?s sole purpose is to gratify a man?s every sexual desire. For instance, ?Nelly?s ?Tip Drill? goes as far to portray scantily clad women as sexual appliances? (Weisstuch). Though Nelly is relatively mild when contrasted to other hip-hop artists, his actualization of women cannot be ignored. By calling women ?sexual appliances,? Nelly essentially promotes the idea that it is customary to view all women solely as sexual objects. Moreover, the generic ?sex appe...
Throughout American history there has always been some form of verbal acrobatics or jousting involving rhymes within the Afro-American community. Signifying, testifying, shining of the Titanic, the Dozens, school yard rhymes, prison ?jail house? rhymes and double Dutch jump rope rhymes, are some of the names and ways that various forms of raps have manifested. Modern day rap music finds its immediate roots in the toasting and dub talk over elements of reggae music (George, 1998)....
These are the kinds of music that often use violent lyrics and violent beats, depicting urban street gangs. Typical themes and ideas deal with street life including pimping, and hustling as well as killing and shooting (Malek 108). “I’m bout to bust some some shots off. I’m ‘bout to dust some cops off” (Ice-T). The lyrics of Ice-T’s Cop Killer evoked a loud outcry about whether ideas about killing police officers should be expressed publicly. It is not only the violent ideas expressed within the lyrics, but the context of which they are expressed. Rap is criticized because rappers are known to “sing of guns with almost lascivious glee”. They talk about their “pieces” or “glocks”, “ninas” or pistols as the “object of their affections”
Have you ever wondered what was making that horrible racket coming from a teen’s car. The odds are that it would be some type of rap song, yet the beat was too loud for you to hear the lyrics. Based off what the mass knows about rap music, you were lucky to not hear the lyrics right, wrong. Rap lyrics have many senses of great poetry and life lessons that should be heard. At least some of rap songs relate to struggles, deaths they have suffered, or even respect of women that many do not believe that rappers would ever do. Rap music is becoming increasingly meaningful for not only adults but for older youth as well to comprehend about respect and an improved understanding of life with struggles and oppressions.
Dixon, Travis L., TaKeshia Brooks. “Rap Music and Rap Audiences: Controversial Themes, Psychological Effects and Political Resistance.” Perspectives. 7 April 2009. .