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Hip hop and race relations in America
How rap culture changed activism and black politics
Hip hop and race relations in America
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Wasalu Muhammad Jaco, or better know as Lupe Fiasco, is a Chicago born American rapper. Fiasco was first recognized when he debuted his first album in 2006 called Food & Liquor. Shortly after its release, the album made its way to Billboard’s Top 10 albums. “Critics hailed the rapper as the savior of the genre on the strength of tracks…” (Rolling Stone) and gave him great reviews for his sensible subject matter and compelling story telling. This album earned the rapper three Grammy nominations including Best Rap Album.
Gaining recognition through Food & Liquor, Fiasco’s popularity has grown tremendously. Much of the reason was due to his approach to rap. While he does rap about mainstream themes such as sex, money, and drugs, Fiasco also shares his concerns about the American government and politics, foreign affairs, and racism in our culture, capturing a more mature audience’s attention. Through his music, Lupe Fiasco represents the voice of Modern America by informing his listeners about the modern corrupt practices in the United States and asserting his opinions on them through his music. In his song “Bitch Bad”, Fiasco describes how the vulgar word “bitch” is used throughout American society carelessly and in ways it shouldn’t be due it's degrading denotation. His song “Strange Fruition” reiterates the message in Billie Holiday’s largely popular song “Strange Fruit” and incorporates the modern take on racism in the United States. The messages in both these songs portray the depravity in present American culture.
Along with rapping about his strong opinions about a corrupt America, Fiasco also speaks about them in various interviews. A particular interview on CBS’ “What’s Trending” caught the attention of many when he calle...
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...udience into creating a better society. In “Bitch Bad”, Fiasco spreads a message about the use of the vulgar word “bitch” and in “Strange Fruition”, he spreads a message on the practice of modern racism in our country. These are only two of the many songs where Fiasco is using his words to get a point across. With the strong messages he sends to his audience, Fiasco adequately represents the voice of Modern America.
Works Cited
Greene, Jayson. "Lupe Fiasco: Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1."
Pitchfork. N.p., 27 Sept. 2012. Web. 23 May 2014.
"Lupe Fiasco Biography." Rolling Stone. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2014.
Ramirez, Erika. "Lupe Fiasco on Calling Obama a Terrorist: 'I've Got Nothing to Clarify'" Billboard. N.p., 9 June 2011. Web. 23 May 2014.
Raz, Guy. "Lupe Fiasco: Two Sides To Everything." NPR. NPR, 11 Mar. 2011. Web. 23 May 2014.
Every hip-hop/rap generation a lot new fresh upcoming aspiring rappers who wishes to go down in hip-hop culture as one of the greatest. Some of them are merely one hit wonders; others go on to silicify their mark in the Hip-Hop culture becoming great artists. In the year 2006 the hip-hop world was introduced to a future superstar by the named of Lupe Fiasco. Lupe Fiasco has become one of hip-hop fastest rising superstar ever since releasing his first album. Although many listeners find some of his music very controversial, yet Fiasco is one of the few artists whose music teaches people about current events that the world has turned the blind eye to, and Lupe lyrical trickster, story teller.
Signing with Def Jams in 1984, LL Cool J gave hip-hop a new component which is love. As Guestlist explain his type of rapping as “LL cool J’s song adopted a ‘soft’ style which bred
Rapper Trina’s March 2000 single “Da baddest b*tch”, proclaimed her as the Queen of Hip hop. “Da baddest b*tch” was a controversial song that made way for many criticisms. The rapper’s song endorsed the idea of women referring to themselves as “bad b*tches”, promoted promiscuous behavior and encouraged females both young and old to use men for money.
Perry, Imani. 2004. Prophets of the hood: politics and poetics in hip hop. Durham: Duke University Press.
In today’s music industry, the convenience and custom of using racial stereotypes are still ubiquitous. Whether it be obvious stereotypical depictions of minority races or the reliance on numerous racist tropes, these race issues can be found in a considerable amount of songs. The song "Freaky Friday" by Lil Dicky plays into the overused stereotypes of Asian Americans, African Americans, and even White Americans. In the midst of all the humor and parody, "Freaky Friday" shows that race is still a joke and should continue to be made fun of as it is good material for a song and a music video.
The song is set around Chief keef being on the phone and talking to a woman, he refers to the woman on the song as a bitch, hoe, and thottie. The word thottie is derived from the word thot, which is an acronym for “that hoe over there”. The song states “You wanna Glo up, baby, Keef got you/You's a gold bottle, these hoes pink Moscato/Baby I'm the owner, you can be my castle”. This line right here compares the woman to other women by saying she is a better bottle of liquor than other women and calls her his property when he says you can be my castle. Then he goes on to say in the song “ Baby cause I like you/Only reason I text you and why I Skype you/I just wanna fuck on you, I don't wanna wife you/But you gotta brush your teeth and do what I say though/(Hello?)/Bitch can you hear me?/Keep your pussy in park, no 360... I don't wanna smell you/Cause I'ma cut/you off, quicker than I met you/I'ma swipe your name up off my schedule/And if smoke this blunt, girl, I'm gon' forget you”. The lyrics basically says the women is just there for his sexual pressure and he does not plan on making her more than that; he also tells the women that he has to be the one in control if she wants to continue this relationship; then he tells her, he will completely stop communicating/seeing her, if she does not do what he wants her to do and she can be
When looking at the landscape of Hip-Hop among African Americans, from the spawn of gangsta rap in the mid 1980s to current day, masculinity and an idea of hardness is central to their image and performance. Stereotypical to Black masculinity, the idea of a strong Black male - one who keeps it real, and is defiant to the point of violence - is prevalent in the genre. This resistant, or even compensatory masculinity, encompasses: the hyper masculinity rife in the Western world, misogyny, and homophobia, all noticeable in their lyrics, which is in part a result of their containment within the Black community. The link of masculinity and rap music was established due to this containment, early innovators remaking public spaces in their segregated neighbourhoods. A notion of authentic masculinity arose from the resistant nature of the genre, but the move to the mainstream in the 90s created a contradiction to their very image - resistance. Ultimately, this in part led to the construction of the masculinity defined earlier, one that prides itself on its authenticity. I’ll be exploring how gender is constructed and performed in Hip Hop, beginning with a historical framework, with the caveat of showing that differing masculine identities in the genre, including artists
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.
The Song “American Idiot” by Green Day uses techniques to engage the audience to interoperate the issues. Green day through their style of music convey issues such as the medias over powering effect on society, greed and the division of the United States of American over political issues. Green Day’s negative stance on the issues through these techniques conveys the audience to agree with the main issues being focused.
Jeffries, M. P. (2011). Thug Life: Race, Gender, and the Meaning of Hip-hop. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Hip hop has permeated popular culture in an unprecedented fashion. Because of its crossover appeal, it is a great unifier of diverse populations. Although created by black youth on the streets, hip hop's influence has become well received by a number of different races in this country. A large number of the rap and hip hop audience is non-black. It has gone from the fringes, to the suburbs, and into the corporate boardrooms. Because it has become the fastest growing music genre in the U.S., companies and corporate giants have used its appeal to capitalize on it. Although critics of rap music and hip hop seem to be fixated on the messages of sex, violence, and harsh language, this genre offers a new paradigm of what can be (Lewis, 1998.) The potential of this art form to mend ethnic relations is substantial. Hip hop has challenged the system in ways that have unified individuals across a rich ethnic spectrum. This art form was once considered a fad has kept going strong for more than three decades. Generations consisting of Blacks, Whites, Latinos, and Asians have grown up immersed in hip-hop. Hip hop represents a realignment of America?s cultural aesthetics. Rap songs deliver a message, again and again, to keep it real. It has influenced young people of all races to search for excitement, artistic fulfillment, and a sense of identity by exploring the black underclass (Foreman, 2002). Though it is music, many people do not realize that it is much more than that. Hip hop is a form of art and culture, style, and language, and extension of commerce, and for many, a natural means of living. The purpose of this paper is to examine hip hop and its effect on American culture. Different aspects of hip hop will also be examined to shed some light that helps readers to what hip hop actually is. In order to see hip hop as a cultural influence we need to take a look at its history.
Throughout “Love Sosa”—and in many of Chief Keef’s other songs—Keef refers to himself as Sosa. This nickname is based off of Scarface character Alejandro Sosa who is an international drug lord in the film. Those who listen to rap would find that several rappers (i.e., Nas, Future, Rich Homie Quan) typically compare themselves to Scarface’s main character
Rap Genius. N.p., n.d. Web. The Web. The Web. 01 May 2014.
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...
Dixon, Travis L., TaKeshia Brooks. “Rap Music and Rap Audiences: Controversial Themes, Psychological Effects and Political Resistance.” Perspectives. 7 April 2009. .