Nasir Bin Olu Dara Jones, also known as Nas, is a lyrical genius when it comes to rapping. His stories are crafted so beautifully that they make even gangsters cry. There is a uniqueness to Nas that sources from a crystal gem hidden in the depths of earth called "the dictionary" and emotion. Mastering the dictionary may be a difficult task for many, but not for Nas. Nas's rap consists of lyrics with many forms of meaning, style, and realism from life experiences.While Nas's rap seems to be pure entertainment contributing to violence and negativity, his rhythm and poetry is an art in itself contributing to positivity in the world. His positivity arises by helping people in hardships have a greater outlook of life, looking beyond history for a better future, and inspiring the art of rap. Firstly, rhythm and poetry tends to have a negative stigma that roots from the depths of the ghettos to …show more content…
Nas preaches to reduce the violence and negativity by addressing and learning from the past. His songs topics touch the bases of slavery, racism, and violence in the world. Nas tends to cover the topic of slavery the most frequent in his music because his home country is the U.S. Though a horrible problem in the U.S's past, he tends to show that we must remember and look past slavery and unite as one. Also having had ancestor slaves Nas feels a connection towards that topic. Failure to remember the past will lead to greater problems in the foreseeable future. Forgetting the past is easy, remembering it is the difficult part. Through music Nas tries to preserve these topics. In the song patience with Damian Marley they both say we need "patience" in order to overcome these problems then one day we may rid them. Its just human nature to act like animals, but we must "seek knowledge" in this world. A few ideas that Nas says at the end of the song Africa Must Wake Up really stands out to
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.
In a reputable rap album an artist must tell a real-life story. The following three artist come from different but similar backgrounds. One artist from Detroit, one from Compton, another from Brooklyn. Sada Baby along with other Detroit rappers share their experiences living in different parts of the city. Throughout D.O.N. by Sada Baby, he references a lot of weapon use, gang activity, and drug use in his neighborhood. The songs on this album go into so much detail about these things, because this was the life he was born into. This is what he knows first hand. In Sada Baby’s song, ‘Guatemalan’, he goes through the steps of his daily life and even goes on to justify why he is the way that he is based off his experiences.
During the 80s a controversial group of rappers came together and changed the game of Hip Hop for generations to come. Niggas with Attitude, otherwise known as N.W.A, was comprised of the rappers; Ice Cube, MC Ren, Easy E, Yella, and Dr. Dre. Theses rappers spoke the truth about life in the streets; the hustling, the trapping, the sexual encounters, the gang life, and the most important, the racism. They shined a light on these issues in a violent, sexually explicit, yet intelligent and revolutionary way. The Facebook page, *N.W.A* creates an environment that connects people of all races, backgrounds, and ages; with the goal of immortalizing, and spreading the original message of the group.
Songs are one way of expressing feelings and emotion, many artist do this constantly in their music. To some it is why they make music. There are endless signs and verses that hint at many things such as problems, politics, living in racist era’s also places. I chose to focus on one main rapper and his music only. I chose to examine, review, and study a few of his songs. Kid cudi grew up in cleveland, Ohio. His father passed away when he was a young age which affected the kid ever since. He writes about living his life and having to go through many obstacles
This article is titled “Rap music is harmful to African American communities” and is written by E. Faye Williams. Williams is a chairwoman of the National Congress of Black Women (NCBW). The national congress of black women is a non-profit organization dedicated to the educational, political, economic, and cultural development of African American women and their families. Williams’s article “Rap music is harmful to African American communities” makes her qualified and a credible source to be writing on this question: If rap music and other media is harming the African American community? In her article, she states her side of the argument of how rap music and media are indeed harming the African American community, using the context, and reasoning,
One of the many adversities he had to adapt to was the feuds of the East and West Coast. This influenced his songs and the way his fans depicted the East Coast, Bad Boys. He also had to deal with the way blacks were treated and looked at by the white community. Although his music brings up many controversy, he is undoubtedly a big part of the way African Americans are being depicted today. He reached the people not just through his music but by the constant protests for equality also while striving for the betterment of his the African American community. The way that society and media looks at African American people and hip hop music are all rooted from
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...
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)
Since hip-hop has expanded from the undergrounds in Bronx in the 70’s it has grew into a popular accepted music genre. Consequently, as it progressed from the golden age it gradually grew away from its original roots. If one were to evaluate the change of lyrics in hip-hop, they would see a difference between early hip-hop and today’s hip-hop. The current state of hip-hop is in a stage where things like hey young world are outdated. Instead of broadcasting out a positive message, hip-hop sends out a message of sex, drug, and violence. The early musicians who helped solidify hip-hop, by producing music that told stories on subjects of race, respect, or even music that had a positive message.
The lyrics from the rap by Jay-Z entitled "99 problems but a b*tch ain't one" has great lyrics showing the way rap and Ebonics has effected the way African Americans are viewed as today in both a positive and negative aspect. In the first verse Jay-Z gives us a good example how rap with the use of Ebonics has made him rich when he says,
Aside from “The Message,” Notorious B.I.G.’s song “Things Done Changed” also highlights Black issues.
How Hip-Hop Destroys the Potential of Black Youth. N.p., n.d.
Eminem, as well as many other rappers, frequently incorporate poetry into their music in order to create a unique form of rap. Not only do Eminem and these other rappers aim to entertain their fans, but their unique style of blending rap music and poetry “provides a significant form of education for adolescents, one that extends beyond the classroom and into their peer group circles”(Powell 245). These artists combine these two styles in order to send a positive message to youth experiencing poverty-stricken lifestyle in certain areas in America. The “rap lyrics concentrate primarily on the contemporary African American experience” (Powell 245). In this particular song, Eminem aims to empower and encourage individuals to take a chance on their dreams and essentially “lose themselves” in the moment. The rapper aims to inspire his audience with lines “you only get one shot do not miss your chance to blow. This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo…” (Eminem 27-28). He motivates his audience to take chances in life because they may never come again. If one does not take a cha...
According to rapper Jay-Z, rap has changed America immensely to improve race relations and has done more than any leader or politician. In fact, the influence that rap music has on my life has been more powerful than anything else. For example, rapper Diddy created a slogan, “Barack the Vote”, in 2008 to encourage young adults to vote for Barack Obama. Although I was not old enough, I wanted to vote for Obama. This slogan played a major role in the voting process because people were coming to the polls with Diddy’s cliché on their shirts, hats, and even their bumper stickers. Rap doesn 't only influence people 's lives but it also influences the way we dress. If a rapper wears clothes by a certain designer or a particular brand, then we are more likely to want to wear the same thing. Moreover, rap impacts the way people speak. Rappers have a distinct “slang” that youth everywhere can identify with. Rap is unique because it speaks to the listeners in a way that nothing else
“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it” is a famous quote by George Santayana. Although the r...