“ A Milli, a milli, a mill,i a milli, a milli, a milli, a milli, a milli …” “A Milli” is the epitome of Southern Hip Hop. The iconic track was originally released as a single from “Lil Wayne’s” upcoming album Tha Carter lll, which would later become one of the greatest albums in recorded history. “A Milli” hit spot number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, making Lil Wayne yet another top ten hit and the second highest peaking song on chart. If this song were to be played today, despite it has been 9 years from its release most people would be able to recite the song word for word. “Okay, you’re a goon but what’s a goon to a goblin." “What you know bout me, what you what you know bout me? They say my lip gloss is poppin, my lip gloss
The Wiz is a musical/movie released in 1978 that was an adaptation of the popular film “Wizard of Oz”. It included several very popular stars of the time, which were Diana Ross, Michael Jackson and Nipsey Russell. The movie set place in New York City where the main character, Dorothy, suddenly is swept by a tornado in the middle of a snowstorm. She later then found herself lost in a city she had no clue about and curious as to how she could return home. After meeting 3 other characters during her journey that share similarities, they all embarked on a trip to OZ to fix each of their problems. Throughout the movie characters apply their own soundtrack through singing songs in harmony that compliment the mood of each scene.
Swedenburg, Ted. "Homies in The ‘Hood: Rap’s Commodification of Insubordination." Rpt. in That’s the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader. Ed. Murray Forman and Mark Anthony Neal. New York, NY: Routledge, 2004. 579-591. Print.
Since his emergence in 2001, T.I. has been a bit of a mystery, an elusive chameleon of sorts; like an illusionist who has mastered his sleight of hand magic so flawlessly that you can't really tell where he is at any given point in time. Now you see him, now you don't. One minute you think you understand him, the next you're totally baffled. Today he's a street kid skirting the law, tomorrow he's a creative genius churning out timeless hip-hop classics. And although it may seem that way, none of it is smoke and mirrors. Rather it's a man revealing his many dimensions and indulging his own evolution.
Sociology, as a practice, can be applied to almost every human exchange. The realm of lyrical song is no different, offering numerous venues for sociological perspectives to be expressed by the artist(s) about the shared environment around them. For the purposes of exemplifying the possible connections which can be made in this context we chose two unique songs: “Prayer of the Refugee” by Rise Against and “The Dreaming Tree” by the Dave Matthews Band. In the following examination, both songs demonstrate the diverse principles of the sociological perspective on a macro and micro level, respectively.
Watts, Eric K. "An Exploration of Spectacular Consumption: Gangsta Rap as Cultural Commodity." Rpt. in That’s the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader. Ed. Murray Forman and Mark Anthony Neal. New York, NY: Routledge, 2004. 593-609. Print.
When people hear the word rap, they think money and drugs. Unfortunately, every rapper falls in to that category however some rap can be more meaningful than any song could every be. Today, I’m going to show you one rapper who falls into this stereotype.
In the DJ Floppyfeet and MaxxJamez song “Firework”, the artists display a braggadocio attitude towards a luxurious life and relate the flashy lifestyle to the bright and captivating visuals of fireworks. The pair uses the juxtaposition of dazzling fireworks to the extravagant lifestyle they wish to lead to exemplify and paint a vivid picture of exactly what they want. DJ Floppyfeet and MaxxJamez detail what kind of life the common person wishes to lead in their excessive use of onomatopoeia, hyperboles, and imagery.
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)....
Cha-Ching$ everyone loves money. The rapper that i am presenting in the first appearance is, Lil Durk, his music represents the new generation of rap genre, which has its fair share of money in his great songs. Both good and bad at times of the moment.
In the section Rappers Are Delighted; DJ’s Get Dissed Katz tells the story of “Rappers Delight” by the Sugar Hill Gang. In this section he writes how the original composer of the music and the artist who originally wrote the lyrics heard the song. Both recognized their work but it was mixed with one another’s work and was being performed by someone they didn’t know. The Sugar Hill Gang had taken both of their works and made it their own. They made a lot of money on the song and nothing was given to the people that they took the stuff from.
"Rap music brings together a tangle of some of the most complex social, cultural, and political issues in contemporary American society. Rap's contradictory articulations are not signs of absent intellectual clarity; they are a common feature of community and popular cultural dialogues that always offer more than one cultural, social, or political viewpoint. These unusually abundant polyvocal conversations seem irrational when they are severed from the social contexts where everyday struggles over resources, pleasures, and meanings take place.
The song that I choose to do this assignment on is Fight the Power by Public Enemy. Fight the Power was written in 1989 and quickly became a street anthem for millions of youths. It reflects with issues dealing with both the Civil Rights Movement and to remind everyone that they too have Constitutional Rights. This particular song is about empowerment but also fighting the abuse of power that is given to the law enforcement agencies. It gave citizens of the U.S a more modern outlook on the many struggles that not only the African American community is up against but the other minority groups as well. The song’s message was eventually supposed to bring people together and make the world a better place, even though some teens saw it as a way
Rap Genius. N.p., n.d. Web. The Web. The Web. 01 May 2014.
"Notorious B.I.G." UXL Biographies. Detroit: U*X*L, 2003. Student Resources in Context. Web. 3 Dec. 2013.
Marshall Mathers is one of the top rap artists and most recognized artist around the world. His albums now sell over a million copies for every album he puts out. In this paper I’ll explain how he rose to the top of the rap world, and the struggles and the hard work he put into rapping.