Life's a bitch and then you die.
Illmatic is the product of a world filled with crushed dreams. In this world, you either wilt under the nightmare or you punch your way through the darkness. Nas managed to do the latter. As an inner-city youth surrounded by crime and poverty, Nas ponders desperation and hope in equal measure. Two decades deep, Illmatic is still the ultimate blueprint for gritty street rhymers and boom bap disciples alike.
Released just five months before Nas' 21st birthday, Illmatic established him as a fully formed savant. He rained metaphors, griped about the bleak options in front of him and dreamed of a less dangerous future.
The harsh realities depicted on Illmatic are not always Nas'. "One Love," for example, is a letter to an incarcerated friend. "NY State of Mind" is a survey of the street corners where "stick-up kids run up on us" in broad daylight and "crews without guns are goners." He opens "Memory Lane" with a nod to his target audience: "listeners, blunt heads, fly ladies and prisoners, Hennessey holders and old school ni--as."
Queensbridge is a rec...
There are a lot of Epic Poems written in Literature that intrigue, and capture reader’s attention like; The Iliad, The Odyssey, Beowulf, and the Divine Comedy. Never had the Hip-Hop culture had an epic story of its own until Lupe Fiasco came along. Lupe created a 17 song saga Called “Michael Young History (MYH) also known as The Cool” spread throughout his first two albums, and a few mixtapes. MYH is a frictional rap character who was raised by a single hard-working mother who struggle to raise Michael and his loving sister. With the lack of parental guidance the promising, intelligent young Michael turn into a drug deal. Michaels love for the street, and fame sent him to a road of greed, deception. In no time Michael had control of his neighborhood making money, bribing dirty cops to look away from his crimes. As Michael unethical fame rise his friends get jealous, setting Michael to end his life. Unless a music listener is not a Lupe Fiasco fan they will not be aware of this
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.
Perry, Imani. 2004. Prophets of the hood: politics and poetics in hip hop. Durham: Duke University Press.
His analysis of the video and song seem more akin to a movie critic’s review of the next Quentin Tarantino film. He comments, “the video...is daring, provocative, traumatizing, cynical,... and to many, a work of genius.” This jarring examination seems relatively out of place for a song in the number one spot on the radio. One could attribute this simply to shock value, but Molanphy sees (or hears) something more when he acknowledges, “When you focus on [the] music, you gradually adjust to what initially makes it so jarring, particularly the lurch from the the sweet, acoustic Afrobeat intro to the droning, brooding chorus.” Incidentally, the song is much more than Gambino’s “cri de coeur” as Molanphy puts it, as it stands alone as a legitimate piece of hip-hop music. Paired with the video, the dark commentary does not seem so out of place when you recognize the history of rap music and its influences. He recognizes this best when he uses ethos to increase his
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.
Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Stable URL:http://www.jstor.org/stable/40068235 " N.W.A – Straight Outta Compton." Rap Genius. N.p., n.d. Web.
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.
There is a misconception regarding rap music content about how it predominantly focuses on the topics of drugs, sex and money. Various people do not understand that rap music is a valuable method of expressing one’s emotions and thoughts. The lyrics in rap music are able to strongly represent a broader story of someone’s story. Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise is a story of what it was like as an African-American male to grow up in the ghettos. Through his lyrics, Coolio explains the real-life problems of living in Compton, his hometown. His music describes how immense the amount violence inner city violence that occurred and what he had to become in order to fit into that society. The point of this song was to show those who had not experienced what he had gone through some insight. Coolio mentions how his deviant actions have affected his relationship with his mother. He attempts to justify that murder and violence were the only way to survive on the streets he lived in. The song devises numerous associations to the situation of class, socialization and the conflict subculture. In his
The influence of Hip-Hop has never been as great as it is in this day and age. Often dismissed by a majority of America as simply a fad, hip hop has become a global phenomenon and has arguably been the most popular form of music for the past three decades. Hip-Hop has influenced art, language, fashion, culture, and sports. This music has been used to teach elementary level children, it has been taught in undergraduate universities and serves as a bridge for hundreds of philanthropies. The influence of Hip-Hop has also been felt in films. These films range from fictional works, documentaries, and autobiographies. A film known as, Something from Nothing by famous rapper Ice T sheds light on elements within Hip-Hop that have enabled the genre to reach millions of people.
Prophets of the Hood is the most detailed and a brilliantly original study to date of hip hop as complicated and innovative literary story form. It is written with a refreshing harmonious combination savvy significance rigor as well as brave and creative narrative verve. Imani Perry’s research is an interesting analysis of late twentieth century in American great culture. Prophet of the hood is an excellent and unique book. It draws up a clear division between the negatives and positives involved in hip hop. She takes the discussions of rap to a deeper and greater levels with an insightful analysis of the poetic and political features of the art form. Being a fan and a scholar, Perry is aware the art, tradition of hip hop through an analysis of the song lyrics.
Although this original face of rap music was murdered at the young age of 25, Tupac’s expressions of dreams for black social justice, along with his declaration of “thuglife,” have contributed to his beloved legacy by hip culture, even 19 years after his death. He was considered a figure of empowerment for urbanized communities because of his support in black nationalism that aims to “define, defend, and develop of Blacks as a people,” especially because he grew up in the impoverished intercity (Stanford, 2011, pg. 4). In “Violent” he raps,
Lamar has been successfully achieving his dream by rapping about the stress and difficult situations he has encountered but strongly claims that we will all be alright in his song, “Alright.” He released a song called “i” that reflects how violence has increased in the cities and how he wishes everyone should love each other as humans. His last song on “To Pimp A Butterfly” called “Mortal Man” he states “only because you don’t wear the same color as mine, that doesn’t mean I can’t respect you as a human being.” He clearly states how he understands the reputations of other gang members may seem important but should all still respect others as people. Lamar has been a role model to several students from the city of Compton that was able to create a scholarship called “Be Alright” that is based off the same song called “Alright.” Kendrick Lamar has been respectively producing music for his fans without a doubt of impressive beats and
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...
This assignment introduced me to the sound and message of the rapping duo: Black Sheep. The group consist of New York natives Dres and Mista Lawnge. My search for the album to review started with skimming through the table of context of Brian Coleman’s Check the Technique Volume 2 and listening to snippets of each album. I initially was going to review a 3rd bass album because of the familiar samples; however, one song from the Black Sheep album stood out and made this album a clear choice. In this assignment, I hope to examine most tracks on the album and analyze the collective message of this twenty-two track project.