The role of rap as a music form and the perception of rappers as a whole has changed over the past ten years. It was a slow process for rap as a whole to be accepted as music and eventually be recognized by critics and award ceremonies. The advent of “gangster” rap brought about a new group of rappers with criminal histories and raunchy over the top lyrics. Many rappers today, like Eminem, have highly publicized criminal histories that overshadow the meaningful messages and damage the careers of otherwise model citizen rappers.
Eminem became the next hit in rap in 1999 with extremely violent and shocking lyrics that included descriptions of raping and killing his ex-wife and vicious slurs against homosexuals. I was a fan of the music simply for the shock factor like many teens of the time but I grew tired of it and moved on to more meaningful work. He followed this formula for two more albums which sold over a million copies just like his debut. He then backed up this image with drug, weapons, and assault charges in the following years. Then Eminem discovered the next “big hit” in rap when he signed 50 Cent, another convicted criminal who survived 9 bullet wounds. These are just a few cases of the media hyped crimes of a few rappers. All of these deliquent activities were used to stereotype rappers as a whole, while many other rapper’s positive activities and attempts for career advancement went unnoticed or were hindered.
During the same time Eminem released his controversial albums rap acts like Outkast, Goodie Mob, Mos Def, and The Roots produced albums with positive life morals, uplifting messages, and politically charged lyrics. I was displeased to see some of the albums sell well but gain none of the notoriety of the artists constantly in the news. Only rap fans and a few music critics were aware of these positive notes, while the rest of society only got the news story of the most recent rapper’s unlawful blunder. The effects were not fully realized until a large promotional deal between rapper Ludacris and Pepsi came to light.
Ludacris signed a multi-commercial ad campaign with Pepsi in 2002 when the company began to look for a “hipper” image. Ludacris uses profane language and mature situations in his lyrics but it is humorous and so over the top it is obvious it is a persona that he knew would sell.
Music can be reflection of our life experience. Each genre of music invokes different emotions and reactions in it's listeners. Rap has become a very popular genre in today's society. Is today “Gangster rap” and rappers exploiting society, introducing drugs and instigating violence? In the mid-1980s Gangster rap came to be portray images of violence, guns, gangs, drugs, and sexism. By the 1990s rap music became a major part of the industry and topped the charts. As people begin to operate different things; different music was engendered and that contributed to the variety of music that we have today. This is one of the many things that makes America different but is astringently under looked by everyone. There are many types of different raps
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
...nd doesn?t necessarily reflect the artist. Eminem has never raped anyone or killed anyone, but when he raps about it, it is just the way he feels at the moment sometimes but never engages in the action.
Popular in the united states, the rhythmic music known as rap can be traced back generations to it’s ethnic origins. Centuries before hip hop music existed, the Tribes of West Africa were delivering stories rhythmically, over drums and sparse instrumentation. Connections between tribal story telling virtuals and rap music have been acknowledged by many modern day "tribes", spoken word artists, mainstream news sources, and academics. In the 21st century, rappers rap about their lives and how the place they grew up in was very hard and that is why many people think like rap music so much, because there are many connections rapper can relate to.
It is a day in the summer of 1974 on the block of 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, Bronx, NY. The grass is blazing, the air is fresh, and the kids are shrieking with joy. This is where it happened. DJ Kool Herc popped in his new record playing smooth rhythms of jazz and blues with the integration of Jamaican sound creating a new genre that would soon sweep the nation. He called it Hip-Hop. Some would call it “black noise”, but to urban African Americans it was music they could own; music they could learn to appreciate and adore. As they faced afflictions like racism, oppression, drugs, and much more, they used this new found hip- hop to express their thoughts and feelings. Today, we try to understand where this passion and substance in rap has escaped; if it was left to wither in the blazing grass, or blow away in the fresh air. Today, we try to understand what is hip hop, and why it’s becoming the “black noise” we once denied it to be. Ever since rap officially emerged in the 1970s, critics had a negative reaction; even when rap had meaning and substance and consisted of people telling their stories. Now that rap has become more contemptuous, critics have began to question what rap is really about. It is clear themes have changed: But at what point? And how? Furthermore, how has this impacted blacks and their image, who dominate the rap industry. Conclusively, while themes in mid 20th century rap have been known to revolve around aspects like politics and unity, currently rap has underwent a dramatic change now producing themes that promote violence, among many other things, and has ultimately painted a negative image of African Americans.
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 has been around since 1973, when Kool DJ Herc introduced this new mash of jazz, soul, gospel, and reggae. This culture has been focused around African Americans, and since has served as a voice for the underrepresented, that is spreading violence, alcohol, and drugs. In this genre the most popular and successful boast about who has murdered more foes as breezily as other artists sing about love. Rap music tells stories of drugs, violence, and alcohol. The youth of America is constantly exposed to this kind of music, and our teenagers are being desensitized to the effects of these stories.
Music reflects the times. In the 60's and 70's, musicians preached peace and empathy towards the human race. In the 80's music was a form of rebellion. Today, music has manifested itself into many different forms, one being "hip hop" more commonly known as "rap". In the early 80's, rap was about break-dancing and graffiti. Now, as we approach the year 2000, hip hop has become the most listened-to form of music nation-wide and many rap artists have adopted the new title of "pop-artists", pop. meaning "popular culture". A hip hop single recently took the number 1 spot on the Billboard charts for most sales recorded. The problem here is the message many rappers are telling the world. From the beginning, rappers have flaunted their money with the expensive cars seen in their videos and the thick gold chains they wear in public, not to mention the numerous references made to wealth in their lyrics. However, many rappers are telling tales of violence and wealth as one. In fact, there are more than 10 hip hop songs actually entitled "Crime Pays". In the chart topping single, "Money, Power, Respect", Yonkers based rapper DMX raps "hit him up/ split him up/ shut him up/ then watch him come/ get him up…CLICK, step back like I did work", portraying a beating, then murder, the "CLICK" being the sound made by the trigger of a gun. The chorus then goes on to proclaim "Money, Power, Respect,...
Hip hop culture and its creation of rap music has been stereotypically deemed as mere violent depictions as portrayed by its black artists, and is prejudicially more criticized than white genres that also perpetuate violent language within its lyrics. They are subsequently blamed for the massive rates of homicides within the black community, as blackness is given a dangerous face and linked to criminality, as if innately part of a violent culture. However, violence must be defined through the physical utilization of certain words and actions, along with social manipulations of power and hierarchy to confirm one’s own identity (Hernandéz, Weinstein & Munoz-Laboy, 2012, pg. 595). Rap music was created in the 1970s and originated in the South
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.
Eminem came from poverties that many would not succeed from. Many doubted Eminem for becoming a rapper because of his color, lack of lyrical skills, and lifestyle. It even accumulated when he dropped out of high school and pursued his rapping career. He never believed of failure which motivated him to engineer his own long rhyming skills. He used his own adversities to inspire his songs which many consider masterpieces. His daughter Hailey made a great contribution towards his career as he wanted to flourish in her eyes and give all he had never had. Eminem has changed the interface of rap music and has generated a new era of rap which he will be considered as the ‘Greatest Rapper of All Time’.
Rap is becoming more popular than ever, soon most of the world will have some type of knowledge of rap music. Rachel Sullivan from the University of Connecticut stated “White respondents in this survey had difficulty naming three rap artists, which indicated that they did not have a high level of commitment to the music.” This statement was produced in 2003, also seemed to be very one dimensional. Recently, rap music has been surging through the masses no matter the race. Furthermore, rap is becoming very prevalent especially in the youth of this era. Many trends, commercials, social media, etc. are revolving around rap music.
Today 's rap music reflects its origin in the hip-hop culture of young, urban, working-class African-Americans, its roots in the African oral tradition, its function as the voice of an otherwise underrepresented group, and, as its popularity has grown,
Kubrin, C. (2005). Gangstas, thugs, and hustlas: Identity and the code of the street in rap music. Social Problems, 52(3), 360–378.
Dixon, Travis L., TaKeshia Brooks. “Rap Music and Rap Audiences: Controversial Themes, Psychological Effects and Political Resistance.” Perspectives. 7 April 2009. .