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Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Is It All Such A Bad Rap?

By Toni Dee Spaulding


An often commonly disputed stereotype of hip-hop artists is their use and distribution of illegal drugs. In attempts to redefine this negative characteristic, many hip-hop artists have pointed at the majority social group as the facilitator of drug abuse.

In “Justify My Thug”, Jay-Z speaks directly to members of government, raising questions about who has made the availability and use of these drugs possible:

Mr. President, there's drugs in our residence

Tell me what you want me to do, come break bread with us

Mr. Governor, I swear there's a cover up

Every other corner there's a liquor store - what is up?

In this example, the poet inquires as to why there is a liquor store in “every other corner” of his community.

In “I Want to Talk to You”, Nas uses the same approach to challenge the notion of drug distribution by asking his representatives what they would do in his situation:

Why y'all made it so hard, damn

People gotta go create their own job

Mr. Mayo,r imagine if this was your backyard

Mr. Governo,r imagine if it was your kids that starved

Imagine your kids gotta sling crack to survive

Here, the poet claims that the distribution of drugs is not only an effect of the poverty that exists in his environment, but also a means of survival.

In “Manifesto”, Talib Kweli actually accuses the government of being the body which allows drugs into the country:

Like the C.I.A. be bringin’ in crack cocaine bailin’ out of planes

With the George Bush connections, I push Reflection

Like I'm sellin’ izm, like a dealer buildin’ the system

Supply and the demand it's all capitalism

People don't sell crack cause they like to see blacks smoke

People sell crack cause they broke

In this example, the poet accuses the C.I.A. of flying drugs into the country, and again reiterates the point that it is a means of survival due to the “supply and demand” of a capitalist society.

In “Damn It Feels Good to be a Gangster”, the Geto Boys fully redefine the negative characteristic of drug distribution by accusing the President of being a drug dealer, and therefore, a gangster:

And now, a word from the President!

Damn it feels good to be a gangsta

Getting’ voted into the White House

Everything lookin’ good to the people of the world

But the Mafia family is my boss

So every now and then I owe a favor gettin' down

Like lettin' a big drug shipment through

And send 'em to the poor community

So we can bust you know who

These examples show how hip-hop artists redefine the image of being drug dealers and users by again pointing to the majority class as the creator of the drug problem in this country.

Materialism

Hip-hop music is also seen by the majority class as a genre dominated by materialism. Again, artists point back to the majority class in an attempt to redefine this negative characteristic.

In “Respiration”, Black Star points to all the wealth surrounding urban areas, and how it absorbs the lower class in materialism, making them want parts of that wealth:

Where mercenaries is paid to trade hot stock tips

For profits, thirsty criminals take pockets

Hard knuckles on the second hands of workin’ class watches

Skyscrapers is colossus, the cost of living

Is preposterous, stay alive, you play or die, no options

Here, the poet talks about various materialistic aspects of the majority class, and how the lower class must “play or die” to “stay alive.”

In “All Falls Down”, Kanye West actually blames this materialism on American society:

It seems we living the American dream

But the people highest up got the lowest self esteem

The prettiest people do the ugliest things

For the road to riches and diamond rings

In this example, the poet blames the “American dream” for materialism, saying it causes people to “do the ugliest things” for “riches and diamond rings.”

In “Los Angeles Times”, Xzibit also blames this materialism on the majority class, claiming that is what the youth are taught coming up in urban environments:

Welcome to L.A.

Where you can see the whole city burning

Cause the cops got Uzis and the dealers keep serving

And your kids ain't learning it, except this

Sex power and wealth, forget everything else

Here, the poet expresses his belief that certain aspects of materialism, including “power and wealth” are taught to children through occurrences in society.

These are examples how hip-hop artists redefine the negative characteristic of being materialistic by showing examples of how this materialism is prevalent in the majority class, and often created within that class.

Hip-hop artists have used their lyrics and poetry to influence the rejection and reconstruction of the gangster identity that plagues their social class. This is accomplished through the redefining of negative characteristics assigned by the majority class. In most cases, these redefinitions include pointing to the majority class as the real holders of these negative characteristics. The redefining of these “gangster-like” images through hip-hop lyrics helps to reconstruct the gangster identity by questioning “gangster-like” behaviors and which social class actually has these behaviors. So the question presented is: Who exactly are the gangsters?

Works Cited / Discography

2 Pac. 2Pacalypse Now. Jive Records, 1991.

Black Star. Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star. Rawkus Records, 1998.

Coates, Jennifer. Women, Men and Language. Longman Publishing, New York: 1993.

Dr. Dre. The Chronic 2001. Interscope Records, 1999.

Eminem. The Marshall Mathers LP. Interscope Records, 2000.

Geto Boys. Uncut Dope LP. Interscope Records, 1999.

Haugen, Jason. “‘Unladylike Divas’: Language, Gender and Female Gangster Rappers.” Popular Music and Society: December, 2003.

Jay Z. The Black Album. Def Jam, 2003.

Kanye West. College Dropout. Roc-A-Fella Records, 2004.

Nas. I Am. Sony Records, 1999.

Rakim. Don’t Sweat the Technique. MCA Records, 1992.

Rawkus Records. Lyricist Lounge Volume 1. Priority Records, 1999.

Slaughter, Peter. “Attack on Rap Music.” Barutiwa Weekly News. June 14, 1997.

Talib Kweli & DJ Hi-Tek. Train of Thought. Rawkus Records, 2000.

Talib Kweli. Quality. Rawkus Records, 2003.

The Roots. Phrenology. MCA Records, 2002.

Whaley, Angela. “Hip Hop is Not for Sale.” Colorado State University’s Talking Back: Volume 3, Issue 1.

Xzibit. 40 Days and 40 Nights. Loud Records, 1998.




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