Even before one reads this book they cannot understand what it truly means to break away from hardship and into love without reading and comprehending the passion and love in each and every line of this poetry. Thus, I will explain to you why exactly I feel this form of poetry is good if not the best way to express ones experience with falling in love! For instance, the very first page of Street Love says it all. It explains where Junice comes from, where she has grown up, and how this life has made her who she is today! Page one (1), line thirteen, states “Harlem is not an easy place to grow old” – and this is very much backed up throughout the story in her case.
Stapleton tells us that many believe the concern over sexual violence is not as big a concern of racial problems. Stapleton throws us the idea that many hip-hop artists felt that hip-hop was being considered objectionable because white youth were consuming it. Stapleton uses this to reveal where a large amount of criticism is coming from in both racial and genre issues. Stapleton brings up a gathering of hip-hop artists and rappers showing us that serious discussions were being had about the genre and the changes in it. We see in Stapleton’s words how hip-hop has become a dangerous genre and how responsibility lies in the artists, managers, record companies, and parents when it comes to the music.
Rapping came from a long list of artists starting from Afrika Bambaataa “the Godfather” and Clive Campbell “DJ Kool Herc” to Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. “Lil Wayne.” Yet these hip hop artists are affecting the way people perceive African Americans as a “lower class group of people” in many ways. From the music they sing to the way that they dress and political influence, more people are looking over African Americans and finding another missing link to success. More African Americans are missing opportunities to succeed in life, because of what rappers sing, and majority of it is degrading to African Americans by heavily focusing on sex and abusive behaviors. These kind of stereotypes the African American group as being a lower than Caucasians. Lil Wayne is the best musician in our era, but his music shows no respect and consistency for young girls, including other rappers as well.
Those were positive rappers who wanted to have an effect on people’s lives. However in the late 90s leading up to the current day rappers, rap music has definitely changed. Rappers today only rap about women, sex, drugs, and violence. Anderson and Stewart state “Some commentators have criticized rap for its lack of traditional Eurocentric musical characteristics” (Anderson & Stewart, 316). Today’s rap music downgrades women in many different ways which has an impact on the African American community.
For years there has been a lot of controversy and unanswered questions about the Hip hop media. For example, is rap music linked to sexism? Some feel as though rap music is degrading and is frowned upon in certain households. But to some its apart of everyday life. All ages, and ethnicities listen to it.
The lyrics of hardcore and gangsta rap often contains dubious themes, but the author derives his theory from the general attitude of this style of music by saying: “Gangsta and hardcore rap is the product of a society that has historically objectified and demeaned women, and commercialized sex”. His idea is well supported by familiar
Written communication also has an impact on people as well. One of the purposes of poems is to make people react to them. Whether it is by making people relate to the poem through love, death, sex or class or by stirring up controversial issues. Whenever someone writes a novel, short story or anything most of the time they are trying to relay a message. In a short story called “Black People and Public Spaces by Brent Staples he shows readers how language can be powerful through nonverbal language.
But instead of the negative, vulgar, hateful, and sexual messages being sent by secular rappers, Christian rappers are trying to send a message of hope, salvation, and peace that will improve our society as a whole, building up the youth. Secular rap as a whole has a negative impact on society, particularly on our youth, through its explicit content. It sends a powerful message of hate and violence that is devouring the minds of our youth playing a part various problems such as rape, racism, teen pregnancy, suicide, homicide, and even gang violence. Rappers know exactly what they are doing and simply do not care because they are making more money then they ever had by feeding our society
Initially, it seems as though Noble is giving the pros and cons of ragga music while also interpreting what they could mean for herself. But as you dig deeper into the reading you come to realize she has a deeper understanding of eurocentrism and its effects on the world. Ragga music is a form of reggae style with a different attitude, much like rap and hip hop in American society. Rap music is more of poetry and has feel good vibes, whereas hip hop is a stem of rap music and is much more attitudinal. It is also the more popular genre of the two styles.
The poems in this section have to do with “Ars Poetica.” This means The Art of Poetry in Latin. The poets of this collection of poems are actually using poetry to answer the questions of what poetry is, how it should be written, and how it should be read. There is one poem specifically that I felt agreed with my views of poetry and that is Billy Collins’ “Introduction of Poetry.” In this poem, I feel like he is trying to say that people try too hard and over-analyze poems. They sometimes try to force a meaning into a poem because they think that there has to be a reason that poem was written and it has to have some kind of deeper meaning of an issue going on in the world. I think that the end of the poem really points this out with the words “torture of confession out of it” and “they begin beating it with a hose to find out what it really means.” I think that Collins is trying to tell people that they should just read poetry and enjoy it.