Savan states “simply put, white teenagers could not, as much as they might wish to, become black. They could and did however, listen to the music, dress the dress… mirror the haircuts, adopt the rap vocabulary suitable for their daily lives, mimic the cadence of street speech, and admire from a safe distance the lives of prominent black rappers and athletes.”(200) In that quote Savan illustrates black life in the “hood”, where the black slang originates from and how the white teens mimic it. The word “hot” is used in other slang meanings not necessarily deriving from the “hood”. This term is also used in poker games and sporting events. For instance, if a pitcher is having an amazing game he might be referred to as a “hot pitcher”.
Hearing about slaves is terrifying and is something. John W. Blassingame seems to be a great author but by reading only one book about him does not give me a full description about him. I really do not read a lot, and I do not have a favorite author. But one thing I know is that it would not be someone who writes about slaves, even though not all authors are against slavery. I do not like to get reminded of how dark and terrible slaves spent their pure life suffering by their cruel punishments like whipping or getting killed to stop the problem right away.
Nujabes, one of the best rappers ever who dedicated his life to the music (hip hop) was not a popular artist because people are not used to listen to metaphorical music. The hole song is about hip hop music nowdays and the diference between musicians committed to music and the ones that only do it for the money an the fame. A research made by a blog shows us that popular music is based on a simple beat and sticky lyrics, no matter if the lyrics have a real meaning. Many artists are making money by composing sticky music because they know that most of the people
Hip hop is consciousness. People rap to be heard, because they want a better life, to get out of poverty and to end injustice. “If you hate hip hop then you obviously don’t understand hip hop, so spit truth in the face of injustice” (Chavis). That is why he believes hip-hop should not be censored and that we should caution away from those who want to take away the first amendment (freedom of speech), or people who do not except reality, people who do not accept “consciousness.” People protest against the bad language, rather than recognizing what the rap represents, which is typically the horrible social situations that these individuals are or were enduring, such as self-destruction, drugs, violence and hopelessness. “I would rather have young people in the studio making rhymes, then on the streets slinging drugs”
Most rappers in the music industry take advantage of their underprivileged upbringing in the ghettos, and to many, this may seem as if they are trying to imply that it is cool or hip to live in poverty. Though music is one of the best ways to express one self, I do not understand why even though most rappers have moved out of their old “hoods,” they still continue to make them a large part of their lyrics. When I listen to music, not only do I listen for a catchy beat or rhythm, but also meaningful lyrics that are not only creative but somewhat mirror the forward progression of ideas in America today. When I look at the musical career of the rap group Outkast, it is easy to see why they have become the standard for what listeners of rap would
Without the rap music African Americans would not be able to be heard by the people of the world who need to know about the struggles we go through in everyday life. The music might also be able to open up people’s eyes and become aware of African American struggles. In addition show people that we are not as bad as we are made out to seem. We are just like everyone else in life, and we put our pants on one leg at a time too. Rap is not the only musical style used by African American’s in music and rap also has taken bits and pieces from other musical styles and also influenced the other styles of music.
Rap music and or television has given the lifestyle of being a gang member or drug dealer as an exclusive identity because you are “badder” than others and gives members who are affiliated with those groups the misconception that they part of some form of the upper echelon. No one desires to leave a group that is feared, talked about, and wanted. Especially if that meant that those young men would lose the respect that they perceive they now glean from being a member of said group. They would only leave if the attraction no longer exists. If things were to change within the group, whether it is someone or something they disagree with they will leave.
Due to the fact that many African Americans had many great talents that were passed down from generations and could not show them or use them. No one at the time could express there selves in the way that they really wanted to because they could face beating by their master. Many artist such as Langston Hughes had opened up and began to express their selves with poetry and new error of music called Jazz. Jazz was a way to also express ones feelings, pain, suffrage through the sound of music. “While it may have contributed to a certain relaxation of racial attitudes among young whites, perhaps its greatest impact was to reinforce race pride among blacks.” (Richard Wormser) This gave blacks a reassurance that it is okay to be proud of your color and that one day things would be different between the two race.
I heard the songs that became popular on the radio, but as a child I wasn’t interested in that type of music. In high school, a friend of mine introduced me to some “older” hip-hop artists, such as NWA and Notorious B.I.G., and slowly I became more and more interested in hip-hop, but the only people I knew that listened to hip-hop on a regular basis were black males. So why is it these days, I know a lot of white girls with extensive hip-hop collections and
English Written Assignment Rationale I have always been interested in Hip-Hop music. I find it interesting how artists could express their thoughts in the form of poetry embedded in a beat. Furthermore, some artist in particular illustrates the hardships of the day to day life in their poor neighbourhoods. The artist that impressed me the most was Tupac Shakur, also known as 2pac. He successfully depicted how hard it was for him being African American to live in an American society, constantly getting bullied by the police.