Poetry and music are often synonymous. You hear so much about the poetry involved with different types of music, but you only hear that about country, pop and occasionally rock. Love ballads are highly celebrated for their poetic qualities. But what about hip hop and rap? The music that was built around poetry spoken in rhythm.
Music has transformed the world and that was reproven when rap music became prevalent in the States. It brought new meaning to the East and West Coast. When Biggie and Tupac began their feud, it changed the entire rap music industry. It gave inner-city kids something to be proud of and a sense of belonging. Even if it was just because they were from Inglewood or the Bronx any relationship was based on "You East/West?" Then Atlanta got T.I. and Brooklyn got Jay-Z. But the most important thing to be known about rap music is that it's constructive and to think any differently is to be ignorant of an entire genre.
Yes, it is true that when lyrics come out like, "Ay bend that ass over, and let it move back" (Show it To Me, T.I. feat Nelly) it gives rap a bad name. Much of the music is about money, girls, cars and drugs. But how is that different from any genre? Rock and Roll was built on sex and drugs. Country and rap songs contain the same exact subjects: the artist's truck/car, the artist's girl, and their life before music.
What changes this opinion is when a rap artist turns poetry into music by putting a beat in the background. This is proven by Seattle artist Macklemore. His songs are filled with meaning and inspiration. He defines the meaning of who a great artist should be. For instance, his song Wings shows the impact of consumerism and peer pressure told through a child who is obsessed with his Nike Air Jordans. "They started out, with what I wear to school/ That first day, like these are what make you cool / And this pair, this would be my parachute / So much more than just a pair of shoes / Nah, this is what I am / What I wore, this is the source of my youth / This dream that they sold to you/ For a hundred dollars and some change / Consumption is in the veins / And now I see it’s just another pair of shoes" (Wings, Macklemore) His songs embody his journey through addiction and his depression. This is the music that puts people in a trance. It pulls emotion out of you and takes you back in time. This poetry is what makes you love music. If you can listen to the song The End and not be sucked back in time to one high school dance or another you have no soul. This is the story of a outcast who is dependent on alcohol, then gets saved by his crush who asks him to dance and saves him: "You brought me back in/ trying to sneak that flask outside of that gym/ She said 'You don't need that, look within'" (The End (Budo Remix), Macklemore). His song My Oh My, was a memorial for Dave Niehaus, the ex-Seattle Mariners announcer, was truly a beautiful piece of poetry. It is a must listen to for anyone who knows the 206 area.
But now lets move to defending someone who in many ways doesn't deserve it: Tupac Shakur. Tupac 's mother was an ex-Black Panther, so that explains much of his tenacious attitude. Throughout the years, the memory of Tupac has faded, but not the influence he has on people around the world. Yes, his song Hit 'Em Up is all about killing Biggie and women, but this is only an expression of emotion. Biggie did have him shot, so what are ya gonna do? More importantly, Tupac shaped a community in Southern California. You can say all of the bad things you want to about him, but here is a little anecdote in defense. Tupac was riding with his producer and friends to a show. He heard on the radio that a little girl had been badly bitten in the face by a pit bull in his neighborhood. Without a second thought, he told the driver to go to the hospital. He visited her and her parents. After a time of speaking with them and doing his best to help them through it, he left and went to his show. When it boiled down to it, he was just a kid that wrote poetry and spoke through a beat. With all the drama surrounding women beatings and domestic abouse he releases Keep Ya Head Up. Anyone who has a spare 4 minutes and 26 seconds, please listen to that song. "And since we all came from a woman/ Got our name from our women and our game from a woman/ I wonder why we take from our women/ Why do we rape our women, do we hate our women?/ I think it's time to kill for our women/ Time to heal our women, be real to our women" (Keep Ya Head Up, Tupac Shakur) This was not an act. Tupac was never involved in a domestic abuse case, or anything of that sort.
Yes, older generation, it must be hard to see the young gangsters with pants around their knees rapping as a positive influence on society, but it's the truth. The stories of inner-city kids who have been saved by rap far outweigh the stories of middle-class young adults who have grabbed a gun and shot up a school because Eminem told them to do it.
So there. That is my defense of the rap industry. While there are terrible people in the rap business, it's no different from the racists in the country music trade or the drug abusers in the pop music sector. It's the truth, and if you wish to believe it, I support you. However, if you still think that it is full of drug abusing pimps who are only after the money, I hope I didn't take too much time out of your schedule jam packed with Fox News.
Part 2 is on it's way soon!
Oh and I created a mix that compiled 9 of my favorite hip hop songs with some soul. Its riiiiiiighttt...... here!
Oh and I created a mix that compiled 9 of my favorite hip hop songs with some soul. Its riiiiiiighttt...... here!
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