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Rap is one of the most natural ways for someone to express themselves through words. It's a mixture of all music and poetry with extreme emotion, some may say too much aggression, and the best lyricism there is out there... name a better genre with better lyrics... ill wait! "Rap is a style of music believed to have began in African inner city street culture, performed in a vocal style in which lyrics are spoken rather than sung." (Blanchard) Rap has the capability to influence the listener. the music industry does not care about the message or as Tupac would say "they dont give a fuck about us". Mainstream music is aiming only to make money, neglecting the original reason for hip-hop which is message, originality, and giving voice to the voiceless. Although mainstream music glamorizes misogyny, drugs and gangs, Hip-Hop was created to be intellectual, anti sexist and informative about global issues.
A real rapper must express oneself cunningly and clearly so the artist's words don't get misinterpreted. And they will either way. It is an artist's job to change their tone of voice so there is rhythm and variety in the song, and the artist's has to create a song with facts and information(mosttimes...depending on how DOPE THE TRACK IS) so the composers aren't looked at as uneducated... but honestly who gives a fuck because Hip-hop is very intellectual and educational.
Being literate is key in success, separating a leader from an average person. Education is needed to maintain a healthy brain. Hip-Hop makes the artists use 100% brain during performance prolly not true but YOLO. Complete control of speech and emotions destroys barriers that one must face in our society such as first impressions, job interviews, and school presentations. In order to master the mind, one must have the maximum amount of connection in the brain...(this is 16 year old me so bare with me) Los Angeles-based rappers Daniel Rizik-Baer and Michael Eagle carried out an experiment originally conducted by Allen Braun and Siyuan Liu of the National institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. In the studies they found that a network connecting areas used in language, emotion, and physical movement and, in some areas that were lacking strong connections arose during improvisation; freestyle rapping. Rapping and freestyling strengthen connections in the cerebellum, which is responsible for our intelligence, memory, personality, emotion, speech, and ability to feel and move (Lopez Gonzalez). Language is one of the most important factors in hip-hop and intelligence. "Language separates us from our primal ancestors, is not only one of the defining differentiators of our species, but also a key in our evolutionary success, responsible for the hallmarks of humanity, from art to technology to morality." (Pagel). "Natural language provide humans with a unique system for combining flexibly the presentations they share with other animals. Accounting for aspects of human intelligence" (Getner289),
The Rolling Stones, "its down to me she does what she's told". Neil diamond "girl you'll be a woman soon, soon you'll need a man". These aren't rap lyrics. Misogyny appears in all music, why is being held accountable for the spread of it. "The sound of misogyny every time I turn on the radio...video after video on channels like BET and MTV accosts us with images of rappers throwing money at half naked women." (Albert). Some Critics base rap on what they hear on the radio and see on TV, they don't realize the AMOUNT OF BEAUTIFUL ART THERE IS. Since rap is more popular than ever before Its going to have people trying to bring it down... aka haterz! the idea that all rap is like this, is incorrect. Taking the time to search for music is the responsibility of the listener but some rather listen to what everyone is listening to.THATS ON YOU! "And since we all came from a woman got our name from our woman and our game from our woman I wonder why we take from our women why we rape our women, do we hate our women? I think its time to kill for our women time to heal our women be real to our women."(AZlyrics) In a verse from Tupac's "Keep Ya Head Up", a rap song that displays the abuse women go through, verbal and domestic, and how women and men need to work together to change this problem. artist are going to accept the mainstream's outlines and keep the cycle going, its SURVIVAL!The mainstream places SOME artist's in a predicament where they must choose between meaningful lyrics and low sales or abject lyrics with high sales. Water waste, politics and discrimination are global issues that go unattested. If the population began to hear about these problems in songs played on the radio, showed on TV or on the media the way mainstream music is advertised, than there would be more informed teens. At least try to raise awareness. Understanding that there are problems is the first step in coming up with a solution " You can laugh and take it as a joke if you wanna but it do not rain for four weeks some summers." (AZlyrics) in Mos Def"s song "New World Waters" he discusses the prolonged drought that has hit, the amount of water we get and how we manage the water. Humans have a problem of wasting water; long showers, watering lawns, and car washing just to name a few, while not taking into consideration that water is a requirement to survive on this planet. Rappers have the power of freedom of speech that should be used to benefit society. Rap has the capability to discuss any problem and reach out to billions of people. Rap also has the power to play a role in politics by advising fans to be involved in politics. In the year 2000, rapper Russell Simmons created "Rap the Vote" initiative with the phrase "Register. Vote. Represent." In the 2004 presidential election, rapper P. Diddy led the "Vote or Die" campaign. Celebrities have a major influence on their fans, campaigning like this will persuade listeners who don't care for politics to take part in voting. If more of the urban areas participated in politics, polls would be more accurate. "With the data from the 1993-1994 national black politics study shows those who listen to rap music are more supportive of black nationalist ideology" (Bornette). Black ideology is based on principles of unity, self worth and determination. No matter what color skin one is, these principles apply to all, strengthening the unity among human beings. As the number of minorities listening to political Hip-Hop increases, the amount of informed minorities understanding politics increases. Rappers Public Enemy and Talib Kweli discuss racist neglects on a song named "By the Time I get to Arizona" critiquing the states refusal to recognize Martin Luther Kings birthday as a holiday. Rapper Chuck D displays his feelings toward the legislation passed throughout the southwest of the US, making it mandatory to question anyone who looks illegal. Police officers are allowed to harass anybody for "looking illegal". This issue is also brought up on Talib Kweli's song "Papers Please", exclaiming that the legislation allowed racial profiling in the department of law. All illegal activities that occur in government should be discussed and displayed to cause a solution, if nobody knows theres a problem no one will come up with a solution. Mainstream industry is aiming only to make money; if global issues and politics don't sale well than the industry has no use for it. So whos fault is it really... the leaches tryna get that $$$ or the artist who cant be creative enough to make a dope song?
Since rap music began it has been controversial, but there is no doubt about the power it has to influence the listener. since teens make up the majority of rap listeners Hip-Hop can also impact the future. when a trend of artists are receiving mass appeal they mold an image to a naive listener of what is okay. Mainstream aims to make money without care of what goes in the music, as long as it sells, or the outcome. The original takes on ANY subject. hoping for reaction in their music... good or bad. Because of the media rap is looked as a tyrant instead of a pioneer. But we all know thats BULLDIP! Hip Hop CHANGED the world; created to express ONSELF ONES CONFLICT AND solutions to ONESELF. To guide with rhyme. Lets go?
