Untitled @liamrkerrigan-blog - Tumblr Blog

Posts

Reflecting and commenting on the world around them, the most gifted and charismatic MCs have taken the politics of hip-hop into the mainstream.

This article, “Fight the Power: The Politics of Hip-Hop” provides a succinct history of politics in rap music. Particularly it explains how politics have come to influence rap music, rather than how the art is influence our society as a whole. Already at an early stage, rap was a platform for artists to express themselves and deliver their political takes. Soon enough, the platform became the “Black America CNN” that rapper Chuck D talked about, and we even talked about in class. In other words, rap music became an avenue for honest news directed at our black society. During this time (1981-1989) much of the political rap music was in response to Reagan’s presidency. I found this to be incredibly relevant now. It’s interesting to see that 20 years later, rappers are still obsessed with the president. While I cannot speak for common and other rappers of the eighties, rappers today do a fairly good job at painting Trump’s injustices, while offering hope. Joey Badass is a perfect example of this. He has no problem saying “fuck Donald Trump” in his song “Rockabye Baby,” but also spreads positivity in “For my People.”

The political messaging in hip hop can be more subtle too. One way of doing this is portraying life in the inner cities as accurately as possible. Here, the artists can make a compelling story based on their real life. But, they can also show the injustices of white people on Black America, as were pointed out in the Perkinson article. White people have trapped black people unsafe inner cities ridden with unhealthy living conditions. In 1982, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five made “The Message […] a chronical of the tension and despair of ghetto life that rips at the innocence of the American Dream.” This type of storytelling is still happening today! Look at Kenrick Lamar’s Good Kid Maad City album for instance. This concept album tells the story of a night in Compton through Kendrick’s point of view. He robs a house, gets mugged, faces the death of a friend, and eventually accepts Christianity as a way of salvation. The stories are incredibly compelling, but also show the difficulty of life in the inner city. I live in LA county, and yet I have never seen any of the horrific things mentioned on the album. It showed me the injustices fellow Americans are facing only a couple miles from me. The political aspect of Hip Hop has been critical in developing my understanding of the unfair economic disparity in our country. Rap may be considered the “Black America CNN,” but it allows outsiders a glance into the culture, and establishes the empathy necessary for our country to one day overcome these issues.

#ulist

The Chicago rapper has taken some criticism for his musical direction since ’Coloring Book,’ but has it hurt his career?

The aptly titled article “Do Chance The Rapper’s Religious Beliefs Really Hold Him Back From Success In Hip-Hop?” discussed this trend in Hip Hop today. The article questions whether a decline in Chance The Rapper’s appeal truly comes from his religious beliefs or if it is from his stylistic switch up. The article begins with some history into religion in Hip Hop. Going back to the 1980’s and 90’s, multiple rappers from Nas to Jay-Z have been rapping about their faith in god. This continues throughout the 2000’s with Kanye West’s “Jesus Walks” and into the modern day with Kendrick Lamar and Chance The Rapper himself. This religious aspect of rap varies from Tupac merely referencing God by saying “only God can judge me,” to Kanye sampling Gospel music in Jesus Walks, to Chance making music that sounds like Church Choir. Therefore, today’s artists are justified in adding faith based lyrics. As the article states in regards to today’s music scene, “there was a trap beat before anyone glorified trap life over it.” In other words, production, or the “trap” lyricism of today do not prevent modern artists from making this type of music.

Yet, when Chance posted a meme about him being ridiculed for being a “holy hip-hop” artists, his fans did not appreciate the strikingly accurate joke. We discussed in our lecture on the Hip Hop underground the importance of being true to oneself. It is here that I think the judgement for the meme is justified. Chance began his career as a small artist making Hip Hop music without a label on SoundCloud. He built a rapport with his fans based on this notion of him being rapper. But as it turns out, he was not being his authentic self, and he truly wants to make more faith based tracks with a Gospel feel. Every artist has the freedom to switch up their style, but to do it immediately after gaining traction points to him having possibly sold himself out to gain his following, before then deciding to push the boundaries of his artist freedom. To quote Parker Edison, “people are what you say you are, and [we need to] learn to accept the criticism.” I like Chance for his hopeful message and tone, but he has proven that he is willing to merely “follow the trends” for the sake of popularity, and that has built up a fanbase of people that will not like him taking this path of making solely religious music.

The tragic murder of XXXTentacion has left one persistent comparison: Was the lawless superstar with a cult-like fan base really this generation's Tupac Shakur?

The article posted likens the modern artist XXXTentacion with the deceased legend Tupac. It even goes so far as to claim that XXXTentacion is the new Tupac Shakur. Both are rappers with extreme media prominence, even both having a number-one-charting album. The first point made is related to their violent nature and criminal history. They both seemed to exhibit violent, sporadic tendencies both in and out of their artistic endeavors. Specifically, they both faced trial due to this behavior. Tupac served time over an attempted battery charge toward Chauncey Wynn, and XXXTentacion was put in jail for battery toward a woman. They both had target audiences consisting of primarily young black men. The article even goes on to show images of their tattoos in similar mid-riff locations.

The legitimacy of the article for me, comes in the section detailing their legacy and influence. These men both originated as rappers who very openly discussing drug and violence culture, and embodying these traits. But, by the end of their careers they both had music full up uplifting messages, that genuinely made an attempt to help the listener grow. As a personal fan of XXXTentacion’s music, I can say it was impressive to hear someone go from rapping about physically abusing women to writing a poetic song about the death of his dear friend. Additionally, they both have left legacies that make them more influential today than when they were around. It has been 20 years since Tupac was shot, and people still play his music; people even joke that he is still alive. XXXTentacion may not have been gone for that long, but his music streams on Spotify have increased so much that he still has multiple songs on Spotify’s “US Top 50” playlist. His music is in such high demand, that he has an entire posthumous album slated to release by year’s end.

These two artists are obviously both similar in ways, and dissimilar in other ways pointed out by the article. However, I take issue with the idea of saying that one rapper is the “new” form of another. It’s very common for rappers to throwback to their ancestors, as we have talked about extensively in class. But to me, calling one rapper a new form of another makes him out to be a copycat, and that is not at all the case here.

When Mac Miller died on Sept. 7, it meant that there was one less Jewish rapper in the world. There was also one less Jewish rapper who had struggled with

The accompanying article describes an Israeli-Jewish Hip Hop artist, Kosha Dillz, and some of the troubles he’s faced. During class, we talked about challenges to viewing Hip Hop as a religion. One of the issues Hip Hop faces is the stigma around it, with one major issue being its drug and violence culture. Dillz, despite being a predominately religious rapper, openly discusses his prior drug addictions. In this way, he exemplifies traditional rap stereotypes. Fortunately, he continues to distinguish himself through his religious views, and this is what I believe makes him a unique as an artist. He is not afraid to talk about his drug experiences, and yet he has plenty to say regarding his faith. The lyrics posted in the article showcase this: “Learn stories from the synagogue, temple/ looking for a miracle to find my inner Israel. Imagine systematic death is hard to grasp if you’ve never had it happen to you.” Dillz portrays a pretty hopeful image of finding inner peace. But, he contrasts it with the harsh reality that systematic death prevents the innocent from finding such a thing. Here, Dillz is pushing rap one step further to being viewed as traditional religion. His rhymes almost seem preachy, but still manage to maintain intrigue with his diologue over the hard-hitting topic of death.

Discussing religion is nothing new inn Hip Hop. We discussed Tupac’s faith in his music, in our class surrounding him. Kendrick Lamar is even a modern example of a rapper who explicitly discusses religion, as well as drug and violence culture. The difference I see between these and Dillz is the prioritization of the topics. Dillz seems to be more focused on the religious undertones. That is not to say that Kendrick Lamar or Tupac focus their music on drug culture, but I think that Dillz just puts significantly more of his relative focus on his faith. This is why I think he is much more of an underground figure than the others. Unfortunately, Jewish rap just will not sell as well to a mass-market. Kosha Dillz gets asked frequently “Is it a Jewish song?” And while the answer may be no, this does show that people are very willing to categorize his music in with other faith-based music, rather than in the Hip Hop genre. Jewish rap music is not what will sell Dillz records in 2018, and for this reason it’s impressive he is still willing to stick to his laurels and preach his message of positivity through Judaism.

Brockhampton had no opening act — just the six touring members of the 15-piece rap group playing to a fairly crowded Fillmore on November 1. The self-proclaimed “greatest boy band in the mother-fin…

It’s not novel for Hip Hop artists to throwback to their predecessors. Be it by mention, interpolating lines or beats, or in presentation, the new rap collective Brockhampton does all of these while still managing to be innovative in today’s music landscape. As mentioned in the article we read in class by Perkinson, when rappers throwback to older artists, it can help the audience show where their ideas may originate. Brockhampton appears on stage in large numbers, in the vein of Wu-Tang-Clan did in years past, or even the ASAP Mob does today. They formed a group, likely for the same reasons as their influencers have, because the group is “greater than the sum of [its] parts. For an example of this, one must look solely at the fact that Brockhampton’s recent album peaking at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. This feat has not been accomplished by any single member of the group alone. They also “gave a shout-out to Tupac,” at the concert mentioned in the article. The shout-out may have been due to the fact that both have some conceptual, emotional music, but both also some music about nothing more than party life.

And yet, in this case, those influences seem to end at the concept of having multiple members, and some song topics. The innovation comes from the group’s proclamation of being a “boyband.” This title was originally reserved for groups of white males, such as N-Sync. Yet, Brockhampton wears the title proudly on their sleeve. They appeal to a young audience, as mentioned in the article, much in the same way that boybands did before. A difference here however, may be that their target audience is generally more male than female. The woozy pop lyricism, and attractiveness of the members of N-Sync made them popular with young women. But Brockhampton’s sets them up for an audience of young angsty boys ready to for mosh pits: “One eager fan shoved me and yelled, ‘What are you doing? Why aren’t you pushing back?’” Lastly, they are revolutionary in their lyricism. I personally listened to one of the members, Kevin Abstract, before I had any awareness of the band. He is openly gay, and carries that into the rap group in ways not traditionally seen in rap. He openly mentions his homosexuality, but generally keeps his raps lighthearted. He, and the group excel in finding ways to slyly sneak in some conceptual lyricism, without being consumed by it. They are able to continually produce fun, animated that I personally think will only grant them more success in the years to come.

"I still haven’t resolved the issue of my sexuality in my own family life."

The attached DJ Booth article, outlines an interview with rapper Nitty Scott, the self-described “black, Latina, queer, spiritual, nerdy girl.” Her music is heavily influenced by her African and Latina heritage, in the same way a typical queen mother would be influenced by her African heritage. However, she also uses the “knocking subs and rattling hi-hats” found in modern day rap music, indicative of some Sista with attitude traits. As the article discusses, she embodies many different styles and cultures, just other female rappers, who also cannot generally be put into just one box.

The article paints a fairly vivid picture of how difficult it must be to be a female rapper. She is in a position where not only are women belittled, but so are homosexuals. And yet, she still finds the courage to be outspoken, and be a leader for her community. It may not have been easy at first, but as time went on she “just got tired of the accepted hateful rhetoric surrounding the gay community and realized that none of these issues will ever be addressed if people like me are not visible and vocal about it all.” It’s always sad to see an artist silenced because of their beliefs. Before this current album, her managers tried to “filter or influence” her message. And Scott likens this change in messaging to a newfound defiance in her. After years of being forced to appeal to her record label. She has finally found the courage to truly express herself. At first, I thought the courage came from her having been around for almost a decade now. Having had that time to establish a fanbase, would give her leverage with her label and allow her be more controversial. However, it seems this courage comes more her newfound love for herself. She may not have “resolved the issue of [her] sexuality in [her] own life,” but now she is comfortable enough with herself to push her music’s boundaries. No matter how “misguided” or “evil” bigoted people may see her music, it is up to people like Nitty Scott to be the voice of a new generation. As people like Scott gain traction, one can only hope her music will stifle the hatred toward minority races and sexualities.

A Terrence Malick documentary about Lil Peep's 'life story' hopes to uncover the rocks left unturned. A new documentary executively produced by famed auteur Terrence Malick about the life of Lil Peep is in the process of being written -- news of which has come light by way of a New York Times editor...

Throughout the Perkinson reading discussed in class, he covers the glorification of death as an easy way for the media to garner attention. One may look no further than news channels’ constant reporting on homicides and terrorism. Additionally, Perkinson describes our culture of death denial. He discusses the phenomenon of death being more prevalent in more racially diverse, poor areas, such as inner cities. Contrastingly, many middle or upper class suburbs are gated and generally a lot safer. These are stereotypically the “white” neighborhoods. Therein, these people do what they can to avoid death, while those less fortunate are forced to experience it upon them or their neighbors. However, this ignorance to the death of fellow Americans has a profound impact on what people choose to watch or listen to online. Suburban whites have developed a taboo fascination with the idea of death, and media is there to exploit this. In the article linked below, website XXL details the release of a posthumous song release of two recently deceased artists. The track “Falling Down” was released despite friends and the mother of the late Lil Peep not wanting the track released, due to the violent history of the other artist, XXXTentacion. While XXXTentacion’s mom did want the track released, the deciding factor in this was likely the money to be made off of a posthumous song. A track by two hip hop stars who each had highly reported deaths, became a huge hit. It currently has 138million plays on Spotify alone. It appeals to the craving many people have for these two artists that could potentially not be satiated again due to their passing. It also satisfies our fascination with death, and allows the listener the opportunity to experience death from the safety of one’s headphones. The deaths of these two individuals is incredibly unfortunate, and this song is a good way for both families to receive financially benefit from some of the work they had previously done. However, such a massive single has definitely put a lot of money in the pockets of the record companies as well. Therefore, it is hard not to see that they likely had a hand in pushing out the project. At the risk of theorizing, I think I can safely assume that a record company would be on the side of releasing the project if there had been an argument between the families of Lil Peep and XXXTentacion. From a business perspective, this would have been an easy way to use already recorded lyrics and the hype surrounded by a song by these two deceased artists to make quick money. It is truly sad to see that people are willing to use the dead and go against the wishes of their loved ones just to pad out their bank accounts.

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Untitled