ENGL 1101 - Fall 2020 - Hip-Hop Reader - PEASE

Ivan Martinez

11/19/20

Georgia Southern University

 Engl Composition 1

The commodification of Hip hop

Hip-hop was considered a cultural movement that was created in the Bronx New York area. Like all other genres, Hip-hop would undergo a series of changes through the months, years, and decades which would pave the way for the success of the genre. Although some people within the Hip-hop culture consider that some of the changes would be moving away from the roots that the genre was built upon. Others believe that the changes are pioneering Hip-hop to new levels that would be able to give the genre an increase in popularity. During the creation of Hip-hop, many influential people and artists created new forms of how music was made which established the idea that music is an art and should be treated as such. The problem which the Hip-hop culture is facing is the rise of artists who are heavily influencing the genre a marketing spectrum and tearing away at the foundations in which the culture was established

The Driving Force:

Kool Herculords from the 1970s was an influential person within the rise of Hip-hop to which he formulated a new form of how music was created and play. From rose’s essay on “Rap music,” she states, “Kool Herculords was known for his massive stereo system speakers…and his practice of extending obscure instrumental breaks that created an endless college of peak dance beats named b-beats or break-beats”. Kool used his techniques to create the beat breaking or commonly referred to as sampling, which at the time was ruled to be an artistic influence for the young developing culture. This technique would be further perfected by other artists that would enable them to conjoin other tracks together to get an entirely different beat. Moreover, Grandmaster Flash also assisted with new creations in the Hip-hop scene. He created the art form of Scratching which consisted of the rapid movement of records so that they, make the all familiar sound within the track. Grandmaster Flash also created the backspin that allowed for certain phrases or parts of records to be repeated over and over. These are just two out of the countless number of people who influenced Hip-hop to be as artistically creative as possible with content creation.

The Golden Age:

During the 1980s-90s Hip-hop, like other music genres, had their time where people were starting to get more involved with the culture which would ultimately lead to the Golden Age of Hip-hop. During this time Hip-hop was producing tracks to which the magazine “Rolling Stone” referred to it as, “when it seemed that every new single reinvented the genre”. Artist such as Tupac Shakur, Big Daddy Kane, and many other artists would use their skills that would further solidify Hip-hops's artistic foundations and not influence marketing tactics. Tupac Shakur was considered by many to be the most iconic and influential rappers of all time. 2Pac, which is his stage name, would bring to Hip-hop a new level of poetic drive that he would implement in his songwriting. As a struggling soul himself, he would use his popularity and talents to shed light on the injustices of African Americans. Also, in his music, he uses the technique of stacking his vocals and sampling various other artists such as that Stevie Wonder, Bruce Hornsby, and Public Enemy. He would often add these elements to his tracks which allowed for them to be uniquely distinctive. For example, the song “Changes” by Tupac tells the story of how blacks and whites are at war with each other and that nothing would change unless they learned to live with each other. In the track’s chorus, it states, “that’s just the way it is, things will never be the same…”, which is a reference back to a song named “The way it is” by Bruce Hornsby. The track did not promote any type of wealth of the women as a commodity that some people strive to achieve but on the contrary, it showed how people were in poverty and how they made the most out of it. 

Another example of an artist who revolutionized the Hip-hop game is Big Daddy Kane. According to hip hop scriptures, “…who undisputedly defined the term “lyricist” in the world of Hip-hop”. He would often do live performances which consisted of theatrics and choreography. Since Big Daddy Kane often performed with those elements, he was found to have remodeled the fashion industry and the live performances of Hip-hop. During the 80s and 90s, Hip-hop was bringing artists together to form a multitude of new tracks, remixes, and sound effects that changed the way music was created although, as time progressed Hip-hop would undergoing through a change that would inevitably push the genre into a new platform which would divide it from art-making to marketing.

Commodification in the midst:

            Since the birth of Hip-hop was created back in the 1970s, the various artist managed to find other ways to gain popularity and sell more records. During the 2000s and present day, Hip-hop artist and rappers started to exploit ways for them to be able to maximize their revenue growth as well as pushing the wrong influences in the music industry. Marshall Bruce Mathers II or better known as Eminem was considered a legendary icon with some of his singles and albums etching history into the genre but on August 31, 2018, Eminem released an album that was heavily influenced by social media and hate towards other artists that negatively critiqued his work. This album was created on a marketing platform that used hate and social media for Eminem to have people side with him and ruin the opposing artists. Although, Eminem was considered one of the best MCs, and most talented lyricists, he used his talent to turn people away from an artist that he disliked and promoted himself to be the one and only “legend”. 

Another artist that goes by the name YFN Lucci created a single named “Every day we lit” back in 2016. The track did not present any elements that Hip-hop was built off but rather commercializing was present within the song’s entirety. In verse one of the track, the artist states, “Can’t wait to get that Vacheron… All my cars foreign, my chain glowin” this shows that the artist spends more time “creating” tracks that promote designer and luxurious companies and influencing people to want to be like them and own all those expensive items. In the second verse it states, “I just copped a new beam, put that on my Glock…now I’m fuckin’ niggas hoes”, the artist pushes the wrong social influences in the mainstream media and as previously stated, they can control what the mentality of people who essentially follow them. Another form that has been exploited since the beginning of Hip-hop, is the way women are portrayed. Newer Hip-hop songs describe females as nothing more than objects and painting them as trophies. Statistical data proves that Hip-hop songs that sexualize women are more successful than those who do not. Since most artist is relying on these tactics as a way to gain popularity and create tracks, they begin to sound more generic. The idea is that people find music to be more interesting when it talks about drugs, money, and sex which leaves rappers and other artists to create more content that is relevant to this idea and will event lead to the downfall of the genre because are not taking more an original and realistic approach in the industry.

The divide of a culture:

            There is no surprise when people in the culture of Hip-hop realize that there is a separation among them. On one side of the spectrum, there is an artist that is pushing to keep the creativeness of Hip-hop in which it first erected upon. Rappers such as Tupac Shakur and Big Daddy Kane maintaining the influence of art and originality in their music and have lyrics that depict broader meanings and influence people in the form of which Hip-hop was created. As for the other side of the spectrum, a new generation of artists is pushing the culture into a new foundation of uncharted territory to which the boundaries of the genre are being stretched beyond their limits. Artists like YFN Lucci and Eminem are creating music that revolves around the same idea with little to no change in their music. The influence of social media and the exploitation of women, drugs, and “thug life” ways create a generic outlook for the genre. Hip-hop has been a scene of a cultural movement that was built upon the foundations of creativity, technique, and fine art although people can consider that as the years pass many artists are making the switch to an unoriginal and non-creative form of “art”. In conclusion, the Ideologies of the Hip-hop genre have been fading since the number of artists striving to keep the original culture alive dissipates which would eventually lead to the inevitable redefinition of Hip-hop if it continues on the path of the commodification of materialistic ideas. 

 

MLA Citation:

Rolling Stone. "50 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All Time." 03 July 2018. Web. 03 Dec. 2020. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/the-50-greatest-hip-hop-songs-of-all-time-150547/

"Big Daddy Kane Biography." Hip Hop Scriptures. Web. 03 Dec. 2020. http://www.hiphopscriptures.com/big-daddy-kane

Perry. "Perry and The Pink Ghetto." Perusall. Web. 03 Dec. 2020. https://app.perusall.com/courses/fall-2020-composition-i-engl-1101-hh-jz-ky/perry-venushiphop-283627756

Ivan Martinez

Cleaning’s out my closet analysis 

Eminem is considered by some to be a radical and violent person because of the lyrics in most of his songs. Others perceive him to be one the greatest in the genre of hip hop, for having so much creativity, originality, and genuine facts in his hip-hop songs. His originality and creativity use of his words in his songs allowed him to surge in popularity. While some of his music does not have much violence contained in it, other songs like “cleanin out my closet” and “Stan” have great amounts of violence and controversial topics within the lyrics. For example, “Cleanin out my closet” which is filled with a lot of violence and controversial scenes throughout the track. Eminem lays his words out and uses an abundance of figurative language in order for the audience to better comprehend what his points, views, and scenes are while the track is playing.

The backbone of the song in its entirety relies on the heavy use of imagery. Since the song was based on the artist’s recollection of his thoughts about his past, the song uses descriptive and specific wording. For example, in verse three it states, “witnessin’ your mama popping’ prescription pills in the kitchen” is one of many scenes that describes the horrendous acts that his mother would do in front of him or to him. Another example can be found at the end of verse two which in the words of Eminem says, “But the smartest shit I did was take the bullets out of that gun ‘cause I’da killed ‘em, shit, I would have shot Kim and him both It’s my life…”, Eminem “pistol-whipped” a man for kissing his wife which lead up to the escalation of this scene in the track. He stated that he would have killed both of them out of the anger he had boiling up in him. The use of imagery in his song paves a way for his audience to have a good solid connection with the issues that are presented throughout the scenes. It also enhances the emotions of the audience by allowing them to recreate these scenes in their head which would appeal and draw more people’s emotional reactions.

In verse one lines one and two as told by Eminem, “Have you ever been hated or discriminated against? I have, I’ve been protested and demonstrated against” in these two lines Eminem gives the listener a look at how people have found his music to have excessive amounts of violent content and controversial standpoints. These two lines hold an ironic view of social reasons. When society thinks of discrimination and hate, most people would think of racial discrimination towards the black community and how they were treated historically and in the modern era. This is ironic for Eminem because he is from the white community which is not often attacked or associated with being on the receiving end of racial discrimination. Another form of irony comes from the final line in verse two which states, “It’s my life, I’d like to welcome you all to the Eminem Show”. The meaning of this line shows how Eminem compares his life to sort of live entertainment for everyone to watch to which in turn makes it morbidly ironic.

Eminem gives the audience a look into what he has been holding back for all these years. He allows himself to express those feelings openly as a way for him to let go of those traumatizing memories and emotions. This is proven in the last line of the track’s chorus, in which he states, “but tonight I’m cleanin’ out my closet” which is a metaphor that holds a double meaning in the song. The artist is not literally cleaning out his closet but rather representing his emotions being cooped up in his mind. He expresses his emotions about his abusive past that he has received from his mom. This allows him to come to terms with the demons that tormented him for a long time. It also means that he is going to move away from his mother so that she would no longer hurt him which enforces the idea of him wanting to escape from his “demons”.

In conclusion, Eminem gives his audience a broader perspective on his life from the past towards the time of the making of this song. He uses figurative language in order to get his message across in a way that he felt would give it a surreal mood and tone. He wanted to make his personal experience a way that someone could feel themselves in his position. Overall the effectiveness of the figurative language allows for his song to able to better project itself to the audience in a creative and attention-grabbing way rather than just saying it in a bland unoriginal way that he is not known for.

Ivan Martinez

Cleaning’s out my closet analysis 

         Eminem is considered by some to a radical and very violent person because of the lyric of most of his songs. Others perceive him to be on the greatest in the genre of hip hop, for having so much creativity, originality, and genuine facts in his hip-hop songs. His originality and creativity use of his words in his songs allowed him to surge in popularity. While some of his music does not have much violence contained in it, other songs like “cleanin out my closet” and “Stan” have great amounts of violence and controversial topics within the lyrics. For example, “Cleanin out my closet” which is filled with a lot of violence and controversial topics to which the artist purposefully used figurative language in order the audience to better comprehend what his points are throughout his song.

         In verse one lines one and two in the lyrics state, “Have you ever been hated or discriminated against? I have, I’ve been protested and demonstrated against” in these two lines Eminem gives the listener a look at how people have found his music to have excessive amounts of violent content and controversial standpoints. These two lines hold an ironic view of social reasons. When society thinks of discrimination and hate, most people would think of racial discrimination towards the black community and how they were treated historically and in the modern era. This is ironic for Eminem because he is from the white community which is not often attacked or associated with being on the receiving end of racial discrimination. Another form of irony comes from the final line in verse two which states, “It’s my life, I’d like to welcome you all to the Eminem Show”. The meaning of this line shows how Eminem compares his life to sort of live entertainment for everyone to watch and listen to which in turn makes it morbidly ironic as well.

         The last line in the song chorus says, “but tonight I’m cleanin’ out my closet” which is a metaphor and holds a double meaning in the song. The artist is not literally cleaning out his closet but rather representing his emotions being cooped up in his mind. He expresses his emotions about his abusive past that he has received from his mom in this song. This allows for the truth to come out about that secret he was holding on to until he felt he was ready to for him to come to terms with the demons that tormented him. It also means that he is going to move away from his mother so that she would no longer hurt him, he would be able to live in peace and eventually let those feelings of hate and anger go. In the beginning of verse two it states, “I got some skeletons in my closet and I don’t know if no one knows it” which also is another metaphor that ties with the connection of his abusive childhood that he kept secret until he made this song. Since the song has gained a lot of popularity, the statement, “And I don’t know if no one knows it” becomes a paradox because he shed light on that specific part of his life to which millions have heard.

         The backbone of the song in its entirety relied on the heavy use if imagery. Since the song was based on the artist’s recollection of his thoughts and his past the song uses descriptive and specific words. For example, in verse three it states, “witnessin’ your mama popping’ prescription pills in the kitchen” is one of many scenes that describes the horrendous acts that his mother would do in front of him or to him. The use of imagery in his song paves a way for his audience to have a good solid connection with the issues that are presented throughout the scenes. It also enhances the emotions of the audience by allowing them to recreate these scenes in their head which would appeal and draw more people’s emotional reactions. 

         In conclusion, Eminem gives his audience a broader perspective on his life from the past towards the time of the making of this song. He uses figurative language in order to get his message across in a way that he felt would give it a surreal mood and tone. He wanted to make his personal experience a way that someone could feel themselves in his position. Overall the effectiveness of the figurative language allows for his song to able to better project itself to the audience in a creative and attention-grabbing way rather than just saying it in a bland unoriginal way.

Ivan Martinez

09/11/20

Georgia Southern University

ENGL 1101

Visual Analysis

            Hip hop is considered by most around the planet to be one if not the best genres to be created. Rappers such as Biggie Smalls, Joyner Lucas, Juice Wrld, and many others are well known in this genre for their contributions to making certain topics or problems to be presented out in mainstream media. Take for Example Joyner Lucas, On April 19, 2017, he released a single called “I’m Not Racist” which explicitly calls out society for the systematic racism throughout the nation and the world. It shows the story on both sides to deliver a bigger picture from both ends. For many, this song pressed buttons on both sides of the spectrum but effectively delivers an accurate message about today’s society.

            In the video of “I’m not racist” it begins with a white male with an all too familiar red cap with the slogan “Make America Great Again” looking into the camera eye level while discriminating against the black community. Thirty seconds into the video the camera cuts into a sudden shot to a black male which pans over them revealing that both males are sitting at a table across from each other. In the shots, both of them are angry at each other. This anger that is expressed through each other’s faces signifies the ongoing problem of the racial discrimination that is going rampant in society. On page 27, line 24, Rose states “; that hip hop’s anger is produced by contemporary racism, gender, and class oppression…”.

Through visual art, hip hop can illustrate and give people a bigger picture of topics or problems that are occurring both nationally and internationally. In the shot above, one can fully visualize at who and how a certain group of people in this song (and nation) are being oppressed.

            Derived from the website (Genius) verse one, lines sixty-six through sixty-seven, “, quit the pitiful stuff and then maybe the police’d stop killin’ you…”, describes another problem within the black communities throughout history and today. That is the ongoing crisis that the black community has to deal with police violence and brutality. As of the present day, this is the main problem that has been all over the mainstream media and news platforms. The black community has always revolted when this issue was being tossed around with no solution in sight. Unfortunately, some people from the community have accepted that is a part of their “culture” when it happens to those close to them. From page twenty-seven, line twenty-eight, Rose explains, “a trickle of meaningless jobs for young people, mounting police brutality, and increasingly draconian depictions of young inner-city residents, hip hop is black urban renewal.”         

            The camera angle was intentionally placed in front of the metal beam for the person to not only hear the lyrics but visualize what the artist means by showing how both people and the nation are split apart when it comes to this topic.  White and black communities are the most prominent that America faces. Hip hop uses the visual art element to show how the separation between the two races is still an ongoing problem to this day. Hip Hop is a way artist to have their voices and opinions to be heard. Recently, there has been a surge of police brutality mainly with white officers and black men. Most of them were killed in the process which in turn inspired various hip-hop artists to write and implement these types of problems in their lyric.

            In the video, the shot immediately transitions over to the black male who is aggravated and tells his part if the story. The camera angles immediately shift from smooth cinematic shots to rough and out of focus shots. This is placed by the artist so that the viewer can see and feel the building tension between the two guys as the lyrics of the song become controversial to each other’s beliefs. On page 25, Rose says “Graffiti and rap were especially aggressive public displays of counter presences and voice”. The rapper states in this shot, “I'm sorry, you can never feel my life tryna have faith, but I never felt alright…” combined with the camera movements and lyrics in this section his words are emotionally stronger and proves how hip hop is more than just a music genre.            

            The artist wraps up the video with both males after having a heated argument to hug it out. Notice that before the camera angle shifts to a smoother pan shot of the two guys rather than the rough unfocused shots. The angle of the camera is now in the center panning over the two guys. One can make the connection that even though there is racial discrimination between the two, they are still people who are equal to each other. The rapper uses the visual technology in his video to describe the differences from both races and wraps his video by uniting both guys despite their views on each other's race.