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

Queen Latifah, often considered hip pops first lady, was rapping about women and women's struggles alongside Monie Love, when they made the music video, "Ladies First". The song itself touches on the idea of women being powerful in our society. The music video itself does an excellent job of showing the strength that women have and why women deserve the same love everybody else gets. It is a song made by women, for women, in order to encourage them to stand up and be proud to be a women.

In the first few seconds of the video, it starts off with pictures of Harriet Tubman, Frances Ellen Watkins, and some other African America female role models. All of these women were abolitionists and activists, along with other things, and all of them fought hard for African Americans and their rights. Already from these pictures, and knowing the name of the song, we can infer that the video is going to be something about women and how strong women are. Black women in particular.

In the next part of the video we seen Queen Latifah walking around with two women on the side of her as she sings, "ladies first, ladies first". The outfit she has on looks like something fancy. You could even argue it looks like something royal. I think this connects to the argument that women are powerful. After this part of the video, we see more images. This time, the images portray more of the idea of black struggle. We see pictures of guns in someones hand and then more images of black people on the ground, maybe dead. I think this part of the video is setting us up for what the song is going to be about. 

Now, this is when the rapping actually starts. Queen Latifah starts off talking about how strong and amazing women are. She says, "a women can bear you break you take you." While singing these lyrics we see her walking around in her fancy outfit. Next, she passes it to Monie who goes into even more depth about why women should be taken seriously. She says, "merily happy hyper overjoyed, pleased with all the beats and rhymes my sisters have employed." By sisters she is talking about her fellow African American women. This is a good thing to point out because back in the time period when this song was released, women weren't taken very seriously in the music industry. In the text 'Rose's "Rap Music"', it said, "strong social sanctions against their participation limited female ranks" (pg.22-23). That is why here she states that she is happily listening to all the music that her "sisters" have created. At this point in the video, we also see that the women are doing some very upbeat, fast paced dancing. This again goes towards the point that they are happy to be listening to this music. 

In this next part, Monie talks about how being a women is great and how strong they are. She also talks about how women are the ones that gives birth to the "new generation of prophets." At this point in the music video we see video footage of women marching, building, and doing other things that are not expected from women. This also goes along with the idea that women were not taken seriously during this time. Not only in rap music, but it life. Queen Latifah's whole point in writing this song was to show how women were starting to break barriers in things that were much bigger than the music industry. Now, it's amazing to look at how far we've come.

At this point in the video, I would like to note the background of the video. We see the women in nice, fancy outfits, and then in the background we see tall grass, plants, and some rubble. This could be trying to show that the women are what need to be focused on in the video. If the video was trying to make a different point, there may be some other stuff going on in the background that would grab our attention. It is also important to look at the camera angles. At some points in the video we see that the camera is low to the ground which makes the girls look taller and bigger compared to everything else in the video. This also goes toward the point that the women are the main focus of the video. It shows us that they are bigger and better and it makes them look powerful.

Here we can see that the sky has the colors pink and purple. These colors are usually labeled at "girly" colors. This little detail fits right into the theme of the video, where women are the main object of focus.

Moving on from this Queen Latifah goes on to say, "who said ladies couldn't make it, you must be blind." This line perfectly fits into the whole idea of women not being very focused on when hip pop was first invented. This line is also important because when she says it in the video, we see images of women in the background. Once again showcasing their strength and unity. Another thing to remember about the people in this background is that those are the people that paved a way for all the women after them to be able to do the things they do.

By the end of the video Queen Latifah is rapping about how women are coming up in hip pop and how ladies will come first. We see in the video that it closes out with a few more images and then the women dancing around her. 

In closing, Queen Latifah was one of the first female hip pop artists and I think it's fair to say she paved the way for female hip pop artists in our society today. This whole video fits into the idea that women were not accepted into hip pop when it first started. In today's world, there are so many female rappers that we look up to with a whole variety of rap styles For example people like Cardi B and Nicki Minaj. Rap music has changed so much since this music video was created but female artist continue to move up and expand their big platforms. As we continue to grow as a society and support the female artists that have worked so hard for the success they have today, it is important to remember that Queen Latifah started it all. 

In this essay I will be discussing the use of figurative language in the song ‘Stan’ by Eminem. In this song, there is a man named Stan that is very obsessed with Eminem and he progressively gets more obsessed as the song progresses. In this song, Eminem uses figurative terms like cacophony, imagery, hyperboles, and more, to show the dangers and the possible outcome of someone who is a stalker and a fan, a stan.

In the beginning of the song, the featured artist, Dido, opens up with the chorus that says, “My tea's gone cold I'm wondering why I Got out of bed at all The morning rain clouds up my window And I can't see at all And even if I could it'll all be gray Put your picture on my wall It reminds me, that it's not so bad It's not so bad.” There is not really any figurative language here but we do see some contradiction. This chorus has a very sad tone and it is depressing up until the part where she says, “Put your picture on my wall It reminds me, that it's not so bad It's not so bad.” She goes from being sad and dreary, to having some hope. Here we can see that she is trying to make herself feel better about the situation that she is in.

In the next part of the song is when “Stan” starts talking as he is writing his letters to Eminem. There is not much figurative language in this section but this is when we are introduced to “Stan” and we start to see a little of his obsessive nature by some of the things that he says. When he says things like, “But anyways, fuck it, what's been up? Man how's your daughter” and “I read about your Uncle Ronnie too I'm sorry I had a friend kill himself over some bitch who didn't want him”, we can see that he is trying to make it seem like him and Eminem are friends. He also talks about how he is his biggest fan which isn’t too abnormal, but it gets a little worse.

After that section comes the chorus with Dido again and it is important to note the significance of the repetition of the chorus. As I said before, Dido, which in this song is Stan’s wife, is trying to convince herself that everything is alright. We see this repetition which could signify that even with Stan writing all these things and his obvious issues, she is constantly trying to make herself believe that everything will be fine. After the chorus we see “Stan” talking again, and this is where we start to see the figurative language. He starts off by telling Eminem that he still hasn’t gotten in touch with him, and then he says, “I ain't mad, I just think it's fucked up you don't answer fans.” I underlined the words “fucked up” because I believe this is a Cacophony. When you listen to the song you can hear Stan say these words with a very harsh tone. I think this is when we start to see a little bit of his aggression and some more of his obsession. It’s like he says it harshly but then brings his tone back down like he’s trying to calm himself down. The next things I notice are some examples of imagery when he says, “we waited in the blistering cold for you” and “sometimes I even cut myself to see how much it bleeds.” This is imagery because when he says these things we can really see them in our head. He used the word “blistering” as opposed to the word cold to really emphasize how cold they were outside. He also used this word to emphasize how irritated he was. Then when he talks about cutting his wrist, we can imagine how aggressively he would be cutting himself because of the tone of the other lyrics. At this point, we can really start to see how dangerous he can be. In this part of the song we also see a hyperbole when he says, “my girlfriends jealous cause i talk about you 24/7.” This is a hyperbole because "Stan" obviously cannot literally talk about Eminem every hour of every day of every day of the week. Once again this goes to show how serious his obsession with Eminem is. This also shows how he resents his wife a little bit and I think from this we can infer that he thinks his girlfriend is jealous of his “relationship” with Eminem.

In this next part of the song, we can see that Stan has lost all of his sanity. Now, he isn’t even writing anymore, he’s talking into a tape recorder, and we can tell by his language that he is very upset that Eminem hasn’t written him back. Then he proceeds to say, “Hey Slim, I drank a fifth of vodka You dare me to drive?” This allusion is in reference to another Eminem song called, “My Name Is”. We can gather a few things by the fact that Stan says this such as how deep his obsession is with Eminem that he thought to reference back to another song of his. Even in his craziest state, he still wants Eminem to know how much he loves him. We can also take this literally because when he says this, he is drunk driving on the road with his wife in the trunk. This is right before he drives off the bridge. By this point, you can clearly tell that Stan is dangerous and delusional.

By the end of the song, Eminem is finally responding to Stan. He apologizes for not responding sooner, and he asks him some questions. Then he starts airing some concerns by saying, “You got some issues Stan, I think you need some counseling To help your ass from bouncing off the walls when you get down some.” This a hyperbole because you cannot literally bounce off of the walls. Unfortunately, by the time Eminem finally responds to Stan and airs some concerns, it is too late.

      In this essay I will be discussing the use of figurative language in the song ‘Stan’ by Eminem. In this song, there is a man named Stan that is very obsessed with Eminem and he progressively gets more obsessed as the song progresses. In this song, Eminem uses figurative terms like cacophony, imagery, hyperboles, and more, to show the dangers and the possible outcome of someone who is a stalker and a fan, and stan.

      The featured artist, Dido, opens up with the chorus that says, “My tea's gone cold I'm wondering why I Got out of bed at all The morning rain clouds up my window And I can't see at all And even if I could it'll all be gray Put your picture on my wall It reminds me, that it's not so bad It's not so bad.” There is not really any figurative language here but we do see some contradiction. This chorus has a very sad tone and it is depressing up until the part where she says, “Put your picture on my wall It reminds me, that it's not so bad It's not so bad.” She goes from being sad and dreary, to having some hope. Here we can see that she is trying to make herself feel better about the situation that she is in. We also see some foreshadowing here with the depressive tone because as it goes on you can clearly see that it is a depressing song with an unfortunate ending. We can connect this opening tone to the entire song.

      Throughout the rest of the song we see “Stan” talking while he is writing his letters to Eminem. An important thing to point out is the obsessive nature of “Stan’s” letters. When he first starts writing them, he says things like, “But anyways, fuck it, what's been up? Man how's your daughter” and “I read about your Uncle Ronnie too I'm sorry I had a friend kill himself over some bitch who didn't want him”, we can see that he is trying to make it seem like him and Eminem are friends. He also talks about how he is his biggest fan which isn’t too abnormal, but it gets a little worse as we continue through the song and his obsessive nature grows more extreme.

      Another important thing to remember throughout this song is the chorus with Dido and significance of the repetition. As I said before, Dido, which in this song is “Stan’s” wife, is trying to convince herself that everything is alright. We see this repetition which could signify that even with Stan writing all these things and his obvious issues, she is constantly trying to make herself believe that everything will be fine. When we see “Stan” talking again, he writes about how Eminem still hasn’t gotten in touch with him, and then he says, “I ain't mad, I just think it's fucked up you don't answer fans.” There is emphasis on the words “fucked up”, because I believe this is a Cacophony. When you listen to the song you can hear Stan say these words with a very harsh tone. This is when we start to see a little bit of his aggression and some more of his obsession. It’s like he says it harshly but then brings his tone back down like he’s trying to calm himself down. Stan also uses some imagery and hyperbole in his letters which further show the obsessive nature of his lifestyle. When he says, “we waited in the blistering cold for you” and “sometimes I even cut myself to see how much it bleeds”, you can imagine how this would be a little extreme. He used the word “blistering” as opposed to the word cold to really emphasize how cold they were outside and to explain his anger and frustration that Eminem did not speak to him. Eminem does a very good job at allowing the audience to feel “Stan's” frustrations right along with him. For example, when he talks about cutting his wrist, we can imagine how aggressively he would be cutting himself because of the tone of the other lyrics and the song itself. It almost makes you want to grab your wrist when you’re reading the lyrics or listening to the song because you can feel how hurt he is. At this point, we can really start to see how dangerous he can be. Stan also goes on to say, “my girlfriends jealous because I talk about you 24/7.” Stan obviously cannot literally talk about Eminem every hour of every day. Once again this goes to show how serious his obsession with Eminem is. This also shows how he resents his wife a little bit and I think from this we can infer that he thinks his girlfriend is jealous of his “relationship” with Eminem.

      We go on to see that Stan has lost all of his sanity. At this point in the song, he isn’t even writing anymore, he’s talking into a tape recorder, and we can tell by his language that he is very upset that Eminem hasn’t written him back. He poses an allusion from another Eminem song, My Name Is, when he says, “Hey Slim, I drank a fifth of vodka You dare me to drive?” We can gather a few things by the fact that Stan says this, such as how deep his obsession is with Eminem that he thought to reference back to another song of his. Even in his craziest state, he still wants Eminem to know how much he loves him. We can also take this literally because when he says this, he is drunk driving on the road with his wife in the trunk. This is right before he drives off the bridge. By this point, you can clearly tell that Stan is dangerous and delusional.

      By the time Eminem finally responds back, he apologizes for not responding sooner, asks him some questions, and airs some concerns. He says, “You got some issues Stan, I think you need some counseling To help your ass from bouncing off the walls when you get down some.” This a hyperbole because you cannot literally bounce off of the walls. Unfortunately, by the time Eminem finally responds to Stan and airs some concerns, it is too late. Throughout this song, it seems like we really take a tour through “Stan’s” mind, and his different mental stages as he progressively gets more and more obsessive and dangerous. Through his continuous use of figurative language, Eminem allows us to not only acknowledge “Stan’s” feelings, but to connect with them on a deeper level.

Two rappers I was thinking about comparing are Eminem and Kendrick Lamar. Both of these rappers are both Legends in different ways. Eminem raps more about emotions and how he's feeling. He touches on different aspects of his life and different things that he knows people can relate to. His wordplay is genius and it's almost unmatched and he puts certain things together that you wouldn't even think of. When he raps you can hear how he is feeling in his voice and his tone and even if you can't relate to what he's saying, you can feel it.

Kendrick Lamar on the other hand uses complex lyrics to tell a story. He talks about lots of different social issues and societal problems like racism. Like Eminem, he appeals to your emotions as well and his flow is so smooth. With him it's almost like he says more while saying less, whereas Eminem just says all that he needs to say. Both rappers are genius and revolutionary and I don't think you could say which one is better because they both bring something special to the table.

      In the world of hip pop, there are many different artists with many different styles. Hip pop has always been more than just music. It's an art form and culture. It's how people deliver a message and express what's on your mind. Throughout history, many different rappers have done their own thing and given the same message in different ways. In today's society, you have some rappers that are really good lyricists like Eminem who often goes in to depth about his feelings and emotions and his personal struggles, and then you have rappers like Kendrick Lamar who uses complex lyrics to tell a story and touches on issues that certain people face in our society today. Both rappers are geniuses of their time, but they take two different roads when it comes to their lyrical style and the messages they portray.

In the world of hip pop, there are many different artists with many different styles. Hip pop has always been more than just music. It's an art form and culture. It's how people deliver a message and express what's on your mind. Throughout history, many different rappers have done their own thing and given the same message in different ways. In today's society, you have some rappers that are really good lyricists like Eminem who often goes into depth about his feelings and emotions and his personal struggles, and then you have rappers like Kendrick Lamar who uses complex lyrics to tell a story and touches on issues that certain people face in our society today. Both rappers are geniuses of their time, but they take two different roads when it comes to their lyrical style and the messages they portray. 

Eminem is the prime example of how you can use imagery to captivate themes and bring together a narrative in order to express how you’re feeling. He explores the different themes of things like anxiety, racism, substance abuse, etc. He even includes a little satire sometimes. His songs are deep and inspirational. Eminem was the first white rapper to be respected and looked up to in the “black music” genre. Eminem makes music that you can really connect to and music that can change how you feel completely. For example, his song “Lose Yourself”, gives off a theme of encouragement, inspiration and motivation. It encourages the listeners to stop thinking so much so that they do not miss any opportunities that may come their way. In this song he digs deep into his feelings and how he feels when he is about to perform on stage, and still manages to relate it to people. (Idk what else to put)

Kendrick on the other hand is a little more grounded and spiritual than Eminem. He gets deeper into human emotions and he captures specific moments of life that we can all relate to in different ways. He is able to craft his lyrics together and analyze his own character through the words and phrases that he uses. His songs and albums symbolize statements, like his one album, ‘DAMN’. It represents being bold and knowing who you are, but still being humble enough to appreciate who and where you are. This is why all the songs on the album are in all caps.

(This is really bad but I honestly don't know what I'm even saying or where to go with this essay)

Eminem and Kendrick Lamar’s Lyrical Styles

In the world of hip pop, there are many different artists with many different styles. Hip pop has always been more than just music. It's an art form and culture. It's how people deliver a message and express what's on your mind. Throughout history, many different rappers have done their own thing and given the same message in different ways. In today's society, you have some rappers that are really good lyricists like Eminem who often goes into depth about his feelings and emotions and his personal struggles, and then you have rappers like Kendrick Lamar who uses complex lyrics to tell a story and touches on issues that certain people face in our society today. Both rappers are geniuses of their time, but they take two different roads when it comes to their lyrical style and the messages they portray. 

Eminem is the prime example of how you can use imagery to captivate themes and bring together a narrative in order to express how you’re feeling. For example, in the song ‘The Way I Am’ he raps, “And all of this controversy circles me And it seems like the media immediately points a finger at me So I point one back at 'em, but not the index or pinkie Or the ring or the thumb, it's the one you put up When you don't give a fuck, when you won't just put up With the bullshit they pull, 'cause they full of shit too” In this song he explains the way he is and basically the negative side of him. He emphasizes that he really doesn’t care about what everybody thinks because he has the right to be whoever he is going to be. In this specific part of the song he is specifically expressing how he gives his middle finger to the media and all the people that have a problem with him. Eminem also explores the different themes of things like anxiety, racism, substance abuse, etc. In his song ‘Stan”, which is about an obsessive fan that consistently writes to Eminem, he raps, “Hey Slim, I drank a fifth of vodka You dare me to drive?” Soon after he raps this, “Stan” drives off of a bridge killing himself and his pregnant wife. What’s interesting about this is that a lot of people today use the term “stan” to describe how they are a fan of a certain artist or a certain group, but not many people realize what this term means. Eminem is responsible for giving this term a meaning and it’s not really a fun term that should be thrown around. The point is, Eminem’s terminology has proven to be powerful enough to be used in every language.

Another thing about Eminem is that his songs are deep and inspirational and it changed the way some black artists viewed his music. In a Quora post, Darren Liddle Stated that, "When white rappers were mainly frowned upon, Eminem changed all that and showed just how capable he was. He really reshaped the culture" (Darren Liddle, 2020). Eminem was the first white rapper to be respected and looked up to in the “black music” genre. Eminem makes music that you can really connect to and music that can change how you feel completely. For example, his song “Lose Yourself”, gives off a theme of encouragement, inspiration and motivation. He says, “You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow This opportunity comes once in a lifetime.” It encourages the listeners to stop thinking so much so that they do not miss any opportunities that may come their way. In this song he digs deep into his feelings and how he feels when he is about to perform on stage, and still manages to relate it to people.

Kendrick on the other hand is a little more grounded and spiritual than Eminem. Kendrick also isn’t as aggressive in the things that he says and the way he says them. He gets deeper into human emotions and he captures specific moments of life that we can all relate to in different ways. In one of his songs, ‘Sing About Me’, he says, “You ran outside when you heard my brother cry for help Held him like a newborn baby and made him feel Like everything was alright And a fight he tried to put up, but the type Of bullet that stuck had went against his will As blood spilled on your hands.” Here he talks about when he brother died and a lot of people can probably relate to something like this situation. Other people’s situations might not have been as graphic but if you’ve lost a family member then you hear these lyrics and it takes you back and makes you feel something. Later in the same song he also says, “This is the life of another girl damaged by the system These foster homes, I run away and never do miss 'em.” I bring this up because when you hear this you know that it’s relatable whether it’s affected your life or not. We hear about children who have been done wrong by the foster care system all the time who end up being victims in so many different situations because they were never able to get proper guidance. He does an excellent job of bringing reality into his songs and making you realize the unfortunate depth of these kinds of situations. 

Kendrick is able to craft his lyrics together and analyze his own life and his own situations through the phrases and words that he uses. In the song “Fear”, he uses repetition in a part of the bridge starting each line with “I’ll prolly die.” From this point he goes on to label things that he is likely to die from. However if you pay close attention, you realize that the things he says he’s likely to die from, are more specifically the things he is likely to die from as a black man. For example he says, “I'll prolly die 'cause these colors are standin' out” and “I'll prolly die from witnesses leavin' me false accused.” These are both struggles that black people, especially black men face a little too often in our society. The more you listen to the song, the more you understand why it’s called “Fear.” This song title also shows how Kendrick’s songs and albums symbolize statements. His one album, ‘DAMN’ represents being bold and knowing who you are, but still being humble enough to appreciate who and where you are. This is why all the songs on the album are in all caps.

While Eminem and Kendrick tend to differ in the way they deliver their messages a little bit, they are both still geniuses of their time. Both of them give insight into their lives and they give the listeners and the audience a chance to feel a fraction of what they feel. Eminem often raps about his life and expresses his love for his family and his daughters. In his song “Mockingbird”, he says,”Cause you're scared, I ain't there? Daddy's with you in your prayers No more crying, wipe them tears, daddy's here, no more nightmares.” This entire song is about his love for his daughters and his constant efforts and dedication to give them a better life than he could have ever imagined for himself. This goes toward the point that while not all of his songs are as heartfelt, he always manages to go back to his roots and raps about the things that brought him up to where he is today. 

Kendrick Lamar also raps about his own experiences and the things he had to go through to get to where he is. In his song, “Swimming Pools”, he raps about his substance abuse issues. He says, “Some people wanna fit in with the popular that was my problem I was in the dark room loud tunes, looking to make a vow soon That I'ma get fucked up, fillin' up my cup I see the crowd move.” Then, later in the song when his conscience is talking, he says, “I am your conscience, if you do not hear me then you will be history, Kendrick I know that you're nauseous right now and I'm hopin' to lead you to victory, Kendrick If I take another one down I'mma drown in some poison abusin' my limit.” Throughout Kendrick’s childhood, he struggled with substance abuse and it obviously impacted his life so much that he felt the need to make a song about it. Due to these past issues “the Grammy award-winner doesn’t drink or do drugs, and he’s a vocal advocate for clean living” (Sprout Editorial Team). I’m sure had he not decided to make some changes in his life, he would not be where he is today. He, like Eminem, had to go through some struggles in order to get to the point where he can rap about all the things that people can relate to. That’s what makes both of them so talented.

Both Kendrick Lamar and Eminem are intellects of their time in the hip hop industry. Eminem actually credits Kendrick Lamar for being his inspiration and for keeping lyrical rap alive. In an interview he said, “A lot of these kids coming up, they have studied the greats and just watching them is incredible because there is a common argument that ‘nobody says lyrics anymore’ but that’s bulls**t because…I mention Kendrick and Cole a lot, I know they are not kids coming up anymore but they came after us but they’ve studied all the greats and you can tell because it goes into their pen” (Southpawer, 2020). Kendrick Lamar credits Eminem as well, considering Eminem has been in the game a little longer. However, the truth is, both of them are largely responsible for the lessons learned, the feelings brought out, and the changes of culture in the hip hop genre. Eminem brings a lot of different complex words and phrases to the table. His rapping is lyrical but aggressive and he emphasizes his feelings and emotions. Kendrick does more with less. His raps dig a little deeper and they make you feel a little more, but in the end, both of them accomplish the same thing. They make you think a little harder and feel your own emotions and feelings on a whole different level. In addition to the fact that they write their own lyrics and actually have skill, they also manage to change the way you view certain things and shift your perspective. That is why, at the end of the day, I believe they’re two of the greatest lyrical artists of all time.

 Works Cited

Darren Liddle. “Is Eminem or Kendrick Lamar a better rapper, based on all factors?” quora.com 11 March 2018 https://www.quora.com/Is-Eminem-or-Kendrick-Lamar-a-better-rapper-based-on-all-factors Accessed 12 November 2020

Sprout Health Group. “These 10 Celebrities Choose Sobriety” Sprouthealthgroup.com https://www.sprouthealthgroup.com/featured/10-sober-celebrities/#:~:text=Many%20other%20sober%20celebrities%2C%20including,vocal%20advocate%20for%20clean%20living. Accessed 3 December 2020

Southpawer. “Eminem says lyrical rap is still alive because of Kendrick Lamar & J. Cole” hiii-power.com 25 April 2020 https://hiii-power.com/2020/04/25/eminem-shouts-out-kendrick-lamar-j-cole/ Accessed 3 December 2020