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

Sam Bradfield 

Professor Pease

English 1101

9/11/2020

The music video ‘straight outta compton’ strikes me as particularly interesting from the start. It starts off at low angle shooting up at the artist, which is an indication to how they started from poverty and have never forgotten their roots. Rappers and other artists tend to use the angles of the camera in the work display a lot of different kinds of messages in their videos.

The music video also has a lot of recurring themes. One of those recurring themes is police brutality, this is an issue that we have seen in music videos for generations. We see this done a lot more in today's world than what we saw back then. This message has been around since the 1970s’s tho. The artist in this music video uses the theme, like some of the original DJs in Rose’s rap music article. On page 19 in the start of the second paragraph Rose talks about how DJ kool herc used to backspin his music to catch the beat or repeat the message.

In Roses rap music article the topic of song titles is mentioned in the bottom of page 19. The artist talks about how song titles tend to be repeated throughout the song like in the song ‘monster mash’ In N.W.A’s ‘straight out compton’ song he also does this exact same thing. When artists use this form of repetition they tend to really mean their message. When listeners hear this style the message or theme of the song really sticks with them. It sticks with them because they hear it more than once. This creates an overall theme for the song that gets repeated. In this case for N.W.A the song is about where the artists are from. So they named the song after their hometown. 

In page 20 of Roses article the topic of verbal skills and slang is talked about. N.W.A has a lot of verbal skill and deep meaning behind their lyrics to back that rappers still use a lot of verbal skill. Ice cube starts off his song with telling everyone how he was raised and where he is from by using a lot of verbal skill. Something a lot of people do not realise is how rare and challenging this talent is.  If someone were to sit and listen too N.W.A’s song they could enjoy it by two aspects, the beat and instrumental flow of the song and the poetic beauty of the lyrics. 

 

 

When one listens to N.W.A’s ‘straight outta compton’ song they get a very masculane feel from the song. You get this feel from lyrics talking about guns, violence, and sex. The artists have a recurring theme of how they get women. The overall feel of the song is very masculine. Rose talks about this in her article, How it is harder for women to get into the hip-hop/ rap industry. Songs like ‘straight outta compton’ I believe are the reason that Women still struggle to make it in the music industry today. 

N.W.A has a lot of messages in their music video for the song ‘straight outta compton’ some are positive and some are negative. The song was released on July 10th, 1988. During this time rap music was just beginning its historic rise. N.W.A introduced a new flow of music when they released this song. It reminds me of when DJ Kool Herc introduced spinning his records faster and slower than the actual song. It was a new way of music that people loved.

In this music video N.W.A also uses different landscapes to portray their music. They have one particular scene in their video where they continue to show a map that shows different areas surrounding Compton. This shows us where the artist's original fans are from. Like how DJ Kool Herc had his own fans that surrounded him when he first began to blow up. These artists have a deep love for their fans, I believe this is the reason that they tend to include them in their music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sam Bradfield

Professor Pease

English 1101

10/11/2020

Six foot Seven foot 

For my figurative language song I have chosen the song, “Six Foot Seven Foot,” by Lil Wayne. There are many examples of figurative language in this song, including personification, metaphors, and similes. The first piece of figurative language in this song that sticks out to me is when Lil Wayne says “swagger down pat, call my shit patricia,”. From this lyric, Lil Wayne is saying his swagger is down pat. He is using the phrase down pat with the meaning that his swagger is exactly how it should be. He also says to call his shit “patricia”. A shorter name for Patricia is pat. Therefore, Wayne is indirect, with the use of metaphors, comparing “pat” and “patricia” and basically stating these words have the same meaning.

Lil Wayne also says “two bitches at the same time, synchronized swimmers”. With this lyric, Wayne creates a metaphor by comparing bitches to swimmers. He is referring to women as bitches in this line while also implying that he had sexual relations with these women at the same time. Lil wayne calls them synchronized swimmers to imply that they are both on the same page and in rhythm during his relations with them. 

Lil Wayne says “life is a bitch, and death is her sister,”. When this part of the song occurs a repetitive theme appears. This theme is the word bitch. It occurs several times, even before this specific lyric.  Lil Wayne is calling a lot of things a bitch, creating metaphors left and right. He starts off this theme by referring to women as bitches. Then goes on to call life a bitch. This is the artist showing his frustration with life in general. He also refers to death as life's sister, despite sisters having the stereotype of being viewed as annoying but loved by male figures. Therefore, Lil Wayne is saying that he is scared but also loves the idea of death in a sense. He also calls sleep the “cousin” life and death are the main points of this “family picture” as Lil Wayne puts it. The cousin seems like a topping on the verse.

Wayne says “married to the money, fuck the world that's adultry,”. The first part of this lyric is suggesting that all Wayne cares about is superficial items, such as money. Money and women seem to be the only thing that Wayne has his mind on most of the time. The figurative language in this lyric is personification, since Wayne is inferring that money is capable of being married to. Likewise, through personification, Wayne is giving human characteristics to his money. 

In another lyric from Lil Wayne’s song, “black and white diamonds, fuck segregation,” the use of a metaphor is apparent. Wayne is indirectly associating black and white diamonds to people of color and people of white origins in order to communicate his wishes for segregation to end. This metaphor is indirect instead of simple since the association between diamonds and people is not that obvious/ apparent.

 

Sam Bradfield

English

Professor Pease

10/22/2020

                                                A Song Of The Wrong Needs

The song “Six Foot Seven Foot” by Lil Wayne is a very fast paced song full of figurative language. The song is riddle with references referring to sex, drugs, confidence, and other aspects of the life of a rapper in 2010.

            One thing that Lil Wayne, also known as “weezy”, talks about in all of his songs is sex. The concept of intercourse is something Weezy loves. You can obivsously tell this when he uses lyrics such as “two bitches at the same time, synchronized swimmers” or “got the girl twisted 'cause she open when you twist her”. Another message you get when Lil Wayne uses lyrics like these, Is that he objectifies women, But there is a deeper meaning to his objectification of women. Weezy mentions a woman named Tammy who broke his heart. He mentions Tammy in the lyric “had my heart broken by this woman named Tammy But hoes gon' be hoes, so I couldn't blame Tammy” he also calls Tammy a hoe. This event that left the rapper heart broken could have started the the rappers sex obsession. Weezy also appears to be lost in a way when it comes to love. You can see this when he spits the lyric “Woman of my dreams, I don't sleep so I can't find her”. The rapper appears not to be fulfilled through his life of sleeping with random women. He seems to cover this flaw of his through “flexing” or “stunting” on people which causes him to have a massive ego.

Lil Wayne is not shy about his ego. He is very obvious about his thoughts about himself through his lyrics. He says lines like “No matter who's buying, I'm a celebration”. He goes to the extreme extent that says every time he goes somewhere he should be celebrated by others. To dive even further into this rapper’s ego he says “Young Money running shit and you niggas just runner-ups”. With this lyric he establishes for a fact that he thinks he is the best and everyone else is below him. Although it may seem that the rapper is a little too cocky, his confidence establishes his dominance which is a huge part of his lyrical flow.

Lil Wayne's assertion of dominance is something that makes him so popular. He has a way of getting his fans pumped up after listening to him. He does this through lyrics like “You don't want to start Weezy, 'cause the F is for Finisher” Lyrics like this bring a special level of energy to this song. He implies he’s the finisher, but listeners get the impression that they could be the finisher. But he also seems to bring his fans back to earth by saying he is the commissioner of his fans through the lyric “Young Money militia, and I am the commissioner”. Lil Wayne's assertion of dominance can be viewed from two points in his song. The first is the realization that Lil Wayne is extremely self absorbed. The other is the impression that you could be the “finisher” or the “commissioner”.

Lil Wayne may not actually be the best rapper ever like he thinks he is, but he does have a very large platform to express his beliefs too. Lil Wayne does not have a common way of thinking. He was quoted on a Fox Sports show saying “there's no such thing as racism” he has multiple reasons to back this quote up one of them being that a lot of his fans are white. He expressed this point on Fox as well. His other argument for his quote of racism being non-existent is that his life was saved by a police officer who was “white as snow” while officers who were “blacker than him” jumped over his body. When this event occurred Lil Wayne had been shot in the chest and was laying on the floor. This events back up his lyrics when he spits lines like “Black and white diamonds, fuck segregation” his point of view on racism is not a very common one coming from an African American rapper. One thing he does though is stand by his word. This sense of being so confident on a not very common point of view is backed up through lyrics as well. When he says the lyric “I speak the truth, but I guess that's a foreign language to y'all”. It shows his confidence in going against the river and saying something he believes.

            Weezy has also acquired a lot of money throughout his long very successful career. He uses a tactic a lot of famous rappers use, and that is using your wealth (diamonds, cars, gold, cash… etc) you can tell this when he spits bars such as “Fuck that shit, my money up, you niggas just Honey Nut” this is showing the rappers lack of care for what others around him think, and money is one of his main concerns. A life based around money may not be the most fulfilling lifestyle but it's the way he lives.

The song six foot seven is a song that focuses on material value and improper actions. Most people are taught not to focus too hard on what this song is about, But Weezy does and he has made a solid living off what he raps about. This song is his own identity and no one can take that from him. 

 

Young Thug is one of America's hottest rappers. Young Thug gets his fame and publicity from his swagger. His platform consist of drugs, alcohol, and sex. Young Thug has a net worth of roughly 8 million dollars, doing this style of music. Young Thug enjoys his money a lot, he has been known to express how much money he has through his lyrics.

Chris Young is a country music singer who has a style of slow guitar country music. Unlike Young Thug, Chris Young has a style of writing sad music or romantic love songs. Young's net worth is roughly 4 million dollars which is half of Young Thugs. Chris Young has a more modest style of music. When artists break “rules” and do out of ordinary actions they make more money and get more views. Chris Young focuses on writing music for his fans, While young thug focuses on performing for his.

Rappers in today’s world have a variety of different styles and flows. One thing that tends too never fail is the topic of sex, drugs, and alcohol being mentioned through out rap songs. The beat and style may differ, But the topic of discussion never fails to be explicit. Music videos of rappers in today's world always have extremely sexually charged messages that consist of women being objectified put in front of a stage, boat, mansion, or sometimes even on top of a car. Drugs and alcohol are displayed in these music videos as well. When you go on youtube and search for any rap music video you are basically guaranteed to find a rapper sipping on a very expensive bottle of liquor and smoking what one can only assume is marijuna. Rappers do this so they can display their lyrics on screen.

Young Thug is one of America's hottest rappers, and has been on top of the rap game for a while. Young Thug gets his fame and publicity from his swagger. His rap idenity consist of drugs, alcohol, and sex. Another rapper with the same lyrically style is a rapper by the name of  DaBaby who has had a recent rise to the top. DaBaby centers his music around Upbeat tunes. There is a certain level of hype that is centered around his music, while Young Thug tends to lean more towards guitar beats and a more slow and smooth style.

Sam Bradfield

Professor Pease

English 1101 

11/15/2020

Perry essay 

Rappers in today’s world have a variety of different styles and flows. One thing that tends to never fail is the topic of sex, riches, and drugs being mentioned throughout rap songs. The beat and style may differ, but the topic of discussion never fails to be explicit. Music videos of rappers in today's world always have extremely sexually charged messages that consist of women being objectified put in front of a stage, boat, mansion, or sometimes even on top of a car. Drugs are also displayed in music videos. They are more discreetly shown through people puffing on rolled up blunts in the video.  Rappers do this so they can display their lyrics on screen. 

Young Thug is one of America's hottest rappers and has been on top of the rap game for a while. Young Thug gets his fame and publicity from his swagger. His rap idenity consist of drugs, riches, and sex. Another rapper with the same lyrical style is a rapper by the name of  DaBaby who has had a recent rise to the top. DaBaby centers his music around upbeat tunes. There is a certain level of hype that is centered around his music, while Young Thug tends to lean more towards guitar beats and a more slow and smooth style.

Some songs tend to lean heavily on different themes than others. The song Relationship by Young Thug has an extremely obvious theme of the commodification of women. Repeatedly throughout the song Thug spits the lyric “I’m in a relationship with all my bitches”. Thug also claims throughout the song that he knows how to make the girls go crazy. Another song that has this common theme of commodification of women is Bestfriend by DaBaby. This song talks about women in a different way than Thug does in his song Relationship. DaBaby has a more aggressive, obvious, and rude approach. This is quite clear when DaBaby spits the lyric “I’ma fuck her and run up mileage HA”. These two songs are centered around women, but still manage to rap about riches as well. DaBaby talks about his cars, while Young Thug talks about gold, And ‘bands’. 

Other rap songs lean towards the common theme of drugs. In some cases you don’t even need to listen to the song to see the obvious drug references. References to drugs are very commonly placed in song titles. Some examples are Get High, Ecstasy, and Light It Up. All sung by Young Thug. Obviously these songs have lyrics about drugs riddled throughout the song. In Ecstasy the lyric “I been chewin’ on that chewy and ecstasy' ' is spit to express that Thug does all different kinds of drugs. These songs also spit about women and riches. In “Light It Up'' a very casual lyric is spit saying “Flood my wrist with all types of bands” implying that Thug is quite literally ‘flooded’ in wealth. When Thug objectifies women in his drug themed songs he uses short extremely powerful lines scattered throughout the song. DaBaby talks about drugs in a very different manner. His style consists of subtle lyrics about drug use. He uses lyrics such as “Probably told you I’m lit, come get a sniff” or “I’m pure like cocaine in the 80’s”. With a style of being subtle in drug rap DaBaby gets away with putting comparisons in his drug lyrics.

Arguably the most common theme in hip hop music is wealth. Wealth is a topic you can find in almost any rap song. Rappers tend to express this topic through lyrics about nice cars and gold jewelry. These wealth centered lyrics get expressed to a higher level of detail through music videos. Music videos always have signs of wealth heavily displayed throughout the entire video. Wealth is the heart and soul of most videos. Women who perform in videos never fail to be surrounded by nice cars, boats, and mansions. These women who get on show typically seem to have the artist of the song standing or sitting near them covered in gold jewelry and dressed in the nicest most expensive clothes. 

Sam Bradfield

Professor Pease

English 1101

12/3/2020

The Hip-Hop Drug Industry.

In today’s modern world, hip-hop has grown to be one of the most listened to genres across several demographics. There are many subgenres that fall under the hip-hop genre; Rap music specifically is one of the most popular forms of music derived from hip-hop’s culture and sound. A recent survey showed 21.7 percent of all U.S. listeners consume rap/hip-hop in their frequently listened to playlists. Compared to rock music (14 percent) and country music (8.7 percent), Hip-Hop/Rap is far more popular and widely consumed. While the numbers look great, the devil is in the details. Rap music often sensationalizes and subsequently normalizes illegal, recreational drug use and other explicit themes within the lyrics, production, and overall composition. Smoke inhales, lighters being lit, and pills being popped on top of lyrics dedicated to different substances play a key part in a drug-related narrative that has unfortunately become a genre-defining element to rap and hip-hop music. 

The mentioning of drugs in rap music is so common these days that most listeners are desensitized to how provocative (and illegal) these habits are, however it’s up to the listener’s own interpretation. Some rappers are so nonchalant in their lyrics and explicit use of drugs that the average listener is not even phased. Some rappers make a slight nod to their drug use in the background production, whereas others are very direct and dedicate an entire album or song to their recreational drug use. Either way, it’s a theme that dominates an overall genre. 

Young Thug, a rapper who does not hide his drug use at all, has released several songs that demonstrate this notion. His hit songs Get High, Ecstasy, Stoner,  and Light It Up are just a few obvious examples showcasing this notion. The song Get High featuring Snoop Dogg is one of many examples where drug use is being celebrated and monetized. The title, lyrics/hook “I wanna get high, high”, and having Snoop Dogg featured (a notorious weed smoker who built his brand on his smoking habits) encapsulate this theme.  Thug also uses this style in his song Stoner when he repeats the lyric “I’m a stoner” repeatedly throughout the song. The chorus of Get High breaks down the topic marrijunna by using lyrics like “Cock back and we pull bubblegum, cookies, OG, and KK '' to spit about different strains of weed. Other lyrics in the song are written about different ways to smoke pot and what it makes you feel and do such as “And my gas tank is on full stack goods and them backwoods' ' and “balling in two places, exchange smoke faces”. Thug's way of rapping about drugs is an extremely obvious style that leaves no room for obscurity.

Not all rap songs about drugs are as obvious as Young Thugs- nor are they all centered around the recreational aspect of using drugs. Other rappers such as DaBaby are more subtle in incorporating drugs into their songs. DaBaby definitely makes it known that he uses drugs in most of his songs, but some songs are more direct than others. For example, in his hit songs Goin Baby and 21, drugs are mentioned primarily through figurative language. His drug references are woven into his songs, but are not the driving force. DaBaby incorporates drugs in his lyrics, but are not the focal point. Lyrics like,  “probably told you I’m lit, come get you a sniff” and “I’m pure like cocaine in the ‘80s” mentioned in the song Goin Baby, are subtle references woven into a song primarily about his life. In his song 21, a song about a woman he hooked up with, but uses lyrics like “Blowin’ loud to keep a flow” in the chorus. Drugs are rarely the topic of his songs, but they are definitely sprinkled throughout several songs in his catalogue. DaBaby mainly writes about women, his life, and likely includes these drug references to ensure that he is culturally relevant in the hip-hop/rap community. 

Lyrics are the most obvious way rappers incorporate drugs into their songs, but the are also done in a beat’s production. For example, some hip-hop songs include sounds of dramatic inhales, snorting, coughing, pills shaking, in beats of a track. Beats per measure (BPM) is a term used to indicate how fast or slow a song is. Often, producers compose the backing tracks based on what drugs the songs are talking about and their effects when being used. 

Young Thug provides a great example of this in his hit song Stoner. It’s not a slow song, but definitely more relaxed. The lyrics/title are an obvious drug reference, but the BPM is what gives it a mellow vibe to emulate the effect of  marijunna. In the song Stoner Thug also uses extremely sped up electronic sounds when he raps about something other than weed throughout the song. The song speeds up on lyrics like “I just put $10,000 on my bitch just like a boss” and “Count hundreds and fifties off everyones cities” for impact, but always slows down when mentioning weed. The song Ecstasy by Young Thug also emulates the effects of the drug through the use of contrasting BPMs to go with the effects of ecstasy.

In the song Best Friend DaBaby mentions marijunna the beginning of the song through the lyric “I’m tryna roll up while I drive” During this increment of the song the cymbals are being played on a consecutive rhythm while an electric piano is playing. DaBaby uses more sections of the drum such as the bass pedal and medium tom as the song continues, and drug references come to an end. When DaBaby raps about harder drugs such as cocaine he changes his beat and style. When DaBaby spits lyrics like “I’m pure like cocaine in the 80’s” and “come get you a sniff” he adds a perky flute melody, plays his cymbals at a medium pace, and increases the beats per minute. This symbolizes the upbeat and alert effects of cocaine and other alert symptomatic drugs.

Rap music is an art form nonetheless. These different elements in reference to drugs are just examples of how drugs can be referenced and how they are woven into a genre. When a song has a marjiunna theme or mentions marijunna it tends to slow down the beat and rap in a calm manner, but when a song mentions a more alert drug such as cocaine it picks up the beat and the rap is more aggressive. This is done to match the lyrics with the beat. 

According to an article written by producer Cole Mize, the most common way rappers find their beat is through a cadence. A cadence is a beat that was already heard by an artist or a similar beat the artist already knows. When an artist writes a song about weed or molly he or she typically has a calm and soothing cadence in mind to match his lyrics about the drug being rapped about. Artists also tend to modify their beats to fit their lyrics. These modifications can be seen in music when the topic the artist is rapping about changes. A beat changes often when drugs are rapped about. Young Thug and DaBaby modify their beats and lyrical style to rap about drugs. DaBaby does it in his song POP STAR when the beat is completely taken away from the song for a brief moment. The beat was taken away so DaBaby can rap about a trip to Mexico involving cocaine, He spits lyrics such as “I sell a lot of perico been tryna to slow it down” and “I took the thirty six to a hundred eight and weigh up every ounce” during this brief beatless moment. Young Thug also does this in his song On Fire when he slows down his beat and speech for a chorus that has the lyric “rockin’ gas in my Japanese drawers” in the text.

Most rap artists have different styles and techniques when it comes to making their music, but they all seem to follow certain patterns when rapping about different topics. Drugs is a topic that is mentioned as much as any other topic when it comes to the rap genre. Rappers want their lyrics to sync up with their lyrical material. To do this they must stay true to a pattern even if the pattern is loosely followed. One pattern that is quite frequently seen in rap music is when weed gets mentioned in lyrics the rapper takes a slow, calm and mellow approach to his lyrics and beat. This is done so the meaning of the lyrics can match the feel of the beat. All rappers do this to a certain extent in their music, especially when rapping about drugs. At the end of day what is most important to almost any artist is making lyrics and beats flow together to make a great song. To do this your lyrics and beat must flow perfectly with the topic of discussion. 

The topic of drugs is a topic used often, and it has many different lyrical styles and beats that can be used in rap songs. Many mainstream rappers talk about different types of drugs in their music. When they rap about drugs they almost always have a beat to match the drug of choice mentioned in the lyrics. Rappers like Young Thug and DaBaby provide a great example of this by making beats and lyrics that perfectly match their drug of choice. However, it’s worth mentioning that while Hip-Hop/rap music includes drugs, more often than not it’s about portraying a certain lifestyle. Hip-Hop/Rap is not just music-it’s a culture and drugs just so happen to be a big part of that. 

 

Works Cited

1. Mize, Cole. “Home.” ColeMizeStudios, 13 Oct. 2020, colemizestudios.com/. 

2. Watson, Amy. “Music Album Consumption in the U.S. by Genre 2018.” Statista, 24 Sept. 2020, www.statista.com/statistics/310746/share-music-album-sales-us-genre/.