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

 Low and centered camera angles are the beginning of J. Cole’s “Crooked Smile”. The camera movement is very casual and it isn’t much of it, even in the hectic parts of the video. The storytelling in the video is very simple and direct for the viewers. J. Cole is the main character of this video and he showcases his life and compares it with the life of a police officer. They both wake up and brush their teeth and do the same activities to represent how equal they are on a human basis. They both try to make their lives look like a white picket fence type of life for their daughters but their reality is scary. 

The first slow motion part of the video is when Cole sees his daughter to emphasize how joyous the moment he gets to see her is. A noticeable aspect of certain scenes is how sunlight shines through the windows to symbolize the light at the end of the tunnel or the beauty in the struggle. One of the scenes where the light shines is when Cole stashes some drugs in his shoes assuming it is his only form of income. Meanwhile, the police officer is coming up with a plan to raid Cole’s home and can also be seen with the same light effect through the windows. 

       The second slow motion part is when his daughter peeks through her bedroom door to see what is going on only to get shot by the startled police officer. In this moment, the original music for the video stops and it starts playing a slow instrumental version of the Star Spangled Banner.

The placement of the eerie song is to show how he feels about the racial injustice and reality of the nation’s system also seen in his lyric: “look at the nation that’s a crooked smile braces couldn’t even straighten”. After her tragic death, the scene shifts to show a montage of her short lived, yet happy life. Ironically, she is seen coloring and laughing with her friend who happens to be the daughter of the police officer. Their friendship represents innocence and how their backgrounds or skin color don’t matter. The police officer seen throughout the video is shown to be heartbroken cause he knows what it is like to be a father. 

       The video is very sad but has a good lesson when he ends his video with a black screen and the words: “And please reconsider your war on drugs - a message from J. Cole”. The video and the song is a perfect example of when Tricia Rose’ “Rap Music” speaks about hip hop history. She talks about how the rappers would tell stories through their songs and that is exactly what J. Cold did. “The power of rappers’ voices and their role as storytellers ensured that rapping would become the central expression in hip hop culture” (20). Cole used his voice and platform to tell an emotional story and hopefully reach the viewers who struggle with the decisions they make and how that is a dangerous game to play with the court system. His style of rap is very serious and political. He focuses on the small insecurities of women and compares it with the more serious matter of the criminal justice system. “The most frequent style of rap was variation on the toast, a boastful, bragging, form of oral storytelling sometimes explicitly political and often aggressive, violent, and sexist in content” (21). He is openly and unapologetically political to showcase the true story of that little girl. Hip hop history has a lot to do with the way rappers make music nowadays. Cole is just one of the great outcomes of that history and is history in the making for hip hop.

 Low and centered camera angles are the beginning of J. Cole’s “Crooked Smile”. The camera movement is very casual and it isn’t much of it even in the hectic parts of the video. The storytelling in the video is very simple and direct for the viewers. Cole’s purpose is obvious when paying attention to the sequence of it. His style of rap is one of the outcomes of hip hop history and it is seen in this one video. 

     J. Cole is the main character of this video. He shows his point of view and compares it with the life of a police officer. They both wake up and brush their teeth and do the same activities to represent how equal they are on a human basis. They both try to make their lives look like a white picket fence type of life for their daughters but their reality is scary. The first slow motion part of the video is when Cole sees his daughter to emphasize how joyous the moment he gets to see her is. A noticeable aspect of certain scenes is how sunlight shines through the windows to symbolize the light at the end of the tunnel or the beauty in the struggle. One of the scenes of the arrangement of the light  is when Cole stashes some drugs in his shoes assuming it is his only form of income. Meanwhile, the police officer is coming up with a plan to raid Cole’s home and can also be seen with the same light effect.

       The second slow motion part is when his daughter peeks through her bedroom door to see what is going on only to get shot by the startled police officer. In this moment, the original music for the video stops and it starts playing a slow instrumental version of the Star Spangled Banner. The placement of the eerie song is to show how he feels about the racial injustice and reality of the nation’s system also seen in his lyric: “look at the nation that’s a crooked smile braces couldn’t even straighten”.

After her tragic death, the scene shifts to show a montage of her short lived, yet happy life. Ironically, she is seen coloring and laughing with her friend who happens to be the daughter of the police officer. Their friendship represents innocence and how their backgrounds or skin color don’t matter. The color and lighting is dark in the rest of the video but the montage is bright and has a yellow tint to it. The reason for this pattern is to convey how the world is dark but death is peaceful. 

       The video is melancholic but has a good lesson when he ends his video with a black screen and the words: “And please reconsider your war on drugs - a message from J. Cole”. The video and the song is a perfect example of when Tricia Rose’ “Rap Music” speaks about how hip hop came about. She talks about how the rappers would tell stories through their songs and that is exactly what J. Cole did. “The power of rappers’ voices and their role as storytellers ensured that rapping would become the central expression in hip hop culture” (20). Cole used his voice and platform to tell an emotional story and hopefully reach the viewers who struggle with the decisions they make and how that is a dangerous game to play with the court system. His style of rap is very serious and political. He first focuses on the small insecurities of women and compares it with the more serious matter of the criminal justice system. The sequence of the video starts light but gets heavy with the deeper meaning. 

      “The most frequent style of rap was variation on the toast, a boastful, bragging, form of oral storytelling sometimes explicitly political and often aggressive, violent, and sexist in content” (21). Cole is openly and unapologetically political to showcase the true story of that little girl. Hip hop history has a lot to do with the way rappers make music nowadays. Cole is just one of the great outcomes of that history and is history in the making for hip hop. 

The Infamous Title: “For Whom The Bell Tolls”

Erika Benitez

When listening to J. Cole’s song, “For Whom The Bell Tolls”, it can be described as melancholic. The track itself includes trumpets and ringing of bells to emphasize the meaning of the song. It is simply about a boy who is contemplating what to do with his life. It isn’t clear who the song is about but, when broken down, there are a couple of clear options. The figurative language can help the listener break it down.

The song starts off talking about rain. The boy sees the rain pouring down in front of him. The rain is a symbol for an outpouring of emotions and coming to an end. “I see the rain pouring down before my very eyes should come as no surprise”. He explains that it isn’t a surprise because it is so overwhelming, he sees the end coming. He goes on to describe his loneliness. He doesn’t have anyone around him during this difficult time. “My bridges have burnt down”. This metaphor is about lost relationships that is likely one of the causes of his loneliness. An interesting aspect about this lyric is that it is an allusion. 

“For Whom The Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway (1940) is a book about a boy in the Spanish Civil War. His duty in this war is to destroy a bridge. He expresses his loneliness and even contemplates suicide. The title of both the book and the song, is from a poem by John Donne with the same infamous title. “Therefore, send not to know For whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee”. The meaning of Donne’s saying is that the church bells ring when a person dies but one should not ask who it is for because it is for all of us to mourn. Cole then says, “The bells getting louder, ain’t nowhere to hide”. The bells suggest the church bells played at a funeral or played after a person dies for the town to be informed of a death. Death is inevitable, and the bells are a symbol of death getting closer. All these three works of literature tie together in the sense of death. 

Full force and emotion, Cole raps, “Tired of feeling low even when I’m high”. Being high is described as being happy and on top of life although, the boy feels low even while high. The boy feels so low, no drug could make him feel better. It also emphasizes the way Cole feels about drugs. He doesn’t support drug use so he makes sure to let the listeners know that the drugs are only a temporary fix, there is no clear benefit of drug use. He then asks a question, “Ain’t no way to live, do I wanna die? I don’t know”. It is a hyperbole that there is no way to live. Physically, this boy can live but he seems to be so overwhelmed he feels as if there is no way to live. He asks himself whether he wants to die and there is no answer to who this person is. 

J. Cole’s album “4 your eyez only” is about his friend, James McMillan Jr., who has died because of his troublesome past. McMillan sold drugs to escape poverty for his family but ended up passing and leaving his daughter behind. The album was written for his daughter hence the name of the album “4 your eyez only”. In the actual song “4 your eyez only”, McMillan is on the phone with Cole saying, “But I been having premonitions Just call it visions from the other side I got a feeling I won’t see tomorrow”. The whole album is about his death and “For Whom The Bell Tolls” is most likely in the perspective of Cole’s late childhood friend McMillan.

The Infamous Title: “For Whom The Bell Tolls”

Erika Benitez

When listening to J. Cole’s song, “For Whom The Bell Tolls”, it can be described as melancholic. The track itself includes trumpets and ringing of bells to emphasize the meaning of the song. It is simply about a boy who is contemplating what to do with his life. The title of the song is misinterpreted sometimes because it is a saying that has been around for a long time. In this case, Cole does not misuse the title when the song and the album is fully understood. 

The song starts off talking about rain. The boy sees rain pouring down in front of him. The rain is a symbol for an outpouring of emotions and coming to an end. “I see the rain pouring down before my very eyes should come as no surprise”. He explains that it isn’t a surprise because it is so overwhelming that he can predict that the end is near. A person going through these things should have a support system but he goes on to describe his loneliness. “My bridges have burnt down”. This metaphor is about lost relationships that is likely one of the causes of his loneliness. Although the end is near, he does not have anyone to care for him. An interesting aspect about this lyric is that it is an allusion. 

Three works of literature tie together in the sense of death, contemplation, and final moments. First, “For Whom The Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway (1940) is a book about a boy in the Spanish Civil War. His duty in this war is to destroy a bridge. The way Cole talks about the bridge in his song can be a double meaning. In the book, the boy expresses his loneliness and even contemplates suicide the same way it happens in the song. The title of both the book and the song is from a poem by John Donne. “Therefore, send not to know For whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee”. The meaning of Donne’s saying is that the church bells ring when a person dies but one should not ask who it is for because it is for all of us to mourn. Cole did not misuse the title because he follows through with the true definition of it. 

J. Cole’s album “4 your eyez only” is about his friend, James McMillan Jr., who has died because of his troublesome past. McMillan sold drugs to escape poverty for his family but ended up passing and leaving his daughter behind. The album was written for his daughter hence the name of the album “4 your eyez only”. In the actual song “4 your eyez only”, McMillan is on the phone with Cole saying, “But I been having premonitions Just call it visions from the other side I got a feeling I won’t see tomorrow”. The whole album is about his death and “For Whom The Bell Tolls” is most likely in the perspective of Cole’s late childhood friend McMillan. There are many people with the same struggles that Mcmillan had thus, it is for all of us to mourn every person that goes through the same thing. 

 Cole does not hide the way he feels about drugs and violence on black people. Full force and emotion, Cole raps, “Tired of feeling low even when I’m high”. Being high is described as being happy and on top of life. The boy feels so low, no drug could make him feel better.  Cole doesn’t support drug use so he makes sure to let the listeners know that the drugs are only a temporary fix, there is no clear benefit of drug use. He then asks a question, “Ain’t no way to live, do I wanna die? I don’t know”. Young black men fall into this life of drug use and it certainly is no way to live. The life that they live ends up being for survival but they have families that they do not want to leave behind. Many listeners can relate to the song because one time or another have asked themselves this same question. It is an issue many people don’t talk about but Cole shines light on this problem. 

Cole then says, “The bells getting louder, ain’t nowhere to hide”. Death is inevitable. Cole speaks for all these men who could not. The lifestyle that they chose wasn’t the one they expected. There’s violence and consequences to their actions. At some point, they have a beautiful child of their own but there is no turning back. The bell rings for all of the children who lost a father to this lifestyle. The bell rings for all the friends and family who lost a loved one to this lifestyle. Last but not least, the bell rings for everyone else who has the voice to shine light on this problem. 

There are two different types of happiness: temporary and permanent. There are small things people do to satisfy themselves for a small amount of time such as materialistic things. Enough of those things can become a lasting happiness. One of the examples of permanent happiness can be confidence and love. Both of these go hand in hand because no matter how big or small, they cause one emotion which is joy. Rappers and hip hop artists often mention these things in their songs making them sound “bad”.

Traditionally, things that provide temporary happiness are classified as “bad”. It’s very black and white especially for older generations. Recent generations aren’t as simple as good or bad. There are good things that come out of the “bad” things. For instance, finding love because of lust or finding lifelong friendships through violence or drugs. The fact of the matter is that everyone is human. Everyone makes decisions whether good or bad isn’t really anyone’s business. 

Rappers have the stereotype of being bad people especially to older generations that don’t generally listen to rap music. For the people that do listen to rap music; they know rappers and what they have a reputation for. One rapper in particular that has a reputation for drugs, violence, and lust is Kanye West. In his song “I Thought About Killing You”, he talks about how he thinks about killing someone he loves. “And I think about killing myself And I love myself way more than I love you.” Off of the bat, people will definitely see this as the worst possible song. It may seem like he is promoting violence but he is just expressing his emotions because of his mental health disorders. He just wants to use his platform to normalize the “bad” thoughts. 

Another rapper is Chance The Rapper who has a different reputation. His reputation is more light and fun loving. He writes about things he has learned, love, and his faith. In one of his songs he talks about cleaning up the streets for his children. The song is called “Angels” and it is dedicated to the lives lost from his hometown violence. “It's too many young angels on the southside Got us scared to let our grandmommas outside.” He mentions the southside of Chicago and shines light on that problem. Not only that, he mentions the problems he had with Xanax. Once again, both of these rappers are just as much human as anyone else who struggles with decision making and/or mental health issues.

Kanye and Chance put their struggles aside to make a song together. What they have in common is Christianity. They put their faith in a song called “Ultralight Beam”. Their goal was to make faith to be a good thing for anyone despite what they have done in the same way Chance and Kanye did. Chance raps, “No one can judge They don't, they don't know.” Judgement is a big thing when it comes to hip hop. People judge rappers for the genre of music they chose but it isn’t about temporary or permanent happiness, it’s about happiness itself with learning and growth. 

Erika Benitez

Professor Pease

ENGL 1101

07 December 2020

Reputation of Rap 

There are two different types of happiness: temporary and permanent. There are small things people do to satisfy themselves for a small amount of time such as materialistic things. These temporary things are often thought of as morally bad things, but enough of those things can become a lasting happiness. Some of the examples of permanent happiness can be confidence and love. Both temporary and permanent go hand in hand because no matter how big or small, they cause one emotion which is joy. Rappers and hip hop artists often mention the way they feel through their songs and what causes those emotions such as romance or drugs. Two rappers that do this are Kanye West and Chance The Rapper. They have different personalities and it can be seen through their lyrics. 

Rappers have the stereotype of being bad people especially to older generations that don’t generally listen to rap music. For the people that do listen to rap music; they know rappers and what they have a reputation for. Chance The Rapper has a reputation for being light and fun loving. He writes about things he has learned, love, and his faith. In one of his songs he talks about cleaning up the streets for his children. The song is called “Angels” and it is dedicated to the lives lost from his hometown violence. “It's too many young angels on the southside Got us scared to let our grandmommas outside.” He mentions the southside of Chicago and shines light on that problem. It’s almost ironic that he mentions grandmothers because older generations don’t generally like music with fast rap and screams in the track. Not only that, he mentions the problems he had with Xanax. Despite his reputation, he admits that he too struggles like anybody else. Though critics try to bring him down, his wholesome personality shines through. It’s almost like his reputation doesn’t match with the reputation of rap music. 

Chance also talks about his marriage and how important love is to him. According to the article, “Chance the Rapper Wants You to Get Married” by Spencer Kornhaber, pop often glamorizes lust. “the rapper complains that music-industry execs ‘don’t sell marriage no more.’He’s out to change that”. Lust is a temporary happiness that is only used to satisfy one’s desires without any feelings towards a person, but a longing for what they can offer. Chance feels as if, love is better than lust because it is permanent. Chance’s song, “We Go High”, is a somber piece in his album. “Tired of the rumors, every room had an elephant Tryna find her shoes, rummagin' through the skeletons She took away sex, took me out of my element”. Chance’s relationship was going through a difficult time and they agreed to take away their sex to fight for something more important to them which was their love. All of these topics are based on permanent happy ever afters. Even in his dark times, Chance managed to fight for love and didn’t let any judgement get to him.

One rapper in particular that has a reputation for drugs, violence, and lust is Kanye West. In his song “I Thought About Killing You”, he talks about how he thinks about killing someone he loves. “And I think about killing myself And I love myself way more than I love you.” Off of the bat, people will definitely see this as the worst possible song. It may seem like he is promoting violence but he is just expressing his emotions because of his mental health disorders. In the article, “Kanye West: What to say - and not to say - about the US star” by Thom Poole, he explains how Kanye has a bipolar disorder and how people should react  to it. “The overwhelming message from mental health experts is that, no one, not even professionals, should try to guess what an individual is going through, however famous they are”. Kanye just wants to use his platform to normalize the bad thoughts. The last thing that Kanye needs is judgement for the decisions he makes, especially as a celebrity.

A more upbeat song of Kanye’s is “Otis”. Kanye boasts in his success featuring the rapper Jay-Z. The song explains how much money, women, and cars they have. They are the temporary things that wouldn’t be there if he didn’t pick his permanent happiness which is passion for his music. Kanye has a reputation of being crazy but he doesn’t care. “As you can see, we done bodied the damn lames Lord, please let them accept the things they can't change And pray that all of their pain be champagne”. Through his struggles and the judgement he receives about his decision-making, he continues to be himself and wishes success for the same people who wish bad on him. Whether good or bad, people do not get to judge Kanye because no matter what they say he won’t let it tear him down. All of his experiences have taught him plenty of things and it’s how he has found his permanent happiness. 

Kanye and Chance are being watched by the media so people see their every move. They have both made decisions in their life that led to their own permanent happiness. The difference between Kanye and Chance is that they went through different things and handled it differently. Kanye had to experience temporary happiness to see the outcome for himself. Similar to a person who won’t listen to what people say until they see things for themselves. Chance would rather experience and work for permanent happiness, avoiding the temporary things, but not being able to avoid it all at once. Similar to a person who follows the rules and is determined to follow their dreams even if sometimes they stumble. They are both famous and it makes it difficult to avoid the little guilty pleasures because they are easily more available to them than it is for a person who isn’t a celebrity. They are people who grew through their experiences and want to share that with their listeners. Temporary can stay temporary and temporary can lead to permanent. Whatever the case may be, rappers are not the exception of judgement. Every person has to go through decision-making between temporary and permanent. 

 Kanye and Chance put their struggles aside to make a song together. What they have in common is Christianity. They put their faith in a song called “Ultralight Beam”. Their goal was to make faith to be a good thing for anyone despite what they have done in the same way Chance and Kanye did. Chance raps, “No one can judge They don't, they don't know.” Judgement is a big thing when it comes to hip hop. People judge rappers for the genre of music they chose but it isn’t about temporary or permanent happiness, it’s about happiness itself with learning and growth. Kanye and Chance both show this through the struggles they went through. The song ends with a prayer. “This prayer's for everybody that feel that they're too messed up For everyone that feels they've said ‘I'm sorry’ too many times”. They want their listeners to know that their decisions can be forgiven and they can start over. Everyday they can wake up and do better because it’s a clean slate. For rappers like Kanye and Chance, they’re growing into roles of family and that comes with letting go of things that are temporary. They learn and continue to tell their stories through their songs.

Traditionally, things that provide temporary happiness are classified as “bad”. It’s very black and white especially for older generations. Recent generations aren’t as simple as good or bad. There are good things that come out of the “bad” things. For instance, finding love because of lust or finding lifelong friendships through violence or drugs. Rappers use their music to talk about their experiences and the outcome of it. Most of the time, these hip hop artists aren’t bad people, they just have a platform where people watch everything they do, even the bad things. The fact of the matter is that everyone is human. Everyone makes decisions; whether good or bad isn’t really anyone’s business. Rappers are showing their fans their experience in hopes that they learn from it. Kanye and Chance are just some of many rappers that struggle with bad stigma built around rap music. Hopefully that changes in the future and people come to an understanding of what rap music is really about: stories, development, emotions, and life.

Works Cited

Poole, Thom. “Kanye West: What to Say - and Not to Say - about the US Star.” BBC News, BBC, 22 July 2020, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53485803. 

Kornhaber, Spencer. “Chance the Rapper Wants You to Get Married.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 30 July 2019, www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/07/chance-rappers-big-day-ad-marriage/595009/.