Hip Hop Wars Chapter 3 Hip Hop Hurts Black People

In this chapter Tricia Rose discusses how hip hop hurts black people, and if it is the main component that hurts them. She states black people face lower levels of academic and economic achievement. Rose provides three explanations for these two problems, self-destructive anti-education attitudes, she says hip hop is fueling this attitude or at least instigating it. The second one is the emphasis on violence, which, in hip hop, is said to promote violence in its songs. The third problem is misogyny, and how most rap songs degrade women. There is some truth to the notions that hip hop has taken a turn, and doing so has hurt black people, especially young males. There are however, some problems that come with the argument that hip hop is responsible for these issues among the black community. They are unfair generalizations, made through sweeping claims. There is a thought that all hip hop even "underground" hip hop harms black kids. The producers and major corporations of the music promote the bulk of the rap songs that show the worst of the worst. The destroying behaviors that are prevalent in rap are the norm rather than the exception. There is a "cool pose" that is associated with hip hop this attitude is said to hurt young black people. Rose states there are two key facts that this notion denies, one, this type of self-protective, male response preceded hip hop. Two, the "cool pose" is used as a sort of survival strategy in the face of violence. The second problem Rose talks about is the tone of disdain and disregard that is smuggled under "outrage" and is seen as tough love. Critics find a group of black belligerent youths and they use these kids as a picture to frame all black youths in. This is just simply unfair and untrue. It's not about what criticisms should be made but about how they are made. The third problem is, what is left out, in terms of the silence of many critics about structural racism. The notions that rap are made for and produced by black people is simply untrue. The images in the songs are said to represent black youth. These images are the ones that are promoted and produced by corporations. The primary audience for these real life black youth experiences, which are sold in rap songs, is white youth. The corporations promote what sells, and what the audience wants. However they say this as an answer to why they are promoting these violent songs. The rappers when questioned about their songs answer that they are "trapped" by contracts with these corporations. T These songs desired primarily by white youth, led to the success of these black artists. Black youth see the success of these rappers and try to emulate them. There is limited access to youth in general of alternate images in hip hop music. There is an overall embrace of profit over people, not only in the hip hop industry but also in many industries around the world.  These songs on the surface are meant to help protect and support black youth however it unfortunately harms them. 

Imitation #7 2010/11 Rap Lupe Fiasco "Till I Get There"

"Be a jerk to these jerks, yeah that'll make em hurt
Huh? said the young boy in the mirror
A young version of me, so I started to tear up
He said "you need to cheer up, your mind need to clear up
You're already here, just be yourself from here up"
Then he disappeared and I felt something familiar
Something I was taught, something I had lost
If you are afraid, or fear that you gon' change some
All you gotta do is just remember where you came from"

For a rap song to imitate from the years of 2010/11 I chose Lupe Fiasco's "Till I Get There". In this song he talks about becoming a famous rap artist. He talks about the troubles and struggles that happen when becoming famous and specifically being a famous rap artist. The song is a confession, of how Lupe himself even faced these problems"I felt something familiar...something I had lost". In the bars that I chose to write about, Lupe Fiasco is talking about, how he became a person he is not and how when he looked in the mirror he saw someone he was not. The boy, Lupe talks about, is his younger self. He gives himself advice and remembers himself as a younger less stressed self, this is an example of apostrophe. This issue of staying true to yourself and not letting "the industry" change you is a big issue, in music, and especially in Hip Hop/Rap. In the Tricia Rose book, we are reading, we talked about keeping it real, this is a song about how Lupe is trying to stay true to the person he once was and is. This song has nothing to do with violence but he talks about "keeping it real" in a different context. About not letting the fame get to your head and changing you. Lupe wants to stay true to what he is about and not let outside influences change him for the worse. A lot of artists, lose their identity and become someone they are not and rap about things they never believed in and are just doing for selfish reasons. Lupe states all you have to do is remember where you came from and who you are and you will not lose sight of yourself. Lupe uses the word "up" a lot in these bars, it gives his lines a certain flow. The repetition of the word also by nature gives it some rhythm and rhyme. The last two lines of the verse rhyme, he utilized end rhyme, these last lines summarize the message Lupe is trying to send. 

Chapter 2 Hip Hop Wars Hip Hop Reflects Black Dysfunctional Ghetto Culture

Chapter two is entitled "Hip Hop Reflects Black Dysfunctional Ghetto Culture". The chapter talks about how Hip Hop might be influencing or promoting a dysfunctional black culture. Rose states that Hip Hop is perceived to be the contemporary promoter of this black underclass urban culture of dysfunction. She says that the criticism of the so-called dysfunction was created by the poor urban black community and it revolves around three pillars violence, sexual deviance/excess, and illiteracy. Rose says it's a disturbing claim that Hip Hop and what is said in songs reflects the black urban underclass dysfunction.  Even though it's hard to defend these claims because of what is said in some songs.  Rose says that there are four major problems with the simplistic idea of the poor black people as culturally dysfunctional; contemporary claims about black cultural dysfunction are not new, newly created black cultural expressions have always been seen as a threat to a larger society, fictitious self-generating cultural patterns, distortions that undermine research efforts to prove the value of black cultural expressions. Rose states that the myths about the black culture are explanations for the racial inequality that occurred throughout most of the 20th century. They were said to have no cultural traditions in the 19th and 20th centuries. The music and poetry of black cultures were seen as threats to a larger society during the early years. Rose says that blues music was considered 'devils music' by others in the 1920s. However once this music was not viewed as the sound of the youthful generation it was accepted and was no longer seen as a threat. Rose states that viewing new black expression as dangerous while embracing old forms, like jazz, is a pillar of contemporary racism. She says also that black culture is influenced by many societal factors such as politics and economy. The Black community is not the only culture influenced by these factors. She also talks about black females being the heads of the households, this is said to cause dysfunction, because it is not "normal" in society. Rose talks about how for long periods of time black culture was seen as dysfunctional but now, it is accepted as valuable and distinct. This acceptance did not come easy it took a lot of political, social and intellectual effort to make this happen. The environment in these black communities gives the culture a dysfunctional perception. The dysfunction is environmentally induced. Rap songs talk about these environments and these words are encouraging young people to emulate the practices and activities that are described in these songs. The commercial hip hop artists promote this behavior in their songs, but this is what sells so many people support it and thus advertise it. This as a result does not help the situation even though they are pro-hip hop they are promoting it wrongly. The only way to combat these issues, Rose states is to reject self-destructive paths and create real opportunities for the youth in these black communities.

Imitation #6 2000s Rap Dylan Owen "Ghost"

"So if your getting sick of leaving
Or even repeating weaving a seam to the people who seem to be cold
Yeah I know that you have fevers and sleep with your secretsSeeking a seal for the ceiling right before it falls on us bothI believe in leaving demons, bereaving a reasonWe could only see those deepened seeds and that they needed to grow.Most emcees these days spit promotional rhymesIs it wrong that I’m in touch with my emotional side?As a kid I used to wonder where the ocean would dieAnd if there’s anybody like me hoping on the other side."

I chose "Ghosts" by Dylan Owen, for a rap song of the 2000s. This song is about leaving things behind that upset you and fighting your "ghosts" that follow and "haunt" in your life. Dylan uses ghosts as a metaphor for the things in life that you regret or the things that happened to you that upset you. Dylan talks about these ghosts and then about leaving them behind. The ten bars I chose are talking about these "demons" and if you are sick of leaving, friends or family, or trying to hold on to old friends. Dylan also talks about people sleeping with "fevers" and "secrets" and how people go to bed with things on their minds and thoughts in their heads about their lives. Dylan uses a metaphor when he talks about "seeking a seal for the ceiling right before it falls on us both", this is used to show how sometimes it feels like things are falling apart all around you, or you and a loved one. Either things aren't going good in your life or you are heading in a direction you didn't want to go and you are just trying to keep things from getting worse. Dylan then goes on to state how these "seeds"  a metaphor for feelings need to grow and be let out. Dylan then talks about how other rappers only "spit" promotional  songs , and that he is in touch with his emotional side and questions if it's wrong. This comments on mainstream Hip Hop and Rap on how all he hears is, for the most part, rappers rapping for promotional reasons.  He as a result questions his own raps and asks if its wrong that he doesn't do this, that he raps about meaningful topics and emotions. The last two lines he talks about how he dreams and wonders about things and he wondered if there was anybody else who thought the way he did. Dylan wonders if people think and feel the same things he does as he is growing up. In the tecond and third lines Dylan uses alliteration, using the "s" sound, he uses this same sound again in line seven. Lines two and three also use assonance with the "e" sound. In lines four and five he uses internal rhyme.  He wrote this song and album "Keep Your Friends Close" around the time he was going away to college and he went to visit old friends before he left. The album has to do with the emotions and feelings that come with growing older. 

Creation #1 Spoken Word

Somedays I wake up with a question
Why? Whats the purpose?
Always looking for something.
Will this make me miss others?
I hope and pray and maybe
one day will come and
It will seem like all the others just the same
but then she will whisper in my ear
she'll say I will always be here
hold my hand we'll make toasts
and there'll be cheers
We will make it through the years
And she'll make it clear
through all the tears and fears
she'll be here.
Me my and mine
thoughts I compile
I write them down
place them like kitchen tiles
and then I will know
its all been worthwhile!

Imitation #5 1990s poem David Henderson "Evergreen (A Chant For The Tropical Rain Forest"

"the death of deciduous broad-leafed evergreen
for pastureland to graze diseased beef for export
for sleep named housing hamlets bowling alleys 7-Elevens
hamburgers as far as the eye can see evergreen evergreen

tidy clusters of new england style homes parcels and lanes
along the pan-american highway from amazonia to surfeit
economies of the norther mainlands
the same route as the slave ships"

 The poem I chose to write about for poetry written in the 1990s is a poem called  "Evergreen (A Chant For The Tropical Rain Forest"by David Henderson. The poem talks about how the rain forests of the world are being destroyed because of greed. The people and civilizations of the world, and in this poem especially America, are destroying the rain forests for many uses. Henderson states some of they uses in the first four bars. He does not think that these reasons are valid based on the way he states the uses. He sates they use the land as "pastureland to graze diseased beef", not only countries cutting down the rain forest but they are using it to raise unhealthy cattle which are used for their meat. This in turn makes the beef people consume unsafe. These vital habitats and forests are being used for houses, 7-Elevens. The countries are greedy, at the end of the poem he changes the word he repeats, "evergreen" to "evergreed", which shows his feelings toward the countries that destroy these "broad-leafed evergreen" forests. In the second part of the poem I chose, the last four bars, also talk about some of things that the wood is for. It also mentions that the same routes the trees are being used to create and are taken from are the same as the slaves. He uses simile to compare the trees to slaves. The trees cannot stop what is being done to them, just like slaves really had no say in how they lived their lives. The trees and slaves alike were both taken from their homes and used to do tasks. This poem is a confession, Henderson is stating how he feels about the destruction that is taking place in the Earths rain forests.

Imitation #4 1980s Rap Run DMC "Its like that"

"When you feel you fail sometimes it hurts 
For a meaning in life is why you search 
Take the bus or the train, drive to school or the church 
It's like that, and that's the way it is 

Here's another point in life you should not miss 
Do not be a fool who's prejudiced
Because we're all written down on the same list 
It's like that (what?) and that's the way it is 
Huh!"

        The rap song I chose to imitate for the 1980s is RUN-DMC's "It's Like That". This song is a confession. In the song they talk about life and the ways things are in life, "It's like that, and that's the way it is".They talk about failure and how it hurts when you fail. In the first four bars they talk about finding a meaning in your life. However they say you need to go out and "search" for the meaning of life. In order to find what it is you want to do and like to do you must go out and find it. It will not come to you, you can go out and try and find it by driving "to school or the church". If you get an education your life will most likely be better, you can get a better job and become educated. School gives a person a purpose, meaning a goal to work towards. The same thing for church, no matter the religion, it can give you a sense of worth and hope. The next five lines add another "point" to how life is. They say you should not judge people, because we all go through problems. We are all trying to figure out what we want to do with and in our lives. "We're all written down on the same list" they use figurative language here, they're saying we are all are looking and going through similar, if not, the same things in life. So they say do not form prejudice ideas or judge people because you don't know what they are going through or have been through. Throughout the 8 bars and the two separate verses, they use end rhyme. Some of these end rhymes incorporate slant rhyme, "miss" "prejudiced" "List" "it is". Also in the first verse "hurts", "search", "church".