Tag:

hip-hop

What’s The Beef With Rap and Hip Hop?

by Briana Tracy 11/03/2015

written by Briana Tracy

Photo by Scott Williams via Flickr

Raise your hand if you like rap and hip-hop? If you’re like me you enjoy listening to both genres and when given the chance will blast Jay-Z or Kendrick Lamar. Within the last year I have noticed that rap and hip hop music has put a large spotlight on the Black community but given it’s content I’m not sure that’s a good thing.

Earlier this year Big Sean released his hit “I Don’t F— With You” featuring E-40. While it does have a great beat when you listen to the lyrics the content is questionable. The way he goes about depicting some Black men’s attitude after breaking up with their woman is heartbreaking. Now I’m not saying that Big Sean himself is a woman hater but the song could have expressed how he felt without using the word “b-tch” so many times.

In the 1980s, 90s, and even early 2000s rap and hip-hop was used to speak out on the struggles that the Black community faced like the fight against drugs and gun violence. While these problems are still prevalent in the Black community today, not many artists choose to use their platform to talk about these issues and their consequences. O.T. Genasis’ “I’m in Love With the CoCo” is an example of the glorification of drug usage and the disregard of authorities. In the video he is seen making “CoCo”, or cocaine with no worries of being caught as he quips “I’m in love with the coco/ I got it for the low, low” and “Heard the feds takin’ photos/ I know nothin’, f-ck the popo.”

Photo by Mike Licht, Notions Capital via flickr

Music in the last couple of years has also focused more on putting Black women down and objectifying them despite the fact that Black women already struggle to prove that they are more than what they are portrayed as in the media. The lyrics to Chris Brown’s “Loyal” explicitly call women out of their names and accuse them of being unfaithful saying “Oh these hoes ain’t loyal.” He then goes on to say how he can make a girl rich, but at the same time does not want to mess with them if they are broke. How are Black women supposed to overcome negative stereotypes about themselves with songs like these coming from Black males?

The Black community already struggles with obstacles from the outside that are meant to keep us down and impede our success and happiness. Kendrick Lamar addresses these problems in his latest album “To Pimp a Butterfly.” The album brings to light issues being ignored and overlooked in the community as he tries to draw people’s attention to it through his rhymes.

Now, I don’t want it to seem like I am only going after male rap and hip-hop artists because there are female artists who do the same thing in their music. Nicki Minaj, for example, is talented and has made a name for herself in the industry. However she repeatedly draws attention to two areas of Black women that are continuously hypersexualized: their breast and butt. Having a big butt and breasts seems to be adapted as characteristic of the Black female body despite the fact that this does not apply to all.

Music is a way of expression and I understand that. It can be used to get a message across but often becomes representative of a community and influences how others perceive individuals who are a part of that community. Rap and hip-hop are a big component of the Black community and we should be careful of the images that our music puts out there. Not all Black people are like the ones we hear about in our favorite songs.

11/03/2015 0 comments

Album Review: Isaiah Rashad – Cilvia Demo

by 02/12/2014

written by

Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) has risen to become one of the most respected and influential record labels in the hip-hop genre thanks to an amazing line-up of artist—notably Kendrick Lamar & Schoolboy Q—and in-house producers who have been able to craft some of the most inventive hip-hop albums of recent memory. This year, the label has decided to start with some new blood, by releasing the debut album of their newest signee, Isaiah Rashad.

Isaiah Rashad’s Cilvia Demo, is a slow-riding, introspective work that serves as a perfect introduction to Isaiah as an artist and as an individual. The album contains 14 tracks filled with highly personal anecdotes of growing up fatherless in Tennessee, a history of ill-fated relationships & substance abuse, and the challenges of remaining honest in a deceitful industry. Rather than portraying himself as an infallible, high and mighty rap star, Isaiah openly confesses his flaws and insecurities on this record. The vulnerability that permeates throughout the project is what makes Isaiah’s words not only relatable, but also real, as though he is speaking to a close friend rather than a random listener. He is able to speak on a number of societal ills, like institutionalized racism, without sounding preachy or dull, which is an accomplishment within itself. For instance, on the standout track “Heavenly Father,” Rashad reflects on his drug problems, thoughts of suicide, and womanizing tendencies over a soulful, gospel-lite instrumental that manages to be quite catchy regardless of its dark subject matter.

Although rap veterans like Andre 3000 and Scarface have done this type of southern confessional rap for years, Rashad manages to stay true to his southern roots without sounding redundant, thanks to creative use of flow, melody, and wordplay that stand out on the minimal and abstract instrumentals provided by producers Antydote, Mr. Carmack, Farhot, and D. Sanders. The laid-back and experimental beats are definitely a nice change of pace from the trap heavy sound that has become popular in the last couple of years. And the sparsity of guest features, aside from a few of his TDE brethren and songstress SZA, allows for Rashad to remain the center of attention and proves him capable of handling a solo project single-handedly.

With this project, Isaiah Rashad has proven to naysayers and skeptics alike that he is worthy of the TDE name, instead of merely copying reused formulas, and is out to pave a road for himself.

02/12/2014 56 comments

Kendrick Lamar Leaves Grammys Empty-Handed

by 01/29/2014

written by

This past Sunday, the 56^th Annual Grammy Awards caused quite a stir for rapper Kendrick Lamar, who was nominated for seven Grammys, but won not one. Most shockingly, he lost to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis for Best Rap Album. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ The Heist not only beat Kendrick’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, but also Jay Z’s Magna Carter… Holy Grail, Drake’s Nothing Was the Same, and Kanye’s Yeezus.

However, as it was a surprise to many that Kendrick Lamar did not win in any category, a debate sparked in the music world on the perpetual pattern of Black musicians’ lack of recognition.

Yet, Macklemore expressed through Instagram his reaction to winning Best Rap Album:

Source: Macklemore’s Instagram

“You got robbed. I wanted you to win. You should have. It’s weird and sucks that I robbed you. I was gonna say that during the speech. Then the music started playing during my speech and I froze. Anyway, you know what it is. Congrats on this year and your music. Appreciate you as an artist and as a friend. Much love”

Also, along with the Instagram post Macklemore addressed in his caption:

Source: Macklemore’s Instagram

“My text to Kendrick after the show. He deserved best rap album… I’m honored and completely blown away to win anything much less 4 Grammys. But in that category, he should have won IMO. And that’s taking nothing away from The Heist. Just giving GKMC it’s proper respect.. With that being said, thank you to the fans. You’re the reason we were on that stage tonight. And to play Same Love on that platform was a career highlight. The greatest honor of all. That’s what this is about. Progress and art. Thank you. #grammys”

Although, the fans can be thankful for Macklemore’s acknowledgement that he did not deserve the award, the big question is why wasn’t Kendrick awarded for any nominations?

One may argue that it has nothing to do with race or ethnicity. However, this calls into question the many other Black musicians, throughout the history of the Grammys, who also did not win the Award. For example, Run-DMC, Tupac, Nas, Mos Def., The Notorious B.I.G., and Snoop Dogg (now known as Snoop Lion) fall under the “Never Won a Grammy” category.

Instead of a Grammy in a specific music based category, artist of color such as Bob Marley, Chuck Berry, Jimmy Hendrix, and Diana Ross have won the Grammy Life Time Achievement Award.

Is the Lifetime Achievement Award the category for prominent musicians whose race and ethnicity once got in the way of acknowledging their significant contribution to the music industry? Taken into account that certain categories were not in place during the career of some of the musicians such as Best Rap Album, which did not become an official category until 1996. But what about the many other categories such as Album of the Year, Best New Artist, Record of the Year, or even Best Dance Recording? Although music seems to progress, the music industry and its idea of “progress” is still at a standstill.

To the public, the number of Grammys a musician has defines his or her quality as a musician, and in Kendrick Lamar’s case his quality as a rapper. Yet, when a musician wins zero out of seven awards centered around or connected to the Hip-Hop genre, what is the excuse? What is the basis of the judging system in deciding who wins Grammy Awards and who doesn’t? Do Black musicians pressure and question the voting system, or do they let the music speak for itself?

01/29/2014 133 comments