I Who Have Arrived In Heaven: Film Analysis

In the essay, “Hip-Hop’s Betrayal Of Black Women”(221), by Jennifer McLune, she vents her feelings regarding hip-hop songs that are rhythmically diminishing the value of black women. She provides example on how the lyrics are being voiced and how hip-hop artists do not seem to care. Kevin Powell in “Notes of a Hip Hop Head” writes, “Indeed, like rock and roll, hip-hop sometimes makes you think we men don’t like women much at all, except to objectify them as trophy pieces or, as contemporary vernacular mandates, as baby mommas, chicken heads, or bitches” (221). There have been apologizes for what the rappers have said but nothing to resolve the dehumanization of black women. McLune informs the readers that hip-hop singers belittle black women and make them invisible. Jay-Z, a popular hip-hop artist is brought to center stage by McLune. The essay shows the example of a part of Jay-Z song that says, “I pimp hard on a trick, look Fuck if your leg broke bitch hop on your good foot” (222). This lyric is a perfect example of how hip-hop artist have no remorse in the words they sing. The hurt feelings and loss of self-esteem black women suffer, is of no concern to the rappers. McLune expresses that those who are underground hip-hop artist follow the footsteps on being sexist and using crude words in their lyrics just because they yearn and dream of being in the spotlight. Upcoming rappers want to be loved like Jay-Z and other famous notorious rappers.

Author Imani Perry analyzes Hip Hop music not only by the musical aspects of the songs but the contextual and underlying meaning that songs portray. In Imani Perry’s Prophets of the Hood, she believes that the most important aspect of a song is metaphors and similes, which “engage the imagination and expand or transform the universe in which the MC dwells” (Perry 65). Perry focuses on the realistic quality of Hip Hop because “it tells us something about the political, artistic, and philosophical ethos of the music” (Perry 86). Her main argument is that although Hip Hop music may contain vulgar language and profanity, it ultimately warns people about “the dangers of illegal activity or mistreatment of others or oneself…and finds arguments in

“Rap is poetry” (xii). To any avid fan of the genre, it is a statement that seems obvious. The words could easily be the musings of a listener first introduced to the art form, not the focal point of an entire work of contemporary criticism. Yet in Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip Hop, Adam Bradley’s primary focus is this very point, the recognition of traditional poetic elements within rap music. With the global cultural and economic phenomenon that hip hop has become, it is easy to forget that the style of music is barely thirty years old, that scholarly criticism of it has existed for only half of that time. When viewed within this relatively new arena of scholarship, the importance of Bradley’s text is

In this essay, Joan Morgan talks about how the hip hop allows African Americans to articulate their pain. She considers that the beauty of hip hop comes from is its ability to express all kind of feelings, but many feels that hip hop lower women to just a sex object. In her journey to understand what is happening to men in the black community, she exposes herself to the music of famous male rappers. To her surprise, she discovers that the macho appearance is just a disguise to hide how hopeless they feel when it comes

In the days following Lil B’s lecture at MIT, I found myself trying to make sense some longstanding unresolved feeling I’ve had regarding the illustrious Based God. Lil B is a polarizing artist, I used to identify with the Task Force’s cultish fanboy worship of him during the Blue Flame era. As time went on, I drifted, but was never able to connect with those who crusaded against him as some sort of antichrist of #realhiphop. For the former, Lil B appears infallible; a recording artist who can do no wrong and whose work can’t be measured by any sort of normalized standards of judgment. For more conservative hip-hop fans, Lil B’s unpolished and seemingly haphazard approach to creating music makes him a pariah that should be ostracized from the rap game.

There has always been one style of music that has interested me greatly-hip-hop. Hip-hop has four different elements to it: rap music (vocal), turntablism (DJ-ing), b-boying (dance/physical) and graffiti art; out of the four I think rap music has had the greatest impact on the world for it has influenced us socially, culturally and politically. However, over the years I realize that hip-hop music hasn’t had the same impact on the world, becoming main stream. So I am going to explore how it has influenced us throughout the years and how it has changed recently.

Hip hop has multiple branches of style and is a culture of these. This essay will examine Hip Hop from the point of view of the following three popular music scholars, Johnson, Jeffries and Smitherman. It will delve deeper into their understanding of what hip hop is and its relation to the different people that identify with its message and contents. It will also identify the history of Hip hop and its transition into popular music. In particular this essay will focus on what hip hop represents in the black community and how it can be used as a social movement against inequalities faced by them. This will then open up the discussion for the how this has influenced society, and the impact it has had in terms of race issues which hip hop

While hip-hop embodies self-expression as a whole, rap took the ideal and took it to a whole new level: a new form of rap music, ‘gangsta rap’, emerged as a byproduct of the individuality that hip-hop followers pride themselves on. Author Tricia Rose sums up this controversy by saying “a key aspect of much of the criticism that has been leveled at hip-hop is the claim that it glorifies, encourages, and causes violence” (34). Riddled with misogyny and violence, rap has come under fire from numerous critics saying that the music itself is socially inappropriate. Author Rachel Sullivan explains how these opinions and attitudes towards rap music created a public view of hip-hoppers as African American low-lifes, and how rap was blamed for supposedly generating a violent fan base (607). It doesn’t help the situation when rappers tend to revel in their ‘gangsta’ lifestyles. As a response to general criticism, rap artists have used a term called ‘keeping it real’ to defend their music, saying that rap music refers to the hardships of street life in the Bronx community (Rose 134). But while the battle continued to rage on within the rap scene, others were forming their own opinions as

Rap or Hip Hop is more than just another music genre, it is a movement full of more aspects than one could imagine. The film “The Art of Rap” directed, produced, and hosted by Ice-T, exemplifies the different aspects and explains the importance of Hip Hop while taking a journey interviewing many legendary MC’s, giving the viewer an inside perspective of this music and the art of MC’ing. This film also heavily resonates with the book Rap Music and Street Consciousness.

In the year 2002 Kanye Omari West, previously known for his contributions to the hip hop genre as a producer, creating instrumentals for such acts as JayZ, Mos Def, Talib Kweli and more, released his first studio single just a few weeks after a nearly fatal car crash. His jaw had to be wired shut for that period of time and despite that Kanye still recorded the whole track with a fractured jaw. I think this incident gives us an insight into what and of an artist Mr West truly is. One that is passionate about his craft, one that is not afraid to push creative boundaries, and it shows throughout all his projects. When it comes to cover art, themes, production and lyrics on his albums Kanye gave his audience and critics the best piece that he could make. So in this essay i would like to deconstruct Kanye West's work and discuss the innovations that he's brought to the rap genre throughout his career as an artist.

There are a lot of trends in today’s generation that are new and have never been seen before. Social media is a huge one. However, there is a specific aspect of our generation that started from the generation before us. This is a huge part of the culture of young adults today and means a lot to many teens. That part of the culture is music. Music has this weird way of bringing together people from all walks of life. Music sensation, Rihanna, has her own song titled “Please Don’t Stop the Music”, which talks about how music gets people grooving. Within the music category, the focus will be hip hop and the culture of hip hop. Many people believe that hip

The documentary film “Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes” addresses some of the biggest issues of hip-hop to date. It explores why rappers feel the need to portray a thug persona on camera, why rappers choose to treat woman like sex objects, and how is this affecting our society as a whole. This results in the discussion of who is the one pulling the strings of hip-hop, who is the one giving out those big money deals? In order to understand these issues one must know the history of hip-hop and how it started and evolved.

With means to express oneself, helps one overcome the difficulties of life. This approach represents the entire nature of the hip hop culture, especially when dealing with social justice issues. Today, hip hop culture’s association revolves around raps (lyrics) and the rappers which reflect how consumers receive messages about social justice issues. Unlike breaking and graffiti, the music/lyrics penetrate society more. However, for this analysis, the focus will rely on a visual element with a connection to hip hop music. Even though a music video would make sense as a visual means of expression, this analysis has more interest in a hip hop album’s cover art. Also, this focus will lead to the question of how important is art to send messages

Alternatively, the very strength of hip-hop discourse, which is a critique of the generations-long African American impoverishment, runs the risk of rationalizing persistent and programmatic social envy and identity-politics anger--without also supplying a rationale for breaking out of self-destructive cycles. Nothing about of rap/hip-hop, which he characterizes as "the most significant cultural achievement of our generation" (22). Indeed, the market success of hip-hop created heroes and cultural icons where none had existed before and from among the most unlikely of sources. What he does insist on, however, is that hip-hop culture and the values it sanctions are rife with contradictions that an assertion of its complexity does not sufficiently

Music is one of the greatest ways of expressing one’s personal feelings and experiences through the use of story-telling. One of the most popular genres of music is rap or also known as hip hop. Hip hop music has a profound effect, both positive and negative on many of today’s youth which transforms and evolves American culture and society. What started it all was the origin of “gangsta rap”, which was popularized by gangster rappers such as Tupac Shakur, Notorious BIG, Ma$e, Snoop Dogg, and Scarface. These were all rappers who influenced American culture and made the genre of rap and hip hop more mainstream which captivated many listeners not only on a local level, but on an international level. However, some of the lyrics that were stated were not only meaningful, but sometimes controversial in the eye of the general public. Nonetheless, hip hop music has always had an influence on many generations and their shaping of what we know today of the modern American society and culture.