Key For Key, Pound For Pound, I 'm The Biggest Dope Dealer

She describes that she hears “brothers talking about spending each day high as hell on malt liquor and Chronic. Don’t sleep. What passes for ‘40 and a blunt’ good times in most of hip-hop is really alcoholism, substance abuse, and chemical dependency” (456). Through these lyrics depicted by rap and hip-hop artists, Morgan points out the fact that the African American community deals with tough situations including a dependency of drugs and alcohol. In addition to drug and alcohol abuse, Morgan explains that conversations between males are often times about killing one another and believing that their life expectancy is low. In this essay, Morgan relates the issue of drug abuse and survival with the life of the Notorious BIG connecting the fact that his life was surrounded by drug and alcohol abuse, jail, relationships, and murder. With the help of these lyrics stated in rap and hip-hop music, Morgan believes that “the seemingly impenetrable wall of sexism in rap music is really the complex mask African Americans often wear both to hide and express the pain” (457). As she describes the issues of the daily lives of African Americans, readers are able to better understand the reason behind the lyrics and the anger of why they perceive women as “bitches” and

In the book “Decoded,” rapper and businessman Jay-Z describes the emergence of hip hop culture while sharing his childhood memories, life challenges, and passions. Along with Jay-Z’s personal narrative, he provides an explanation for his song lyrics to educate readers about hip hop’s importance, his life, and national issues. Thus, he creates several arguments about hip hop’s purpose in the music industry. Two of Jay-Z’s main arguments consisted of hip hop being a form of art and the story of a hustler. This is especially true when considering how Jay-Z defines hip hop, analyzes supporting evidence, and interprets rap lyrics.

“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

Art has undoubtedly become a decisive aspect of our culture; embedded in the way we learn and grow on a daily basis. Art forms such as music, television and dance dominate our society as an outlet of freedom of speech for humanity. The evolution of music has rapidly exceeded its original classifications, developing new genres with greater appeal to an audience, hence its influence on society has expedited. In recent times, lyrics (specifically rap lyrics) have been introduced into the court room as a form of documented confessional evidence, evidently challenging law’s authoritative nature. This essay will closely follow the genre of rap and its relationship with law, through cases based in the United States of America (USA). In addition, the trial of Simon Bikindi in Rwanda and Smith v The Queen will be used to form an acute analysis on the influencing factors of relevance, identity, freedom of speech and current constitutional law.

Rap music has become one of the most distinctive and controversial music genres of the past few decades. A major part of hip hop culture, rap, discusses the experiences and standards of living of people in different situations ranging from racial stereotyping to struggle for survival in poor, violent conditions. Rap music is a vocal protest for the people oppressed by these things. Most people know that rap is not only music to dance and party to, but a significant form of expression. It is a source of information that describes the rage of people facing growing oppression, declining opportunities for advancement, changing moods on the streets, and everyday survival. Its distinct sound, images, and attitude are notorious to people of all

One example is from popular rapper 50 Cent. He has been one of the most popular rappers since 2003, selling over 3 million albums in that same year. He describes how he handles someone disrespecting him in the song “What Up Gangsta,” from his album “Get Rich or Die Tryin.” ; “Front on me / I’ll cut ya, gun but ya, or buck [shoot] ya….” 50 Cent goes on to brag about how he is not the type of man to be arrested for nothing “I’m not the type to get knocked for D.W.I. / I’m the type that kill your connect when the coke price rise….” These violent scenes are described in this verse along with many others; glorifying the violence that is associated with the rapper

The precedent for using rap lyrics as evidence can be traced as far back as 1994 in California, when they were used to prove that Francisco Calderon Mora was a member of the Southside F Troop gang. The prosecutor went on to say that since he was a member of the gang, Mora has the motive and intent to commit the killing he was tried for. [O’Connor] Since this case many prosecutors through the years have started using lyrics as critical pieces of evidence in these types of trials. Often using these pieces as evidence is unfair to the defendant because they

“Glock to the head of / send $2 to a paypal account / if this account doesn’t reach $50,000 in the next 7 days then a murderous rampage similar to the Virginia Tech shooting will occur at another highly populated university” and “let them booty cheeks hop, so pop it mommy pop it” are lyrics you might hear in a trending hip-hop song (“The Threatening nature of … Rap music?” 00:01:00 — 00:03:00). However, these rap lyrics along with terms of a rap contract, class notes, and letters were part of a notebook that police had found in a car when they searched it. Even though the lyrics are not appropriate and unpleasant to some people, this was simply an artistic form of expression. Aspiring rapper Olutosin Oduwole, an African Americans young college student, was taken to jury and was proven guilty for acts of terrorism, despite the fact that Oduwole told Jim Suhr from AP that “It was pieces of a rap song that was discarded — just something written, forgotten about, crumpled up and thrown away" (Jim Suhr, “III. SupCo takes pass, ends student threat case, AP) . This brings us to the question: is it fair to prosecute someone because of degrading rap lyrics?

In the article Rap and Moral Character by Susan Dwyer, the subject of concern is the consequences of listening to rap music and the effect it has on moral character. The author argues that rap music contribute to the corruption of moral character, it is misogynistic, promotes violence and street crime. In this paper I will examine the author’s claims, use of key concepts, and her reasoning. By doing so, I will be able to demonstrate that Dwyer’s thesis is unjust and unsupported. In what follows, I will analyze the claims to show that the author’s arguments are irrelevant and lack sufficient evidence to support her thesis. Secondly, I will examine the author’s reasoning to point out fallacious reasoning and lastly I will evaluate her use of

It is clear that our country 's criminal justice system is the new Jim Crow; with a huge majority of felons being African American, it is obvious that people of color have it harder when it comes to crime sentences. We must acknowledge that mass incarceration and the Jim Crow era are greatly similar. Minstrel shows, which showed black men to be lazy, dumb, and clownish, once justified the oppression of african americans. Many now believe that gangsta rap does just the same and is the modern day minstrel show, by portraying blacks to be drug dealers, angry, and violent men. Though many people believe that gangsta rap reinforces these stereotypes, it’s important for one to realize that this form of expression is not a modern day version of blackface performances.

To gaze into the lyrics of both Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur is like living in the ghettos of New York City where violence never stops. Both of these artists grew up seeing and living a life filled with violence. Gunshots and drive-byes, death and murder were a daily occurrence. Although the lyrics of both artists are simply telling their life stories and how hard it was to grow up in their “hoods” they contain vulgar, hateful, and sexual verses that send the wrong message to their listeners. Whether these listeners are teens or adults, white or black, they are continually sending notions of hatred and fear through their lyrics and actions. Ultimately,

For many years, the youth have been known for singing along to their favorite song and taking that song as whole and using it as their motto for life. It may seem that sometimes these kids do not know what is being said in the music but this shows that they do know what the lyrics are saying. According to Franklin B. Krohn and Frances L. Suazo in their article “Contemporary Urban Music: Controversial Messages in Hip-Hop and Rap Lyrics,” many teenagers and minority groups view rappers as their spokesmen because of their ability to speak in street language and bluntly express their frustration (Krohn, 1995). Unfortunately, hip hop lyrics usually tend to talk about drugs, sex and violence leading kids to think that everything they hear is okay and that is how they have to live their life. Yet, there are artists out there who take their lyricist skills to give positive lyrics and messages in their music, but these songs are not often played in the mainstream.

The corruptness of music today seems to be linked to the crude language and aggression found particularly in hip-hop and rap music. Some rap artists use vulgar language in their lyrics that are easily adoptable by teens (Holden). Not only have certain lyrics influenced the way teens speak but also their actions. An article on Headliners.org stated that “lyrics in the music are too violent and are to blame for many problems.” The problems range anywhere from suicide and aggression towards women to underage drinking and drug use. Lyrics are not only to blame, but also what people see in artists’ music videos can affect what they do (Doaks). The urge to emulate these rap musicians has escalated quickly causing a spike in rebellious tendencies among teens.

The most popular and influential form of African-American pop music of the 1980's and 1990's, rap is also one of the most controversial styles of the rock era. And not just among the guardians of cultural taste and purity that have always been counted among rock 'n' roll's chief enemies--Black, White, rock and soul audiences continue to fiercely debate the musical and social merits of rap, whose most radical innovations subverted many of the musical and cultural tenets upon which rock was built. Antecedents of rap are easy to find in rock with other kinds of music. Music is often used to tell a story, often with spoken rhymes over instruments and rhythms. Talking blues, spoken passages of sanctified prose in gospel,

     Most rap songs that contain violence reflects incidents that occur in today’s society such as the Rodney King incident. “Rap music brings together a tangle of some of the most complex social, cultural, and political issues in contemporary American society.” Rap and hip-hop artists write songs that promote the killing of enemies as well as targeting institutions such as the church, government, and justice system (Ro 145) Most artists relive their own painful experiences over and over again though their music, delaying their own society’s process of recovery . for example, in 1989