“You rewind this, Bad Boy’s behind this.”  These lyrics are a part of The Notorious B.I.G.’s song “Who Shot Ya?”  Tupac Shakur believed the song was meant as a taunt, and developed a deep adversity towards Biggie and Bad Boy Records (Biggie & Tupac).  Following his court hearing regarding charges of sodomy, sexual assault, and possessing a weapon, on November 29, 1994 Tupac headed over to the Quad Recording Studio located in Times Square, New York City.  Upon entering the lobby elevator, he and two of his comrades were forced to the ground at gunpoint.  The men then shot Tupac five times and stole what was estimated to be over forty thousand dollars of his jewelry (http://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/etd/3486/).  Investigators would later discover that Biggie had nothing to do with the shooting, but the damage was done (Baeshad 65).  With this shooting and robbery began hip hop’s greatest rivalry:  Tupac vs. Biggie.  Albeit, the conflict between the two rappers was no more than the vertex of the conflicts between record labels, territories, and rap’s relationship with the law.

Quad Recording Studios where Tupac was shot five times.

Born Christopher Wallace, Biggie Smalls only adopted his stage name after determining it was in his best interest to stop selling crack and spending time in prison to pursue a rap career (Notorious).  Through a friend, he was introduced to Sean “Puffy” Combs, who would soon found Bad Boy Records and provide Biggie with the opportunity to make the music that would change his life(Biggie & Tupac).

Biggie (left) and Puffy (right)

Tupac got his start quite differently than Biggie.  Ensuing moving to Merin City, California, he became a backup dancer for Digital Underground.  Digital Underground leader Shock G eventually let Tupac record a verse in the song “Same Song,” and it was only a short while before 2Pacalypse, Tupac’s first album, was released in 1991 by Interscope Records(http://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/etd/3486/).

Digital Underground with 2Pac “Same Song”

Biggie and Tupac’s conflict began with their production of music within the same sub-genre known as gangsta rap.  “Gangsta rap” was a term created by the media to describe the type of rap that N.W.A. was creating, essentially discussing the daily lives and ideals of individuals living in the ghetto (http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/25591580).  After its implementation, gangsta rap was taken in two different directions:  political, by artists such as Ice Cube and pre-Death Row Tupac, and nihilistic, by Death Row and Bad Boy Records (http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/2645846).  Perhaps it was Dr. Dre who best described this new brand of rap in his song “Let Me Ride” where he says, “No medallions, dreadlocks or black fist/ It’s just that gangsta glare with gangsta rap/ That gangsta shit brings a gang of snaps.”  Within this song, Dre raps that there is “No… black fist.”  At this point, it became evident that gangsta rap was becoming less political and less socially conscious.  Rap’s shift to nihilistic gangsta rap can be seen in Tupac’s shift in lyrical content (http://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/etd/3486/).  His lyrics went from “they never talk peace in the black community/ All we know is violence, do tha job in silence” in his 1991 song “Trapped,” to, “so fuck peace/ I’ll let them niggas… know it’s on for life” in 1996’s “Hit Em Up.”  Though Tupac was writing these lyrics out of anger toward Bad Boy for his 1994 shooting, they were popularized as a result of the changing rap game (http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=2&hid=25&sid=8368f680-c50e-45fd-92c9-511c3948da69%40sessionmgr12&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=23063307).  Rapping about conflict, violence, and drugs was selling records, and, thus, he was encouraged to create such music (http://we4mf3mv5e.search.serialssolutions.com/?sid=EBSCO:a9h&id=pmid:&genre=article&issn=01612492&volume=22&issue=2&date=19990301&spage=306&title=Callaloo&atitle=Dead+men+printed.&aulast=Barrett%2c+Lincoln&id=DOI:&pid=).

2Pac “Trapped”

Law enforcement saw this new subgenre’s glorification of violence, selling drugs, etc. as a major threat, particularly Ice T’s “Cop Killer” (Perry 109).  The government felt threatened by this song, and, in 1993, a Senate-select committee was formed to look into the hip hop movement.  Due to “inflammatory qualities,” some hip hop artists were put under FBI surveillance, which would later be the cause of conspiracy theories in the death of The Notorious B.I.G (Biggie & Tupac).

The FBI played a major role in turning 2Pac against Biggie

Law enforcement’s relationship to hip hop and the Tupac-Biggie dispute was controversial and complicated, and little good came of it.  There always seemed to be a conflict between law enforcement’s involvement in hip hop and lack thereof.  For example, on October 31, 1993 he was arrested for shooting at two off duty police officers.  Witnesses reported that the cops shot first, and that they never identified themselves as police officers.  Once it was discovered that one of the cops had taken the gun he used to shoot at Tupac with from the evidence lockup, the charges were dropped (http://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/etd/3486/).  Immediately after Tupac was shot in, he had suspicions Biggie and Puffy were responsible, but it was not until he went to prison that he discovered his suspicions to be the truth.  He claimed that strangers were bragging in jail saying, “They tellin’ their niggas in jail, ‘Yo, we just got Pac.’”  These strangers in jail ended up being undercover FBI agents put into prison to convince Tupac that Biggie was at fault (Biggie & Tupac).  Thus the FBI is at least associated with both the murders of Tupac and Biggie:  Tupac for the reason stated above and Biggie because he was under FBI surveillance up until the point he was killed (Notorious).  The law had complete control over the Tupac vs. Biggie conflict.  When the rappers believed that they were being lawless and creating a feud, they were actually playing into the hands of law enforcement, which wanted no more than to witness their demise.

Dexter Isaac, the man who actually shot 2Pac at Quad Recording Studios

Another contributor to the ultimate deaths of Tupac and Biggie was territoriality.  Territoriality, though it had always been a part of rap, was emphasized in gangsta rap (http://we4mf3mv5e.search.serialssolutions.com/?sid=EBSCO:a9h&id=pmid:&genre=article&issn=01612492&volume=22&issue=2&date=19990301&spage=306&title=Callaloo&atitle=Dead+men+printed.&aulast=Barrett%2c+Lincoln&id=DOI:&pid=).  Grandmaster Flash, one of the earliest hip hop DJs, even remarked about the spatial distribution on sound systems and crews in New York saying, “We had territories.  It was like; Kool Herc had the West side. Bam had the Bronx River… so that we all had out territories, and we all had to respect each other.   When hip hop came along, the transition from gang-based turf affiliations to hip hop based turf affiliations intensified feelings of territoriality .  Affiliations with specific areas caused cities to become an audible presence in rap as the “foundation of its cultural production” (journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=61724).  Once rappers made enough money, they realized that they could start their own labels.  As small artist-owned labels burgeoned, there was an increased emphasis on local affiliations (Perry 115).

A map of the Bronx in New York City

According to Tricia Rose, this emphasis is what brought the ghetto into rap and the public consciousness. Since 1987, hip hop culture has been influenced by alliances with West coast gang systems.  Album covers and rap videos feature artists representing their gang with their clothing and elaborate hand gestures.  Criminal activities mentioned in songs became secondary to the setting in which they took place (journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=61724).  The place in which the events in the song took place was so important because it was from these places the gangsta rap artists gained their world perspective.  One such place was Compton, which, following the release of N.W.A.’s album Straight Outta Compton, rapidly gained notoriety (Forman and Neal 235).  Those who lived there were a bunch of “tough and well-armed homeboys” who had no moral consciousness (journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=61724).  Hip hop Compton was created as a response to the hip hop nexus that was the Bronx.  With hit albums such as N.W.A’s Straight Outta Compton, West coast crews were telling those of New York that a new sound had arrived and tipped the scales in favor of the West (Forman and Neal 235).  A Bronx rapper named Tim Dog defended Bronx pride with his song “Fuck Compton” in which he lyrically depicts an assassination of N.W.A.  (journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=61724).  And so was born the greatest division rap would ever see.

N.W.A. “Straight Outta Compton”

Howbeit, the rivalry would have remained contained had it not been for Death Row Records, originally a small label started by Suge Knight (http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/2645846).   Knight grew up in a section of Compton run by the Mob Pirus, a division of the Bloods.  When Suge Knight created Death Row, he surrounded himself with those he knew, many of whom were Mob Pirus.  Hence, Death Row Records gained a name as the most violent label in the business, headed by the most violent man in the business.  Over a money dispute, Knight once held Vanilla Ice out of a window by his ankles, and there were reports of almost daily beatings that occurred in his offices (Biggie & Tupac).  Suge Knight portrayed anger towards almost every individual he encountered, but none more so than Sean “Puffy” Combs, and Bad Boy Records located in New York City.  His dislike of Bad Boy led him to seek out Tupac (http://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/etd/3486/).

Suge Knight

After Tupac was sent to Rikers Island for sexual assault in 1994, Knight jumped at the opportunity to sign the talented rapper, putting up 1.4 million dollars to get Tupac out of prison and into the studio (http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=2&hid=25&sid=8368f680-c50e-45fd-92c9-511c3948da69%40sessionmgr12&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=23063307).  For doing him such a kind service, Tupac saw Suge Knight as the father figure he never had, creating a close relationship.  Suge and Tupac’s relationship was enhanced by a shared hatred for Bad Boy Records, who Tupac believed was involved in his shooting and robbery on the night of November 29, 1994.  In an interview with Vibe Tupac stated, “Puffy was there, Biggie… Nobody approached me.  I noticed that nobody would look at me… Puffy was standing back too.” (http://www.vibe.com/page/biggie-puffy-break-their-silence-95-vibe-cover-story-pg4).  Knight’s beef with Bad Boy was the result of the October 1995 shooting of Jake Robles, a close friend of Suge’s, in Atlanta.  Suge believed that it was more than coincidence that Robles was allegedly shot by Puffy’s long term body guard Anthony Jones (http://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/etd/3486/).  A few weeks after the shooting, Suge signed Tupac (http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=2&hid=25&sid=8368f680-c50e-45fd-92c9-511c3948da69%40sessionmgr12&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=23063307).  To him, Tupac was the weapon he needed to wage a war against Bad Boy.  By encouraging Tupac’s hatred of Bad Boy, Knight knew that he would be able to get revenge, while further benefiting from Tupac’s profitability.  The big contract Tupac signed made him feel like a king, but he was really just a pawn in Suge’s overarching conflict with Puffy.  These events solidified the East-West divide.

Puffy’s Bad Boy Records

Suge’s Death Row Records

The East vs. West conflict turned violent only two months after the shooting of Robles. Members of Death Row were filming a video in Brooklyn for Tha Dogg Pound’s song “New York, New York” when shots were fired at their trailer (http://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/etd/3486/).  The video featured giant sized members of Tha Dogg Pound stepping on and crushing Manhattan.  This video was met with a hostile response from Queens rappers Mobb Deep, Tragedy, and Capone and Noreaga who responded by making “L.A. L.A.”  Their music video depicted look-alike members of Tha Dogg Pound being kidnapped and tortured before being thrown off a bridge (http://www.vibe.com/page/biggie-puffy-break-their-silence-95-vibe-cover-story-pg4).

Tha Dogg Pound “New York, New York”

When Tupac was signed to Death Row, his lyrics immediately began to embrace the “gangster aesthetic” (http://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/etd/3486/).  His fifth album All Eyes On Me indicated this shift, including songs such as “California Love” where he raps “The West side is the best side.”  Tupac proceeded to preach revenge and warning two Biggie and Puffy in his song “Hit ‘Em Up,” which begins with Tupac yelling at Biggie, “I fucked your bitch, you fat muthafucka.”  “Hit ‘Em Up” was Tupac’s retort to The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Who Shot Ya?” which he believed was about the attempt on his life in 1994 (http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=2&hid=25&sid=8368f680-c50e-45fd-92c9-511c3948da69%40sessionmgr12&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=23063307).  He also remarked, out of anguish towards Biggie, “Biggie is a Brooklyn nigga’s dream of being West Coast.” (http://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/etd/3486/).

The Notorious B.I.G. “Who Shot Ya?”

2Pac “Hit Em Up”

The reality of the situation was that Biggie recorded “Who Shot Ya?” months before the shooting of Tupac in Times Square, and could not believe what Tupac was accusing him of (Biggie & Tupac).  As the feud continued to escalade, more records were sold, and, thus, it was encouraged instead of cooled.  Noting the increasing tensions, Dr. Dre responded, “If it keeps going this way, pretty soon niggas from the East coast ain’t gonna be able to come out here and be safe and vice versa.” (http://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/etd/3486/)  Within a year Dr. Dre’s prophecy came true.

East Coast vs West Coast. The division between the two was extremely powerful.

In June of 1996, at the Soul Train Awards, Biggie and Tupac met face to face for the first time since Tupac’s shooting.  When Biggie, Puffy, and Faith performed, Tupac stormed the aisle.  Of the incident Biggie commented, “That’s when I knew it was real to him.” (http://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/etd/3486/). Then, on September 7, 1996, Tupac was shot in a professionally executed drive-by (http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=2&hid=25&sid=8368f680-c50e-45fd-92c9-511c3948da69%40sessionmgr12&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=23063307).  The shooting occurred in Las Vegas when Tupac and Suge left the MGM Grand where they had just seen Mike Tyson fight Bruce Seldon.  The two were on their way to Suge’s Club 662 when a white Cadillac pulled along the passenger side where Tupac was sitting and opened fire at the black BMW.  When the cops arrived at the scene, Tupac Shakur was laying on the back seat bleeding profusely (Biggie & Tupac).  He passed away six days later at the University Medical Center at the age of 25 (http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=2&hid=25&sid=8368f680-c50e-45fd-92c9-511c3948da69%40sessionmgr12&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=23063307).

The MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The location Tupac was leaving when he was mortally wounded.

The primary detective in the murder of Tupac was to be Russell Poole, but as soon as he began the investigation he was ordered to stop.  Instead of stopping, he quit the LAPD and elected to investigate on his own.  He believes that Suge Knight is responsible for the killing of Shakur for a variety of reasons (Biggie & Tupac).  Suge had motive to kill Tupac as he had recently informed Suge that he was going to quit Death Row and take his music elsewhere when his contract was up ((jbs.sagepub.com/content/40/4/509.short)).  Looking into Death Row, Poole discovered that thirty to forty LAPD officers were working for the company on the side.  Suge had officers at all levels working for him, including a D.A.  The killings of Tupac and Biggie were orchestrated to appear to be gang killings.  This way, the killing of Biggie would appear to be retaliation for the killing of Tupac (Biggie & Tupac).  In this situation, the LAPD likely refused to investigate to minimize embarrassment.  Even after his death, Tupac remained subordinate to the interests of law enforcement.

Russell Poole on Tupac murder

Evidence, events, and testimonies from the few willing to speak up support the idea that Suge Knight was the mastermind behind both shootings.  On the night Tupac was killed in Las Vegas, one of Suge’s Piru homeboys told Tupac that a Crip was near.  This Crip was Orlando Anderson, who can be seen in video footage wearing a Death Row medallion.  Tupac, loyal to the Bloods, punched Anderson.  The only reason this series of events occurred was to provide the Crips with a reason to do harm to Tupac.  Roughly two hours after this transgression, Tupac was shot (http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=2&hid=25&sid=8368f680-c50e-45fd-92c9-511c3948da69%40sessionmgr12&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=23063307).  Losing Tupac to another record company was not all Suge had at stake.  At the time he was mortally wounded, Death Row owed him upwards of ten million dollars (Biggie & Tupac).  When Tupac provided Suge with a major inconvenience, he had him killed.

Orlando Anderson, the Crip who Tupac punched at MGM

Officer Kevin Hackey has also indicated that Suge Knight is behind the murders of Tupac and Biggie.  He witnessed numerous money disputes between Suge and Tupac, and saw Biggie’s shooting as no more than a diversion of any investigation away from Suge and Death Row (Biggie & Tupac).  Suge’s actions regarding Biggie demonstrated Biggie’s lack of power in comparison to Suge. With Biggie getting murdered shortly after Tupac, the deaths could be chalked up to East vs. West rap politics (Forman and Neal 458).  Making Suge Knight’s claim that he had nothing to do with the shooting of Tupac even more suspicious was his lying that he had a bullet in his head from the shooting.  Such a claim seems ridiculous unless he wanted to make it seem like he was also a target of the shooting.  In order to sell the idea that the shootings of Biggie and Tupac were gang related, Suge claimed that Combs and Biggie were Crips when such was not the case (Biggie & Tupac).  The fact that Biggie had no part in Tupac’s murder before being shot himself, during a conflict supposedly between the two rappers, evidences how little power they had over their own situations.  Death Row, the law, and the overarching East Coast vs. West Coast rivalry all convened at one vertex that resulted in the death of Tupac shortly followed by that of Biggie.

Six months after Tupac’s death, on March 9, 1997, The Notorious B.I.G. was murdered in a drive by shooting similar to Tupac’s when leaving a Vibe party at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.  He was only 24 (Notorious).  The job was a professional, one man hit in which the shooter was never caught, indicating that the perpetrator knew something about covering his tracks.  Poole suspected David Mack, a rogue police officer, of orchestrating the hit.  In a search of Mack’s home a multitude of scanners and radios used to carry out such an operation were found.  Harry Billups, the man Lil Cease, who was in the vehicle with Biggie at the time, identified as the shooter, was the godfather of Mack’s kids.  Prior to the murder, multiple witnesses placed Mack at the museum.  The car used in the drive by was a black SS Chevy Impala, a car that Mack owned.  Suge and Mack grew up in the same area of Compton where Mack was a member of the Mob Pirus, and he was present at private Death Row parties (Biggie & Tupac).  Neither Mack nor Billups have been questioned by police about Biggie’s murder (http://articles.latimes.com/2004/oct/29/local/me-big29).  Much like Tupac, Biggie’s life was taken to satisfy the greater need of those in control.

David Mack, the man believed to have orchestrated Biggie’s murder.

Tupac and Biggie were the two largest figures in a changing rap game.  The new game included violence, gang life, death, and territoriality, and scared law enforcement.  Tupac’s shooting at Quad Recording Studios may have resulted in his despise of Biggie, but it was only due to the exterior factors of record companies, the East vs. West rap conflict, and law enforcement that anything came of it.  As lyrics became weapons and affiliations more prominent, tensions rose.  These tensions climaxed with the murders of Tupac and Biggie.  The deadly competition that occurred between these two rappers was not the result of their own doings, but that of the greater powers of record labels, territories, and the law.

Works Cited

2Pac. “Trapped.” 2Pacalypse Now. Interscope Records. 1991. MP3.

2Pac. “Hit ‘Em Up.” How Do U Want It. Death Row Records. 1996. MP3.

Baeshad, Amos. “Bring That Beef Back: A Revised History of Tupac and Biggie.” New York 11 July 2011: 62-65. EBSCOhost. Web. 11 Nov. 2012.

Barrett, Lindon. “Dead Men Printed: Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls, and Hip-Hop Eulogy.” Callaloo (1999): 306-32. Print.

“Biggie and Puffy Break Their Silence.” Vibe Sept. 1995: n. pag. Http://www.vibe.com. Vibe Magazine, 9 Mar. 2012. Web. 20 Nov. 2012.

Biggie & Tupac. Dir. Nick Broomfield. Imagine Entertainment, 2003. DVD.

Dr. Dre. “Let Me Ride.” The Chronic. Death Row Records. 1993. MP3.

Forman, Murray. “‘Represent’: Race, Space, and Place in Rap Music.” Popular Music 19.1 (2000): 65-90. Cambridge Journals. Web. 12 Nov. 2012.

Gilmore, Mikal. “Hip-Hop 06: Tupac Redeemed.” Rolling Stone 16 Nov. 2006: 102-05. ProQuest. Web. 12 Nov. 2012.

Johnson, Maurice. “A Historical Analysis: The Evolution of Commercial Rap Music.” Thesis. Florida State University, 2011. Diginole.lib.fsu.edu/etd. Florida State University, 7 Apr. 2011. Web. 15 Nov. 2012.

Mayne, Heather J. “The Wild, Wild West: Images of California in Contemporary Rap Music.” California History 79.1 (2000): 70-75. JSTOR. Web. 11 Nov. 2012.

Neal, Mark Anthony., and Murray Forman, eds. That’s the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2004. Print.

Notorious. Dir. George Tillman. Prod. Voletta Wallace. By Reggie Rock Bythewood and Cheo Hodari Coker. Perf. Angela Bassett, Derek Luke, and Jamal Woolard. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2009. DVD.

The Notorious B.I.G. “Who Shot Ya?” Ready to Die. Bad Boy Records. 1995. MP3.

N.W.A. “Straight Outta Compton.” Straight Outta Compton. Ruthless Records. 1988. MP3.

Ogbar, Jeffrey O.G. “Slouching toward Bork: The Culture Wars and Self-Criticism in Hip-Hop Music.” Journal of Black Studies 30.2 (1999): 164-83. JSTOR. Web. 11 Nov. 2012.

Perry, Imani. Prophets of the Hood: Politics and Poetics in Hip Hop. Durham: Duke UP, 2004. Print.

Phillips, Chuck. “Suit Over Rappers Death Altered: Mother of Notorious B.I.G. Drops Key Figure in Case after a Reported Confidential Settlement.” Los Angeles Times [Los Angeles] 29 Oct. 2004: n. pag.

Wells-Wlbon, Rhonda, Nigel D. Jackson, and Jerome H. Schiele. “Lessons From the Maafa: Rethinking the Legacy of Slain Hip-Hop Icon Tupac Amaru Shakur.” Journal of Black Studies 40.4 (2010): 506-26. Print.

Antisemitism in Hip Hop

In the Hip-Hop industry Jewish performers and producers have occupied a small yet influential portion of the rap scene. Few Jewish Hip-Hop artists have successfully broke into the rap industry, the most famous of these few being the Beastie Boys who were regarded as “the white rap group who helped break rap into a broad-based white audience.” (Straton, 413) Other rappers who can be traced back to Jewish roots are mainstream Hip-Hop artists Drake and Mac Miller, however those of the Jewish heritage have more predominately impacted the rap scene through the recording industry. Some of the most influential record labels in rap music such as Def Jam, Warner Brothers, and Ruthless Records, all which were responsible for popularizing a number of rap artists, were founded by Jewish Americans. (Godson, 9) However, the prevalence of Jewish American record producers within the rap industry comes in conflict with antisemitic ideology embodied by some of rap artists in the earlier years of Hip Hop who were associated with the Nation of Islam. Although socially conscious rap in Hip Hop’s earlier years cannot be held responsible for the creation of antisemitic stereotypes accepted in today’s Hip Hop culture, antisemitic sentiments found in some lyrics during these early years legitimized the use of these stereotypes that are observed in rap music today.

Antisemitism in rap music first caught the attention of the public when Richard Griff, member of Public Enemy more commonly known by his stage name Professor Griff, expressed Anti-Semitic sentiment in his recorded interview with the Washington Post in May of 1989 http://www.miaminewtimes.com/1990-07-11/news/the-education-of-professor-griff/ In the interview Griff said, among other things that “ ‘Jews have a grip on America’ and they ‘have a history of killing black men.’ ” Griff also told the Washington Post that “Jews are responsible for ‘the majority of wickedness that goes on across the globe.’ ” This antisemitic attitude expressed in Professor Griff’s comments has been traced back to Public Enemy’s ties with the Nation of Islam and support their support of MInister Louis Farrakhan, leader of this religious group (Khan, 136). In his novel Chuck D, the primary lyricist of Public Enemy, writes in his novel “Fight the Power” about his affiliation with the Nation of Islam. “I follow Minister Farrakhan for many different reasons… He wants to talk about the building of our people and that’s what he’s always been about..” (Chuck D, 210) Farrakhan, the religious leader and official founder of the reorganized Black power movement in the United States, was most recognized for “emphasizing African-American self-improvement.” (Columbuia electronic Encyclopedia, 6th edition) Farrakhan was also known for his criticism of America’s fundamentally white-supremacist society.  (Columbuia electronic Encyclopedia, 6th edition) This black power and anti-oppression sentiment was emulated in Public Enemy’s politically charged lyrics in songs such as “Rebel Without A Pause” and “Fight the Power”. Although the overall message of Minister Farrakhan’s teaching was focussed on uplifting the black community in America, Farrakhan was criticized by some as being antisemitic and anti-white (Columbuia electronic Encyclopedia, 6th edition). These sentiments commonly attributed to Minister Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam were manifested in the psychology of Public Enemy, which was exhibited by the comments made to the Washington Post.

The antisemitic attitudes displayed in Professor Griff’s interview was not a singular occurrence within the rap group’s career. Shortly after the controversy that arose following Griff’s interview with the Washington Post, Public Enemy released their album Fear of a Black Planet in April of 1990 featuring the song “Welcome to the Terrordome.” Although on the surface this song appears to address the controversy surrounding the Washington Post Interview, it has also received some criticism by the public for presenting antisemitic attitudes. http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Sept10/AltschulerCover.html In these lines Chuck D refers to the Jewish people as the “so called chosen”, claiming that their public apology made for the offensive comments in the interview were only made to appease the public.

Crucifixion ain’t no fiction

So called chosen frozen

Apology made to whoever pleases

Still they got me like Jesus.

Regardless of this public apology, Chuck D claims Americans, particularly those of the Jewish faith continue to condemn him for a comment he personally did not make. In the line “Still they got me like Jesus” Chuck D asserts that he has been made a scapegoat for Hip Hop by the Jewish Americans, just as Jesus was their scapegoat according to  religious scripture.

Public Enemy’s display of antisemitic sentiment exemplified again in their song “Swindler’s LIst” which mocked the Holocaust movie “Schindler’s LIst” http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Sept10/AltschulerCover.html with lines such as “Mo’ dollaz, mo’ cents, for the Big Six / Another million led to bleed, claimin’ innocence” In this song Public Enemy compares social injustice that both the Jewish and African-American people has historically experienced, but the affliction of prejudice experienced by the Jewish people is trivialized in these lines. Chuck D accuses the Jewish people of using the injustice they experience historically to their advantage in today’s world by “claiming innocence” as people who can relate to the struggle that the black population still faces today in the ghettos of America while in reality, many Jewish Americans today do not experience the ramifications of social injustice in their every day lives. Chuck D further applies this accusation to Jewish Americans in the recording industry in his lines

Is it any wonder why black folks goin’ under

Cause niggas be sold in bundles

No pressure, tell me why they don’t care

Rap and R&B paving the streets of Bel Air

Chuck D asserts that the Jewish record producers do not take an interest in the content of his lyrics, which are reveal the social injustices black Americans face in contemporary society. Jewish record producers are only interested in Hip-Hop as a commodity that they can profit on, providing them with lavish Hollywood lifestyles.

Although Public Enemy is not the first to be accused of antisemitic ideologies within the Black Power movement, the group successfully integrated this sentiment into rap culture. Public Enemy is responsible for giving antisemitic remarks “credibility and authority” within rap lyrics. http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Sept10/AltschulerCover.html The demonizing stereotype of Jewish American record producers displayed in “Swindler’s Lust” was echoed by Ice Cube in his song “No Vaseline.” This song was written shortly after rap group N.W.A. fell apart due to an unresolvable financial dispute. In 1987 N.W.A. member Eazy-E collaborated with manager Jerry Heller to form a new Hip-Hop record label named Ruthless Records. Shortly after the group was signed to the new label, Ice Cube left the group because he believed that Heller was receiving more than his share of the profits. (Mitchell, 32) In ”No Vaseline” Ice Cube blames their Jewish manager, Jerry Heller, for the undoing of N.W.A in the line “Cuz you let a Jew break up my crew.” Rather than mentioning their managers name in his lyrics, Ice Cube chooses to associate Heller with his Jewish heritage while describing the financial ruin that he has brought upon N.W.A. as their manager. In his lines “Gang banged by your manager fella / Getting money out your ass like a mother fuckin’ Ready Teller / Givin’ up the dollar bills” Ice Cube compares their manager to a Ready Teller, or ATM machine, that has been corrupted and is stealing from those who trust in it. This is consistent with the stereotype that Chuck D creates in “Swindler’s Lust” of Jewish people, particularly Jewish Americans in the recording industry, as fundamentally self-centered, corrupt individuals who seek financial gains by any means necessary. Both Chuck D and Ice Cube specifically reference Jewish Americans in the recording industry as individuals who exploit Hip Hop or black artists for their own profits. Ice Cube takes hatred toward Jewish record producers even further by pairing antisemitic lyrics with explicit sexual depictions that allude to homophobia to create a graphic metaphor for how their manager is causing them financial injury: “Cause you’re gettin’ fucked out your green by a white boy /  With no vaseline.” Ice Cube condemns the remaining members of N.W.A. for allowing Jerry Heller to exploit them and calls into question their manhood and loyalty to gangsta lifestyle. In his last verse, Ice Cube states that in order to reclaim their status as a “real nigga” they must kill the Jew in the lines

Get rid of the of the Devil real simple,

put a bullet in his temple

Cause you can’t be the Nigga 4 Life crew

With a white Jew telling you what to do

An essential part of the gangsta lifestyle that N.W.A. embodies in their lyrics is the crew. The importance of a crew and remaining loyal to the drew in this lifestyle is consistent with the mentality of remaining loyal to one’s own expressed by Chuck D as “the building of our people.” With a Jew representing their crew, N.W.A. is not remaining true to this lifestyle.

Today’s mainstream rap follows the same stereotypical reference to the Jewish people that has been integrated into Hip Hop culture by artists such as Public Enemy and Ice Cube. Artists such as Tyga, Rick Ross, and Lil’ Wayne who do not produce the same type of socially conscious or politically charged lyrics that Public Enemy and N.W.A. once preformed, have emulated similar Jewish stereotypes into their lyrics. In Tyga’s song “Apollyon’s Theme” he references the Jewish stereotype of wealth in his line “Gettin’ money like I’m Jewish.” Tyga uses this Jewish stereotype differently however, than the rappers before him. Rather than using this stereotype to show the exploitation of black artists by Jewish record producers, Tyga uses this stereotype to assert his own financial success by putting himself on the same level as the wealthy Jewish Americans who control the industry. Similarly, Rick Ross uses this stereotype in the same way to show the wealth that his crew has achieved in the rap business. In his song “Gone to the Moon” off his Black Bar Mitzvah mix-tape his lines “Black Bar MItzvah – all you niggas invited / You were invested like Jews nigga” exemplifies the intersection between the wealth typically associated with Jewish producers in the industry, and his crew. By claiming his crew is invested in his record label “like Jews”, Rick Ross associates his label with the type of success achieved by prominent record labels in the industry such as Warner Brothers and Def Jam, which he makes reference to in the same verse. Both Warner Brothers and Def Jam are Jewish owned record labels and are notable labels in Hip Hop. By claiming the affluence behind his own brand equivalent to that of the major Jewish-owned record label, Rick Ross aims to achieve status within the industry.

Although Jewish stereotypes in rap lyrics today are not used in the same way as they were in the earlier years of rap when the Black Power movement was prominent in the rap scene. These lyrics created a distinction between African-American rappers and Jewish producers that grew into resentment by lyricists such as Chuck D and Ice Cube. The artists viewed their Jewish producers as an obstacle to their success as artists and businessmen, exploiting African-American talent by using it for their own financial gain while rappers, the source of talent, profited disproportionately from this arrangement. As rap music moved further away from its roots of resistance to white oppression and African-American self improvement, this stereotype of the wealthy Jew who profited off of the rap industry was recreated into a desirable position by rap artists. Rap artists such as Rick Ross and Tyga, who arguably are in the rap music business solely to attain wealth and fame, wish to associate themselves with the type of wealth traditionally only achieved by producers in order to raise their status in the rap music industry.

Works Cited

Stratton, Jon. “The Beastie Boys: Jews in Whiteface.” Popular Music 27.3 (2008): 413-32. Web.

Baker, Greg. “The Education of Professor Griff.” Miami NewTimes July, 11 1990

Kahn, Katy. “The Influence of the Nation of Islam on African American Singers.” Journal of Music Research in Africa 8.1 (2011): 136-46.

Louis Farrakhan. Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition, 11/1/2011

Spector, Michele. “Rappers Fueled Anti-Semitism in the 90s, Professor Says.” Cornell Chronicle Online. Cornell University, 23 Sept. 2010. Web.

D, Chuck. Fight the Power: Rap, Race, and Reality. New York: Delacorte, 1997.

Ice Cube, No Vaseline, Death Certificate, 2010

N.W.A., Welcome to the Terrordome, Fear of  Black Planet, 1990

N.W.A., Swindler’s List

Rick Ross, Gone to the Moon, Black Bar Mitzvah, 2012

Tyga, Apollo’s Theme, Careless World, 2011

In the early 1970’s, the ghetto of the South Bronx, New York City gave birth to a new and mysterious musical genre.  Today, rap music is considered one of the most influential forms of art in American history.  It has grown to become an art of great diversity.  People of all ethnic backgrounds have embraced the genre of rap music. Originally a form of music only known to the black community of New York, rap later began to surpass racial barriers with the help from artists like the Beastie Boys and Eminem.  The white community did not instantly support this music.  The amount of police misconduct within the ghetto’s of the inner cities help to prove the whites’ dislike for the black culture.  After the introduction of rap music to the white communities, the white consumers proceeded to financially and socially change the rap game forever.

There is a constant debate in the music industry about who should be considered the founding fathers of rap music.  Most rap scholars conclude that Kool DJ Herc, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash are the three main names involved in the initiation of rap music.  “These three are the founding fathers of hip-hop music–the progenitors of the world’s most dominant youth culture.” (George 44) In the early 1970’s,  New York City was taken over by the break-dancing and graffiti trends of young teens throughout the city.  Teenagers were constantly looking for new creative ways to express themselves in the ghettos of the inner cities.  The three founding fathers of rap music discussed the founding of hip-hop and its connection to breaking and graffiti in an interview with Nelson George. Bambaataa said, “Most people today, they can’t even define in words, hip-hop.  They don’t know the whole culture behind it.” (Bambaattaa)   In reality, the hip-hop culture is too complex to put into words.  Los Angeles Times music critic Ann Powers agrees with this.  She says, “Trying to define hip hop is a little like asking what air is.”  Rap music is just one subdivision of hip-hop.  Bambaattaa also says, “See before the whole word hip-hop, graffiti was there before that.  But really when the Zulu Nation pulled the whole thing together and we laid down the whole picture.  You know, the graffiti and the breakdancers.”(Bambaataa) The Zulu Nation was a popular gang in New York City in the 1970’s.  Collectively, they are credited with bringing together the hip-hop culture as a whole.  Graffiti and Breaking are two more major elements of hip-hop.  The four main elements of hip-hop are graffiti, breaking, DJaying, and rap.  Although they do not each have an immediate effect on the other, they all contribute to the discovery of rap music.  As Bambaatta said, graffiti and breaking were brought together.  Grandmaster Flash describes it, “It was basically a way of expressing how the music sounds.” (Flash)  It wasn’t until that point when people started experimenting with DJaying.  Backyard and street parties turned into night clubs.  Dj’s were taking over the music scene in New York City.  Clubs turned from disco to DJaying.  DJaying slowly gained popularity throughout every borough of New York.  Soon, Grandmaster Flash started the beat box which later lead to the start of rapping.  Flash said “the first people I heard talk on the microphone and do it extremely well and entertain the crowd and wasn’t just talking to the beat of the music was Herc’s people.  Coke La Rock.  He would just talk while Herc was cutting.”(Flash)  This “talking” lead to rhyming and ultimately lead to the rap music we know and embrace today. (Crayone)

Rap music was originally seen as something only popular in the black communities of New York City.  This changed when the popularity of rap spread throughout the country.  People from New York to Los Angeles were putting on rap performances on a daily basis.  White politicians nationwide did not like the violence and damage that came with hip-hop in the beginning.  There was even a common trend of police misconduct within the inner cities.  Many rappers speak of this issue in their songs.  Artists like Jay-Z, 2Pac, and N.W.A. walk listeners through the brutality of police violence against the black community.  Their hate for racial profiling by the police is evident in their popular songs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1M8vei3L0L8 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwoM5fLITfk

Rap music was competitive.  This is partly due to the competition within gangs involved in rap music.  It is easy to see this trend still in hip-hop today.  The police did not stop the white youth from picking up on the hip-hop culture.  This is evident when looking at the influence the white community has on rap music today.

“When they write the history of popular culture in the 20th century, they can sum it up in one sentence which is, ‘White kids wanting to be as cool as Black kids’” (Yousman)  University of Hartford professor Bill Yousman supports this when saying, “this tendency has been most evident in the pleasure that White youth experience through the consumption of rap music and the adoption of primarily African American linguistic and nonverbal communication customs associated with hip-hop.”(Yousman)  Simply put,  the youth in the white community have grown to embrace hip-hop culture.  This is seen when looking at the majority of rap music listeners.  “White youth have embraced rap music and hip-hop culture in such overwhelming numbers that by some estimates Whites are now the biggest consumers of recording by rap artists.  Dunlevy cited in 2000 figures from the hip-hop magazine The Source that suggest that more than 70% of rap music buyers are White.”(Yousman)  This is the most recent survey found.  It is believed that the number of white consumers may have increased over the years.  This fact in turn shows the substantial impact that the white community has on the rap industry.  In 2011, there were 28.25 album sales for the rap genre as a whole.  Without the support of the white listeners, rap would not be the billion dollar industry it is today.  Album sales are just one element to how rap music makes such a great profit.  Thousands of rap concerts are put on every year within the rap industry.  With ticket prices averaging around $50, concert tours earn rap artists majority of their money.  “White teenagers and college students move beyond the music and exhibit their fascination with African American culture through the clothing and accessories that they wear as well as the language and styles that they adopt and the nonverbal expressive codes that they affect.”(Yousman)  New style and language can all be found within rap music.  USC School of Cinematic Arts professor Todd Boyd says, “The beauty of hip hop lies in its ability to transform language.” (Boyd) This is what draws white teenagers to hip-hop. This theory is referred to as the “Afro-Americanization of White youth.”  The rap industry has grown to learn this theory and as a result, produce the type of music these white listeners want to hear.  In an article from Brown University, writer Beth Schwartzapfel writes of the knowledge of Tricia Rose.  Tricia Rose was a Brown professor of Black Studies and has a very deep knowledge of the hip-hop culture.  “What the record industry is selling, Rose argues, is not music, or fashion, or television shows like Pimp My Ride or Flavor of Love, its blackness…It’s a sort of modern-day minstrelsy: commercial hip-hop artists, with help from record companies, package themselves into what they think white people want to hear, and sell it to them.” (Rose)  Whether or not the white listeners know this is irrelevant.  The white community will continue to financially support rap music.  The rap industry is not selling the hip-hop culture directly, however, the white listeners are buying the culture when investing money in the rap industry.  Rappers know what the white community wants to hear and they give it to them.  This in turn puts money in their pocket and keeps the rap industry flourishing.  Rose says, “In 2004, when rap music and its accompanying cultural accessories—sneakers, jewelry, Pimp Juice—generated more than $10 billion dollars, Forbes reported that the industry “has moved beyond its musical roots, transforming into a dominant and increasingly lucrative lifestyle.””(Rose)  Rap music is not just selling the music, but the entire hip-hop lifestyle.  The USC article and Brown University article with Tricia Rose is posted below.

http://www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/14379.html

http://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/content/view/2310/32/

There are many other clues to how this trend of white teenagers support for rap music evolved.  Many scholars, including Tricia Rose, believe that the white youth became interested in rap music due to rebellious impulses.  White teenagers felt great pleasure in invading black culture.  The easiest way to do this was through hip-hop.  “As more and more White youth embrace rap music, the trend takes on momentum of its own and provides a common sort of cultural vocabulary for youths from all cultural backgrounds.  It thus becomes a cultural imperative for many White youth to embrace rap music in order to fit in with their peer group.” (Kitwana) This is one of the most well supported theories as to why the white youth have learned to embrace rap music.

“Black culture can be seen in religion, language, family structure, food ,music, dance, literature, art and so much more.” (Black is, Black ain’t) This includes rap and the hip-hop culture.  The white communities interest in black culture ultimately lead them to rap music.  The true leaders of this white movement into hip-hop came from within the rap game.  White rap artists such as Vanilla Ice, the Beastie Boys and Eminem opened the door for white listeners.  It is not uncommon for white artists to introduce black culture to the white population.  One of the most influential artists of all time, Elvis Presley, claimed to build his music off of other black artists of his time.  His rhythm and dancing has been idolized for years within the music industry.    Presley took black style and introduced it to white people across the globe.  American Musician Little Richard said, “Elvis was an integrator, a blessing.  They wouldn’t let Black music through.  Elvis opened the door for Black music.” (Richard) This YouTube video shows the influence Black music had on Elvis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tkny1aJddyU 

This can also be said for white rappers.  Vanilla Ice and The Beastie Boys slowly proved that white artists had a place in the rap game.  Still, the white world waited for a day when a white artist would truly break the racial barrier.  This day came when Detroit rapper, Eminem, was introduced to the world.

“Most people are only familiar with the last 10 years….It was only in the late 1990’s when people started paying attention…when Eminem became famous.”(Boyd)  Eminem, born Marshall Mathers, spent much of his underprivileged childhood years in the city of Detroit.  As a white boy in a predominantly black neighborhood, hip-hop made a great impression on him.  With his love for rap music, “he began formulating lyrics and songs at the tender age of 14.”(Hess)  After signing with Dr. Dre and Interscope Records in 1997, Eminem was soon world renown.  Eminem learned a lot from the successes and failures of both Vanilla Ice and the Beastie Boys.  Eminem appealed to the masses because of the honesty in his lyrics.

“Rather than imitate a model of hip-hop blackness, Eminem emphasizes the autobiographical basis of his lyrics and his struggle to succeed as a rap artist; he presents a new model of white hip-hop authenticity in which being true to yourself and to your lived experiences can eclipse notions of hip-hop as explicitly black-owned.” (Hess)

This excerpt from Mickey Hayes perfectly describes Eminem’s style.  Although he is white, Eminem uses his real life experiences to appeal to both the black and white listeners.  As a result, Eminem earned the title as one of the best rappers of all time.  Today, Eminem has won over 10 Grammy Awards and produced one of the best selling albums of all time.  Eminem’s Marshall Mathers LP sold more than 1.8 million copies in just it’s first week.  This same album has sold about 11 million copies in the U.S. as of 2012, putting it on the list for one of the best selling albums in history.

All of Eminem’s successes changed the rap game forever.  Eminem did not just fatten his pockets in his career.  His major contribution to hip-hop is the inclusion of the white community of listeners.  Eminem opened the door to both white rap music listeners and other white artists.  His music proved to the world that there is a place for white artists and fans in hip-hop.  Eminem discusses this in his 2002 song “White America.”  In this song he raps about the controversy he created within the music business and his overall impact on American society.  Eminem raps, “See the problem is, I speak to suburban kids, who otherwise would of never knew these words exist, whose mom’s probably would of never gave two squirts of piss, ’till I created so muchmotherfuckin’ turbulence.”(Eminem)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-a5zmIQKrQ

Eminem is saying that without him, suburban white kids would have never listened to rap music.  He also criticizes the parents of white America.  He says that the mothers of the white youth would have never accepted rap music in their homes until he caused such a racket.  The white community had no choice but to accept hip-hop.  Therefore, without Eminem, rap would still be an art form exclusively for the black community.  Eminem officially gave white America a place in hip-hop.  Eminem’s song “White America” is featured below.

After Eminem, many other white people continued to influence the rap game.  The record labels that rappers are signed to are the true promoters of the music genre.  The interesting theme within these record labels is that most of the CEO’s of these major companies are white.  They are the ones who put this music out to the public.  For example,  Def Jam and Warner Brothers executive, Lyor Cohen, is considered by both Vibe Magazine and Billboard Magazine as one of the most influential men in hip-hop.  He is a white man who is known for influencing the careers of some of the most well know rap artists.  These artists include the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Jam master J, Run-DMC, and NAS.  Another major white rap executive in hip-hop is Todd Moscowitz.  Artists like Rick Ross and Wacka Flocka report to him.  The majority of rappers today are black men, however, it is white men responsible for the distribution of their music.

Rap music was born in the black communities of America.  With the help of artists like Eminem, hip-hop has now spread all over the world.  70% of rap music listeners are white.  Without these white listeners, rap music would not be the Billion dollar industry it is today.  In the beginning, whites wanted nothing to do with the hip-hop culture.  They tried to stop all graffiti in the inner cities and police worked to put an end to the original backyard DJ parties.  After breaking the racial barrier within the rap game, the white community learned to accept hip-hop as a form of expression.  Whether it is white kids wanting to be as cool as black kids as many scholars believe, or the rebellious attitudes of white teens, rap music has made an impact on the white community as a whole.  “Hip-hop has grown to become a thing of immense diversity and mass appeal. It’s now the meaning of life for millions of kids and young adults, influencing how they talk, walk and interact, regardless of their race or pedigree.”(Nelson) With the persistent support from the white community, rap continues to be one of the most dominant social forces in American history.

WORKS CITED:

George, Nelson. “Hip-Hop’s Founding Fathers Speak the Truth.” Thats the Joint. ed.Murray Forman and Mark Anthony Neal. New York, 2012. 44-55. Book.

Nelson, Havelock. “Hip-Hop Jumps Cultural Lines.” Billboard 106.48 (1994): 34. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.

Yousman, Bill. “Blackopholia and Blackphobia.” Communication Theory. 13 (2003):366-399.

“The History Of Rap: Vol. 1: The Genesis” Hip-Hop Network. np. nd. Web. 4 December 2012.

VERSTEGEN, IAN. “Eminem And The Tragedy Of The White Rapper.” Journal Of Popular Culture 44.4 (2011): 872-889. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.

Kitwana, Bakara. Why White Kids Love Hip Hop. New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2005. Print.

Salty Scholar. “What is Black Culture?” Black is, Black Ain’t. WordPress. Blog. 4 December 2012.

Ford, Ryan. “Hip-Hop White Wash: The Impact Of Eminem On Rap Music And Music Industry Economics.” Socialism & Democracy 18.2 (2004): 127-134. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.

Scott, Jonathan. “Sublimating Hiphop: Rap Music In White America.” Socialism & Democracy 18.2 (2004): 135-155. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.

Hess, Mickey. “Hip-Hop Realness And The White Performer.” Critical Studies In Media Communication 22.5 (2005): 372-389. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.

Brennan Kerr

12/04/2012

Homophobia in Rap Music

Rap music is a genre that has been widely critiqued since emergence from New York in the late 1970s and the early 1980s for its often violent, misogynistic, and homophobic lyrics. Black culture has traditionally been exceptionally homophobic, and since most schools do not teach students about homosexuality or rap music, this culture of hatred has been slow to change (Chiu 24).  Recently, however, with R&B singer Frank Ocean’s revelation of his bisexuality and President Obama’s public support for gay rights, many rappers and prominent figures in the black community have begun to mirror these tones of support.  Most rappers who voice support for gay rights list personal (non-sexual) relationships with homosexuals as at least part of the reason for their acceptance.  According to Merriam-Webster, homophobia is defined as an irrational fear of sexual or erotic interactions between people of the same gender.  Homophobic lyrics are most often used in rap music as a way to attack another man’s masculinity, a behavior key to the macho rap culture.  Most rap music is gender phobic rather than homophobic, but most people fail to make this distinction.  These gender phobic lyrics refer to a covert form of gender discrimination based primarily upon behavior, which is to say that they enforce the idea of distinct male and female gender roles (Stepens 22).  Rappers that appear to be homophobic in their lyrics, yet deny they are homophobic and offer support for gay rights, are able to do so because the goal of their lyrics is to desmasculinze opponents and, thus, argue for their own power.

            Homophobia has been prevalent in hip hop since it was first overtly seen on Grandmaster Flash’s “The Message,” through the heyday of “gangsta rap” up through today’s popular songs (Heigl).  It was a part of the culture of posturing yourself to seem more manly than your opponents.  According to Darryl McDaniels of rap group Run DMC, “You would have had 50 rappers jump on a song, (and) dis the gay people because it’s cool” (Fekadu).  McDaniels is speaking to the fact that at this point in hip-hop history, most people would not speak out against homophobia.  There was no backlash against homophobic lyrics in songs.  Rapper from the group N.W.A., Eazy E, is one person who employed the use of homophobic lyrics in his songs.  On Eazy E’s “Nobody Move” he raps about a transsexual, “Put the gat to his legs, all the way up his skirt / because this is one faggot that I had to hurt.”  Rappers like Eazy E are who Tim’m West is talking about when he says that “Hip Hop heteros rely heavily on the verbal bashing of fags in order to even exist” (Oware 25).  Gangsta rappers like Eazy E need homophobia and gender phobia to promote their personas as the “bad” Stackolee figure.  The goal is to be harder, more street, more macho, more amoral, and less gay.  Much of today’s rap music continues to rely on the macho appeal of a Stackolee character.  This Stackolee persona has been vital to rappers’ success in the rap industry.  Macho rapper Big Daddy Kane has his career ruined by rumors speculating that he was HIV positive, which at the time was thought to be a gay disease (Hill 383).  Amid the controversy surrounding Big Daddy Kane, members of the LGBTQ community were forced to remain closeted to protect their personal lives, sexual identity, and sexual partners (Hill 384).  In the famous beef and public rap battles between Nas and Jay-Z, both rappers used suggested homosexuality of their opponent as a way to attack and embarrass each other, employing phrases such as “Gay-Z” (Hill 388-389).  The choice of these rappers to use homosexuality as a way to attack one another speaks to assumed heterosexuality that hip hop thrives on.  Any deviance from this assumed norm is used as a way to gain the upper can in a rap battle and demonize their opponents (Hill 388-391).  As author and professor William Jelani Cobb points out, homophobic lyrics are “calling your manhood into question…it’s calling you sexuality into question…it’s saying that if you are not this you must therefore be gay…you must be a faggot, you know, you must be a bitch nigga” (Misogyny & Homophobia).  Here Cobb directly relates homophobia with gender phobia by comparing and equating the words “faggot” (a homophobic word) and “bitch nigga” (a gender phobic phrase).

            Homophobia is related to misogyny in hip hop music.  According to Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, men must demean other men by comparing them to women.  Dyson says “To assume that he’s less than a man and to assign him the very derogatory terms that one usually associates with woman” is one of the greatest insults in American culture (Misogyny & Homophobia).  The point of this is to take away a man’s masculinity and turn him into someone inferior.  This language also includes terms like “faggot” and “fairy” that are usually associated with gay people.  Homosexuals are also seen as inferior because of their “girlyness” and assumed acceptance to socially aligning themselves with the assumed inferiority of a woman (Stephens 25-26; Clay 356).  They are not upholding the masculine gender standard (Stephens 22).  Through this analysis, one can see that rap music is, most often, not homophobic, but rather it is gender phobic.  It is a type of discrimination that assumes that men and women have certain roles in society, and attacks people who do not conform to these preset ideas of gender (Stephens 22).  Eminem defends his use of the word “faggot” saying, “Faggot is like taking away your manhood – you’re a sissy, you’re a coward…It doesn’t necessarily mean you’re being a gay person” (Stephens 25-26).  In an interview with Anderson Cooper on “60 Minutes”, he further explains how much the word “faggot” was “thrown around,” and how it was just another one of those words that people would use against their opponents during a rap battle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pJKb-h2iV0

Gays in the black (and in any other) community often develop a self-hatred known as internalized homophobia that arises from the constant defamation of their being in rap music.  They feel like they have to hide their true identities because they fear of no longer having a community to protect them from the outside, racially hostile climate (Chiu 25).  Rap artists like Eminem, Tyler, the Creator, Lil Wayne, and DMX hold some responsibility for the climate of gays feeling closeted.  So-called homophobic rappers like Eminem and Tyler, the Creator feature lyrics in their songs that seem to promote violence towards homosexuals.  In Tyler, the Creator’s “Yonkers” he says, “I’ll crash that fuckin’ airplane that that faggot nigga Bob (B.o.B.) is in / and stab Bruno Mars in his goddamn esophagus.”  Tyler is seemingly promising to cause harm to a homosexual.  In Eminem’s “Cleanin’ Out My Closet” he raps, “My faggot father must’ve had his panties up in a bunch / ‘Cause he split.”  He uses a derogatory term usually aimed at homosexuals to describe his father, in order to take his father’s masculinity away and show that his father is worthless.   Close readings of these songs as a part of hip hop as a whole shows that these rappers are actually more gender phobic than homophobic.  Whether or not Tyler, the Creator actually thinks that rapper B.o.B. is gay, and if he hates/fears him because of it, is irrelevant to the gender roles in their subtext.  He does, however, believe that B.o.B is soft, and he attacks his sexuality as a way to demasculinize him.  By comparing him to a homosexual he puts B.o.B. in a position of inferiority.  Eminem’s lyrics are a representation of the hyper-masculine culture in hip hop, rather than a cry for the hatred of homosexuals.  The connotation of these kinds of hyper-masculine lyrics can more easily be seen in Lil Wayne’s “John” and DMX’s “Party Up (Up in Here).”  In “John,” Lil Wayne says “Pussy niggas sweet, you niggas CinnaBon…Bitch ass nigga, pussy ass nigga.”  By calling his foes sweet he is implying that they are soft, which can be seen as an implementation of gender phobic language used to demean someone’s manhood.  He also uses terms that are usually associated with women, such as pussy and bitch to demasculinize others.  The pairing of homophobic and misogynistic language together shows us that these lyrics are actually neither one nor the other; they are actually gender phobic.  Many rappers assume that being soft is associated with women or men who act as women.  In DMX’s “Party Up” he raps, “Ya’ll niggas remind me strip club / cuz everytime I come around it’s like what / I just gotta get my dick sucked.”  DMX compares his opponents to strippers (assumed to be women) and at the same time renders them homosexual because they are men.  He is asserting his own masculinity over these other rappers by implying their compliance in a submissive sexual act.  He is therefore asserting his sexual and overall dominance over them.  Furthermore, he is covering up his own insecurities about his masculinity through the use of gender phobia (Misogyny & Homophobia).  Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner shows an example of using sexual power as a form of dominance when villain character Assef rapes Amir’s (the protagonist) friend Hassan, as a punishment (Hosseini 66).  Before raping Hassan, Assef compares him to a “disrespectful donkey” in order to dehumanize him (Hosseini 66).  Rappers are employing the same psychology in their lyrics when they use homophobic language.  They want to make their real or imagined opponents seem as inhumane as possible.

Another way rappers use homophobic lyrics is actually in the conquest of women.  Rappers target gender phobic lyrics at lesbians, and show them being dominated by men both individually and in group sexual gang bangs.  In “Rack City Remix,” Young Jeezy raps,

I got my other broad talking to my other broad/while I’m in the back talking to my other broad./Okay, look like we got a foursome/Three bitches in my bed ‘bout 4-somethin’

This quotation shows Young Jeezy conquering the celebrated feat of having sex with multiple women at the same time.  Lil Wayne carries this scenario further, when he even suggests that the women he will sleep with are not just ‘down’ for sexual experimentation, but they are, in fact, lesbians, when he raps, “She said she could fuck me right / I made her fuck her friend / she said don’t call her a dyke / but that’s gay.”  Lil Wayne is arguing that he is so skilled in the bed that he was able to have a threesome with two lesbians.  This feat is highly regarded feat of masculinity in the gender phobic hip hop community, once again mirroring Stackolee (Oware 25-26).  Dr. Michael Eric Dyson provides support for this claim saying, “Lesbian sexuality can in some cases be tolerated, even encouraged, because it can be subordinated to the heterosexual male erotic economy: two for the price of one” (Dyson, Hurt 368).  Dyson agrees that lesbianism is only tolerated in hip hop because it allows male rappers another way to express their ever-present hyper-masculinity.  Jae Millz provides another take on gang bang in “Poke Her Face” when he raps, “And she did all us / on the tour bus.”  Jae Millz is providing an example of homoeroticism in rap music.  Dyson provides insight once again by explaining how the exposure to and excitement gained from the presence of other men during a sexual episode can be seen as homoerotic and highly masculine at the same time (Out of the Closet: Homopobia and homoeroticism in hip hop).

            As this essay has shown so far, most rappers are not actually homophobic, despite their use of many homophobic terms in their raps.  They are really just trying to demasculinize real or imaginary opponents to make demonstrate their own toughness.  It becomes apparent that raps cannot always be taken at face value when so many rappers, including Jay-Z, Eminem, Tyler, the Creator, Lil B, Kanye West, The Game, and Fat Joe, have all spoken out in support of gay rights, and denounced any of their own seemingly homophobic lyrics (Macpherson; Lee; Francois; Fekada).  Most of these rappers point to personal experiences with gay people as their reason for changing their minds and speaking out against homophobia.  Kanye West started to show support in 2005 after he found out that a close member of his family was gay (Francois).  In this video he speaks to the talent of some of the gay people he has come to know.

Fat Joe finds it incredible that people still remain closeted in 2012, and believes that gay people in the business should come out (Lee).  Jay-Z and A$AP Rocky speak out to how homophobia can only hold you back.  Jay-Z says, “I always thought it was holding this country back.  What people do in their own homes is their business.  It’s no different than discriminating against black.  It’s discrimination.  Plain and simple” (Francois).  Similarly, A$AP Rocky has said, “But I can still be inspired by a homosexual…If I start discriminating against people, that will stop me as a person.  That’s ignorant.  What…does that have to do with anything?” (Francois).  A$AP Rocky further went on to describe that he used to be homophobic before he looked in the mirror and realized that all the brands he was wearing were designed by gay people (Lee).  A$AP Rocky, like Kanye West, demonstrates that a personal connection and interactions made with gay people changed his mind on the matter.  President Obama’s stance on gay marriage has undoubtedly had an impact on the world of hip hop as well.  Jay Z, an Obama supporter, began to speak out against homophobia, on a larger scale, after Obama voiced his support for gay marriage (source).  Much criticized rapper Tyler, the Creator even voiced support for Frank Ocean when the R&B singer “came out” on his tumblr page saying, “My Big Brother Finally Fucking Did That.  Proud Of That Nigga Cause I Know That Shit Is Difficult Or Whatever” (source).  It is clear from these various quotations that no matter how homophobic or un-homophobic rappers’ lyrics may be, the majority of them do not actually hate or fear gay people.

            Some rappers such as Macklemore and Murs have gone so far as to support gay rights in their actual lyrics and videos.  In Macklemore’s song “Same Love” he raps, “If I was gay, I would think hip hop hates me” and “gay is synonymous with the lesser.”  Macklemore touches on the fact that rap music uses the supposed inferiority of homosexuals to dis other people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pJKb-h2iV0

 He goes explain stereotypes that help us box in homosexuals, and he makes a statement that these people are who they are.  The chorus says that “I can’t change, even if I wanted to,” showing Macklemore’s support for LGBTQ rights.   Murs’ recently released a video for his song “Animal Style,” in which he kisses another man (Dean).  Although Murs is not gay himself, he says that he wanted to make a song for his gay friends and other peers who were struggling being closeted (Dean).  Murs hopes that with rappers like Jay-Z, Frank Ocean and himself “homophobia in hip-hop will disappear” (Dean).

            Although the world of hip hop and rap music is still a hostile one for members of the LGBTQ, there appears to be a gay hip hop movement in the making.  Snoop Dogg expressed this change when he said, “When I was growing up you could never do that and announce that” (on newly outed R&B singer Frank Ocean) “There would be so much scrutiny and hate and negativity, and no one would step (forward) to support you because that’s what we were brainwashed to know” (Fekadu).  This “brainwashing” is the idea put into young peoples’ heads that they must be hardcore and demasculize others, as a means of retaining and exaggerating their own masculinity.  Most rappers seem to be at least subconsciously aware that their seemingly homophobic lyrics are actually gender phobic, because they are starting to speak out against homophobia.  Seasoned rapper Brother Ali even went as far as to disparage his lyrics from earlier albums, explaining on his blog that his views on homosexuality have changed over the years from interactions with openly gay people (Newman).  There is no doubt that as American culture’s views on homophobia are beginning to change, so too is hip hop shifting with it.  Gender phobia, on the other hand, is still as prevalent as it has ever been in rap music, as evidenced by the various lyrics throughout the essay.  This is a reflection of the ever-present gender phobia in the rest of American culture as well.

WORKS CITED

Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Riverhead, 2003. Print

Fekadu, Mesfin. “Hip-hop stars start to hit ‘pause’ on homophobia in rap as gay rights issues rise.” Gazette[Montreal] 24 08 2012, n. pag. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.

Newman, Jason. “The Intersection of Homophobia and Hip Hop: Where Tyler Met Frank.” Huffpost Arts & Culture. Huffington Post, 07 2012. Web. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.

MacPherson, Alex. “Is hip-hop homophobia at a tipping point?.” Music Blog. The Guardian, 09 2011. Web. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.

Francois, Rebecca. “No Hate! 7 Rappers Against Homophobia.” Global Grind. N.p., 15 2012. Web. 4 Dec 2012.

Chiu, Nicholas. “Symposium Journals.” Symposium Journals. 47.1 (2005): 23-29. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.

Oware, Matthew. “Journal of African American Studies.”Journal of African American Studies. 15.1 (03): 22-29. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.

“Misogyny & Homophobia.” Independent Lens. PBS, 20 2007. Web. 4 Dec 2012.

Stephens, Vincent. “Cambridge Journals .” Cambridge Journals . 24.01 (2005): 21-36. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.

Dean, Terrence. “The Meaning of Frank Ocean.” Advocate. 1012: 18-27. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.

Heigl, Alex. “A Timeline of Hip Hop Homophobia.” Advocate. N.p., 18 2012. Web. 4 Dec 2012.

Lee, Chris. “Why Rappers Are Suddenly Speaking Out in Support of Gay Pride” The Daily Beast. Web. 20 Dec 2011.

“Out of the Closet: Homophobia and homoeroticism in hip hop .” n.pag. Black Youth Project. Web. 4 Dec 2012. <http://www.blackyouthproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/OutoftheCloset8-11-09.pdf>.

Hill, Marc Lamont. “Scared Straight: Hip-Hop Outing, and the Pedagogy of Queerness.” That’s the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader. Murray Foreman and Mark Anthony Neal . 2nd. New York: Routledge, 2102. 382-398. Print.

Clay, Andreana. “I Used to Be Scared of the Dick: Queer Women of Color and Hip-Hop Masculinity.” That’s the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader. Murray Foreman and Mark Anthony Neal . 2nd. New York: Routledge, 2102. 382-398. Print.

Dyson, Michael Eric., and Hurt, Byron. ““Cover Your Eyes as I Describe a Scene so Violent”: Violence, Machismo, Sexism, and Homophobia.” That’s the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader. Murray Foreman and Mark Anthony Neal . 2nd. New York: Routledge, 2102. 382-398. Print.

Mathers, Marshall, perf. “Cleanin’ Out My Closet.” Rec. 2001-2002. The Eminem Show. Eminem, Dr. Dre, Jeff Bass, Mr. Porter, 2002. MP3

Carter, Dwayne, and William Leonard Roberts II perfs. “John.” Rec. 2011. John. Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Ayo The Producer, 2011. MP3

West, Kanye. “Kanye West Interview About Gay People.” YouTube. YouTube, 25 Aug. 2011. Web. 5 Dec. 2012.

Folarin, Wale, Michael Nguyen-Stevenson, Jay Jenkins, Clifford Harris, Robert Williams, and John Jackson. “Rack City (Remix).” YouTube. VEVO, 2 Mar. 2012. Web. 04 Dec. 2012.

Wright, Eric. “Nobody Move.” YouTube. YouTube, 08 Apr. 2008. Web. 04 Dec. 2012.

Okonma, Tyler. “Yonkers.” YouTube. VEVO, 10 Feb. 2011. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.

Cooper, Anderson, and Marshall Mathers. “Eminem’s Road to Stardom.” YouTube. YouTube, 7 Aug. 2011. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.

Today, it seems almost impossible to find a hip hop artist who does not include lyrics referencing either designer brands or high end labels.  Of course this essay is not a criticism of all hip hop artists, and certainly not a criticism of the designers or brands themselves.  In such a consumer centered, capitalist America, it may sometimes appear as though the music and visual displays are like advertisements for various companies, and not necessarily focused on the lyrical and productive qualities from which rap originated.  There are even times when the representation of luxury products appears to symbolize social upward mobility and consumption.  In a thorough examination of the age old relationship between fashion and music, one should examine the lyrics and the versatility of the artists to work across several disciplines to determine whether or not the music and fashion industry merely exist symbiotically, or if there is an inextricable link between the two.

As previously mentioned, rap and hip hop lyrics can sometimes appear to be littered with designers and brands.  “Money to Blow” by Birdman, Drake, and Lil’ Wayne is a perfect example of a song that incorporates the use of many different high end labels. In the song, Birdman raps “Lamborghini and the Bentleys on the V-set/Louis lens iced up with the black diamonds/Cartier, Ferrari the new Spider”  (Birdman “Money to Blow”).  These lines are certainly not exemplary lyrics by any standard, but in a matter of 3 very short lines, Birdman dropped five specific, high end brand names: Lamborghini, Bentley, Louis Vuitton (Louis lens), Cartier, and Ferrari.  Up-and-coming rapper A$ap Rocky is infamous for his very curated sense of style (McCloskey, “A$ap Rocky’s Beautiful Dark Twisted Wardrobe”). In his song “Peso” he raps, “But these bitches get impressed when you pull up in that 7 Them 6′s, them Benzes, I gets the freshest Raf Simons, Rick Owens usually what I’m dressed in.” (A$ap Rocky “Peso”).  His references to “that 7” and “them Benzes” are most notably the uber luxurious BMW 7 Series and the high-end car company Mercedes Benz, while Raf Simons and Rick Owens are ultra exclusive and expensive lines of designer clothing.  Drake’s song “Congratulations” opens up with the line “Uh, black hearts on my cardigan,” which is a reference to the Japanese cult brand Comme des Garcons’ logo, the black heart (Drake “Congratulations”).  The line is surprising because of its very understated reference to the brand, but infers that Drake is indeed in touch with the cult fashion world.  Rick Ross raps “The ones beneath me recognize the red bottoms I wear” when he references the ultra expensive shoe designer, Christian Louboutin, who is famous for his red bottomed shoe soles (Rick Ross “I’m on One”).  These lyrics are simply a small sampling of references to fashion by rappers in the music industry, but what does it all mean?  Are these rappers just stating their love of some of the hottest brand names in the world, or is there more to it than just that?

It may be important to note a popular news story that surfaced early in 2011 about famed designer John Galliano.  Mr. Galliano was the head designer at the famed fashion house Christian Dior.  In an incident in Paris, France, Mr. Galliano began a rant that included anti-semitic remarks, and ended with his removal from the position at Dior  (Socha, “John Galliano: Downfall of a Couturier”).  Interestingly enough, Lil’ Kim referenced Mr. Galliano in the song “We Takin’ Over Remix” when she rapped “cocktail dress by John Galliano” (Lil’ Kim “We Takin’ Over Remix”), and Kanye West even has a song entitled “Christian Dior Denim Flow” (Kanye West “Christian Dior Denim Flow”).  It is not a criticism of either Lil’ Kim nor Kanye West for including the designer and the fashion house in their music, but it certainly poses the question whether or not musicians are socially aware of the sometimes negative, racist, or derogatory ideals that these individuals or companies portray.  This question brings into account the earlier question of whether the rappers are simply stating their love for these brands, or if there is more to it than just that.

When a rapper chooses to “endorse” a brand by dropping its name in a song, they promote that particular brand to the masses, and in a sense, the endorsement of one brand over another appears to simply be an advertisement.  The link between the endorsement of specific brands and the effect on the listeners is real, and according to Bakari Kitwana, “hip-hop artists made brand names like Lees, Ralph Lauren, Pumas, Filas, Adidas, Timberland or Tommy Hilfiger must have products for hip-hop kids” (Kitwana 97).  In the luxury market, Christian Dior for example is a huge fashion house that does not need the endorsement of Kanye West in order to stay afloat, so why would he choose them over another large scale designer brand like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, or Salvatore Ferragamo?  There may not be a clear cut answer to this question, but some ideas begin to surface regarding rappers and their endorsement of fashion within their music.  For one, the rappers clearly are knowledgeable about upscale brands and designers, and choose to make note of their consumption of these luxury goods.  According to Mako Fitts, “commercial rap is a reflection of the mainstream success of this music genre” and “is the sampling of traditional American values of upward social mobility and consumption (defined by the gross acquisition of goods) (Fitts 225).  Fitts’ statement makes clear the idea that the “gross acquisition of goods” in “commercial rap” may simply be a hip hop artist’s way of knowing and experiencing the fact that they had struck it rich in the music industry.  Consumption is the symbolic way to physically show the financial independence and success of the hip hop artists.  The idea of upward social mobility and consumption within rap music is ever prevalent, as evidenced in the song “I’m a Boss” by Rick Ross and Meek Mill, when Meek raps, “Look I be riding through my old hood, but I’m in my new whip/Same old attitude but I’m on that new shit” (Rick Ross “I’m a Boss”).  The braggadocio of having a “new whip,” lends itself to the idea that Meek Mill has amassed a monetary fortune large enough to afford a new car: something he would be unable to do in his “old hood.”  While “riding through [his] old hood,” Meek Mill would be reminded of his beginnings and his new found fortune through the music industry.  Rappers may also endorse a specific product to which they have a direct link.  For example, Jay-Z partnered with luxury watch brand, Audemars Piguet, to produce a limited edition watch to commemorate his tenth year in the music industry (Woollard, “Jay-Z Partners with Audemars Piguet to Make New Watches”).  He even mentions the brand in multiple songs including his song “Allure” when he raps “Bathing Ape kicks, Audemars Piguet wrist” (Jay-Z “Allure”).  The advertisement aspect of endorsing select designers or brands in rap songs may even have effects on the sales figures of such brands.  For instance, in 1997 Audemars Piguet produced a small amount of watches at only 15,000 pieces (OO Cities, “AP Audemars Piguet Master Watchmakers”), compared to the 80% increase over 10 years, when, in 2007 they produced 27,000 timepieces (The Time TV, “AP New Brand Ambassador – Prom Meesawat”).  From the collaborative work of both Audemars Piguet and Jay-Z, the watch company was able to greatly benefit from exposure from one of the top rap artists.

As Audemars Piguet receives great product placement from Jay-Z and other rappers, let it be known that many music videos highlight and promote a plethora of different brands and designers.  Sometimes, however, these brands may not like the placement of their products by these hip hop artists.  Take for example the exclusive French champagne brand Cristal.  In Jay-Z’s book Decoded, he talks about how he wanted to drink something different that what everyone else what drinking, which at the time, in the 1990s, was Moet.  He goes on to explain that he was introduced to Cristal, and it was a clear winner in terms of taste and exclusivity.  He began to promote the brand in his songs, and carry them at his various nightclubs.  Then, The Economist interviewed the owner of Cristal, Frederic Rouzaud, and asked him what he thought about the promotion of his product in “‘bling lifestyle.’”  His response was met with great criticism from Jay-Z when he replied, “That’s a good question, but what can we do?  We can’t forbid people from buying it.”  Jay-Z immediately pulled the product from his nightclubs and swore to never promote the brand again.  He later explained that he was not being compensated for the endorsement of Cristal, and that he was upset that the company was profiting off his free endorsements without due respect from Mr. Rouzaud (Jay-Z 83-6).  This is a perfect example of a luxury brand that expressed disinterest in being associated with the hip hop industry.  While most brands take the free endorsements, Mr. Rouzaud chose to not be associated with the free advertising of his product.  It certainly would pose the question as to whether or not these brands take advantage of their advertising solely because of the great product placement and association with the rich and famous.

In a similar manner, the music video of the previously mentioned song “Money to Blow” by Birdman, displays the cars, jewels, and clothing in a strikingly similar manner as an advertisement may do.  The two cars, one a Lamborghini the other a Maybach, are strategically placed on either side of the set with Birdman in the middle.  It looks like a car showroom on set and Birdman fits the bill for the clientele who may purchase such expensive vehicles; he wear jewels and is dressed in designer clothing.  You can see the video here (Birdman “Money to Blow”).  The lavish display of such goods is creative and desirable enough that a Creative Director at either Lamborghini and/or Maybach could have designed the video.  Again, this creativity crosses over between high end brand development and rap music.

Keeping in line with the idea of collaborative work between the fashion industry and the music industry, there have been countless examples of designers and rappers doing collaborative projects together.  Designer Alexander Wang featured the up-and-coming rapper A$ap Rocky in a promotional video for his eponymous label that you can see here (Watch A$ap Rocky in Alexander Wang Fall Line Promo Video).  In the video, A$ap Rocky talks about personal identity and that “if [he] cared about what other people thought 100%, [he] wouldn’t be himself.”  Rocky tries to connect with both the label and the consumer in an easy-to-watch clip that highlights fashion, music, and thoughts about life.  Female hip hop star M.I.A. will reportedly collaborate with Italian fashion house Versace for a collection in the coming year (Krupnick “M.I.A. and Versace Teaming up For…Something”).  As mentioned before, Jay-Z collaborated with watch company Audemars Piguet.  These are only a glimpse of the many examples of hip hop artists collaborating with high end fashion brands.  One of the most notable collaborations in recent years was that between Kanye West and designer Riccardo Tisci.

Kanye West commissioned Mr. Tisci of French fashion house Givenchy to design the album cover for Kanye West and Jay-Z’s album Watch the Throne.  (Sanchez, “Riccardo Tisci Talks Working with Kanye West and Jay-Z on “Watch The Throne” in the Latest Issue of Vogue”).  The collaborative effort led to Mr. Tisci designing the tour’s t-shirts, and becoming the art director for the tour itself. (Young, “Riccardo Tisci: Designer of the Year 2012”).  In the photo below, Kanye is wearing a $265 Givenchy t-shirt designed by Mr. Tisci himself.  The influence of collaborating with Riccardo Tisci went beyond the tour and into the Kanye West designed women’s clothing collection which debuted in Paris in the fall of 2011.  According to the Wall Street Journal, “Kanye West’s collection was so Givenchy-esque that it’s embarrassing that Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci was an expected guest” (Lutz, “Why The High Fashion World Will Never Take Kanye West Seriously”).  The collaboration and inspiration that both Kanye West and Riccardo Tisci gained helps to reinforce the idea that there is an inextricable link between the fashion industry and music industry.

It seems that sometimes this link between the two industries is so great, that artists in the musical and design fields work across the two disciplines to flex their creative muscles.  One could note the development of the relationship between the two industries as far back as the early 1980s when hip hop music started to infiltrate the club scene in urban areas such as New York, New York.  In Nelson George’s 1985 book Fresh, Hip Hop Don’t Stop, he notes that the Lower East Side Manhattan club Funhouse was a great location for people to go and dance to hip hop music.  On a weekend night, there would be “upwards of 3,500” people at the club dancing all night.  The only problem was the sweltering heat that came along with so many people dancing in a crowded area.  So, in order to combat this problem, “some of the Italian and Spanish guys would roll up their tee-shirts to the middle of their chests just to cool off” and “soon boys and girls were coming to the club in tees cut off at the midriff.”  It was then reported that “Designer Calvin Klein noticed and later commented in the fashion trade paper Women’s Wear Daily how much he loved the look” (George 65).  Calvin Klein took notice of a small change in the t-shirt that resulted from the hip hop movement, and began one of the earliest relationships between hip hop and high end fashion.  In addition to Calvin Klein, other haute-couture “by the late 1980s and early 1990s, designer fashionistas from Issac Mizrahi to Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel would show collections inspired by hip hop on the runway”  (Romero XIV).  The receptiveness of such huge designers to the inner city hip hop fashion scene commenced very early on in hip hop’s history.  The creativity and inspiration that each industry had on each other is still prevalent in today’s society.

Fast forward to today and the relationship between music and fashion is still immensely strong.  Among some of the rappers who have designed or started their own labels are: Swizz Beatz for Reebok, Jay-Z for Rocawear, Nelly for Apple Bottoms, Pharrell Williams for Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream, and Andre 3000 for Benjamin Bixby (BET, “Fashion Forward: Rappers That Design”).  With all of these hip hop artists working at the intersection of music, design, and art, it would be difficult to say that there is no connection between the two creative fields.  The aforementioned hip hop artists that started their own clothing lines took with them inspirations from their lives and surroundings to produce their vision of fashion based on their own creative genius.  Sometimes the creation of a clothing brand leads to very successful results, like Jay-Z’s clothing line Rocawear.  Jay-Z and his friend Damon Dash started the clothing line in 1999, and in 2007, after Jay-Z acquired Dash’s shares, he sold the company for $204 million (Binelli, “King of America”).

By analyzing the lyrics of hip hop artists, and examining their capabilities to work across various disciplines in the creative arts, one should be able to clearly identify whether the fashion industry and music industry simply co-exist side-by-side, or if there is an inherent connection between the two fields.  Through this examination that spans from lyrical analysis, advertisements and the corporate promotion of luxury goods, collaborations between designers and musical artists, and the multi-faceted talents of the actors from both fields, one can infer that music and fashion have a connectedness that is inseparable since the birth of the musical movement.

Works Cited

A$ap Rocky. “Peso.” Rec. 2011. Peso. Sony, 2011. MP3.

BET. “Fashion Forward: Rappers That Design.” BET. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.

Binelli, Mark. “KING OF AMERICA. (Cover Story).” Rolling Stone 1107 (2010): 42-90. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.

Birdman, Wayne Lil, Drake, Gudda, T-Pain, B, Bun, Kevin Rudolf, and Mackmaine. “Money to Blow.” Pricele$$. Cash Money Records, 2009. MP3.

Drake, Wayne Lil, Cortez Bryant, Gee Roberson, Trey Songz, B, Bun, and Jeezy Young. “Congratulations.” Rec. 2009. So Far Gone. Cash Money Records, 2009. MP3.

Fitts, Mako. “Drop It Like It’s Hot”: Culture Industry Laborers And Their Perspectives On Rap Music Video Production.”Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism 8.1 (2008): 211-235. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.

George, Nelson. Fresh, Hip Hop Don’t Stop. New York: Random House, 1985. Print.

Jay-Z. “Allure.” Rec. 2003. The Black Album. Rock-a-Fella, 2003. MP3.

Jay-Z. Decoded. New York, NY: Spiegel & Grau, 2010. Print.

Kim, Lil’, and DJ Khaled. “We Takin’ Over Remix.” Rec. 2007. We the Best. Koch Records, 2007. MP3.

Kitwana, Bakari. Why White Kids Love Hip-hop: Wankstas, Wiggers, Wannabes, and the New Reality of Race in America. New York: Basic Civitas, 2005. 97. Print.

Krupnick, Ellie. “M.I.A. and Versace Teaming up For…Something.” Huffington Post. N.p., 6 Nov. 2012. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/06/mia-versace-collaboration_n_2083454.html>.

Lutz, Ashley. “Why The High Fashion World Will Never Take Kanye West Seriously Read More: Http://www.businessinsider.com/kanye-west-fashion-collection-reviews-2012-9?op=1#ixzz2E941BqHb.” Business Insider. N.p., 26 Sept. 2012. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. <http://www.businessinsider.com/kanye-west-fashion-collection-reviews-2012-9?op=1>.

McCloskey, Caroline. “A$ap Rocky’s Beautiful Dark Twisted Wardrobe.” GQ. N.p., 10 July 2012. Web. 2 Dec. 2012. <http://www.gq.com/style/blogs/the-gq-eye/2012/07/asap-rocky-style-favorite-designers-interview.html>.

Money to Blow. Perf. Birdman, Drake, Lil Wayne. You Tube. N.p., 4 Dec. 2009. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjNBC4mC5y4>.

OO Cities. “AP Audemars Piguet Master Watchmakers.” Oocitiies.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. <http://www.oocities.org/stieb.geo/page3.html>.

Romero, Elena. Free Stylin’: How Hip Hop Changed the Fashion Industry. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2012. Print.

Ross, Rick, and Meek Mill. “I’m a Boss.” Rec. 2012. Self Made. Maybach Music Group, 2012. MP3.

Ross, Rick, DJ Khaled, Lil Wayne, and Drake. “I’m on One.” Rec. 2012. We the Best Forever. Universal, 2012. MP3.

Sanchez, Karizza. “Riccardo Tisci Talks Working with Kanye West and Jay-Z on “Watch The Throne” in the Latest Issue of Vogue.” Complex. N.p., 18 Feb. 2012. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. <http://www.complex.com/style/2012/02/riccardo-tisci-talks-working-with-kanye-west-and-jay-z-on-watch-the-throne-in-the-latest-issue-of-vogue>.

Socha, Miles. “John Galliano: Downfall of a Couturier.” Women’s Wear Daily. N.p., 1 Mar. 2011. Web. 1 Dec. 2012. <http://www.wwd.com/fashion-news/designer-luxury/dior-ousts-galliano-in-wake-of-anti-semitic-allegations-3528611?full=true>.

The Time TV. “AP New Brand Ambassador – Prom Meesawat.” The Time TV. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. <http://www.thetimetv.com/news-new-brand-ambassador-prom-meesawat-107-1>.

Watch A$ap Rocky in Alexander Wang Fall Line Promo Video. Perf. A$ap Rocky. XXL Mag. N.p., 10 Sept. 2012. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. <http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2012/09/watch-aap-rocky-in-alexander-wang-fall-line-promo-video/>.

West, Kanye. “Christian Dior Denim Flow.” Rec. 2010. GOOD Fridays. Def Jam, 2010. MP3.

Woollard, Deidre. “Jay-Z Partners with Audemars Piguet to Make New Watches.” Luxist. N.p., 19 Apr. 2005. Web. 1 Dec. 2012. <http://www.luxist.com/2005/04/19/jay-z-partners-with-audemars-piguet-to-make-new-watches/>.

Young, Molly. “Riccardo Tisci: Designer of the Year 2012.” GQ. N.p., Dec. 2012. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. <http://www.gq.com/moty/2012/riccardo-tisci-gq-designer-of-the-year-2012?currentPage=1>.

If there is one thing that male rappers are known for, it is for their unique sense of style. Their clothes, they way they execute themselves, their emphasis on materialism and other accessories are characteristic of hip hop. These fashions include but are not limited to full body tattoos, thick golden chains, wearing pants significantly below the waistline, brightly colored shoes without laces, and large scale brands. Ostentatious articles indicate monetary success. Since most rappers come from low or middle income upbringings, it also represents their rise to success, especially if all odds were against them prior to their careers. Many people will view some of these fashions in a lowly manner, deeming them bizarre. The absurdity and outrageousness characterize rappers from one another while still maintaining the commonality of being absurd and outrageous. Others will follow the style: “Rap styles have gone on to influence the entire fashion world” (Moore 8). Neither party will typically know where the fashion originated from or how it came to be. Whether it is consciously or not, the physical manifestation of hip hop influences listeners of hip hop, with the listeners replicating the fashions as they come and go in order to associate themselves with hip hop, especially youth.

Generally, when one thinks of hip hop fashion, he or she is probably going to think of the following:

Lil’ Wayne and Slick Rick are both wearing much gold. Wayne’s necklace is in the shape of a bag of money. His belt has the word “rape” on it in all capitals and also gold. He has tattoos covering his torso and chest, as well as multiple on his face and forearms. He is wearing a pink hoodie, which “remains a staple in…hip hop acts today, ranging from horror rap outfit Insane Clown Posse to mainstream phenomenon Eminem.”  His pants are worn halfway down his thighs, so the bright colors on his boxers are exposed. Slick Rick is wearing a classier outfit, but dons multiple heavy golden chains. His eye patch is silver, not to mention the massive silver ring on his finger. While the gold and silver indicates their wealth, the colors, the “sagging” fashion, the dreadlocks represent something greater.

“Welcome to the melting pot, corners where we selling rock/Afrika Bambaataa shit, home of the hip hop,” raps Jay-Z in his hit “Empire State of Mind” with Alicia Keys. Paying tribute to roots, also known as shouting out to where one comes from is a prevalent theme among the vast majority rappers. While they may go all around the world, have houses in multiple places, they make sure to stress that they do not forget where they come from. Lyrics are one way to show this connection, but another way are their accessories. The thick chains that Slick Rick and Lil’ Wayne are wearing not only portray the fact that they have money, but also represent literal chaining, a practice that was done during the times of slavery. They wear chains as a symbol of paying homage; in an ironic twist, however, they put themselves in the very chains that their ancestors worked so hard to get out of.  This latter reasoning is not the case oftentimes, though. A small controversy sparked between veteran rapper 50 Cent and the relatively new rapper, Yung Joc in the hip hop world in 2009. 50 Cent essentially calls Yung Joc out on wearing a “fake” chain, which was essentially a chain that was made out of fake metals (i.e. not gold, silver or platinum).

Firstly, the fact that 50 Cent knew that it was not real displays how legitimate a rapper is about their chains and what it symbolizes. Fake chains are unacceptable, as they defeat the purpose of wearing a chain to display prestige. Secondly, Yung Joc felt the need to wear a fake chain in order to make it seem like he was wealthier than his reality. In actuality, Yung Joc could not afford a thirty-thousand dollar chain, thus wore a fake one so he can give the illusion of representing monetary successfulness.

Another root that hip hop fashion draws from is jail: “Hip hop fashion pays homage to the garments that prison inmates wear; it emphasizes loose, baggy clothing” (Butler299). Wearing pants below the waistline is usually frowned upon in society. A great majority of rappers follow this trend, as do a large portion of urban youth. The US prison system does not allow prisoners to wear belts of any kind, as it poses a threat of death to other inmates or suicide. Subsequently, the pants are worn low, because they do not stay up. This practice is called “sagging” or “low-riding.” Teenagers who live in urban residence areas typically follow this trend as a “symbol of freedom and cultural awareness” (Forsyth). It can also represents rebellion of mainstream culture, as this sagging is not considered socially polite. Rappers began sagging in the 1980s, but did not become popularized until the 1990s. Interestingly enough, in jail, the lower the pants were worn, the more available you were representing yourself as to others. It was a portrayal of homosexuality to the other cellmates, which also ties into the debate on homoeroticism in rap music. Also not allowed in United States prisons are shoe laces, which is why many rappers wear large, thick shoes without laces or “shell-toed sneakers with…fat laces” (Powell 157). Oversized clothing also originates from prisons as stated by Butler in the aforementioned quote. The reason why prison has such a great influence on rapper fashion is that many rappers have gone to jail because of racial profiling and other unjust reasons. Rappers are representing this, almost refuting to acknowledge jailer fashion as demeaning or degrading; instead, they turn it around and draw inspiration from it, creating styles that are now unique to hip hop fashion.

Diamonds are a staple of hip hop fashion. From Tupac’s and Flava Flav’s diamond nose rings to the diamonds on a nameplate to diamonds on a chain, they have been ever-present in hip hop culture. In the video below, the manner in which the special effects highlight the blindingly shiny quality of the diamonds on Jibbs’s chain is an example of it’s value in hip hop fashion:

Chuck D of Public Enemy, a rap group that has made the decision not to wear overly expensive diamonds, narrated the short film Bling: Consequences and Repercussions. In it, he talks about how the diamonds that many rappers wear are directly related to blood diamonds, which are diamonds found in war zones in Africa. The blood diamonds lead to poverty, slavery and subsequently, killings in Africa. Immense devastation is caused by diamond mines. The flashy world of donning diamonds seems appealing, but the significant roles that diamonds play in wars have not-so-appealing consequences. South Africa especially has a “fetish” with gold. South African rap, otherwise known as kwaito, has been associated with this immense desire of gold, with the obsession tracing back to American hip hop, even though it would be more closely related to blood diamonds. Diamonds are also used in grills, which is mouth essentially jewelry molded exclusively for one’s teeth. Rap music is largely about possession and having something that only you can wear makes you specializes you; the rappers thrive off of the exclusivity. The grills are believed to highlight the mouth and represent vocal dexterity in rap music, which is always prestigious. Grills can also reference the old traditions of African oral story telling: “Rap is part of an oral tradition that originated in Africa many centuries ago” (Powell 246). Grills are speculated to have detrimental health effects if worn for a prolonged period of time and not intermittently:

The trend toward tooth coverings was boosted in recent years by hip-hop icons and rappers such as Nelly and Paul Wall. Although wealthy musicians and some athletes have spent thousands of dollars to decorate their teeth with grills made of gold and platinum, most teenagers and young adults who want to emulate these celebrities do so by purchasing inexpensive do-it-yourself kits online or from local jewelers. (The Journal of the American Dental Association 1192)

Most people who wear grills are African-American male hip hop listeners between the ages of 18 and 35, which is a young demographic. These grills can cost up to $30,000 a year, which is essentially on the border between the lower class and the middle class.

Neon colors are also popular in rap fashion. Andre 3000 is known for his flamboyant dressing:

While this was once associated with homosexuality, it has become more and more prominent in hip hop fashion. An example would be Nicki Minaj’s latest commercial for Adidas sneakers and clothing:

In the “Chain Hang Low” video as well, Jibbs is wearing grills that are bright red and bright blue, which is an unusual clashing of colors for someone who is not rapping about how much he loves America. A newer revelation for these bright colors, and the unusual mixing of, is that the artists are, “personalizing the gear – …use clashing of colors or colors out of season” (George 157). Personalization is huge in hip hop. Rappers will frequently “stamp” their music with either a specific sound or phrase that places their music apart from other rappers’. For example, Lil’ Wayne has a high-pitched laugh that is highly associable to him. Young Money Cash Money Brothers will usually have the sound of a lighter clicking on at the beginning of their songs. Similarly, we know when a specific pairing of colors come together, it characterizes an artist.

Some fashions are mere resurgences of greater magnitudes of fads attributed to school hip-hop fashion. Tattoos have become a pervasive aspect of hip hop fashion. Many rappers these days have followed the trend of facial and full body tattoos. Among them are Lil’ Wayne, Gucci Mane, Wiz Kahlifa, and Tyga. Other artists, such as Eminem, have many tattoos scattered throughout their body. Tattoos have always been a fundamental part of hip hop culture, at any rate.

Young followers of hip hop are usually the most influenced by the materialism depicted by artists. In several case studies performed by Shannon Coden of theUniversityofWarwick, the function of these artists in relation to the fashion consumption of children is examined. One boy, eight year old Robert, draws inspiration from Eminem, as shown in an interview:

Robert: I just like wearing clothes. You know, like pop stars like the brown boys. They wear like white vests and then a denim jacket . . .

Sharon: The what boys?

Robert: The black guys when they are like…

Sharon: Oh black guys, sorry I though you were on about a group. Like rappers?

Robert: Yeah rappers, like that, Eminem he wears like a white vest and then he wears like denim jacket over it. I was trying to find my vest and I was going to wear it over so like a vest but a really thick one. Like that vest and then put my denim jacket over it. But I couldn’t find it. (Coden 292)

While Robert is far too naïve and young to understand exact fashion terms, it is interesting to note how he says “black guys” at first, but then touches on Eminem, who is a white rapper. Robert is white, and therefore relates more to Eminem than to other rappers. Additionally, no mention of an African-American rapper is made, though those constitute the majority of the rap industry. Whatever it may be, hip hop fashion influences youth. They are exposed to it in the same way they are exposed to many things: through various outlets. Television, radio, YouTube, Tumblr, Twitter, outside of their window – virtually every corner they turn, they have some level of exposure to these sort of styles. Rapper French Montana recently said, “People think what rappers wear is cool.” This is especially true of kids who are still looking to find a niche. They want to fit in somewhere. The style associated with rap music is so highly characteristic that kids simply have to put on a hooded sweatshirt or, as Robert said, one vest on top of another to feel that much closer to being a part of something bigger than them. Chuck D also said the following on the mentality of youth who are highly focused on following the latest trend:

Man, I work at McDonald’s, but in order for me to feel good about myself I got to get a gold chain or I got to get a fly car in order to impress a sister or whatever.

Low income youth will often be seen donning expensive jewelry or driving high-end cars, even though they cannot afford it. Chuck D is saying that hip hop fashion is too dependent on consuming highly expensive jewelry and items in order to impress others as well as the consumers themselves. The sheer fact that some young people are not able to feel comfortable in their own skin without having purchased such expensive items can be unsettling. However, “hip hop is a refuge for many young people” (Kitwana 5). By dressing like and replicating hip hop celebrity lifestyles, youth feel better about themselves.

Public Enemy, Immortal Technique, Common – these are just a few artists who have openly made the decision to not follow the fad of wearing expensive jewelry. Many criticisms have been made about some of the more ostentatious fashions of hip hop. The high price is one downside. Because various stereotypes do exist about African Americans typically being in the social underclass, rappers usually attempt to debunk this by displaying their money. This can backfire, as well, however. Those who publicly display their wealth are targeted by thieves and robbers, including these rappers. Queen Latifah’s car was stolen, Guru of the rap group Gang Starr had his Rolex stolen at gunpoint, and Prodigy had $300,000 worth of jewelry stolen from him. Some have suggested that the mass media “try showing some less expensive brands so heads will know they don’t have to hustle, steal, or rob and blast shots for flyness” (Keyes 172).

In essence, hip hop fashion stems from various backgrounds. Although they might seem outrageous and arbitrary, the way in which rappers have manipulated the fashions from their origins is clever. The way they also try to twist the fashions around in order to create a more unique style for themselves is creative and gives credibility to them as artists. They start trends that people, especially youth, actually follow and turn into a lifestyle. While there may not be explicit intentions by the artists to start fashion trends for people to replicate, hip hop fashion influences the likes of their listeners greatly, as seen with the various articles that have risen to prominence among rap music listeners. Fundamentally, hip hop fashion will continue to evolve and change, but the roots will always remain stable and impact those exposed to rap music for years to come.

Works Cited

Bling: Consequences and Repercussions. Dir. Kareem Edouard. Perf. Chuck D. WGH Films, 2005. Short Film.

Boden, Sharon. “Dedicated Followers of Fashion? The Influence of Popular Culture on Children’s Social Identities.” Media, Culture & Society 28.2 (2006): 289-98. Web. 29 Nov. 2012.

Butler, Paul. “Much Respect: Toward A Hip Hop Theory of Punishment.” Stanford Law Review 56 (2004): 984-1015. Print.

“Conflict Diamonds.” UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2012.

Forsyth, Jim. “Saggy Pants Mean No Ride on One TexasBus System.” Reuters. N.p., 2 June 2012. Web. 27 Nov. 2012.

George, Nelson. Hip Hop America.New York: Viking, 1998. Print.

“Grills, ‘Grillz’ and Fronts.” American Dental Association 137 (2006): 1192. JSTOR. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.

“Hoodies and Tattoos Remain Staple in Underground Hip Hop, Regardless of Sub Genre.” Articles Base. N.p., 17 July 2012. Web. 25 Nov. 2012.

Illseed. “The Homoerotic Nature of Hip Hop.” Hip Hop News. N.p., 2001. Web. 23 Nov. 2012. <http://www.daveyd.com/homoeroticarticle.html>.

Jay-Z, and Alicia Keys. “EmpireStateof Mind.” The Blueprint 3. Jay-Z. Roc Nation, 2009. MP3.

Jibbs. “Chain Hang Low.” Rec. 2006. Jibbs Featuring Jibbs. The Beatstaz, 2006. MP3.

Keyes, Cheryl Lynette. Rap Music and Street Consciousness.Urbana:University ofIllinois, 2002. Print.

Kitwana, Bakari. Why White Kids Love Hip Hop: Wankstas, Wiggas, Wannabes, and the New Reality of Race in America.New York: Basic Civitas, 2005. Print.

Krims, Adam. Rap Music and the Poetics of Identity.Cambridge:Cambridge UP, 2000. Print.

Light, Alan. The Vibe History of Hip Hop.New York: Three Rivers, 1999. Print.

Moore, Sarah W. The Rap Scene: The Stars, the Fans, the Music.Berkeley Heights,NJ: Enslow, 2010. Print.

Nelson, Brenda. “Are Blacks Still Wearing Chains of Slavery.” Socyberty. N.p., 28 Feb. 2011. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. <http://socyberty.com/history/are-blacks-still-wearing-chains-of-slavery/>.

“Standards on Treatment of Prisoners.” American Bar Association. American Bar Association, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2012.

The Los Angeles Police Department’s pattern of discriminatory behavior, ranging from civilian victimization, to the CRASH initiative’s Operation Hammer, to occasional racial profiling, has led to a theme of distrust present in the rap originating from the greater Los Angeles area from 1988 to today. Lyrically, this atmosphere of distrust is manifested through depictions of discriminatory police behavior. These depictions show sectors of the police force working to destabilize the ghetto or neglect its citizens of lawful protection, which in turn leads some civilians to affiliate with gangs as a means to survive. While rap as a genre can be said to overemphasize or exaggerate, the gangsta rap scene has been known for its obsession with “keepin’ it real” and the included gangsta rap songs reflect the underpinnings of some of the macho control dynamics employed in the ghetto and their respective impacts. The pattern of black art, movies and music, in combination with news reports and relevant statistics during this twenty year period consistently point to the same troubling themes of injustice, lack of stability and protection, gang involvement, and isolation taking place within the ghetto. Samples from Los Angeles rap artists, including Ice Cube, Kid Frost, Ice T, and Kendrick Lamar alongside films made about inner city life provide support for the aforementioned themes. These example songs provide a rough 25 year timeline in which the basic themes of Los Angeles inner city rap have remained constant, suggesting a lack of change from the city’s structural and policy-based inadequacies. This thematic consistency may be reflective of a structural prejudice, excluding poor urban minorities from mainstream society. The implications from which may exceed the forum of art as a personal and cultural means of expression. Rather, these raps and lyrics become testimonies of a pattern of disenfranchisement and neglect that inner city residents experience under a discriminatory system of power.

Before seeing how the past several years gangsta rap lyrics fit into the larger social context of limited urban opportunities and increased street affairs (gang membership, drug dealing), it is important to define the terms and framework under which rap music and other artistic testimonies can be evaluated. According to Richard Hofrichter and Rajiv Bhatia’s text “Tackling Health Inequities Through Public Health Practice: Theory to Action,” structural racism is designated as “a system in which linked public policies, institutional practices, cultural representations, and other norms often reinforce the perpetuation of racial group inequity” (146). This structural racism can be maintained through the process of racial sorting, which refers to “both the physical segregation of racial and ethnic groups and the psychological sorting that occurs through social and cultural processes and stereotyping (Bhatia, Hofrichter 149). Racial sorting as an appendage of structural racism is helpful in understanding why pockets of minorities are grouped in dense urban areas, generally with no more than one-third of residents in black and hispanic neighborhoods being white (Bhatia, Hofrichter 149). Brian Cross, also reports on the segregation of urban areas when he says that by 1990 “the six hundred and fifty thousand blacks who lived in LA County were almost entirely hemmed into the south central part of the city. One in four families lived below the poverty line and the opportunities for financial improvement were extremely limited” (9). Moreover, Bhatia and Hofrichter affirm that “a person’s place of residence is strongly linked to access to schools, business districts, jobs, and so on, this residential ‘hypersegregation’ translates directly into racial sorting in education, commerce, employment, and other venues” (149). The artistic venue of rap is highly reflective of and specific to the segregation and other forms of discrimination and limitations that many inner city residents face.

Historically, structural racism and its facets surfaced after the legal enslavement of blacks ended, triggering the shift of “power of brutal violence from the hands of enslavement masters and patrollers on plantations to the hands of police authorities over time” (Hollowell 45). This redistribution of power allowed for the continuation of racial hierarchies on a broad scale but with a notable history of inequity in the Los Angeles Police Department’s management and on the ground operations.

LAPD Chief of Police, Daryl Gates (as can be found here)

During the mid 1970s to 1980s, in an area characterized by “gang wars, crime, and insecurity,” the Los Angeles Police Department was in some ways held responsible to serve and protect the unruly outgrowths of desperate social and economic conditions (Butler 21). Seeing that “from the 1970s through the present day, a decreasing government budget for community programs, the move of local manufacturing industry abroad, and a flight of entrepreneurial and better-educated community members to the LA suburbs have made the social, economic, and cultural environment of the Projects ever more desperate,” the enforcement of such an area has become increasingly strained (Butler 22). This erosion of societal structure leaves individuals living in the ruble, grappling for economic alleviation and security, highly reflective of the gangsta rap that is rooted in the area. Under these conditions, many turn to gangs that offer a rather appealing “form of group cohesion and a way of attaining a sense of power, control, and identity in a context of poverty, racism, and marginalization” (Butler 21). These gangs act as “surrogate families and employers” feeding off the booming crack industry to make money and simultaneously growing more violent as market territories become established (Cross 31).

Perhaps as a reaction to the seemingly unsolvable conditions of the inner city, chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, Daryl Gates employed the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH) in 1987 in lieu of protectional units even when south central community leaders called for help (Cross 29).This massive anti-gang initiative focused on high crime areas and operated under the slogan of “we intimate those who intimidate others” (Domanick 2). Ironically, this atmosphere of intimidation contributes to the distrust many rappers cite in their daily encounters in south central Los Angeles. In the late 1980s under CRASH, arose Operation Hammer which “alienated black residents in particular, as men were swept up for things as routine as traffic violations, but did little to quell crime” (LeDuff 2). By 1990, “Hammer had pounded more than 50,000 arrestees…within ten square miles of South Central Los Angeles between Exposition Park and North Long Beach, arresting more Black youth than at any time since the Watts rebellion of 1965” (Greene 26). Tensions were running high between residents and officers when inner city youth were “humiliatingly forced to ‘kiss the sidewalk’ or spreadeagle against police cruisers while officers check[ed] their names against computerized files of gang members” often for arbitrary crimes, such as jaywalking (Greene 27). Not surprisingly, the music originating from downtown is heavily laid with distrust of law enforcement officials and a certain affinity for the gang lifestyle.

A photo taken during Operation Hammer (as found here)

In addition to CRASH, LAPD anti-gang operations included the use of civil injunctions and gang databases to monitor gang crime (“Los Angeles Courts Help Fight Gangs,” Greene 27). The injunctions, still used widely today, seek to prohibit illegal and legal behaviors of constituents including public urination, trespassing, and “carrying a pager” (Greene 27). Specifically, between 1997 and 1999, after having approved six such injunctions, Los Angeles added more lawyers “dedicated solely to developing cases for court injunctions that would keep gang members from gathering in public” (“Los Angeles Courts Help Fight Gangs”). Strangely enough, in Los Angeles during this time period total homicides were at a low of 419 per year (LeDuff 1).

Map Caption: Please note, Ice T’s Crenshaw drawn in blue, just on the right side of the 110 lies Compton, and East Hollywood Rampart is outlined in pink. This pink division marks the district of the CRASH rampart scandal of the late 1990s which is known as one of the largest cases of police misconduct in the U.S. and eventually warranted the dissolution of the division.

A map of gang related homicides in LA County (as can be found here)

Alongside injunctions as a way to regulate gang turf, the Los Angeles gang database was standardized in 1997 when “the California Department of Justice created CalGang, which tracks some 200 data points of personal information and gang-related information” (Greene 26). By 2003, “47 percent of African American men in Los Angeles County between the ages of 21 and 24 had been logged into the Los Angeles County gang data base” (Greene 26). Individuals can be inputted into the database for a laundry list of things including “writing about gangs on walls, books, or paper” (Greene 28). The implementation of CalGang further fuels frictions between downtown gangs and the LAPD and is captured under the themes of discrimination and distrust.

In the midst of the de-industrialization, discrimination, and general societal erosion in Los Angeles, rap “provide[d] a cultural space for African-American youth to question and interpret social and economic conditions, projections of the urban environment [to] form the critical content of discourse” (Grant 6). Rap as an forum or outlet holds true today as it gives a voice to what may be considered a regularly excluded group of inner city minorities, who often receive little need-based aid or protection. Furthermore, some rappers, like Ice Cube and Public Enemy’s Chuck D, “subscribe to the idea that rap is the CNN that black people never had” (Cross 206).

This video clip aired on March 18, 1991 from ABC news accounts for the infamous Rodney King incident. Jose de Sosa NCAAP representative voices a popular belief  that “Today we aren’t sure that the police are there to protect us.”

Ice Cube in his track “How to Survive in South Central” explains the relationship between race and law enforcement when he raps, “Now if you’re white you can trust the police/But if you’re black they ain’t nothin but beasts.” Throughout the song, Ice Cube lists the rules of the South Central streets, with rule number two being “don’t trust nobody.” This

http://mimg.ugo.com/200808/26510/Ice-cube-biography.jpg

atmosphere of fear and distrust directed at the very institutions that are established to protect citizens reflects the effects of some of the police department’s discriminatory practices. Additionally, in perhaps the most plainly shocking line in the song Ice Cube raps, “Okay, make sure you have your camcorder ready/To witness the extracurricular activities on blacks by the police.” However, given the context in the year 1991 in Los Angeles, the scene Ice Cube portrays was hardly an exaggeration because on March 3, a few months prior to the release of the Boyz N the Hood soundtrack, Rodney King was beat 56 times by 4 officers just 20 miles north of Compton. What is the most unsettling is that in the aftermath, an L. A. Times poll found that 2/3 of Los Angeles residents believe that such police brutality occurs routinely (Domanick 2).

Just one year later in 1992, Kid Frost’s released “I Got Pulled Over” featuring MC Eiht, of Compton’s Most Wanted. The track details the discrimination and racial profiling that goes into getting pulled over in the Los Angeles ghetto. Throughout the track, the cops make racial slurs like “Get your taco-eatin ass out of the car” then proceed to demand a “sack” alluding to their presumption that because Frost is Mexican, he is likely to be carrying or selling drugs in the hood. In “I Got Pulled Over” the police’s demands for the presentation of drugs resembles their legal right to do so under Los Angeles’ CRASH initiative. In the third verse, Frost raps, “Cause every hispanic at night is suspicious,” poking at the common belief at the time that race and crime correlate. Moreover, Frost’s position is characterized by an inability to speak his mind for fear of violence from the police when he states “But hey yo, Mr. Officer, you know where you can stick it/ I say this to myself, I let him do his thing/ Or he might beat me down just like he beat down Rodney King.” By referencing the heated Rodney King incident, Frost is effectively evidencing that the violence and fear of such an attack in the streets from law enforcement on minorities civilians still exists. Moreover, with such lines like “So I learn: if I don’t wanna burn/ Then I pass up my exit, cause I’m afraid to turn” that explicitly tell of the displacement of his routine due to the fear of harassment from the cops, Frost is conveying a message of instability and lack of formal protection, casting cops in the role of perpetrators.

While “How to Survive in South Central” and “I Got Pulled Over” mention gang presence and discriminatory enforcement practices, Ice T’s song “Colors” provides a more in depth description of the relationship between gang activity and law enforcement .

Ice T recounts his motives for participating in a gang in Los Angeles in his 1988 song “Colors” recorded for a Dennis Hopper film of the same name. When asked about the controversy Colors stirred up, Hopper replied,

For government officials to say they were going to ban it [the film] in LA…What they are basically saying is that they have a police problem and they can’t handle it. The gang thing is out of control… At the beginning we point out that there are 250 men and women working in law enforcement against 600 gangs with over 70,000 members. How can they possibly handle it?

Brian Cross, It’s Not About Salary...p.29

With this context in mind, the track “Colors” speaks to the desperation and lack of opportunity youths face living in the inner city with line such as ““I never had much of nothin’ man… you’ve got everything going for yourself /I’m living in the ghetto man.” In his

can be found here

The accuracy of Ice T’s gang prophecy is evidenced in Kendrick Lamar’s 2012 release, m.A.A.d city, on which Lamar follows in the footsteps of the gangsta rap forefathers by rapping, almost autobiographically, about the hardships of everyday life in downtown Los Angeles. On his album, Lamar offers a contemporary sample of discrimination and distrust that sweep the streets of Compton, a hotspot for the quarter of a century long feud between the LAPD and gangs. Although Lamar’s generation has been exempt from the previous failures of anti-gang movements, the LAPD has since developed new ways to regulate gangs through the continued use of gang injunctions and the recent Gang Reduction Program (Hayeslip 1) The program was implemented in a preliminary five year trial period from 2002 to 2007 to in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area (Hayeslip 6). The program has enjoyed some success with the interim analysis of the suppression component yielding a 19 percent reduction in citizen reports of shots heard and a 40 percent reduction in total gang-related incidents in the target area (Cahill 98). In April of 2007, Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa decided to extend the GRP program to introduce six additional GRP zones throughout the city (Cahill 99). However, the major obstacle of member accountability as listed in both reviews still remains unaddressed.

Even with successful on the ground initiatives, the trend of police misconduct since the 1998 scandal continues to be of concern. An article in the LA Times dated October 31 2012, states that the LAPD had withheld details in a police report of an officer involved shooting of a young man who was writing what was deemed as “gang grafitti” on a downtown wall. It was later revealed that the victim was handcuffed when he was shot. This incident “marks the second time in as many months that the LAPD has withheld important and potentially unfavorable information from the public in cases involving serious uses of force by officers” (Rubin 1). In September, a woman died while being forced into the back seat of the police car and the following “news release made no mention of the fact that a female officer was under investigation for berating the woman and stomping on her genitals during the encounter” (Rubin 1). These recent incidents show that interdepartmental corruption and accountability are still pressing concerns in the LAPD.

Taking into account these policies and incidents, Lamar’s m.A.A.d city album

http://thehiphopdiaries.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/good_kid_maad_city_featured_size.png?w=440&h=240&crop=1

encompasses the theme of discrimination from local cops in “good kid”, with lines like “but what am I supposed to do with the blinking of red and blue…put me through gang files, it don’t matter because the matter is racial profile.” He touches on the lures of gang affiliation in “The Art of Peer Pressure” and the seemingly impossibility of ever escaping the confines of the ghetto in the track “Black Boy Fly”. Aside from the specific tracks describing each theme, Lamar’s “m.A.A.d city” encompasses some of the most evocative examples of the effects of about 25 years of discrimination and distrust have on the artistic expression of life in the inner city. Within “m.A.A.d city,” Lamar lyrically samples Ice Cube’s “Bird in the Hand” when he raps “fresh outta school cuz I was a high school grad,” drawing attention to his Compton roots and source of inspiration while eliciting the notion of time standing still, where little progression has been made. Moreover, Lamar accounts for the alienation that the discrimination and distrust yield by rapping “it seem like the whole city go against me,” positioning himself as an displaced person caught between gang violence and police targeting in a neighborhood where disorder abounds. This atmosphere of danger, hostility, and distrust is further exemplified in the lines “Pakistan on every porch is fine/ we adapt to crime,” comparing Compton’s streets to the conflict ridden country of Pakistan.

Digital Booklet – good kid, m.A.A.d city (dragged)

The adaption to crime is also evidenced in the second verse when he says “you killed my cousin back in 94/ fuck yo truce,” alluding to the 1992 gang ceasefire and its lack of a long term impact. He ends with a string of powerful questions pondering what will come of Compton and areas like it. He asks “would you say my intelligence now is great relief? And it’s safe to say that the next generation maybe can sleep with dreams of being a lawyer, a doctor instead of a boy with a chopper.” Whatever hope for the future these lines elicit is crushed by his overall depiction of Compton as a constantly dangerous place where discrimination and distrust reign, issuing its warning “man down…run my nigga” and characterizing it as “the belly of the rough.”

Following Lamar and Ice T’s questioning of what the future holds for the many facets of inner city life, the Colors trailer offers another disconcerting prediction for the future with a young latino character declaring (at about 1:20) “theres always gonna be gangs man, theres always gonna be fighting.” While history proves these thoughts to be more or less accurate, there is also an implicit hope in the hardship, emphasized by the modest success of GRPs and what Lamar calls “intelligence”.

*Please skip to 2:40

On May 1st 1992, choking and trembling, Rodney King addressed a crowd of reporters making a plea for peace and an end to the violent riots that broke out on April 29th 1992. Almost in a surrendering fashion, King implores all who are listening to seek unity and compromise when he says “Please we can all get along here… We’re all stuck here for a while. Let’s try to work it out.” While many Los Angeles law enforcement officers and residents alike might adhere to the sheer optimism King evokes to put aside the discrimination and distrust that plague the streets, to this day Los Angeles “with a reported 720 active gangs and 39,488 gang members… retains the dubious honor of being the gang capital of the world” (Greene 29).

Works Cited

Butler, Udi Mandel. “The Projects: Gang And Non-Gang Families In East Los Angeles.” Journal Of The Royal Anthropological Institute 17.2 (2011): 146-149. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Nov. 2012.

Cahill, Meagan, Mark Coggeshall, David Hayeslip, Ashley Wolff, Erica Lagerson, Michelle  Scott, Elizabeth Davies, Kevin Roland, and Scott Decker. “Collaboratives Addressing  Youth Gangs: Interim Findings from the Gang Reduction Program.” The Urban     Institute (2008): 98-106. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Web. 1  Dec. 2012.

Cross, Brian. It’s Not About Salary…Rap, Race and Resistance in Los Angeles. New York: Verso, 1993. Print.

Domanick, Joe. “The Bum Blockade, Zoot Suit Riot and Bloody Christmas.” LA Weekly. Voice Nation, 4 Sept. 2002. Web. 26 Nov. 2012.

Grant, Elizabeth. “Gangsta Rap, the War on Drugs and the Location of African-American Identity in Los Angeles, 1988-92.” European Journal of American Culture 21.1 (2002): 4-15. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 Dec. 2012.

Greene, Judith, and Kevin Pranis. Gang Wars: The Failure of Enforcement Tactics and the Need     for Effective Safety Strategies. Rep. The Justice Policy Institute, 2007. Web. 1 Dec. 2012.

Hayeslip, David, and Meagan Cahill. “Findings From the Evaluation of OJJDP’s Gang Reduction Program.” U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (2010): 1-7. Web. 30 Nov. 2012.

Hofrichter, Richard, and Rajiv Bhatia. Tackling Health Inequities through Public Health Practice: Theory to Action. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2010. Print.

Hollowell, Deonte Jamar. Control and Resistance: An Afrocentric Analysis of the Historical and Current Relationship between African Americans and the Police. Diss. Temple University, 2008. N.p.: n.p., n.d. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.

Ice Cube, “Bird in the Hand.” Death Certificate. Priority, EMI Records, 2003. MP3.

Ice Cube, “How to Survive in South Compton.” Death Certificate. Priority, EMI Records, 2003. MP3.

Ice T, “Colors.” Colors. Warner Bros. Records, 1988. MP3.

Kid Frost, “I Got Pulled Over.” East Side Story. Virgin Records, 1992. MP3.

Lamar, Kendrick. m.A.A.d city. Aftermath, Interscope Records. 2012. CD.

LeDuff, Charlie. “For Los Angeles’s New Police Chief, a New World.” The New York Times.     N.p., 6 Dec. 2002. Web. 1 Dec. 2012.

“Los Angeles Courts Help Fight Gangs.” New York Times. N.p., 20 June 1999. Web. 23 Nov. 2012.

Rubin, Joel. “LAPD Withheld Key Details in Use-of-force Case.” Los Angeles Times. Tribune Interactive Inc., 31 Oct. 2012. Web. 26 Nov. 2012.

“Shout out to them freshman on Instagram straight flexin’/Popped a molly, I’m sweatin.” (Trinidad James, “All Gold Everything”) These are a few lines from one of today’s rap artist named Trinidad James, where he references the use of mollies.

Today’s generation is easily influenced by the things seen and heard on television and radio.  Whether those actions are positive or negative are mostly determined by society and personal morals. Young people who listen to hip hop and rap may be more likely to engage in substance abuse and aggression than those who listen to other types of music. A study done by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, found that frequent exposure to music that contains references to violence and substance use is significantly associated with illicit drug use, problems with alcohol and aggressive behaviors in young people. The music of today is not like the music of past generations and the messages in today’s music are nothing like before.  Today’s rap is more about obtaining and maintaining an image, whether that image is fact or fiction is often a mystery. One rap artist who has recently been exposed about his alleged lifestyle is Rick Ross.  Rick Ross is reported to have been a Corrections Officer in the Florida area, working alongside the law, but raps about a lifestyle that encourages breaking the law.  Ross constantly raps about cocaine and life as a boss or don, but what he doesn’t tell is that he received his recognition from using the name of a well-known Los Angeles drug lord named Freeway Ricky Ross. Rappers like Rick Ross are misleading the youth in America by feeding them lies and sending them messages that will lead them down the wrong path.

Many rap artists these days focus on the things that make them appear “cool” in the eyes of our young people.  Most songs contain lyrics about sex, money, violence and drugs.  Adults and some teenagers realize that the words said in many of these rap songs are done to increase sales and fan base. While others believe that this is a lifestyle, one that should be mimicked. The lyrics of the songs are catchy, which makes them easy to remember.  Whether you like a particular song or not, you may find yourself singing the words and the more you hear the song the more subliminal messages you unveil.  Many artists even go as far as naming their albums or songs after drug related activities like Wiz Khalifa’s Album Rolling Papers and Dr. Dre’s The Chronic.

Artist reference drugs as if there are no consequences to their use.  These include artist such as Drake, Jay-Z, Lil’ Wayne, Wiz Khalifa and Kanye West, just to name a few. They speak on the use of drugs in their music with lyrics such as:

“Somethin’ bout Mary, she gone off that Molly/Now the whole party is meltin’ like Dali,’ (Kanye West, “Mercy”)

“MDMA got you feelin’ like a champion/The city never sleeps but it’ll slip you an Ambien,” (Jay-Z, “Empire State of Mind”)

“Two white cups and I got that drank/Might be purple, might be pink/Dependin’ on how you mix that shit” (Drake, “I’m on One”)

“I can mingle with the stars and throw a party on Mars/I am a prisoner, locked up behind Xanax bars” (Lil’ Wayne, “I Feel Like Dying”)

Some of the most common drugs used and referenced by rap artist today are mollies (a strand of Ecstasy), Xanax, OxyContin, Adderall, Cocaine, Crack, Codeine with Promethazine (also known as lean) and Marijuana.  Many of these are supposed to only be obtainable by prescription but can also be purchased from outside sources for the right price.  Mollies, also called the club drug, are described as a pill that slows down the world around you, a hallucinogenic, and when abused can lead to brain damage.  Adderall, called the study drug, was originally developed to help people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) focus, but has recently been manipulated by college students to stay awake and focus on studies. Adderall has also recently been used by professional football players to give them a greater focus to perform their task more efficiently. Adderall is banned by the NFL and if it is found in your system, you will be subsequently suspended. Codeine with Promethazine, also called lean or dirty sprite, is a liquid form of a drug, most commonly associated with Lil’ Wayne, it’s a mixture of codeine, sprite, promethazine and a jolly rancher.  Codeine is very popular in Houston with artists such as Pimp C and DJ Screw having died from codeine use. Statistics show that the drugs that are glamorized by rap artist are the same drugs that are negatively affecting our society as a whole.

For example, an article reports that 80 percent of teens engage in some form of deviant behavior, 50 percent of high school seniors admit to having used drugs, and 10-15 percent of the population will develop drug addiction problems.  Over the years the use of drugs has become more and more common and the age of the user has decreased. From a study done in 2009, statistics show that of those members of the population who are 12 years of age and over 8.7% had used an illicit drug in the past month, 6.6 percent had used marijuana in the past 6 months and 2.8% had used some form of a hallucinogenic.

When looking at rap and drugs and their impact on society, you must first examine the reason why people resort to listening to rap music or experimenting with recreational drugs.  Some people resort to music or drugs to try and avoid the issues or reality of their everyday life, while others look to music or drugs for advice and comfort.  There is always a bigger picture or reason for every action.  Articles say that younger people and less educated people are some of the ranges of people that are more likely to take the messages in these songs more seriously than they are intended.  Consequently, at times they account for the people who will either follow in the footsteps of their favorite artist to try and lead an alleged lifestyle as a “boss” or “don,” or “real nigga”, while others may just become another statistic behind bars.

As far as rap and society, the things depicted in rap songs today create a story or lifestyle that people try to live up to, which can result in a downfall of society.  Most rappers use the experiences of their adolescent years as the driving force behind their lyrics and video setups.  Although their intentions are to get their point and emotions across to the public through their lyrics and videos, they unconsciously build a battlefront between neighborhoods, schools, states and more.  The rap scene and the lifestyle these artists portray, create a greater desire for young people to make what they have seen into a reality.  The background of a rap artist, whether it is where they are from or what they do, can form divisions in society.

An article by the Psychological Review talks about how many students have suffered from acts of hate, discrimination and violence just because of the area they are from or the rap artists that they prefer to listen to.   Rap corrupts society in many ways, one being so simple that it usually goes unnoticed.  This music can encourage reckless spending to obtain the material items that artists talk about in their songs.  The values and morals of our generation get manipulated or conformed to what is heard on the radio or seen in a video.  There is a growing sense of need or want of a certain item just because our favorite artists have it or reference it.

In a recent song by Ross, he expressed the way money has benefited him and supports his lifestyles. He says, “Cars just like sneakers, just got me ten pair / Dubai, I been there, but fuck that, we in here / Roll up and inhale, I live next to Denzel / Alonzo, my condo cost three mil’, this shit real.” (Rick Ross, “Fuck ‘Em”)  An article, entitled “Under the Influence of…Music?” talks about how teenagers listen to on average about 2.5 hours of music each day.  Within that time frame they hear about 35 references to substance abuse per hour. That’s about 87.5 references to drug use in less than a 3 hour time span.  Data from a study in 2005 showed that 77 percent of rap songs reference alcohol or drugs in their lyrics.

In terms of drugs (in relation to rap) and society, these substances are praised in a sense.  Artists flaunt the money and the respect they have gained from dealing drugs or being associated with the drug environment. Artists like T.I., Gucci Mane, and Lil Wayne, brag about having been to jail for because of drug charges. It’s like they feel it’s necessary to have a “charge” or “catch a case” because it gives them “street cred.” Sometimes this is all the confirmation that people need, especially since our generation is one that is money driven and believes that money is power.  When many people talk about rap artists, it is not uncommon for the subject of drugs to come about.   Many artists either talk about the use of drugs or the dealing of drugs in their music.  Therefore, when young people listen to the lyrics they unconsciously use these words to fuel what ultimately will become a negative act for some.  The dealing and consumption of drugs is constantly hurting society today.  The more artists publicize these drugs and their uses, the more the public feels the need to get their hands on these substances.

It isn’t necessary for a rap artist to rap about selling drugs, abusing drugs, guns, or any type of violence or illegal things. Take Nas for example, he is said to be one of the greatest rappers ever and he just released an album on July 13, 2012, entitled “Life Is Good”, that is about his declining relationship and divorce with his ex-wife, Kelis, his alleged financial troubles, and his failures as a father in his single “Daughters”. Nas does not reference illegal drugs in this album, and according to XXL mag, this is Nas’s best album since the classic album “Stillmatic”, which is considered one of the greatest albums of all time. With “Life Is Good” being the number 1 album on the billboard top 200, it is very easy to say that you can rap about more than drugs and be successful; as long as you have talent, people will listen to your music.

Drugs have been proven to destroy families and on a larger scale communities. Drugs are everywhere in society, from peoples’ homes to communities/street corners and even in the schools.  In a song Nas states, “My junior high school class, wish I stayed there/Illegal entrepreneur, I got my grades there.  The use of drugs has even been linked to an increase in crime rates.  Many of the acts of violence seen and heard about today are done under the influence of drugs.  In an excerpt, entitled “Drug/Alcohol Effects on Society,” it tells how people under the influence of drugs are responsible for majority of property damages done in communities and a percentage of violent acts.  It states that, “about 25 to 30 percent of property damages are the result of drug use and 4 to 5 percent are from violent crime.”  The excerpt also states that, “about 31 percent of inmates reported that they were under the influence of drugs when they committed their offense.”

Eminem, who happens to be one of the greatest and most popular rappers of all time, came out with an album titled “The Recovery”, on June 18, 2010. In his album, Eminem talks about his well-known battle and addiction to illegal drugs amongst other things. Eminem also had an interview in published in June 2009 with Vibe Magazine. In the interview, he discusses his substance abuse filled past.

While mourning his best friend’s murder, Eminem suffered a nearly fatal overdose. But after years of despair, he’s found God. In the interview with Vibe, Eminem states “It’s no secret I had a drug problem. I just don’t think my fans knew how bad it was. When I went to rehab in 2005 I went in for a sleep problem, or I guess a sleep problem is what I thought it was. But it was a drug problem and I wasn’t ready to admit it. I was taking Valium, Ambien, and Vicodin. And I was taking a lot. If I was to give you a number of Vicodin I would actually take in a day? Anywhere between 10 to 20. Valium, Ambien, the numbers got so high I don’t even know what I was taking.” ( Vibe Magazine) Eminem also states that he feels that in the Hip Hop community, you’re seen as weak if you’re a drug addict. Eminem ends his interview by saying “I almost feel like a little kid again with rap. It’s exciting to me again. It’s exciting to write, it’s exciting to make songs. I get a little giggly to myself when I think of a funny line. I’m having fun with it again. I wanna play around with different flows, I wanna fuck around like I used to, when I used to really care. If I don’t feel like it’s what I’m fully capable of, if there’s one weak line, I wanna change it. I just pushed myself with these two records as far as I can push myself. As far as I can go. Rap was my drug. It used to get me high and then it stopped getting me high. Then I had to resort to other things to make me feel that. Or to numb things. But now rap’s getting me high again”. (Vibe Magazine)

The biggest lesson and most essential thing that I took from Eminem’s interview was, you don’t have to do drugs to make you feel happy, find something that’s healthy and legal that makes you happy and pour your time and energy into that. If more rappers take the time and rap about something relevant or positive, there would be less kids who would look to do drugs. Kids look for role models, and if their role model is a rapper like Rick Ross who raps about how much drugs he has sold and how much money he has, then our youth drug problem will continue to get worse.

Works Cited

Aku, Timmhotep. “5 Drugs That Have Hip-Hop Breaking Bad.” Theroot.com. The Root, 12 Aug. 2012. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. <http://www.theroot.com/views/hip-hop-drugs-story?page=0,0>.

Cherry, Carl. “Nas, Life Is Good.” XXL RSS. XXL Magazine, 18 July 2012. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. <http://www.xxlmag.com/reviews/2012/07/nas-life-is-good/>.

“Drug / Alcohol Effects On Society.” Drug / Alcohol Effects On Society. Saint Matthew’s Churches, n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. <http://saintmatthewschurches.com/AlcoholEffects.aspx>.

“Fast Stats- Illegal Drug Use.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 21 July 2011. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/druguse.htm>.

Jaffe, Adi. “Teens and Drugs: Drug Use Statistics and a Different Approach to Prevention.” PsychologyInAction.org. Psychology In Action, 20 Jan. 2011. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. <http://www.psychologyinaction.org/2011/01/20/teens-and-drugs-drug-use-statistics-and-a-different-approach-to-prevention/>.

Leary, Sam. “Gangster Rap Has Negative Impact on Society.” TheDailyCampus.com. The Daily Campus, 18 Jan. 2010. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. <http://www.dailycampus.com/2.7438/gangster-rap-has-negative-impact-on-society-1.1072651>.

Parker-Pope, Tara. “Under the Influence of Music?” Well Under the Influence of Music Comments. The New York Times, 5 Feb. 2008. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. <http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/under-the-influence-ofmusic/>.

Frere-Jones, Sasha. “The Sound Of Success.” New Yorker 88.1 (2012): 102-104. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.

Moffitt, T. E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100, 674-701.

Juveniles and Drugs Fact Sheet (2003). Office of National Drug Control Policy.Chen, M.J., B.A. Miller, and G.W. Grube. “Influence of Music on Youth Behaviors.” Influence of Music on Youth Behaviors (2006): n. page. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=20919596&site=ehost-live>.

“Can I Kick It.” Vibe Magazine 1 June 2009: n. page. Web. 2 Dec. 2012.

“Rap Music Glorifying Drug Use.” US News. U.S.News & World Report, 1 Apr. 2008. Web. 04 Dec. 2012.

Yang, Sarah. “New Study Finds Glamorization of Drugs in Rap Music Jumped Dramatically over Two Decades.” UC Berkeley News. UC Berkeley, 1 Apr. 2008. Web. 04 Dec. 2012.

            Regionally rap has many different sounds and forms. The West Coast is known for the upbringing of aggressive gangsta rap. New York City can boast that it is the origin or birthplace of rap music. Not surprisingly Houston, in the Southern region, has its own characteristics. According to the Houston Chronicle, “The abuse of codeine-laced cough syrup is so prevalent in Houston that the city has been nicknamed ‘The City of Syrup’” (Rieken 1). Houston is uniquely its own area where drugs, specifically prescription strength cough syrup, created a totally new style/sound of rap music. Research from the Public Health Center reported that syrup use is predominately because of reasons like “It’s legal. It’s free for syrup users with Medicaid or private health insurance” (Elwood 125). With open access to codeine, it is not surprising that codeine use has influenced the Houston rap game over the past few decades. It essentially created chopped and screwed music, music that is slowed, skipped, and relaxed like the effects of codeine. Prescription strength codeine cough syrup has influenced the lyrics, sounds, progression and overall health of the Houston rap scene.

            Discussion surrounding Houston rap often references the recreational use of codeine-laced cough syrup.  According to an article discussing drugs across America, codeine has been more appreciated in Houston than in any other city (Moosmann,Ohlow 130). This viscous substance is linked to the sticky and humid southern H-town. With so many different names it can be difficult to recognize what exactly rappers are talking about. An article from Drug Education concludes that, “Cough syrup containing codeine and promethazine hydrochloride, known on the streets as ‘lean,’ ‘barre,’ ‘purple stuff,’ and ‘drank,’ has become the drug of choice” for young African Americans in the Houston area (Peters 415). They typically interchange these words so that their usage is not as noticeable. Similarly, some rappers use different purple drank nicknames in order to signal to true users. Their reasoning is that only true codeine user would be able to decipher what they are rapping about.

Names like Purple Drank and Texas Tea and others referenced by Peters are interspersed throughout the lyrics of significant Houston raps as well as underground songs. These drinks are a combination of codeine cough syrup, seltzer water or Sprite, and Jolly Rancher candy (Maxwell 9). This combination of ingredients results in a cocktail with a purple tint and a “million dollar high” (Peters 419). For further information, this syrupy drink “is most recognizably sipped out of Styrofoam cups, which are paraded about in numerous music videos as signifiers of the drug” (Mickey 437).  Once aware of the multiple names of codeine syrup, it is easier for most people to spot codeine references within rap lyrics. Countless songs have phrases like “sippin sizzurp,” “sippin on that drank” “high on the purple lean” and more. According to a study done on the prevalence of drug use in rap found that, “the presence of drugs in rap music has increased exponentially over time…the majority or 69% of the songs [of the study] mentioned drug use” (Herd 171). Each region raps about different drugs that take popular demand, and codeine is Houston’s drug of choice. Listening to the majority of rappers coming out of the damp city, they have lyrics that discreetly signal and or blatantly mention the use of codeine syrup. There are so many different names for syrup, but they all relates to the same thing. On the popular website The Rap Board, the majority of rappers from Houston are quoted saying something about syrup or sipping. If you were to click on Mike Jones for example he yells, “Sippin!”(Rap Board). According to The Rap Board, “Sippin” is the most significant line of Mike Jones’ career. The idea of syrup and sipping is so prevalent in Houston that it would be difficult to find a Houstonian rapper who does not mention it.

For example, DJ Screw’s song “Sippin Codeine” directly references drinking codeine cough syrup in the title. He was a codeine addict and constantly rapped about the purple substance in his music. While in this song Big Moe (a recognized and influential Houston rapper) raps, the lyrics and beats are from DJ Screw. This particular song does not try to make his codeine usage a secret or discreet. Notice that he does not use the typical nicknames that other rappers use. This is because DJ Screw was apart of the original and so called classic screw music generation. This was a time when codeine was not as mainstream; therefore there were not as many street or slang terms for it. He is explicit and lets the listeners know that he supports and takes part in the recreational drug The song begins with, “I sip codeine / It makes a Southside playa lean” (DJ Screw). The line that the codeine makes him lean is a way of saying he is embracing the high that the drug gives him. The world is slowing down around him as he sips on the liquid substance. This street saying of leaning is where the drug got one of its nicknames of “lean.” Later in the song he raps, ”Steady stackin green, steady sippin codeine” (DJ Screw). He is connecting his money making to his steady intake of codeine. It has been said that codeine was originally expensive as a status symbol. Thus, the association has been made that codeine is the rich man’s drug of choice. Rappers notoriously make money with their art, therefore they can financially invest in a codeine addiction. Even though codeine in smaller quantities is becoming increasingly easier to obtain, being able to show that a rapper can afford mass quantities exemplifies their power. In the book Hip Hop In America: A Regional Guide the comment is brought up that syrup is a, “status symbol of financial success, much in line with the hustler spirit of Houston hip hop” (Mickey 437). A repeating theme in rap is fiscal dominance, so DJ Screw wants his listeners to understand that he is making large sums of money and can afford codeine. He is showing off his overall power and dominance. Like stated earlier, the color purple is associated with the use of codeine. DJ Screw’s album cover for “Sippin Codeine” has a deep purple tint. In the past purple was the color of kings and royalty, the most affluent of society. Similarly to what was stated before, codeine is a signal of financial success, so it can be connected back to the color purple being royalty. Rappers want people to know just how expensive they are, so they would undoubtedly use the color purple over other colors to show that.

Another song that accurately depicts codeine sipping is the song “Codeine Cups” by Juicy J. Juicy J is not a native of Houston, but this song displays typical codeine usage through the lyrics and the music video. When watching his video, the impression is given that it is being shot in slow motion.  Again, there is a clouded overlay of purple on the entirety of the video. Juicy J comes out with a cloud of smoke around him and the slowed beat begins. A few of his lines talk about living in a fast moving world, but that sipping codeine is a way to slow down the world around him. Syrup has become an addiction for him and a way to cope with the world around him. Other visuals in this video include white Styrofoam cups and syrup being poured, themes discussed earlier as being prevalent in chopped and screwed music. By using Juicy J’s video and song it is helpful in recognizing the significance of codeine in not only Houston, but progressively to other regions. This style of rap music was underground in the past, but has managed to become mainstream and popularized.

When watching a music video it has become easier to see the signals of codeine use. Any music video with white Styrofoam cups signals the use of syrup. The use of the color purple, like Purple Drank, also signals the usage of the sticky substance. Without blatantly saying they use codeine, rappers can give the illusion that they are making money and using codeine. Take Lil’ Wayne, “an admitted addict himself,” and Juicy J (Mickey 437). Neither of these rappers are originally from Houston, but within their raps and videos they are seen with white Styrofoam cups. Instead of the typical red solo cup signaling alcohol they use white to signal codeine and a slowed down way of life. By seeing that these non-native Houstonians that are sipping and using shows how influential codeine has become on other regions of rap.

Lyrically codeine is present, but what about the sound? Rap sounds vary all across the country and the world. When listening to an album often it is possible to tell where an album came from. In the same respect, the drugs referenced in the music can also be heard through the melody. Marijuana is often associated with a particular sound. So how is syrup influencing the overall beat of the music? According to a regional guide on rap music, “The drowsy, deep drawl created by the chopped and screwed effect was linked directly to the slowed feeling induced by syrup use” (Mickey 437). Codeine slows down the functions of the user and virtually makes world feel like a slow motion scene from a video. Typical codeine music is categorized as sixty to seventy quarter beats per minute, which is close to half the normal tempo. Nothing seems to be progressing and there is an overall sense of lag. Rappers from Houston would sip and use codeine before making their music and ultimately, “This would cause them to ‘slow down.’ This gave meaning to the whole purpose of chopped and screwed music” (Djavadzadeh 13). In an article discussing the late Pimp C, the author describes screw music as, “A distinctive sound of rap that has a slow and chopped-up flow” (Casimir 2). The style of chopped and screwed originated in Houston with DJ Screw, a codeine user, in the early 1990’s. DJ Screw would warp music, play it backwards, and create a lower pitch in a rappers voice, when he made mix tapes (Djavadzadeh 12). He was known for making a song sound completely different and uniquely original. His influence on the lagging Houston seen was imperative for the growth and creation of chopped and screwed music, aka codeine music. The statement is made, from a Houston newspaper remembering DJ Screw, that, “You still get to learn from Screw, how his timely reversals and cuts wound up paving the way for the birth of an entire culture that now spans the globe” (Brando 1). Without his usage of codeine resulting in his rap’s slowed down sounds, Houston may not be as dominate in the Southern rap game.

The late DJ Screw

Codeine usage has increased since its initial appearance in the 1990’s, and the Houston rap scene has been a direct cause of that increase. According to a study done in Lean, “Abuse of codeine and promethazine hydrochloride cough syrup (CPHCS) has evolved as a result of lyrics in a popular and innovative form of hip-hop music in the Houston-based underground music scene called ‘screw’”(Peters 416). The lyrics of chopped and screwed music are directly linked to the abuse of prescription cough medicine. In the same article teenagers discussed how accessible codeine was and how it was easy to obtain from doctors and pharmacies (Peters 418). Teens and others can get this drug so much easier because essentially it is completely legal with a prescription. According to a rap blog, “Syrup is perceived as safer than other illegal drugs because it is a manufactured product and, in Texas, possession of small quantities is only a Class B misdemeanor, just above a traffic ticket. Users also know it is relatively safe to have small amounts of syrup without fearing arrest” (Brownlee).  A doctor can write a prescription for the syrup, but the problem has presented that people are abusing the prescription. The single tablespoon dosage has turned into half a Styrofoam cup serving. Multiple deaths have occurred because of codeine overdose and addiction. Influential rappers like DJ Screw, Big Moe and Pimp C all passed away because of syrup overdose. DJ Screw is the father of chopped and screwed music, but even he cannot outlive the effects. When asked about Pimp C’s sudden death, teenagers Guillermo Gallegos and Terrence Henderson said they all began drinking cough syrup at the young age of thirteen (Casimir 1). The two boys spoke about how easy it was to obtain codeine and to sell it. Like stated earlier, they could get codeine through a prescription, so they would then sell their prescription to younger users in order to make money. Both boys admitted that their codeine abuse started from their love of Houston rap. These Houston songs are filled with lyrics promoting the use of codeine-laced syrup. Gallegos wanted to know, “Who’s going to be next?” as far as which Houston rapper would be found dead because of codeine (Casimir 1). Pimp C was not the first in the area to fall victim to the highly dependent drug. Codeine has taken away the influential rap heroes of rap, a true irony. What they rap about and used as inspiration eventually killed them. This sticky liquid created a completely new and amazing sound, but has been the cause of increasing health risks with the rap game and outside of it. Not only is codeine abuse killing rappers, it is increasingly linked to non-rap related deaths. Troy Jefferson, manager of a youth drug treatment program in Houston, said that, “nearly 50 percent of his juvenile addicts drink cough syrup, using it in deadly combinations” (Casimir 1). Codeine made a new and progressive sound, but it also has created a health risk within Houston and all over the nation. How can rappers continually rap about syrup with codeine deaths happen all the time?

The statement was made that, “attitudes towards drugs in rap songs have become increasingly positive” (Herd 173). Rappers repeatedly promote and encourage the use of drugs within their songs. With this increase more and more listeners find it appropriate to take part in the drug party that rappers describe. In the same study, it was found that, “only a quarter of top rap songs appeared critical of drug use” (Herd 173). It has been said that rappers rap about what is happening in their lives and what inspires them. So with this idea Houston should only rap about codeine. It is the top drug mentioned in its music, and has become a way of life. For example, if the words chopped and screwed, purple drank, or even Houston rap were typed into Google Images nearly every picture would have purple outlines or syrup looking writing. Countless album covers and posters are all variations of purple and molasses looking images. Houston is the slowed sipping city of prescription strength codeine cough syrup. It has become a way of life and an overall lifestyle in the sticky city. The majority of songs coming from the region all encourage the white cup filled with purple liquids. This dependent drug has created a new and amazingly influential style of music; chopped and screwed music was a direct result of the drug. MCs like Pimp C and Big Moe got their big break from codeine music. The catch twenty-two of codeine is the negative effect of death and abuse. Teenagers and rappers alike are dying from the drug. If the codeine usage continues, will there be anyone left to keep the legacy?

This is a screen shot of Google Images with ‘Purple Drank’ as the keyword

Works Cited

Brando. “Remembering DJ Screw, 12 Whole Years Later.” Houston Press 16 Nov. 2012.    Web.

Brownlee. “Houston, We have a Problem?” The Writerz Block. Web. 18 Jul. 2012.

Casimir, Leslie. “Rapper’s death highlights syrup-fueled lifestyle.” Houston Chronicle 20 Oct. 2007. Web.

Djavadzadeh, Tanya. “Houston Rap Music- Changes, Influences, Southside.” Journal of the American Studies Association of Texas (n.d.): 11-16. Web. 1 Nov. 2012.

DJ Screw. “Sippin Codeine.” Rec. 4 Sept. 1995. 3′N The Mornin’ DJ Screw, n.d. YouTube. tTruePlayaas, 23 Apr. 2008. Web. 21 Nov. 2012.

Elwood, William N. “Sticky Business: Patterns of Procurement and Misuse of Prescription Cough Syrup in Houston.” Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 33.2 (2001): 121-33. Informa. Web. 20 Nov. 2012.

Herd, Denise. “Changes in Drug Prevalence in Rap Music Songs, 1079-1997.” Addiction Research and Theory 16.2 (2008): 167-80. Informa Healthcare. Web. 1 Nov. 2012.

Hess, Mickey. Hip Hop In America: A Regional Guide. Santa Barbabra, California: Greenwood Press, 2010. Print.

Juicy J. “Codeine Cups.” Blue Dream and Lean. Juicy J and Crazy Mike, 2012. YouTube. BLKDMNDS, 22 June 2012. Web. 12 Nov. 2012.

LP Riel. The Rap Board. LPR. 2011. Web. 23 Nov. 2012.

Maxwell, Jane C. “Substance Abuse Trends in Texas: June 2012.” The Addiction Research Institute (2010): 1-19. Web. 20 Nov. 2012.

Ohlow, Maike J., and Bernd Moosmann. “Phenothiazine: The Seven Lives of Pharmacology’s First Lead Structure.” Drug Discovery Today 16.3-4 (2011): 119-31. Science Direct. Web. 18 Nov. 2012.

Peters, Ronald J., Jr., Steven H. Kelder, Christine M. Markham, George S. Yacoubian, Jr., LeCresha A. Peters, and Artist Ellis. “Beliefs and Social Norms About Codeine and Promethazine Hydrochloride Cough Syrup (CPHCS) Onset and Perceived Addiction Among Urban Houstonian Adolescents: An Addiction Trend in The City of Lean.” Journal of Drug Education 33.4 (2003): 415-425. Web. 17 Nov. 2012.

Rieken, Kristie. “Cough Syrup Found in Pimp C’s Hotel Had No Label.” Houston Chronicle 5 Feb. 2008: Associated Press. Web.

Kevin McKnight

28 November 2012

 Corruption of the Underground: Corporate Influence on the Hip Hop Industry and the Construction of Mainstream

Whether underground or mainstream rap, the modern media plays a massive and influential role in the production, delivery, and image of the rap industry.  In essence, the media controls what is said and shown, how it’s being portrayed to the general public, and why the themes are the way they seem.  With great power comes great responsibility, and the American popular media has abused the command in a large way; where positive, progressive outcomes could have easily been promoted, negative, retrograde stereotypes are reinstated and reinforced.  Media turns an expression of inner emotion or opinion, such as lyric writing, into a springboard for division, degradation, and destruction.  The root of this corruption stems from the “commercialization by patriarchally dominated white corporations to increase profit by targeting the music to white suburban youth” (http://www.mnsu.edu/urc/journal/2007/lemley.pdf). This tactic, though economically defendable, provides for the uprising and resurrection of many harmful themes often associated with black and urban culture through lingering traces of historical racism, which soon become ingrained and perpetuated in the targeted young, suburban whites, whose intake of hip hop music is uneducated and misguided to say the least.  The violence, misogyny, drug abuse, and general rebellion exuded by popular rap is in many ways created, encouraged, and magnified by the media, which in turn is detrimental to a listener, a community, an industry, a race, and a nation.

To effectively understand the vast and harmful role of music media, it is crucial to first grasp the common roots and birth of a rap career, that is, the underground.  This generally refers to new or less affluent rappers who have yet to break into the mainstream media, obtain widespread recognition, sign with a successful record label, or as Tyler, The Creator would describe it, “get your shit on MTV.”  Most rap careers blossom from a strong desire to help out a family or community, or from strong opinions or noted social shortcomings.  These reasons provide for a rapping style full of passion in lyrical content. This is the essence of hip hop music, harvested by the underground scene, being an expression of emotion through words and beats, a tradition which has existed in African and African-American culture for centuries.

“The vilification of Black youth in mainstream media’s initial effort to comprehend rap music tells us much about how anxieties at the nexus of race, class and generation difference continue to animate the story world of American social relations” (Lewis 7).  As the hip hop industry has evolved through time, the repetition of commonly stereotypical themes has risen to an all time high.  Among the most popular that are not only accepted but glamorized by the mainstream media continue to be drug use, misogyny, and criminal acts, usually in terms of violence and theft.  “The culture industry has limited the representation of hip hop to narrow, negative associations of Blackness, and by letting commercialized hip hop become a nearly constant caricature of gangstas, pimps, and hoes, we’ve come to equate black poverty with black street life. This denies and silences a wide range of black urban ghetto experiences and points of view which venerates predatory street culture.  These limited caricatures of black poverty reinforce Whites’ negative racial attitudes of the Black culture being inherently dysfunctional and responsible for their own inequality” (Hart 7).  Though not necessarily explicit in terms of every hip hop consumer, these provoked feelings, whether outspoken or underlying, remain in existence all across the United States.  It is also valid to say that through the media’s allowance and through the wide expansion of commercialism in hip hop, these feelings are perpetuated in a very real and highly destructive manner.  The main issue behind this dilemma is the fact that these areas are what are desired by the hip hop audience, and the most popular rappers throughout the nations, those heard by and influencing millions of people, are the very ones condoning and encouraging such social destruction.  Waka Flocka Flame, a top charts rapper and member of the group BrickSquad, in his song, “All I Know,” quotes, “All I know is smoke weed, rob, steal and sell dope, roll dice, get money and gang bang with my folk, Dre Cap n’ Waka, handguns, and choppas, can’t find you then we dumping on ya mama.”  Just in these few lines, there is a reference to marijuana, theft, gambling, rape, and murder.  Not only does he reference, but also claims that that lifestyle is all he knows.  A statement like that can be nothing but destructive to external perceptions.  In the song “The Motto” by Drake and Lil’ Wayne, two of the most popular rap artists of the last few years, Wayne states, “Seven, grams in the blunt, almost drowned in the pussy so I swam to the butt.”  This song was number one on rap charts all across America for fourteen weeks straight, tying for third all time chart topping with another Lil’ Wayne song, “Lollipop,” and behind Drake’s “Best I Ever Had,” topping for fifteen weeks, and Missy Elliott’s “Hot Boyz,” topping for 18 straight weeks (http://www.kanyetothe.com/forum/index.php?topic=222742.0).  With these rankings, it is clear to see that the influence possessed by top mainstream rappers is incredible, considering the audience reached and duration of any popular song.  This is what American hip hop consumers want to hear, and this is what is being dispensed regularly by American mainstream media.

It would be false to accuse the hip hop industry as a whole of perpetuating black stereotypes and serving to corrupt the youth of modern America.  Many rappers, in their beginning, “undiscovered” years , produce lyrics with intent of a social change or outcry, or perhaps even a positive message.  This is a powerful aspect of the underground rap scene.  A great example of this is the artist Hopsin.  Signed by Ruthless Records, the record label founded by Eric “Eazy-E” Wright and N.W.A.’s manager Jerry Heller, Hopsin was later dropped due to a fraudulent financial downfall brought about by Tomica White, Eazy-E’s wife who took over the label after his death.  With no label and no supporting artists, Hopsin has remained in the underground, with no new breakthroughs to date.  However, in his newest release, “Ill Mind of Hopsin 5,” he created significant media turbulence due to the revolutionary and controversial lyrics.  The song contains three verses, each dedicated to a different aspect of society he feels is in dire need of reform.  The first verse deals with the white suburban youth who follow and idolize mainstream rappers, specifically mentioning Lil’ Wayne.  He quotes, “You been brainwashed by the fake life that you used to livin’, when I say the word “fun” what do you envision?  Probably drinking and smoking out with your crew, and chillen with clueless women you tryna bang, bumping New Edition.  Is that all you think life really is?  Well if so, then you’re a fucking idiot!”  In the second verse, Hopsin speaks to the female youth demographic and mentions how they should handle the constant misogyny thrown at them from the mainstream artists, then persists to criticize those who harness that misogyny and perpetuate it for their own advantage and pleasure, such as video girls.  He states, “Twice a week you put on your make-up and damn bracelets and head to the club, half naked with your ass shaking.  Pulling a low-life nigga who claim he cash makin’, til’ you let him hit and find out he work at the gas station.”  Finally, in the third verse, Hopsin targets the black community and the cyclical and stereotypical culture that is often self-perpetuated in many urban areas.  Probably the most powerful lines in the song, he criticizes, “Man, why do black people got to be the only ones who can’t evolve?  Cause you in the streets acting like a Neanderthal.  It’s clear you can’t stand the law, you lost as an abandoned dog,  and all you interested in is fighting, rapping and basketball.”  Lyrics like these are seldom, if ever, found in popular, chart-topping rap songs, and contribute to Hopsin’s lack of recognition.  They manage to offend all demographics, whether male, female, black or white.  However, this offense is backed with an intent for positive social change, and it is truly a shame that the American culture repeatedly rejects such positive and revolutionary messages.

Ill Mind of Hopsin 5

“But they [hip-hop audience] don’t get it, cause it’s not made for them… The nigga that’s in the mirror, it’s made for him.”  This quote from Tyler, The Creator’s song “Goblin,” introduces another quality of the underground, outside of just a positive message, that is lost in the conversion to mainstream. Though simple, the aspect of enjoyment and passion in lyrical work is a crucial addition to real, message-oriented hip hop found typically in the underground style.  The most decisive difference between underground rap and mainstream rap is the lyrical content.  Plenty of underground rap artists have access to similar technology and therefore can embody their song with catchy and impressive beats.  Therefore, the statement claiming “I only listen to rap for the beat,” becomes irrelevant.  Rappers who transition from underground to mainstream directly change their audience and motive, going from rapping for personal pleasure with an audience of friends, family, and themselves, to rapping to please an audience of millions, who could care less about their thoughts and opinions and only want to have something “cool” or “hype” blaring from their speakers or headphones.  A perfect example of this sacrifice of “realness” and perversion of content is the upcoming group OFWGKTA created in 2007, standing for “Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All.”  At the head of the group is the expanding rapper, Tyler, The Creator.  Other important contributors, who, however, have significantly less recognition, are Hodgy Beats, Earl Sweatshirt, Frank Ocean, Syd Tha Kid, and Domo Genesis.  Tyler, The Creator began his rap career at the age of eighteen, and was immediately criticized for his lyrical content.  Numerous times he and his music have been labelled as devil worship and “horrorcore,” a type of dark, horror-filled rap with an obsession to reference homicide, rape, and apocalyptic culture.  When asked to explain during a 2011 interview with The Drone, Tyler states, “When I make a song, it’s just like a movie to me.  I want to go into detail.  It’s the stuff I think about, you know everybody thinks about dark shit.  Everybody goes home, and there’s that something that eats them up inside, that they don’t really tell people, but they are just afraid to say it.  Why when someone finally says shit that someone’s actually thinking it becomes a big deal?  I’m not just talking about raping a bitch, it’s a storyline.  I’m writing this story from the mind of some fucking serial killer from thirty years ago who was a white male.  If they would just sit back and listen to the genius of it…that’s what urks me” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OoZNENl0Cg).  It’s true that Tyler’s lyrics are definitely edgy, dark, and at times disturbing, but he is rapping what he feels and what he wants to express.  As he explains, in reality it’s a combination of personal convictions and experiences, and a storyline with a plot of socio-analysis.  This illuminates another characteristic hindering positive and clever messages from rising to mainstream media status: the laziness and carelessness of the hip hop consuming audience.  This is credited to the demand for immediacy, and a growing lack of desire to research, comprehend, and apply.  In his songs “Goblin” and “Burger,” Tyler, The Creator criticizes this societal flaw and his accusers with, “Oh, that’s a triple three six, isn’t he a devil worshiper cause I’m too fucking ignorant to do some research?” and “You fucking idiots, listen deeper than the music before you put it in a box, it’s Wolf Gang.” These blatant insults are Tyler’s way of urging an engagement in the actual study of the lyrics his audience and the entire hip hop audience intakes.   Unfortunately but not surprisingly, a very small percentage of teenagers admitted to be willing to put in the time to research the ulterior meaning in a hip hop song, especially when the topic is positive or unclear, and therefore deemed “boring” in comparison to lyrics dealing with partying, drugs, and sex (Adriano 10).  This also connects to the intake of mainstream music endorsing negative themes, as the easily-molded audience fails to inquire the stimulus of the songs, they blindly accept the presentation as socially just, and conform.  Little succeed in recognizing the corporate backgrounds shaping the music and artists they listen and sing along to on an average of 1.5 – 2.45 hours a day (Adriano 2).

The Drone: Tyler, The Creator – interview

Just as not all of the mainstream artists endorse drugs, violence, and misogyny, there exist rappers stuck in the underground who provide no form of positive ideals of reform or any real passions in their lyrics.  These rappers are properly labelled “sell-outs” due to their singular desire to get rich via the exploitation of the industry’s established thematic defects.  This style is found commonly in start-up rap careers, and does nothing to bring about the much needed change in the industry.  Among this category is Lil’ B, a relatively unknown rapper whose only real claim to fame was the song “Wonton Soup,” in which he quotes, “AK-47 leave that bitch with no aim, call my main bitch and she stay giving me brain.”  With lyrics like these, Lil’ B accentuates the same social problems and perpetuates the same black stereotypes as do mainstream artists, in this case being the excessive use of firearms and violence and the misogynistic idea of having more than one female to serve for sexual cravings.  There is also a reason for the negative connotation of the term “selling-out” in regards to gaining recognition and officially entering the circulation of mainstream hip hop even if the career began with positive intentions.  More often than not in this scenario, a rapper will have to change his entire style of rapping, including general subject matter, self-image, crew, and/or fan base.  Obviously, the ultimate goal of a rap career is to get rich and recognized.  However, truly skilled rappers will obtain this success with their own resources and motives, without evolving themes and becoming products of the corporate industry.  Unfortunately, with the consolidation of the entire group, OFWGKTA can be seen as an example of a transformational sell-out.  With increased popularity came heightened pressure from RED Distribution, LLC, a Sony Music Entertainment-owned sales and marketing division that gave the group the release and support for their Odd Future label, to immensely increase production and profits.  It is blatant to see through production since 2011, that this new opportunity influenced a change in the group in order to sell more, moving away from their original rap topics such as psychological trauma as a personal expression, dissing mainstream artists and icons like B.o.B., Bruno Mars, and Steve Harvey, and skateboarding.  More recent productions, serving as a demonstration to their conformity and action of selling-out, include “Bitch Suck Dick,” “We Got Bitches,” “Assmilk,” and “Rella,” the latter of these depicting Tyler snorting an excessive amount of cocaine in the video.  With little surprise, the group’s ratings have soared in the past year, to where a member search for “Odd Future” on the music website SPIN.com raises about 11,200 results.  For perspective purposes, The Beatles search only raises about 3,060 (http://becckitt.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/odd-future-and-the-internet.pdf).

Why do Americans rarely hear songs like “Ill Mind of Hopsin 5,” “Goblin,” and others with similar intent and form?  The commanding answer is profit, which essentially controls everything in American media.  Record labels do not endorse this kind of music, because this is not what sells.  Consequently, rappers are borderline forced to portray negative themes in order to make money at the end of the day, due to the careless pressure from managers of the few successful labels.  As previously stated in reference to Hopsin, an audience of culturally-molded teenagers almost never wants to be changed or even advised in a positive manner, but would rather be exposed to a party scene or hear of the misfortunes of a society irrelevant to their own.  Furthermore, no one, especially adolescents, wants to listen to a song where criticism is aimed at themselves, but rather where the problem lies out of reach of their personal culture.  This encompasses the target of the media, white teenage suburbia.  The majority of hip hop consumers, around 72-80%, are white (http://www.mnsu.edu/urc/journal/2007/lemley.pdf).  In essence, this translates as young, malleable, and privileged youth who are majorly if not completely ignorant to black urban culture.  Because of this, they make the perfect target audience for radio stations and other forms of hip hop distribution, economically, due to their affluence, and socially, due to their intrigue.

As humans, it is apparent in our nature to enjoy topics that are detrimental or looked down upon by the moral society; this is apparent in all aspects of entertainment, but especially in music and film.  This innate desire is harnessed by powerful record labels and radios for profit, and is further intensified by the addition of the sensitivity of race and division.  It is a common misconception that to blame for the current state of hip hop lies solely on the conscience of the mainstream rapper.  Though to some degree they hold some of the fault, in theory they remain simply puppets handled by the remiss dexterity of wealthy record label and radio CEO’s, or as mocked by Hopsin in his top selling hit “Sag My Pants,” “I’m just an idiotic, ironic, symbolic, Illuminati product that’s gunna get killed if I talk about it…shhh.”  It is important to note that more than 90% of record labels, magazines, TV stations, radio stations and retailers disseminating hip hop related products are white owned, according to a PBS study in 2010.  However, as much as the fault is directed at the rappers and even more so at the executives, the bulk of blame falls into the laps of the American society.  As a collective group of hip hop consumers, rap audience society dictates what is acceptable, popular, and ultimately what sells.  Consumer opinion influences the executives, who in turn corrupt the artists.  Hence, songs with a positive message of reconstructing the social norm through drastic shift in tradition and ethics will remain stuck in the shadows, while the perceived money-blowing, drug-dealing, prostitute-abusing, and gun-toting gangster persona will continue to thrive as the dominant figure-head of rap music and the tragically misconstrued example of the American black community, unless the people conjointly and consciously strive for paramount constructive reform.

Works Cited

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Becckitt. “Odd Future and the Internet.” WordPress. N.p., 2012. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.

<http://becckitt.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/odd-future-and-the-internet.pdf>.

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Gardstrom, Susan C. “Music Exposure and Criminal Behavior: Perceptions of Juvenile Offenders.” Journal of Music Therapy 3 (1999): 207-21. Chinamusictherapy.org. American Music Therapy Organization, 1999. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. <http://www.chinamusictherapy.org/file/doc/>.

Genius Media. “Rap Genius.” Rap Genius. Genius Media Group Inc., 2012. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. <http://rapgenius.com/>.

Hart, Walter E. “The Culture Industry, Hip Hop Music and the White Perspective: How One- Dimensional Representaion of Hip Hop Music Has Influenced White Racial Attitudes.” Diss. University of Texas, 2009. Abstract. (n.d.): n. pag. Academia.edu. Dec. 2009. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. <http://www.academia.edu/428185>.

Hopsin. “Ill Mind of Hopsin 5.” Rec. 17 June 2012. Ill Mind of Hopsin 5 – Single. Funk Volume Records, 2012. Mp3.

Hopsin. “Sag My Pants.” Rec. 19 Nov. 2010. Raw. Funk Volume Records, 2012. Mp3.

Lemley, Julie L. “Critique of the Appropriation of Black Culture by White Suburban Youth.” MNSU. N.p., 23 Apr. 2007. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. <http://www.mnsu.edu/urc/journal/2007/lemley.pdf>.

Lewis, Autumn B. “Media Representation Of Rap Music: The Vilification Of Hip Hop Culture.” Diss. Georgetown University, 2003. Abstract. Georgetown.edu/research. Diana Owen, 23 Apr. 2003. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. <http://cct.georgetown.edu/research/ thesisdatabase/autumnlewis.pdf>.

Lil’ B. “Wonton Soup.” Rec. 15 Sept. 2010. Wonton Soup – Single. Permanent Marks LLC, 2010. Mp3.

Lil’ Wayne, and Drake. “The Motto.” Rec. 11 Nov. 2011. Take Care. Cash Money Records Inc., 2011. Mp3.

Martino, Steven C., Rebecca L. Collins, Marc N. Elliott, Amy Strachman, David E. Kanouse, and Sandra H. Berry. “Exposure to Degrading Versus Nondegrading Music Lyrics and Sexual Behavior Among Youth.” Pediatrics (2007): 430-41. Ojp.usdoj.gov. American Academy of Pediatrics, 13 Mar. 2007. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. <http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/newsroom/events/pdfs/apa_exposure.pdf>.

RED Distribution, LLC. “RED Music.” RED Music RSS. Sony Music Entertainment, 2011. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. <http://www.redmusic.com/>.

Tanner, Julian, Mark Asbridge, and Scot Wortley. “Listening To Rap: Cultures Of Crime, Cultures Of Resistance.” Social Forces 88.2 (2009): 693-722. Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 Oct. 2012.

TheGeoKing. “”The Motto” Ties for 3rd Longest Rap #1 Ever « Kanye West Forum.” Web log post. Kanye To The. N.p., May 2012. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. <http://www.kanyetothe.com/ forum/index.php?topic=222742.0>.

Tyler, The Creator. “Burger.” Rec. 9 May 2009. Goblin. Odd Future Records, 2011. Mp3.

Tyler, The Creator. “Goblin.” Rec. 9 May 2009. Goblin. Odd Future Records, 2011. Mp3.

“Tyler, The Creator Interview.” Interview by The Drone. Youtube.com. N.p., 5 Apr. 2011. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OoZNENl0Cg>.

Waka Flocka Flame. “All I Know.” Rec. 1 Oct. 2010. Flockaveli. Warner Bros. Records, 2010. Mp3.