{"id":1738,"date":"2018-11-28T20:09:17","date_gmt":"2018-11-28T20:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/?p=1738"},"modified":"2018-11-28T20:09:17","modified_gmt":"2018-11-28T20:09:17","slug":"arachnophonia-mus-235-edition-sounding-race-in-rap-songs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/2018\/11\/arachnophonia-mus-235-edition-sounding-race-in-rap-songs\/","title":{"rendered":"Arachnophonia – MUS 235 Edition: Sounding Race In Rap Songs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note:<\/strong> Arachnophonia<\/a> is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library<\/a>\u2018s collection.<\/p>\n

This special edition of Arachnophonia<\/a> features contributions from students in Dr. Joanna Love<\/a>\u2018s MUS 235 class: \u201cI Want My MTV: Music Video and the Transformation of the Music Industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

All links included in these posts will take you to either the library catalog record for the item in question<\/a> or to additional relevant information<\/a> from around<\/a> the<\/a> web.<\/a>
\nToday\u2019s installment of Arachnophonia<\/a> is by MUS 235 student Rachel and features a chapter from the book Sounding Race In Rap Songs<\/strong> entitled “Let Me Ride: Gangsta Rap’s Drive Into The Popular Mainstream”<\/a>. Thanks, Rachel!<\/em><\/p>\n

Sounding Race In Rap Songs<\/em> by Loren Kajikawa<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Sounding<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Let Me Ride\u2019: Gangsta Rap\u2019s Drive into the Popular Mainstream\u201d is the third chapter in Loren Kajikawa\u2019s book Sounding Race in Rap Songs<\/em><\/a>. The chapter focuses on how lyrics, imagery, and sound worked in tandem in LA-based gangsta rap. Kajikawa compares Dr. Dre\u2019s work with gangsta group N.W.A. with singles from his solo career to identify the changes in sound, production, and aesthetic choices that allude to different ideas about race and politics. <\/p>\n

Kajikawa beings the chapter by quoting Robin D. G. Kelley\u2019s thoughts on the badass attitude emulated by rappers, especially during the Los Angeles Uprising in 1992. He explains that the purpose of inflating their personalities for being violent trouble makers, rappers were able to stand up to the powers and challenges that were oppressing them. This confidence allowed rappers to comment on issues such as police brutality, racial profiling, poverty, and the criminalization of black youth. With this in mind, Kajikawa hones in specifically on the aesthetic changes in Dr. Dre\u2019s music and videos to see the development of such critiques. <\/p>\n

Kajikawa quotes Murray Forman to explain that \u201crappers often cultivate and aura of authenticity tied to their respective \u2018hoods.\u201d N.W.A. does this with Compton, California to reflect the experience of the black community in LA. Kajikawa states that the conditions of the neighborhood N.W.A. identifies with offers insight into the decisions the group made in the making of their music and videos. From factories closing and laying off employees in the 60s, to rapid population increases in the 70s, to deindustrialization, LA was incredibly vulnerable and enabled by the mobility of capital. With the rise of the automobile industry and the construction of the freeway system, the excitement of newly accessible opportunities hid the isolation and dilapidation of poorer LA neighborhoods, like Compton. As a result, gangsta rap drew inspiration form the crime, violence, underground drug trade, and overall chaos in their community. These issues lead to an aggressive response by the LAPD, who sought to control the violence and sale of drugs with tactics such as search-and-seizure round ups and intimidation. N.W.A.\u2019s adoption of the gangsta persona in their music served as an outlet to use the system that was working against them to make money. <\/p>\n

\"NWA:

NWA: Straight Outta Compton<\/a> – Album Art (1988)<\/p><\/div>\n

After establishing the roots and influences of N.W.A. and gangsta rap in general, Kajikawa transitions to more of a musical analysis of Dr. Dre\u2019s work with and without N.W.A. In the song \u201cStraight Outta Compton,\u201d Dr. Dre samples a backbeat from the Winstons\u2019 and includes a syncopated snare and bass loop that sounds similar to the commonly sampled \u201cFunky Drummer\u201d by James Brown. Dre includes numerous repeating sounds, 16-count hi-hats, and various instruments like guitar and a horn drone. Though some of the sounds appear to be sampled, Dr. Dre preferred to have studio musicians recreate preexisting parts of songs to allow him more control over the tracks. <\/p>\n