Sid Ali Haddouche Christina Mansueti ENGL 115 F22N21 December 6th 2022 A music genre so popular, politically, and economically impactful, yet the most censored and frowned upon genre. The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, defines the countable noun Rap as “a quick sharp hit or knock”, and dates the origin of the word back to middle english, the modern uncountable version defines Rap as “a type of popular music with a fast strong rhythm and words that are spoken fast, not sung” (Oxford Learner's Dictionary). The two definitions share common grounds in a way that they are both done swiftly, and with some sort of force. However, the word Rap has adopted its own gracious acronym to describe itself as a musical genre, Rhythm And Poetry. Rap, is a subculture of Hip-Hop, which is a notable part of African American culture. As a descendent of Blues music, Rap is used to convey the stories, struggles, and everyday life of African Americans all across the United States, it has gained global popularity and solidified itself as one of the most popular music genres of our time. However, when describing the struggles and realities of life among other themes in a most honest way, the poetic content of Rap might take a turn for more inappropriate and descriptive lyrics, which are not always accepted by different people, despite laws of free speech and freedom of expression. This has sparked lengthy debates, and made rap a big topic of discussion amongst lawmakers, politicians, and the public by deeming rap as unsafe and violent. Thus, in attempts to make the genre more politically-correct, people-friendly, digestible, and economically profitable, censorship of Hip-Hop and Rap music, through multiple eras spanning nearly four decades, overlooks its artistic background, and has diminished the harsh realities and messages that this popular musical genre conveys. Rap music has always been the most vulnerable music genre to censorship, due to it being used as a musical platform for artists to express their life experiences, but also to develop new music from older music through sampling. The harsh realities explored in rap lyrics, as well as its aspect of sampling, are elements whose creative and artistic nature are overlooked and, criticised, by the public, as well as major parties in the music industry. Legendary rapper Chuck D, who was the lead rapper for the controversial 90’s rap supergroup Public Enemy, was a prime example of a rapper whose lyrics were met with public backlash. However Chuck D embraced this role and stated in an interview with musicologist Robert Walser, “My job is to write shocking lyrics that will wake people up” (Walser 193). Another noteworthy point from Walser’s article was that “In less than fifteen years, rap music has grown from the local performance practices of a Bronx subculture, into a multi billion dollar industry which mediates a music made and heard around the world”. Following this, “And since 1988, Chuck D’s lyrics have been at the centre of many of the controversies surrounding hip-hop culture, awakening, energising, and unsettling fans and critics”. Though in response to this negative impact behind Chuck D and his lyrics, a positive light is shone upon him when it is mentioned that “Chuck D has been accepted by many people as an important spokesperson for the hip hop community, and even for African Americans more generally” (Walser 193). However, rap music does not only revolve around its lyrics, but instrumentation and production is a key for a Rap artist to express themselves. The original root of Rap music is the aspect of sampling other music to interpolate previous musical masterpieces into new ones. This could be done either by taking a whole melody from another song, or using a random drum sound lasting a split second, and converting it into a motif for the entirety of the song. This reincarnates music that was once forgotten, but is met with hostility from the music business and artists who are being sampled, as they feel that rappers and producers are profiting off their likeness, without credit, and have labelled Rap music as “not original, not melodious, and not requiring musical skill” (Walser 193). Sampling has even been described as “the musical equivalent of shoplifting”, however, in the perspective of Hank Shocklee, who is the head of music production for Public Enemy, he defends sampling by saying “Everybody's copying variations anyway. The difference is we're taking it from the record and manipulating it into something else”. Like art pieces, painters used their works to express their position on current states, Picasso’s Guernica as a protest painting against war, or an expression of the divine in The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo. Each of these paintings are interpreted and appreciated differently, however, the freedom to express themselves as artists is respected and valued. The same can not be said for Rap lyricism and the aspect of sampling however. Rap artists are free to express themselves, tell stories, and create new musical ideas using previous ones, but are condemned because it comes off as dangerous to the greater public, and negatively impactful financially to parties who might not appreciate the music for its artistic qualities, but only value the economic side behind the art. Censorship is necessary to a degree in music, however should not develop into any sort of political, or judicial case attempting to condemn particular genres, especially when considering laws and constitutional rights such as freedom of speech and freedom of expression in North American countries. In 1985, a group of politically well-connected women or “Washington Wives” (Binder 753), who called themselves the Parents’ Music Resource Center (PMRC) were invited to testify before the United States Senate Committee on Commerce Science, and Transportation on the harm that Heavy metal music was doing on the youth in the United States. Over the rest of the 1980s, and entering the 1990s similar meetings were held about the lyrics that were being rapped by major groups and stars, with hopes to fully condemn the genres. An outcome of the original 1985 conference went against that appeal. “The freedom of speech frame maintained that labelling albums, printing lyrics on album covers, and encouraging musicians to use restraint, restricted artists' First Amendment right to freedom of speech and created a "chilling effect" on expression. By arguing that the real danger is presented not by rock music, but by those who want to control what should or should not be heard” (Binder 753) Heavy Metal and Rap music, two genres of music that struck fear into the hearts of parents in the 80’s until the early 2000’s, were the first major cases of music having been taken to the United States Senate to undergo some form of correction, screening, or condemnation. However the goals of the so-called “Washington Wives” were not achieved, as the rights and amendments that they were so well aware of, were also the same rights that would not allow them to propose such reforms. In an act of conformity with censorship and censorship laws, artists have started to intentionally censor their music to comply with the aim to make rap more people-friendly ,economically profitable. But in addition to this, self censoring can strategically be used to manipulate audiences into supporting an underlying cause. In 2020, rappers Meghan Thee Stallion and Cardi B, shocked mainstream music and media with their hit single W.A.P. (W*t A** P***y) a song of vulgar nature which was intelligently marketed by releasing a cleaner version of the song first instead of the original version. Ben Sisario interviewed experienced radio programmer Doc Wynter, the head of hip-hop and R&B programming for the famous radio station iHeartRadio, who mentioned that he was “thankful that radio stations had systems in place to prevent records like WAP from airing on radio”(Sisario 1). WAP found its way onto the radio and streaming services from social media platforms such as Tik-Tok and Instagram, skyrocketing in popularity, maintaining the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks and drew 1.1 billion streams on streaming platforms. However, Cardi B and Meghan Thee Stallion deliberately self-ed their song despite it being encouraged as freedom of expression and female empowerment in the modern day, to spark such outrage amongst a youthful generation who felt that W.A.P was deliberately being condemned by mainstream media. This strategic means of promoting music again ties into ways that censorship makes rap music more people friendly, and politically correct. It is what kills the meaning of rap and hip hop. It is understandable that they might want to censor their music in order to amass a grander and more general audience, however the underlying intentions, sociopolitical implications, and commercial success which censorship creates, is demeaning to the musical genre. It is also a great disrespect to the multitudes of artists who have protested that their music be heard and understood in its entirety. Rap is a genre that constantly evolves with time, it is a continuous portrayal of the world around the artists, and does not face the threat of dying out or losing popularity like older musical genres. Differences can be seen through different rap artists from different parts of the world, and different times which constitute different political eras. Ultimately, a difference in a rappers portrayal of their current situation, leads to different themes being expressed in the lyrics of their songs, and their messages being expressed using explicit language. These songs are taken as violent, and harmful to the people who listen to it, however rap artists and their supporters argue that it is their truth which they are speaking, and that they are simply narrating what goes on around them. References: Binder, Amy. “Constructing Racial Rhetoric: Media Depictions of Harm in Heavy Metal and Rap Music.” American Sociological Review, vol. 58, no. 6, Dec. 1993, pp. 753–767., https://doi.org/10.2307/2095949. Sisario, Ben. “Cardi B's 'WAP' Proves Music's Dirty Secret: Censorship Is Good Business.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 27 Oct. 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/27/arts/music/clean-versions-explicit-songs.html. Walser, Robert. “Rhythm, Rhyme, and Rhetoric in the Music of Public Enemy.” Ethnomusicology, vol. 39, no. 2, 1995, pp. 193–217., https://doi.org/10.2307/924425. “Rap Noun .” rap_1 Noun - Definition, Pictures, Pronunciation and Usage Notes | Oxford Advanced American Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com, The Oxford Learner's Dictionary, https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/american_english/rap_1#:~:text=1 %5Bcountable%5D%20a%20quick%20sharp,sharp%20rap%20on%20the%20door.&text= Look%20up%20any%20word%20in,Oxford%20Advanced%20Learner's%20Dictionary% 20app.
