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Devon Singh
Professor K. Minor
ENC 3310
8 December 2005
UNDERSTANDING VIOLENCE IN RAP MUSIC
ABSTRACT
Rap music is often criticized for its excessive violent content. While the genre
does offer many societal values, it frequently is overshadowed by violence’s presence. In
order to achieve realization of rap’s redeeming values, this paper attempts to make sense
of the violence that is present in rap music through the analysis of the following: rap as a
means of expression, the depiction of past experiences in rap music, lyrical battles, and
artists’ public image. Rap artists often rely on violent images to express their feelings
and past experiences. However, rap artists also utilize this same expressive technique to
rap about societal problems. Furthermore, the violence depicted during these past
depictions act as an eye-opener to the rest of society, forcing people in suburbia to
acknowledge the violence that occurs in the inner cities. Hip hop culture, which rap
stems from, has a history of rivalry in which artists lyrically battle each other through
songs, or battle tracks. Because the public feeds off of violence, during battles, rap artists
sometimes depict violent images to triumph their opponent. Some artists go so far as to
take the role of a thug or gangster in order to increase their popularity and sell records.
Analysis of these two instances reveals the obsession that our society has with violence.
Our forms of entertainment, which include rap music, will remain violent until we change
too.
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INTRODUCTION
Hip hop, an American cultural movement, is composed of break dancing, graffiti
art, rapping (emceeing), and DJ-ing (Robert). The rapping and DJ-ing portion of hip hop
culture is also known as hip hop music, synonymous with rap music (Robert). Rap music
often portrays violent images and themes, and has long been the subject of criticism.
This is unfortunate because violence does not represent the entire genre, and the societal
value that hip hop encompasses always appears to be overshadowed by violence’s
presence. However, instead of being belittling and protesting rap music, it may be more
worthwhile to analyze the rap artists’ motives for expressing such themes, in order to find
the genre’s redeeming value to society.
DISCUSSION
Through the analysis of the following, one may better understand violence’s
presence in rap music: rap as a means of expression, the depiction of past experiences in
rap music, violence as a metaphor for self praise during lyrical battles, and artists’ public
images. Once violence’s presence is understood, the realization of rap’s societal value
will be evident.
Rap music was founded in Bronx, New York, by a Jamaican disc jockey named
Kool Herc during the 1970s (Cook, The History of Hip Hop ). Due to Americans’ lack of
interest in reggae at the time, DJ Herc adapted his style by chanting lyrics over the
instrumental sections of the day's popular songs (Cook, The History of Hip Hop).
“Because these [instrumentals] were relatively short, he learned to extend them
indefinitely by using an audio mixer and two identical records in which he continuously
replaced the desired segment” (Cook, The History of Hip Hop). In order to get a party
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started, DJs would address the crowd with mini rhymes which incorporated street slang
(Cook, The History of Hip Hop). Eventually, Herc got tired of playing music and
speaking at the same time, so he got his two friends Coke La Rock and Clark Kent to do
it for him, which led to the formation of the first rap group (Cook, The History of Hip
Hop). Hip hop music became popular because it offered young New Yorkers a chance to
freely express themselves (Cook, The History of Hip Hop). Rap music has remained one
of the most prominent forms of artistic expression over the past 30 years. All over the
world, people are embracing hip hop, blending it with their cultures to create
contemporary music forms in which they can express themselves freely. In many
instances, violent images arise from these expressions. In the rap song What’s the
Difference, rapper Eminem states: “But if I do decide to really murder my daughter's
momma, I’ma sit her up in the front seat and put sunglasses on her.” While the image is
clearly gruesome, there is a greater meaning: Eminem, whose real name is Marshall
Mathers, is expressing his anger towards his ex-wife Kim, with whom he admits he never
has had a simple relationship with (Armstrong). When discussing violence in rap, one
name which is often mentioned is slain gangster rapper Tupac Shakur, whose works are
studied at universities such as Berkley, Harvard, and Washington (Hay). In his song
Souljah’s Revenge, Shakur says: “All you punk police will never find peace on the
streets ‘til the ni--az get a piece, f-ck em!” As with the previous example, there is a
hidden connotation: Tupac is lashing out at corrupt police around the nation. From 1986
to 1992, the U.S. Justice Department received over 47,000 cases of police brutality
nationwide (Ehrenreich 176). Interestingly, on October of 2003, Mr. Shakur was arrested
after an altercation with two off-duty police officers, whom he perceived were harassing
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a black motorist (Wikipedia). “He faced serious charges until it was discovered that both
officers were intoxicated during the incident and were using weapons stolen out of an
evidence locker. The charges against Shakur were dismissed” (Wikipedia). The slain
rapper once stated the following about his music: “My music is not for everyone. It's
only for the strong willed… This is in my heart, this is how I feel” (TupacQuotes.net).
Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, in his book Between God and Gangster Rap, explains the
following about rap artists: “They are not one-sided characters, they are complex moral
creatures who are attempting to use art to illumine pain” (qtd. in Kinnon). Now there are
two sides to every coin, and for every expression containing violence in rap music, there
are expressions containing positives too. Many critics fail to realize that the same artists
who utilize violent themes also rap “about political, social or economic empowerment.”
(Akil II). Rapper Eminem, in his song Mosh, “openly raps about Bush's lies about the
war in Iraq, and about the need for his audience, young potential voters, to get out and
vote against him” (Yalonen). Shakur’s song Keep Ya Head Up also conveys the positive
messages:
You know it makes me unhappy (what's that?)
When brothas make babies, and leave a young mother to be unhappy.
And since we all came from a woman,
Got our name from a woman, and our game from a woman.
I wonder why we take from our women,
Why we rape our women, do we hate our women?
I think it's time to kill for our women,
Time to heal our women, be real to our women.
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And if we don't, we'll have a race of babies
That will hate the ladies, that make the babies.
And since a man can't make one,
He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one.
So will the real men get up?
I know you're fed up ladies, but keep your head up.
Keep in mind this is the same artist that wrote Souljah’s Revenge, which was discussed
earlier. The positive expressions depicted in rap music are its first societal value.
Before the days of hip hop, African American radio stations played an essential
role in the community by being a musical and cultural preserver, also known as a “griot”
or storyteller (Cook, The History of Hip Hop). Griots reflected the customs and values of
the day in particular communities, acted as the primary source for Black information and
entertainment (Cook, The History of Hip Hop). Today, hip hop continues this tradition of
black storytelling by presenting incidents which occur in the inner cities of America.
Rap music was founded in the projects of Brooklyn, New York, where drug trafficking,
murder, prostitution, robbery, and starvation, to say the least, is the norm. Many of the
violent images depicted by rap artists are representations of past experiences and to do
not have criminal intent. In his song Juicy, the late Notorious B.I.G. portrays his
hardships:
Yeah, this album is dedicated to all the teachers that told me I'd never amount to
nothin'. To all the people, that lived above the buildings that I was hustlin' in
front of, that called the police on me when I was just tryin' to make some money
to feed my daughters, and all the ni--az in the struggle, you know what I'm sayin’?
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Dr. Dyson explains that the recent violence in rap is more than a wake-up call, as
thousands of kids continue to die throughout the ghettos of the United States on a daily
basis (qtd. in Kinnon). He suggests that we stop worrying about the rappers portraying
the violence, and start showing concern for those young Black people (qtd. in Kinnon).
Legendary rapper L.L. Cool J, in his song Homicide, raps:
I don't mean this in a disrespectful way,
But Columbine happens in the ghetto every day.
When the sh-t goes down y'all aint got nothing to say.
Killings are so frequent in some parts of the inner city, that the police stop taking
calls and even coming around. Through this use of storytelling, rappers take audiences
“on a fantasy tour of ‘the ghetto’” (Cook, A Convenient Scapegoat). Although some may
find it uncomfortable, rap music offers a crucial perspective of the inner-city life, hip
hop’s second redeeming value. Nikki Giovanni, a poet and activist, is frustrated with
those who confuse the message and the messenger (qtd. in Kinnon). She argues the
following: “violence didn't come out of rap… rap is expressing the violence that's there”
(qtd. in Kinnon). Furthermore, she believes that “we weren't even looking at [violence in
the projects] until rap came up and talked about it” (qtd. in Kinnon). Giovanni believes
that “rap gave voice to the conditions that people are living under” (qtd. in Kinnon).
Since the beginning of rap music, artists have been lyrically battling each other
through freestyle, a term used to describe non-scripted rap over live music, or rap-battle
songs. The outcome of a rap battle, usually decided by the fans, is vital for both
established artists, who hope to increase record sales, and upcoming artists, who are
vying for a record deal. During a battle track, “some rappers use the violent metaphors as
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part of a long tradition of toasting or bragging about their musical prowess” (Cook, A
Convenient Scapegoat). L.L. Cool J, in his battle track The Ripper Strikes Back, provides
a good example of this:
We just gon’ have some fun with hip hop
A lil hip hop... relax, hold on to ya seats…
I'ma tear the skin off ya a-- with ten knuckles…
I'm goin’ underground and blowin’ your rep down.
Someone who is not used to listening to rap-battle tracks may be totally turned off
by this song’s lyrics. However, the lyrics are not meant to be taken literally, as explained
by the first two lines of the sample. Another example of rappers utilizing violent
metaphors for self praise can be seen by logging online. The rise of technology has
allowed artists across the globe to lyrically battle each other by uploading their battle
tracks online. For instance, RapBattles.com is a site dedicated to holding online rap
battle tournaments. After each artist uploads their songs, the winner is determined by
online voting, and artists’ win-loss statistics are stored for the public to see. As with the
previous example, the hip hop community does not take any violent lyrics contained in
these uploaded songs personally, it is all in competitive spirit. Still, this competitive
nature of rap battles does not make the associated violent themes acceptable. However,
there is nothing more violent in these lyrical battles than what is portrayed by fans during
sporting events. International soccer fans have been known to violently mob the field in
the event of a disgraceful loss. Football and baseball fans in North America are also
guilty of portraying violence, specifically through “celebration riots” after a Super Bowl
or World Series win. When studied along with the gangster imagery promoted by rap
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artists, the violent images portrayed during lyrical battles provide society with its final
redeeming value.
Rappers sometimes utilize violent lyrics to promote a “harder” image to the
public. In fact, a “cottage industry has blossomed over the past ten years as record
companies and artists make a killing by selling a ‘thugged out’, misogynistic, gangsta
image” (Cook, A Convenient Scapegoat). Ja Rule, a rapper from Queens, New York,
depicts this type of imagery in his song World’s Most Dangerous:
Ya'll ni--as is scared of us
Declarin' us the world's most dangerous…
I'm killing these ni--as for a reason
Laying them down.
Judging from these lyrics, one might think Ja is among America’s most wanted.
However, Boston Herald’s Christopher Blagg describes the rapper’s lyrics as a “‘thug
romeo’ shtick [that] has finally worn thin,” reinforcing the fact that you shouldn’t judge a
book by its cover. Even the “promoters… are pressured toward a thug life, simply to stay
credible” (Fields). Shelby Steele, a black scholar who frequently writes for the Wall
Street Journal, writes: “A rap promoter without an arrest record can start to look a lot
like Dick Clark” (Fields). While artists are indeed accountable for what they choose to
portray, many critics fail to see the situation in proper perspective. Dr. James Comer, a
psychiatry professor at Yale University, explains that the majority of the artists come
from an enviroment that is not getting paid (qtd. in Kinnon). Then there are the record
executives who are getting paid, and understand that the public desires violence. As a
result, they sign young aspiring artists, straight out of the ghetto, to portray gangster
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images. Both sides benefit: the young artist gets paid, as well as an opportunity to
escape the ghetto, and the executives get richer. According to Dr. Comer, if these young
artists had meaningful jobs and opportunities, then we would not be seeing this (qtd. in
Kinnon). “Because rap has evolved to become such a big business, it has given many the
false illusion of being a quick escape from the harshness of inner city life” (Cook, The
History of Hip Hop). In the real world, money speaks, even if it means portraying
yourself as a gangster.
CONCLUSION
While it is true that “there are violent incidents associated with hip-hop,” these incidents
“do not define the mindset of the culture” (Cook, A Convenient Scapegoat). The first two
redeeming values rap music provides have already been discussed, but there lies another.
Through the analysis of rap music’s competitive lyrical battles and the promotion of
gangster imagery, the recognition of society’s obsession with violence is apparent. As
stated earlier, the violent metaphors that arise during rap battles are similar in nature to
the violence portrayed by sports fans. Both instances point to a society which is obsessed
with violence. The gangster imagery promoted by rap executives is the result of society’s
willingness to purchase violent entertainment. We live in a society which violence has
embedded itself in just about every form of entertainment: “just check out the ticket sales
to Hollywood's gangster films or TV programmes” (Cook, A Convenient Scapegoat).
Hip hop artists offer more than just a mirror of the violence in their own communities,
their work reflects that of society as a whole (Cook, A Convenient Scapegoat). Rap
music will remain as violent as we allow it to be, and it will not change until we do
(Cook, A Convenient Scapegoat).
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