2/28

Rap,Culture,&God
02/28/12

Trick Daddy - I'm a Thug

Raise of gangster rap thru 80s...
Death associated with all different realms

Hip hop became the CNN of that context , voice of that reality

Capture the pride of thug life

Civil rights movement key players dressed respectable, mainstream... Educated, law abiding, composed....

Hip hop generation, dress became confrontational ... A rejection of the conventions of 'respectable'


A Tribe Called Quest "Check the Rhime"
Electric relaxationi


NWA...
KRS one ...criminal minded

Scholar, Anthony Pinn defines 3 categories of Rap:

1. Status rappers
Narrative of poverty of success...
Materialism.
E.g rappers delight
2. Gangster Rap/hh
Fiercely Antiestablishment
Suspicious of all authority
History of oppression and mistreatment
Strong element of Nihilism - lack of ethics leading to life takin
Intense violence,
Pride of gangs
3. Socially Conscious Hip Hop
Strong value of spiritual, political, and historical education....
Self-awareness & realization... To know thyself



Jay Z as example of how these categories aren't mutually exclusive (test case:)

Theme of being a hustler (pg 12)
Rap had to evolve.... Divide, disconnect.... Early rap (partying, status kind of rap) did not capture the harshness of inner city life.....
It did not address some of the social problems: violence, drugs, police, abuse, etc.
Jay z particular interest in the psychology of a young kid in the ghetto... That was / is his story to share,tell and represent to the world of those who relate....

Witty description of poetry: pg 54 (importance)
- - a poet makes words work sonically , as sounds and music.... Rhythm and rhyme to'm..... Beyond just the content of the words, it conveys.

***Poets bends language... Recreating... Redefining...
Improvise and invent new ways of speaking the truth.***

...turns ordinary and familiar language into something that appears new, strange, surprising.

Like, as with
Walt Whitman makes you experience things youre very familiar with in whole new ways, e.g. look at grass thru a child's eyes

Exam q on 99 problems...





Native tongues