7/24/2019 Political Rap

1/3

Brayden Gibson

Introduction

- Music along with other cultural creations, refects social power and positioning

(Rose 1995)- This article examines political rap music as a orm o cultural expression and

contri!utes to the literature on music and culture- "rican "mericans ha#e adapted to their marginali$ed position in a class centric,

and capitalistic societ%, through #arious cultural elements- Rose sa%s that people in oppression use transcripts in language, dance and

music to moc& those in power, and express emotion- 'olitical rap emerged in postindustrial "merica as a orm o resistance, gi#ing

#oice to the pri#ate trou!les o "rican "mericans- This paper examines political rap l%rics to understand how oten and in what

context these themes were used

- Most o the content o new !lac& cultural expressions are directl% or indirectl%political, demanding and usti%ing the legitimac% o a !lac& identit% and

tradition in order to esta!lish a cultural !asis or racial e*ualit% (+ans 19-)- 'olitical Rap suraced as a maor strain o rap music in the 199.s, it incorporated

/lac& ideals and eelings- /lac& rappers ad#ocated !lac& and white wor&ing class, as well as the class

!ased oppression the% elt- 'olitical rap told indi#idual experiences d racial oppression

o /% o0ering up alternate interpretations, it was used as social acti#ism

- 'olitical rap o0ers up a uni*uel% "rican "merican #iew o societ%, not o0ered

an%where else

Previous Studies of Political Rap

'olitical rap pro#ides a street ethnograph% o racist institutions and social

practices This article di0ers rom pre#ious !ecause there has !een no ocus on l%rical

content and their connection to the maor theme o oppositional resistance, and

the themes o police !rutalit% and unemplo%ment Related literature ser#ed as topical guides or this articles research

This t%pe o rap is !ro&en down into se#eral maor themes, the% go as ollows2

Redefned Concept o the black amily as the racial community.

o Rappers hope to reconstruct !lac& social lie !% an appeal to communit%(Mc3onnel 1994)

o n magines communities, although a mem!er will ne#er &now e#er%

other mem!er, the image o communit% is still e#o&ed (Rose!err% 1996)

Loss o economic opportunities.

o Relocation o wor& to the su!ur!s7 glo!ali$ation o manuacturing7

8hite:pper8or&ing ;lass /lac&

7/24/2019 Political Rap

2/3

o =ten prospects or economic !etterment through illegal acti#ities

Educational Bias.

o Rap music introduces !lac& %outh to their heritage and identities

(3ec&er 199-)

Health Care Inequality.

o >ealth ser#ices were ine*uita!le, !ecause o the lower class care in

poorer neigh!orhoodso 8hen "merica snee$es, !lac& "merica gets a cold

Criminal Justice iscrimination

o ;riminali$ation, sur#eillance, incarceration, and immiseration o !lac&

%outh in the postindustrial cit% ha#e !een a central theme in political

rap (?elle% 199-)o ce cu!e argued that the incarceration o !lac& %outh was ine#ita!le do to

police repression, as well as economic ine*ualit%

!olice Brutality

o @e#eral reports sa% that the Aost "ngeles 'olice 3epartment treated /lac&

communit% mem!ers une*uall% and !rutall% B#en including se#eral homicides as ustiCa!le

o The% arrested man% o the /lac& communit% mem!ers and used

ustiCed extreme ph%sical orce

"ass "edia "isrepresentation

o Media oten misrepresented /lac&s, telling onl% a negati#e onesided

stor% o their li#es The% oten ramed them lawless and amoral

Racial #enocide Conspiracy

o 'olitical rappers oten suggested that the high rate o, incarceration,

mortalit% and police !rutalit% were due to a conspirac%o @e#eral logos and s%m!ols o the time show "rican "merican %outh at

the end o a gun or scope, to signi% that the% are sighted or

elimination

Research Design and Methods

$ n this stud%, the% descri!e the re*uenc% and notion o oppositional resistance

and the themes mentioned a!o#e$ The data was drawn rom music l%rics that were categori$ed to answer the

*uestions$ The% selected 6 representati#es o political rap, ceT, D8", 'aris, 'B, ce ;u!e,

and ?R@=ne

7/24/2019 Political Rap

3/3

o Raps selected rom the late 19.Es and earl% 199.s, when this st%le Crst

reached prominence The sample included e#er rap trac& rom the 4. al!ums released !% these

artists, totall% F.6 songso "n anal%st was gi#en 5 al!ums and chose their thematic content, this was

cross chec&ed with another anal%st to #eri% that the content was there " scale was implemented to gauge the potenc% o the themeo . G Done

o 1 G mplied

o 4 G ;lear

o F G Bxtreme

The contextual meaning and signiCcance o the #arious themes within the rap

trac&s was urther explored !% unco#ering thematic connections, illuminating

the context in which those l%rics rose

Results

- =ppositional resistance was gauged on whether or not the trac& too& a resisti#e

stance- = the F.6 samples, 4.9 songs expressed some notion o oppositional resistance

o --H o the songs, resistance was ;lear (4) or Bxtreme (F)

- Black amily as a racial communitywas a common theme sampled in rap l%ricso ;onsisting o -5H o F.6, or 1FE songs

- =ther than that, no other themes were particularl% present- Themes o Criminal %ustice discriminationand Racial #enocide Conspiracy

expressed in com!ination in --H o the l%ricso This expressed an ideal that gang lie was one o the onl% wa%s to

sur#i#e in these poor areas, it was the onl% wa% to !e sae- /oasting as the !addest rapper was also common

Interpretation and Conclusions

- n this stud%, the% demonstrated the per#asi#eness o oppositional resistance in

political rap music !etween 19EE and 1994- The most prominent theme was the aIrmation o !lac& nationalism !% using

images o an extended amil%- Main @tream media portra%ed these cultural icons as people who challenge the

status *uo and are potentiall% dangerous (Rose 1991)- These rappers use powerul s%m!ols o !lac& men wielding guns or in militar%

outCts, in order to in#o&e ideas o resistance- The media seldom mentioned the positi#e aspects o the music, including

personal empowerment, antidrug rhetoric and a cele!ration o the !lac&communit%

;atherine /eighe% and D 'ra!ha :nnithan, 'olitical Rap2 The Music o =ppositional

Resistance &ociolo'ical (ocusF9 (4) (4..6), 1FFJ-F