Hip hop

Introduction-Hip hop is one of my favorite genres of music. It’s been around for many years impacting society in many ways. There are all kinds of beats, rhythm , and lyrics. From jazz to pop to hip hop, the types of music people listen to and can have an impact on them. Hip hop has been promoting social and political awareness for the people of today.

Central idea- Rap music educated people from several different perspectives and raises many social issues. Rap helps people speak freely about their opinion or view on either political or social issues. And by speaking freely,  it causes teenagers today to become concerned and aware of the things these artist talk about. This is important because it helps bring positive change in society. Hip hop is just a naturally way for people to express themselves or to relate to.

 

Source#1-J.Cole (“Be free”)

 

Annotated-When I listen to hip hop I can feel the energy the artist bring. Either it can be sad, happy, sad and etc. For me hip hop music just calms me down and it’s just gets you in a vibe. I have 6 different artist that I like to listen to and each one of these artist has a song that I strongly like.One of my favorite hip hop artist is J Cole.Cole is an American rapper, mixtape producer and music producer.He is known as one of the very few artist to never miss platinum standard of recording industry association of America. The reason why I like JCole is because the way he tells stories in his songs you can just feel his energy. One good song I like from him is called “Be free”. He talks about the death of micheal brown who had got shot by a white police officer. So he wrote the songs about how he feels and people like me feel where he’s coming from and feel the way he feel.”All we wanna do is take the chains off,All we wanna do is be free” this verse from jcole persuades the audience that we we just wanna be free from cops killing us.And this is why I like his music because he just tell great stories with his lyrics. J.Cole influences his audience to follow their dream to become a better rapper or just to become successful in life and you can achieve anything.

 

Source #2 – Dave East (“Don’t shoot”)

 

Annotated-  Dave East  is never afraid to speak his mind especially on social and political issues. The thing I like about Dave East is that he says what feels and don’t care how people feel about a situation. Dave uses social media exactly for what it was intended for which is to connect with his fans and just being an influence to others. In his song “ Don’t shoot” he adjust his voice to tell an envolving story of police interactions from child to teenager to an adult. His encounters become increasingly more alarming and violent, until his last one marks the end of his life. “This attitude is programmed/ Imagine getting harassed for you whole life/ All day and the whole night/ They say prison is the new slave ship”. When he says this he basically mean that the  police  want us african Americans in jail and they doing anything they can to do just that which is mest up.

 

 

Source#3 – Joyner Locas (“I’m not a racist”)

 

Annotated- Joyner Lucas is one talented artist. To me his one of many people I look up to when it comes to creativity. His audience is influenced about him because he raps to inform you on certain topics. And in his music videos he tells creative stories that goes with his lyrics which sends his message towards us. Joyner Lucas made a song called “I’m not a racist”. In this song he talks about racism, police brutality, and politics. In his song he basically shows a African American and a Caucasian person talking to each other but with lyrics. He says “ we were all humans until race disconnected us, religion separated us, politics divided us ,and wealth classified us. In this part of the song he just basically stating what’s going on in the world based on these titles.

 

Source#4 –  Tupac (“changes”)

 

Annotated-  Tupac was one of the greats to ever rap in the industry. In his rap he talked a lot about society. No artist has had that effect on so many people as Tupac did. He gave the inner city kids a voice. He helped pushed rap popularity to the global scale. He influenced a society full of teenagers, adults, and children. He made his fans feel alive and important because he cared about each and everyone of them. I feel that Tupac was a brilliant artist who used his platform to inform his audience about the world we live in. In his song “changes” he talks about society and police brutality. In his songs he says” Come on come on I see no changes wake up in the morning and I ask myself Is life worth living should I blast myself? I’m tired of being poor and even worse I’m black My stomach hurts so I’m looking  for purse to snatch Cops give a damn about a negro Pull the trigger kill a ni**a he’s a hero”. This is powerful statement because this something that goes on in today’s society which is sad

 

Source#5- Meek mill (“what’s free”)

 

Annotated- Meek Mill has more than earned his spot as the most important artist. His contributions to the culture are not measured by the quantity of music releases but, by his humanitarian work regarding criminal justice reform and underrepresented youth. Meek mill influence us as his audience to stand up for ourselfs. I find him brave. The reason why I say this because he is one of the few many that doesn’t care what nobody thinks involving political things. He says how he feels and uses his platform to say so. He uses his platform continuing his fight for social justice, using his platform to advocate on behalf or marginalized groups and against police brutality. Meek mill lyrics in his songs has powerful messages behind them. One  of his songs called” what’s free?”One line in his song was”What’s free?Free is when nobody else could tell us what to be

Free is when the TV ain’t controllin”He want us to see the meaning behind “free” and he describes the meaning of freedom and what what it really means to be free in his understanding of the word “free” for us to understand in today’s society.

 

 

Source#6- Kendrick lamar (“Alright”)

 

Annotated- Kendrick Lamar is one of the most admired artist in the hip hop industry. Kendrick not only wants to make gray songs for his audience but he want us to learn from him through his music. In his songs he talks about what goes on in the world either being police brutality, racial profiling, slavery, and other important events going on in the world. His audience love him because he is a one of a kind type of artist who not only talks facts but we can all learn from him. He had made a song called “ Alright” talking about what goes on around in his neighborhood and in the world. It is one my favorite songs from him. Kendrick said “ we hurt people that love us/ love people that hurt us”. This makes me think about how I should treat people and how they should treat me. He taught me that I can succeed by working hard.

 

Conclusion- Hip hop music can touch on many topics such as politics and just about anything. Rap music has helped a lot of teens in many ways. It helped us find our ways out of difficult situations, using the lyrics to relate to our lives and finding a meaning in them. Those words help us understand the world and help us understand ourselves. It’s something for us to fall back on.