A Lesson to Learn from Hip-hop

We know Hip-hop is an intriguing genre that often produces controversial messages. Consider the reason previous generations of people tend to not like the music; they harken to a time when music seemed more respectable and innocent. If anything, they will lay claim to a lack of talent in the art form. This talent argument is made under the assumption that rappers do not play instruments or compose music, and/or they curse so much because they do not have a decent vocabulary.

There is a point to be made in these arguments against rap music, however they are simply reviews of the genre based on personal music preferences.

With all that said, I must assert that there is indeed as much to learn from hip-hop as there is to learn from a genre like jazz or classical music. For example, I insist you will learn about life in the “hood” from rap or how to put intricate poems together. For this instance, I am referring to rappers on the radio who are widely considered to be bad at rapping.

If a rapper focuses more on melody than lyrical complexity, it is assumed he does not have a message in his songs. Or if a rapper always mentions violence and drugs, he is thought to be dumb or some other type of extrapolation. I argue that the message of a song does not have to be confined to the face-value lyrics of a song.

Take 21 Savage, who is often rapping about murder and selling drugs, robbing, and having sex. What does this say about his character? If we take it at face value, we would assume he is a psychotic drug dealing serial killer. With some context, the picture becomes clearer. In interviews Mr. Savage seems to be a competent person, seemingly normal, aside from the face tattoos.

Obviously not some maniac. But then what do we make of the content of the songs? I insist we look at the context of his life to understand what could cause a man to think these topics are something to brag about. If all he knows is life from the “hood” where he grew up, what else do you expect him to speak about? We can assume he has been completely immersed in the troubling urban culture of Atlanta. His environment is obviously a large inspiration to his lyrics.

Rather than asking what is wrong with him for speaking about these topics in such a casual way, we should frame it in the question of the conditions antecedent to his rapping career. Why is it that his environment was/is so volatile, so traumatizing that it becomes the only familiar perspective? In fact, I view hip-hop in total as an ongoing critique of the society it is produced in.