L.A Riots of 1992 and HIP-HOP

 In today's class we talked about Gansga Rap and about how rappers who have committed crimes and have been in jail are not welcomed by society but are welcomed in the hip hop community - and are even glorified for it.

The Los Angeles Riots of 1992 changed Rap music.

The Los Angeles Riots of 1992 started when Rodney King led police on a high-speed chase through the streets of Los Angeles County before eventually surrendering. King resisted arrest and was brutally beaten by police officers. Without the police knowing, a citizen with a personal video camera was filming the arrest, and the 89-second video caught the police beating King with their batons and kicking him long after he was capable of resistance. The video, released to the press, caused outrage around the country and triggered a national debate on police brutality.

Twenty years ago, when the L.A riots were ignited on April 29,1992, a single man’s life became the means for a rap revolution led by Ice Cube and other hip-hop icons. By the time of Rodney King’s beating, rap had already put its stakes into the American musical underpinning, giving birth to both intellectual discourse on race relations and social injustice, as well as shameless verbal rebuke in the form of gangsta rap.

"Gangsta rap is a subgenre of hip hop music that evolved from hardcore hip hop and purports to reflect urban crime and the violent lifestyles of inner-city youths. Lyrics in gangsta rap have varied from accurate reflections to fictionalized accounts. Gangsta is a non-rhotic pronunciation of the word Gangster."

The riot era was the era of Ice Cube, 2Pac, Dr. Dre, NWA, etc  During that period most of the music was done by black males in their early twenties from depressed urban ghettos, infested with gangs, drugs and brutal police.

The VH1 rock doc Uprising: Hip Hop & the LA Riots recalls the days and nights when Los Angeles burned. On the 20th anniversary of the L.A. riots, Ice Cube remembers where he was when the uprising broke, and how hip hop fueled the insurgence

A prominent voice in the movement, Cube became a rapper and actor who pioneered this subgenre of west coast hip-hop with his anti-authoritative gang of poetic nihilists, N.W.A.. At the time of the riots, he was on to his own initiative, releasing solo records and focusing on a burgeoning career in the movie business.

“There was gang truce records, you know, records that really tried to grab the spirit of the riots and what it was about,” said Cube, “It wasn’t about burning buildings, it was about justice. You know, for not just Rodney King, he’s just the spark. Justice for all the Rodney Kings that’s out there that didn’t get on camera, didn’t get on film. At a certain point, people just get so fed up they get violent."

           

something from nothing!!

The spirit of Hip Hop culture really comes to life in Ice-T's movie: "something from nothing: the art of rap"

In the movie he takes us on a personal journey into the heart and soul of hip-hop with the legends of rap music. This documentary shows us what goes on inside the minds of the grandmasters of rap. Ice-T is known as the godfather of Gangsta rap, he is granted unparalleled access to the personal lives of the masters of this art form that he credits for saving his life. Interspersed with the performers' insightful, touching, and often funny revelations are classic raps and freestyle rhymes. What emerges is a better understanding of, and a tribute to, an original American art form that brought poetry to a new generation

"I've interviewed 50 emcees - everybody - [from] Kanye West, Ice Cube, Eminem to Melle Mell, Grandmaster Caz," explained Ice. "The Hip Hop scene has become so pop. I was like, 'I'm gonna do a movie about real rappers and what inspired us.' Maybe that'll hit a reset button on the game and let these kids know it's not just about a pop record. Rap can do a lot."

"Without rap, where do you think you would be right now?

ICE-T: Oh man, if it wasn’t for hip-hop, I don’t know. I’d probably be in prison. I was actually on a different road. I was another road to what I thought would be success, and then I started to rap on the sidelines. I would go out and do whatever I was doing, and then I would go rap. And then, my friends started getting deeper in trouble and getting locked up, and they were like, “Ice, stick with that, man. Don’t come here.” I did the movie Breakin’, and that was my foot out of the game. I’d say people are victims of circumstances and they’re limited to the opportunities that they see. Even though there might be more opportunities, you might not see them. You might just think, “I don’t have any options.” You usually go to the dark side, in that situation."  --> this was Ice-T's answer when a editor ask him this question. 

As we have learnt till now, rap saved and inspired many people that had nothing.

The Signifying Monkey

"Way,way down in the jungle deep The badass lion stepped on the signifying monkey's feet. The monkey said, "Motherfucka, can't you see? You're standing on my god damn feet!"

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s original, groundbreaking study explores the relationship between the African and African-American vernacular traditions and black literature, elaborating a new critical approach located within this tradition that allows the black voice to speak for itself.

There is always a figurate of oppressor. The lion oppresses the monkey, but the monkey always wins even if he doesn’t have political power. The monkey isn't really resisting the system that is oppressing him, but by glorifying it with humor. He does that by talking about it and saying he beat the lion, even if he ends up in jail, he prevails it.

Rappers such as snoop dog and jay Z who rap about pimping are an example of this opposition to society, by creating a sort of mockery of the system. The idea is to create a sort of pseudo power that is relevant and employed by people to give and show their power and strength regardless of their circumstances. This trickery shows that their attitude is all they have. They use their attitudes to empower themselves.

Being heard when speaking a message and having a crowd to hear is also important because the performer in the spotlight is competing for recognition and for being the best. Performing in front of huge crowds and coming out victorious proves it.

African American Roots

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Every musical genre has it’s genesis, it’s origins, it’s beginning.

Rap music isn’t just a genre in itself; it mingles many other types of music, like gospel, jazz, Motown, R&B and soul music. 

Rap is by no means a modern invention. The idea of creative use of language, metaphor and indirection is found in African history as a means to express discontent with the social system

It’s a known Fact that African Americans feel that they are the victim’s of white oppression in America. Hip Hop was a new creative way to speak out against this social inequity. Moreover it is deeply rooted in a history of black people declaring fearlessly, yet in a hidden language of symbols, messages of unshackling themselves from the powers oppress them.

Music like Rap changes with every generation. New beats and new artists shape the entire scene as they go along only to be changed again.

The beauty and that unique twist that rap has is the fact of relating it with oneself. To some people the aggression and anger that is portrayed within the lyrics and to others it can bee seen as an art. 

This song has such an amazing beat! Kinda reminiscent of old classic rap fused with modern rap beat