Also, Copying/Pasting onto Blogger is like trying to do arts and crafts with a cast on both hands. I apologize in advance for any format errors and blame it all on Google. Fuck this for real. I am going to Tumblr.
There has been some editing as far as links, but the content is pretty much verbatim.
Since its inception Rap music has been a live
wire upon which the laundry of the ghetto was hung to dry. Besides the issues
of social injustice voiced in such classics as N.W.A’s “Fuck Da Police” Rap has
provided an intimate contextualization of generational climate. Be it in male
chauvinism in the ghetto, the lack of opportunities afforded . But probably
the most recurring theme in Rap would have to be: the need to acquiesce and display
material gain, a mindset which, I believe, is an extension of Booker T.
Washington’s ideals of monetary success as a means to gain socio-political
rights.
In no way is this a feeble attempt to be condescending. I doubt that Washington could have ever foreseen his ideas of economic growth evolve into such a tangible and powerful culture as the world of Rap has become. But, you’d be hard pressed to say Rapper’s don’t love talking about their money. Not only is this apparent to the passive listener but, this sort of monetary self-aggrandizement is evidenced in the statistics.
RapGenius, an open source lyrics website providing crowd sourced annotations on rap lyrics, shows the prominence of any words through the history of rap music with their clever algorithm “RapStats. When we search the word "Money"?
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| Feel free to cross reference ‘Money’ synonyms: Peso, Cake, Bread, etc… |
In 2013 the word ‘Money’ makes up for nearly a quarter
of a percent of the words used in all of Rap. To give some context, when I
searched the word ‘The’ it hits a little under 4% of all the words in Rap. And
we haven’t even gone into the similes (See: “I’m out for Dead Presidents to
represent me.”) Such a topical frequency specifically in the genre of Rap must
have a basis. I mean, you don’t hear Led Zeppelin howling about losing their gold chain to some Lady of the Night (though they do make mention of a woman that ‘drank
all my wine’ somewhere in the canyons of California.). And the Beatles most
famous line is “Money can’t buy me love.” I
guess if you count Tears for Fear’s classic “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”
as sort of bridging the gap between White people and Rap via Nas’ “The World is
Yours” then you certainly have the makings of a compelling think piece on the
singularity of the universe and all. (Get back to me.) But, Just why the genre of rap loves their ‘Stacks’ so much, may be evidenced by the
impact of Washington’s take on social class invasion eluded to in his speech The
Atlanta Exposition Address.
In the oft referenced Address; Washington called for the emphasis of African American communities to be foremost based in the instruction of labor skills. Namely, menial skills that could be utilized for money making ventures. To Washington this was the most effective path by which to gain civil and social rights. Despite his opposition from such greats as W.E.B Du Bois, Washington’s theory holds as much legitimacy as the cliché: ‘Money makes the world go round.’
In the oft referenced Address; Washington called for the emphasis of African American communities to be foremost based in the instruction of labor skills. Namely, menial skills that could be utilized for money making ventures. To Washington this was the most effective path by which to gain civil and social rights. Despite his opposition from such greats as W.E.B Du Bois, Washington’s theory holds as much legitimacy as the cliché: ‘Money makes the world go round.’
And as far as Du Bois goes; he argued that "The Negro Race, like all
races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men. The problem of education
then, among Negroes, must first of all deal with the ‘Talented Tenth.'"
Du Bois believed by educating the masses in matters of social and political
upheaval Blacks would gain the equality that they so desperately sought.
However, this ideology begs the question of what to do with the ‘Untalented Ninetieth?' Could the masses lacking the skills for educational prowess still have the ability to effect change? Maybe Biggie Smalls said it best in the preface to his classic “Juicy”, wherein he calls out “All the teachers that told me I’d never amount to nothing" Though it is true that the most impactful decisions for the race would be settled with a gavel, would not the raising of said gavel only be facilitated by the collective efforts of a people? To raise the social conscious of the country to a point of taking action Blacks would have to reach a socio-economic standing which would legitimize their cry for equality.
Since the time of these great leaders we have
seen the invaluable impact of both ideologies. Du Bois
helped fund the NAACP, a group who works tirelessly for the rights of the Black
minority. While, Washington founded the National Negro Business League an
organization that, in 1915 "influenced . . . national advertisers to use
Negro publications in reaching this importantly valuable group of people with
its tremendous purchasing power." Who is more influential and important is
ripe for debate.
However, an interesting offshoot of Washington’s
influence can be seen in the Black community in the vein of financial
acquisition. So much so that the
mode by which the majority of Blacks were inculcated to surpass social
restrictions has always been connected with monetary gain. Jason Chambers makes mention of this ideology in
his article Equal in Every Way where he states, “Whites were torn between the need to sell to blacks and the desire to
restrict their access to goods that spoke of status or comfort. Blacks, in
turn, correctly identified access to goods as both a fundamental tenet of
equality and a concrete measure of status and place.
Probably the clearest example of this credibility
acquisition would be Jay Z. The man known as the ‘Warren Buffet of Rap;’ Hov
himself. Specifically, let us examine the Jay Z curated Budweiser Made in
America Festival last year. An event that tallied over 80,000 attendees over
its two day weekend. During Jay Z’s headlining performance President
Obama, who was up for reelection at the time, made a virtual appearance and
spoke on how Jay Z is the embodiment of the ‘American Dream.’
A bit of context, if you will; Jay Z began his career by selling drugs in his neighborhood in the late 80s. (just listen to Reasonable Doubt. The whole thing is a Jay Z Drug Co. infomercial, and that isn't a bad thing.) He accumulated so much capital that by the time he began to explore other professional alternatives, particularly in the vein of making Rap music, he proceeded to open his own rap label; Roc-A-Fella Records. That was over twenty years ago and now the Leader of the Free World is endorsing him. If that isn’t the American Dream than I sure as hell don’t want to go to sleep.
We could delve into the similarities of Harriet Jacobs’s inability to attain the ancient standards of the Cult of True Womanhood and that of Jay’s own struggles in ascribing to the modern day Cult of True Businessman; how the ghetto does not allow for Black males to get off their feet without getting their hands dirty. But, regardless of justifications, the transition from ‘dope slinger’ to White House affiliate is nothing if not remarkable.
This sort of transition is by no means unheard of in the industry of Rap, in fact, for a time, it was seen as a rite of passage. Rather, Shawn Carter is the epitome and most publicized of this transformation yet to be seen in music. Arguably, this sort of strategy is exactly the one recommended by Frederick Douglass in his work Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass when he states “I centered all my efforts in the area of making money.” For Douglass this did not mean selling drugs, but in its own way his efforts were just as illegal.
Of course, this is not the only path by which a people can attain the ‘Dream.’ Rather it is just the most prominent example on display. And that display of financial excess is important, as Margaret Hunter points out in her piece Shake It, Baby Shake It, when she describes, “The practice of ‘making it rain’ serves several functions toward accomplishing a performance of masculinity. First, it shows that the rapper has access to lots of cash, presumably in larger bills. It is also a public display of cash that communicates his status to others." This display is essential in exhibiting one’s own raise from the ‘rags to the riches.’
It could be argued that in the modern era there is no more transparent and reflective source of Black culture than the outlet of Rap music. But, even that would be quite the understatement. As Testerman mentions, "92% of black males knew that Surge Knight was the co-founder of gangsta rap label Death Row Records— only 31% knew that Kwesi Mfume was the director of the NAACP. Clearly a powerful English language for influencing American youth is rap. Jay-Z and Kanye are the most influential Shakespeares of modern urban culture.”
Just how influential? Well, if you don’t believe that Rap has already crept into every nook of American culture look no further than the VMAs a few months ago. The much GIF’d about ‘Foam-Finger-Fuck Seen ‘Round the World’ (ala Miley Cyrus) is probably the clearest indicator of Rap and ratchet cultures (‘Ratchet’ is a culture now? Ugh) influence on every facet of American society (ages 13-30) regardless of pigment.
Get it gurl
But, if the materialism in Rap is the direct product of African Americans trying to elevate their socio-economic status within their cultural norms, then with the credibility of acquiring the ‘American Dream’ these rappers have not only raised their own socio-economic standing but also the identity of the entire race. A special responsibility has been placed on these speakers to embody the image, and voice the concerns of, their people wherever they can.
Some would go so far as to argue that by raising this identity so effectively Rap has taken on not just Black issues, but also American Issues across the board. In fact, even in the Norton Anthology of African American Literature's introduction to the topic of Hip Hop the author states “But… if the themes of hip hop lyrics are often brutally violent, self-destructive, nihilistic… and hollowly materialistic – ‘Gimmie the loot/ gimmie the loot’ one performer blankly repeats – do they not also echo such themes in U.S Culture at large?”
The most extreme example can be seen in Kanye West, who uses the cultural power he's achieved to push for further reform and acceptance within various art industries. Kanye has always been a poignant descriptor of the modern era’s obsession with possessions. Back as far as 2004 he pretty much summed up this entire treatise in his Top Ten Hit “All Falls Down” when he raps, “She’s so precious with the peer pressure/ Couldn’t afford a car, so she named her daughter Alexis.” Since then Kanye has gone on to push the boundaries of what a Rap Artist is capable of.
In Kanye’s infamous BBC interview earlier this year he passionately lashed out against the Fashion industry. Throughout his career Kanye has had an eye for fashion and has, among other credentials interned at Fashion mega company Fendi. His most affecting quote regarding his struggle to break through the world of fashion: “I look around and I say, 'Wait a second. There's no one around here that looks like me, and if they are, they're quiet as fuck.'” West, like his predecessors before him, is trying to break down the walls of racism in a sector that seems as strange an arena for the conversation as the courthouses did all those years ago.
The question is though, if Kanye West hadn’t established himself as a money viable product would anyone think twice about what ‘The College Dropout’ has to say regarding racism? Clear proof of what Washington said years ago, “No race that has anything to contribute to the markets of the world is long in any degree ostracized.” It would seem that Rap has become just that: a massive market contributor, breaking down class boundaries; one beat at a time.
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