To understand what factors drive and influence the messages conveyed in gangsta rap lyrics, one must look to the environmental influences of the artist themselves. Kubrin examines the motivating factors represented in gangsta rap lyrics through the analysis of a sampling of music from 1993 to 2000. Kubrin's analysis excludes music produced after 2000 as she notes that 2000 marks a turning point in rap music industry "whereby production values more clearly addressed commercial competition, pushing cultural production and reproduction aside" (Kubrin, 367). Kubrin notes that gangsta rap differentiates itself from other types of rap as it is a musical expression of ghettocentricity," which engages "black youth cultural imagination that cultivated varying ways of interpreting, representing, and understanding the shifting contours of ghetto dislocation" (361). Kubrin identifies "the extreme, concentrated disadvantage and isolation of black inner-city communities coupled with the quantity and potency of drugs and availability of guns" as social-structural community characteristics that form the "code of the street" that influences the behaviors of individuals and emerges in the lyrics of gangsta rappers (363). Kubrin contends that street code can be viewed as a source or inspiration for rap lyrics and therefore can be understood to be a reflection of black urban youth culture (365). Rap lyrics offer insight into a culture in which violence is both appropriate and acceptable. These lyrics provide explicitly detailed "instructions for how to interpret violence, degrading conduct and…create possibilities for social identity in relation to violence (366). Violent behavior cannot be attributed to the violence described in the lyrics of gangsta rap music. Because music can be interpreted in a myriad of ways, rap and the genre's lyrics are "appropriated and embedded into specific individual, familial, and community fields of reference" (366). Both street codes and rap music lyrics do not incite action, rather provide "an accountability structure or interpretive source" which people can reference to better understand violent identity and conduct (366). To better understand the role...
This sample was further analyzed to determine the role of various street code elements such as respect, willingness to fight or use violence, material wealth, violent retaliation, objectification of women, and nihilism. The percentage of references to the above themes is as follows: respect-68%, violence-65%, material wealth-58%, violent retaliation-35%, nihilism-25%, and objectification of women-22%. Contrary to the popular belief that rap music lyrics are rife with misogynistic references, this study, as well as Armstrong's study, reveal that misogynistic references do not pervade rap music lyrics (369).
In McCrillis). For this reason, many people have worked tirelessly to restrict the sort of verbal hate crimes that Eminem commits against women, homosexuals and anyone else he desires. As Allan Bloom's book, the Closing of the American Mind notes, "Nothing is more singular about this generation than its addiction to music. This is the age of music and the states of soul that accompany it" (qtd. In Eby). When
The only thing that is missing is the freedom to make that choice, the freedom to do it without pain or sacrifice. But freedom always comes with a price, especially for women. In the process of gaining her choice, Ada loses a finger, loses her piano, and almost loses her life. We have to also look at history in the film. The Piano seems historically correct because women didn't have
Sociology and Feminist Theories on Gender Studies Postmodern Feminism in "Cherrie Moraga and Chicana Lesbianism" In the article entitled, "Cherrie Moraga and Chicana Lesbianism," author Tomas Almaguer analyzes and studies the dynamics behind Moraga's feminist reading of the Chicano culture and society that she originated from. In the article, Almaguer focuses on three elements that influenced Moraga's social reality as she was growing up: the powerful effect of the Chicano culture, patriarchal
Censorship in Music Censorship Under the Guise of Protecting the Children Rock and Roll Culture Hip Hop Culture Is Censorship in Music Viable and Does it Make a Difference? There have been many attempts by society control music. Governmental statutes, agency regulations, business controls and parents have all tried to censor the music. Sometimes they have succeeded and sometimes they have not. The examination of various aspects of rock and rap music censorship involves general
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now