Marshall Mathers, also known as Eminem what words or images come to your mind when you hear that name? Why? Have you ever completely listened to one of his albums, or even one of his songs? Or have you only listened to what the media has said about Eminem or about other rappers in general and used that as your basis for disliking him or rap? Have you ever spoken with your friends, children or family members about why they listen to Eminem or any other so-called gangsta rapper? Better yet, have you ever listened to a rap or rock song? What is a gangsta rapper? What is gangsta rap? Do any of us know or are those just terms that we use because the media uses those words? What is a slut, hoe (whore), prostitute, playa, pimp, and so forth and so on? Why are prostitution, pornography, nude/strip dancing, modeling and drug dealing necessary evils in this country? What is the hip-hop culture? What is hip-hop music? What is rap music? How are is rap and hip hop different or similar? Why should we develop critical analytical thinking skills when addressing any topic that the media (schools, newspapers, television, magazines, religious and other institutions) or our government speaks about?
KRS-ONE (Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone) has been quoted as saying, This is rebellious music, not gangster music, referring to hip-hop music. Here is an excerpt from Out for Fame off his self-titled album: Historically speakin’, cause people be dissin’/The first graffiti artists in the world were the Egyptians/Writing on the walls, mixing characters with letters/to tell the graphic story about their life, however/today we do the same thing, with how we rap and draw/We call it hardcore, they call it breakin’ the law/There used to be a time when rap music was illegal/The cops would come and break up every party when they see you/But now that rap music’s making money for the corporate/It’s acceptable to flaunt it, now everybody’s on it/graffiti isn’t corporate so it gets no respect/Hasn’t made a billion dollars for some corporation yet, so/in the name of Phase 2, Stay High, Pre-streets/Grab your cans and hit the streets, I’m out for fame.
Personally speaking, I believe that Eminem is one of the best lyricists out there. He has won international awards, and continues to do so, as well as the 1997 Rap Freestyle Olympics in Los Angeles. When I listen to his music, as well as to other musicians, I laugh, cry, get hype, think, get angry. What is profanity? Who determines what profanity is? Also, who or what determines what words, symbols, or gestures are profane or obscene? Is rap hated because it reflects the realities of the society that we live in and we wish to continue to live in the dark about what is really going on in America, and in the world now?
Just some final thoughts to think about from an excerpt of a speech A Time to Break Silence given by Martin Luther King Jr. expressing his opposition to the Vietnam War and linking that opposition to the civil rights movement. That speech was delivered to a meeting of clergy and laymen concerned about Vietnam on 4 April 1967. King said, My third reason (for bringing the Vietnam War into my moral field of vision) moves to an even deeper level of awareness, for it grows out of my experience in the ghettos of the North over the last three years especially the last three summers. As I have walked among the desperate, rejected and angry young men I have told them that Molotov cocktails and rifles would not solve their problems. I have tried to offer them my deepest compassion while maintaining my conviction that social change comes most meaningfully through nonviolent action. But they asked and rightly so what about Vietnam? They asked if our own nation wasn’t using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without first speaking clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent.
Why are we so silent about the abuses of our government at home and abroad? We do not know what the government does, because the media in their various forms, especially our so-called educational institutions propagate the lies that America is so great, but she really isn’t and we aren’t either.
Irucka Ajani Embry can be reached at [email protected] and is interested in learning more about the revolutionary aspects of the hip-hop culture.
