Phase 3 Essay
Philip Bannerman 11/30/22
Kill Culture
Hip Hop is a genre of music that started off in the 80s and is said to date back to the 1960s. There are many theories on what inspired it, from Jamaican culture to Blues, but it is commonly agreed that it was started by a man who goes by the name of DJ Cool Herc from the Bronx. It would start off with dance crews battling each other, and eventually these crews would begin to rhyme against each other. This is something illustrated well in the Netflix special “The Get Down”, that follows a young crew of rappers making their way up the ranks during the genesis of Hip-Hop in the Bronx. The first major rap groups would consist of Run DMC, Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys, hip hop was a medium for the ghetto youth to describe their struggles and surroundings within the inner cities this came with a lot of socially conscious lyrics like when Public Enemy rapped “Elvis was a hero to most but he never meant s… to me, As he’s a straight out racist the sucker was simple and plain”(Public Enemy, Fight The Power, 1989), but as shown by the Beastie Boys it was always an inclusive culture. As time went on the rap game however would change drastically, while it has become even more inclusive and universal than ever before, Hip Hop is a genre that has become more negative over time, which has resulted in much destruction within the inner city community today.
The 90s would usher in a new stage of hip hop where we would see a higher popularity in street music, in contrast to the more conscious approach taken by the originators of the genre. Mobb Deep is a group who used to be more socially conscious with songs like “The Pressure” off their first project “Juvenile Hell” which detailed peer pressure felt by many youths in the ghetto, with lyrics like “My parents told me from day one stay in school and avoid all obstacles but my environment makes it so impossible”(Mobb Deep, Peer Pressure, 1993) as well as “Gotta find a way to get accepted by my peers so now Im sippin on beer”(Mobb Deep, Peer Pressure, 1993). Mobb Deep would also go on to describe their environment as a 247 stresser which goes with the theme of the whole album. However as time passed they would become more street based in their approach, with songs like Shook Ones, and while they were always involved in street activities the market for it just wasn’t there yet. Mobb Deep would be some of the first to show the world a group of young kids from Queens rapping as if they were street veterans, displaying their knowledge beyond their years. In Prodigy’s book “My Infamous Life: The Autobiography of Mobb Deep’s Prodigy” he would describe a time where he would go to his record label’s building and not be let in due to him looking to thug like, this is much different than todays world of music where labels openly embrace gangster persona because it sells records(Prodigy, My Infamous Life: The Autobiography of Mobb Deep’s Prodigy, 2011). Tupac, who came from a socially conscious background, with his mother being involved with the Black Panthers, was an actor before he became a rapper. Tupac would join a rap group called Digital Underground in 1990 rapping and gain popularity with positive songs like “Keep Ya Head Up”, “Brenda’s Got a Baby” and “Dear Momma” many of which are considered classics today. During this time period Tupac would audition for the role of Bishop in the popular movie Juice with Janet Jackson, and many people believe this is when his persona would change. Khalil Kain on a DJVlad interview would claim this changed Tupac’s whole trajectory, Kain would go on to say “Pac’s childhood was tumultuous, but at the same time he was well educated, well versed in the culture of black revolutionaries in this country”(DJ Vlad, Vlad TV, 2018). He would then say “It was already in him”(meaning his aggression) however he would say Tupac had to make a decision to either turn that side of him up or take it down and he took it up. Tupac would go on to influence much of the youth and die in a drive by shooting at the young age of 25 years old. During this time in the 90s according to the FBI crime would reach an all time high, and while this is reflective of the impact of 3 Strike laws passed in the 90s it also goes to show how many black fathers would be taken away from their childrens and put behind steel bars.
The 2000’s would see what I would call a positive turn in Hip-Hop where beefs would be much less likely to escalate to violence and death, and fashion would become more of a factor in the culture. People like the Neptunes, Kanye West, MF Doom, J Dilla, Madlib, Common and Lupe Fiasco would all be accepted in the game and while Kanye might have been seen as just a producer he had a huge role in Hip-Hop at the time. We would also see the trend of rappers becoming more business minded with Jay Z famously rapping “I’m not a business man, I’m a business Man”(Kanye West, Diamonds From Sierra Leone feat. Jay Z, 2005). We would see brands like Roc A Wear from Jay Z, Sean Jean from Diddy, Billionaire Business Club from Pharell, as well as Mascotte and Passtelle from Kanye(although never released). Jay Z would actually become president of Def Jam and Kanye would design a shoe that would inspire the creation of a signature shoe for David Beckham. As I mentioned before beefs wouldn’t escalate to death as often as in the 90s one example of this is that the biggest rap beef of the 2000’s was Jay Z vs Nas and nobody would get hurt during this dispute in contrast the biggest beef of the 90s was Biggie and Tupac and they would both lose their lives before the age of 30. We also saw more socially conscious rap with Artists like Kanye west, Talib Kwali and Common, Kanye once rapped “They say you can rap about anything except for Jesus that means guns, sex, lies videotape, but if I talk about god my records wont get played, Huh?”(Kanye West, Jesus Walks, 2004). This generation was much more positive than the 90s and it took the game of Hip-Hop to the next level, this was a time where making good music and looking fly while doing it was the main priority.
Then we get to the 2010’s, this is the era that saw the rise of many of the biggest stars we have today including, Drake, Travis Scott, and Lil Baby, it also saw the prominence of more conscious rappers like Kendrick Lamar and J Cole. This generation had a long range of styles artistically, however it also saw a rise in ignorance and death. Houston would popularize and cause for a rise in the use of Codeine, a drug made in America. Famously towards the end of the 2000s Pimp C would die of a codeine overdose, but this wouldn’t stop the youth from drinking it. The thing that is worse is the withdrawals when trying to quit, Boosie, G Herbo, Juelz Santana and Gucci Mane would all describe how hard it was to quit drinking lean. Gucci Mane would go on to say “Drying out from drinking lean is probably the worst feeling in the world” “You’ve been doing something for so long it’s kind of like food”(ESPN: Highly Questionable, 2017). The biggest young rapper today Lil Baby who made the theme song for this year’s World Cup, said that he was sipping lean for 10 years from the age of about 12 to 13 to 22 to 23. In January 2015 Lil Yams would die from a lean overdose, and famously at the concert in commemoration of his death many in the audience would sip lean in honor of him, this is an example of how backwards some aspects of the Hip-Hop culture have become. The 2010s would also begin a wave of a new style of music called Drill started by Chief Keef in Chicago, the genre would spread to every part of the world, from Ireland to London, to Ghana and back to France. One person who came from the same area that Chief Keef did and a former close friend of his would be a young man named King Von. King Von was formerly known for being a murderer dating all the way back to 2012 where he would famously, allegedly murder a girl named KI would had allegedly killed 11 people. To add insult to injury he would show up in the documentary made about her death and act as if they were friends. Von would claim to have killed 7 people openly and this persona would only benefit him as he would be able to tell well written fictional stories about murders and robberies. In one of the most well known beefs within Hip-Hop during the 2010s King Von would Beef with another rapper named NBA Youngboy allegedly over a female. King Von would one night see one of his associates in Atlanta and begin to beat him up, this is when he would be shot 5 times and surcome to his injuries. Fans of NBA Youngboy would make mockery of his death, and a photo of Von’s dead body would be posted on social media for the world to see, with NBA Youngboy himself rapping “Cleanup on aisle O youngin let that chop blow”(NBA Youngboy, I Hate Youngboy, 2022), O is the name of the block that King Von represented and this was perceived as a disrespectful lyric. With the popularity of the internet as well as rap culture the youth have become more prone to violence, and it is accepted as a cool thing in today’s culture. My stake in this is that I have a friend who makes music and he used to be more positive and conscious, however the peer pressure has overcome him and he has become what is known as a drill rapper himself. I always wonder what his trajectory would have been if he simply stuck to his original vision. I have another friend who used to be a great athlete who has also decided to become a drill rapper himself, and this is a trend we are seeing more and more in the youth today. Another trend that the drill wave started is the practice of smoking deceased opposition, this is one of the most serious signs of disrespect in today’s Hip-Hop culture. Edot Baby would rap on his song “Bangin for Bro” “B… we the reason they smokin on Lotti”(Edot Babyy, Bangin for Bro, 2021). Lotti was stabbed many years back and he would become a popular person to disrespect in the New York drill scene, the reason this is a messed up lyric is that it is considered an accomplishment for being the reason a young man who looks just like you has been disrespected for his death.
As it stands today, crime is down from the 90s, however the recent surge has caused it to be one of the biggest issues politically in the 2022 New York State elections. We’ve seen a rise of a genre of hip hop called Drill, which started around 2009 and would impact the world in 2012 at a time where more people were dying in Chicago than in Iraq where there was a war going on. Drill would spread all over the world to places like Florida, London, Ghana, Canada and even Ireland. Some may argue that drill is much like early hip hop in the way that it informs the public on what is going on in the inner city, as well as the fact that it brings up minorities specifically from poverty. And I would agree with these points, however I would argue that drill has inspired young boys to become more violent as well as more likely to join a gang. Even my young Cousin who grew up in the suburbs is telling other kids to …. his …. which is a term that was made more popular by drill rap. According to The Brennan Center “Crime rates changed dramatically across the United States in 2020. Most significantly, the murder rate — that is, the number of murders per 100,000 people — rose sharply, by nearly 30 percent”, 70 percent of these murders were done with firearms. We have also seen a surge in rappers getting killed, as this year alone saw the deaths of LottaCashDesto, Takeoff, PnB Rock and Edot Baby who helped start the new wave of drill in New York. Many have labeled rap as the most dangerous job you can have and we are seeing the people who founded hip hop all the way back in the 1980s outlive rappers who were born in the 90s and 2000s. Rappers dying has become so common that before the release of a docu series called “Hip-Hop homicides” could be released one internationally known rapper would be killed and another nationally known one would die as well.
With that being said it is safe to say rap has become a much more negative genre of music than it originally was , and this has led to the further decay of inner city culture. And the trend seems to be getting worse, not any better. I think Hip Hop has become more negative for multiple reasons, one being the many fathers taken away from their children as a result of the 3 Strikes act implemented to win the war on drugs, and also gang leaders being sent to jail for life. When leaders like King David and Larry Hoover were taken off the streets and in the case of King David taken off the earth, the youth had no more organization, but what they did have was a lot of guns, this led to chaos. Once the Black Disciples decided they wanted to become a political group instead of a gang, they were seen as too dangerous and taken down, and as Larry Hoover preached positivity he wasn’t able to run from his past. Black ran gangs were created to protect the black neighborhood, but as it stands today all they seem to do is bring destruction to their own neighborhood. One other person who i feel was instrumental in bringing drill like music to the limelight was 50 Cent who was able to have the highest selling album first week of all rap history, this showed that gangster rap was extremely profitable more so than ever before and three years after the Massacre, which was his best selling album drops. Drill rap is created three years after the success of this album and the rest is history. I also believe the rise in social media has introduced kids from all over to environments they would have otherwise not been exposed to at a young age, and it has also been a place to escalate tensions between different groups of people many times leading to death. I think the solution would be for another well respected black activist who is not controlled by a political agenda to reach the youth and the grown through powerful speech. Leaders who did this in the past changed the lives of many for the positive, Malcolm X used to be a gangster himself, but changed his ways through the teachings of Elijah Mohammed, and he would go on to do the same for countless other black men.
Sources:
Final-
https://www.newgeography.com/content/003799-crime-down-urban-cores-and-suburbs
Original-
https://hishouserehab.com/rap-hip-hop-drug-glorification/
https://www.colorlines.com/articles/unapologetic-homophobia-tyler-creator
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/outlawz-confirm-they-smoked-tupacs-ashes_n_942106
https://www.michigandaily.com/music/who-i-smoke-is-2021s-shocking-viral-hit/
https://medium.com/cuepoint/the-oral-history-of-kendrick-lamar-s-to-pimp-a-butterfly-622f725c3fde
Martin: “One of the biggest moments was seeing kids marching to “Alright.” We cried like babies because we were doing something. This is [our] vessel to get the message out. We had to use art for the message to help heal and help love.”
https://www.songmeaningsandfacts.com/dear-mama-by-2pac/
