Another Rap on
Rap Music
Music—it
surrounds us in our everyday lives. We
hear it in the car on the radio, in shopping malls on the public announcement
system and in our heads via the headphones of close proximity to our brains. One type of music that is highly criticized,
highly politicized and very popular today is rap music. In November of 1991, David Samuels wrote an
article for The New Republic about rap music entitled “The Rap on
Rap: the ‘Black Music’ That Isn’t
Either.” In the article, Samuels
explained that the main consumers of rap music are white, suburban teenagers
because rap is saturated with sex, violence, drugs and other aspects of crime,
all of which are exotic to suburban whites and have no place in white society. Samuels also explores the history of rap
music, from its insignificant beginnings called “toasting” in Jamaica, to the
omnipresent hybrid form it has today due to the influences of white America
(Samuels). “The Rap on Rap” is a fairly
well written article and although Samuels believes that white consumers have
imposed a high degree of influence on rap music, white consumers have only
slightly affected rap music.
David
Samuels’s article “The Rap on Rap” was in certain aspects well written;
however, there are some areas that need some work. One reason that this article was well done is
that author’s avoidance of logical fallacies, which are arguments using false,
misleading or illogical reasoning. It is
important for a writer, like Samuels, to steer clear from these and other
fallacies because they detract from the value of his or her writing and the
author can lose credibility. Samuels
does not use fallacies in his article, which can only help his argument and his
credibility as a writer.
A
second way Samuels’s article was well written was his use of evidence and
supporting facts to do just
that—support his view on rap
music. One of Samuels’s viewpoints is
that rap appeals to whites because it is foreign, sexually charged and quite
violent. He then goes on to cite specific
lyrics that give backing to his opinion.
One example of this is his views on violence in rap. Samuels says that violence is one reason why
rap is popular, especially among suburban whites. He then quotes lyrics from N.W.A. and Ice
Cube (after he left N.W.A.), like “A young nigger on the warpath and when I’m
finished, it’s gonna be a bloodbath of cops, dying in
David
Samuels could have improved his article “The Rap on Rap” in two different
areas. The first area that was not
particularly good was the clarity of the author’s thesis. Samuels really never comes out and tells us,
the readers, what his thesis is. Without
a clear thesis, readers have trouble understanding the essay as a whole. As well as not understanding the verbiage and
purpose of the essay, an unclear thesis questions the ability of an author to
write in a convincing manner; and this, in effect, leads readers to question
his or her knowledge on the subject and ultimately his or her credibility. Luckily for Samuels, the Common Culture
editors clearly stated his thesis in a mini-prologue and prevented this sort of
thing from happening.
A
second way this article could be made better is to have Samuels at the very
least mention, if not explain, the other side of the argument. Expressing the views of the opposing side
shows the reader that the author is a logical, well-balanced and open-minded
debater. There was no evidence in the
article that shows otherwise; there was no clear-cut, textual proof of Samuels
giving credit to the other side. The Common
Culture book classifies this article in the “Index of Rhetorical Mode” not
as an argumentative piece, but rather as an analytical piece, which it is. This categorizing proves that Samuels is just
trying to shove his opinion down the reader’s throat, not to have an
intellectually stimulating conversation about rap music.
In
summary, David Samuels’s article “The Rap on Rap” was all right; it had both
good and bad aspects to it. He avoided
logical fallacies and supported his thoughts with real evidence, which were
good for his essay; however, he was not clear about his thesis and did not
discuss the viewpoints of his opponents, which were faults of his essay. Though the article was enjoyable, part of
Samuels’s stance on rap music is wrong.
He is right about why suburban whites enjoy rap music; however, white
influences play only a minimal role in the progression of rap music.
White,
suburban teenagers must like rap music a lot, especially since they are the
genre’s largest consuming demographic of rap.
They like rap because it is foreign to them. This foreignness can be broken up into four
aspects, which are sex, violence and crime, drugs and rhythm and beat. Sex has always been a taboo in white,
middle-class society. Many people
believe that sex is a gift from God and should wait until marriage. Pimps, hoes and prostitutes are often looked
down upon for their filthy and immoral actions.
So, instead of breaking the middle-class marriage rule, rap listeners
can listen about sex and get some sexual satisfaction out of the music without
actually committing to the act. Sir
Mix-A-Lot’s song “Baby Got Back” talks exclusively about women’s buttocks and
how sexually pleasing they are. Some of
these lyrics include, “When a girl walks in with an itty-bitty waist and a
round thing in your face you get sprung” and “My anaconda don’t want none
unless you’ve got buns, hon” (Lyrics Style).
“Getting sprung” refers to male sexual arousal and “anaconda” refers to
the male genitals. Violence and crime is
another reason why whites love rap music.
Some of the worst, most deadly and most gruesome murders, rapes, arsons
and other violent crimes occur in urban, poor areas. In the 1990s,
Samuels
is incorrect about the amount of influence white consumers have on rap
music. Like moves and television, music
is in a constant state of evolution; music progresses towards a more racy,
unstable form as society becomes desensitized by its ever-increasing popular
culture environment and as musicians, rappers included, have the need and
desire to keep their current listening base and possible increase their
listening base in the future. Take
television for example. In the 1950 and
‘60s, TV shows like “Leave It to Beaver” and “The Andy Griffith Show” were
popular hits; they were good, wholesome, family fun. Nowadays, few people watch these shows
because they are so boring. Some of the
topics on today’s shows, like sex, drug use, violence to name a few, would have
never even been dreamed about being on TV in the ‘50s and ‘60s. The same goes for rap music. When rap first broke the scene in the late
1970s—early ‘80s, songs like “Rapper’s Delight” were all of the rage. Not once in the song do the rappers of Sugar
Hill Gang curse, mention anything about drugs, sex or violence or make the
listener cringe from hearing something terrible. Now look at rap today. In “In Da Club,” by 50 Cent, 50 Cent talks
about possessing ecstasy (“Look mami I got the X if you into taking drugs”),
having sex (“I’m into having sex”) and quite often then not he curses or says a
derogatory name, like nigga (lyrics.astraweb.com). So why has rap music gotten so much worse
compared to when it first began? Well,
it is not because of white influence, but rather because society becomes
desensitized to once suggestive and risqué subjects. In order to combat this and keep their fans,
rappers must go to the next level so fans will want to come back for more and
the rappers can make a living.
Whites
do not influence the content and form of rap music, but they do dictate which
rappers move to the top and become part of the elite group called “The Rich and
Famous.” Because, as Soundscan pointed
out, white, teenage males living in the suburbs are the largest socioeconomic
group consuming rap music albums, they have the ability to make or break a
rapper’s careers. Consumers hear
different artists on the radio, on MTV or in other places and then make a
decision of whether or not to purchase that artist’s album. If an artist is not popular among the white,
suburban group, then he or she will most likely have a difficult time selling a
vast number of albums and will therefore quickly drift out of the music scene
because he or she cannot make a living off of meager record sales.
The
David Samuels article “The Rap on Rap” was an article of mediocrity and his
points were valid. He is correct about
why whites like rap music, but incorrect with his statements that whites have
an extraordinary amount of influence on the rap business. He claims that rap has become a hybrid of
white and black culture when it may possibly be the rappers fault for the
change in content and style. This rap
music conundrum will probably never get solved.
Only the rappers themselves know who or what influences them. So next time someone buys a rap album, he or
she should think about his or her own rap on rap.
Works Cited
Cent, 50. “In Da Club.” lyrics.astraweb.com.
http://lyrics.astraweb.com:2000/t5d.cgi?50_Cent..get_rich_or_die_tryin..in_da_club.
Dre, Dr. and Eminem. “Forgot About Dre.” Lyrics Style.
http://www.lyricsstyle.com/e/drdre/forgotaboutdre.html.
Mix-A-Lot, Sir. “Baby Got Back.” Lyrics Style.
http://www.lyricsstyle.com/s/sirmixalot/babygotback.html.
Samuels, David. “The Rap on Rap.” Common Culture. Eds. Michael Petracca, and Madeleine
Sorapure.
Third
Edition.
Another Rap on Rap Music