Black Ink
Cover Story
Influences on Rao
Rap as it exists in the Hip Hop sub
culture is influenced by many different
elements. Of course, rap is influenced by
Africanisms and the streets. However,
two other important aspects that are
overlooked are geogrc^hyind the middle
class.
The geography influence stems from
the differences between east coast and
west coast rappers. The first rappers to
record songs came from east coast cities
such as New York and Newark, New
Jersey. Consequently, east coast rappers
argue that they are the best artists. Ten
sion over geography has led to fueds and
rifts in the rap industry. Brian Austin
argues that you can see differences be
tween the styles of east and west coast
rappers.
“East coast rappers have moved heav
ily towards nationalism in rap. They’re
concerned with Afrocentrism, black
education and black pride. On the con
trary, west coast rap takes a harsher and
grittier stance on the world. West coast
rappers from places like Los Angeles use
a lot of violence in their music that isn’t
seen in other rappers.”
The middle class influence in rap
stems from the fact that all rappers do
not come from the inner cities or the
ghettos. Over the past several years,
rappers such as Fresh Prince and Young
MC have emerged in the industry. Rap>-
pers from middle class backgrounds
portray a different side of life than other
rappers. Rappers who come from the
streets, such as Niggers With Attitudes
(NWA) sometimes reject the clean-cut
image presented by middle class rap
pers. Still, the middle class influence is
now very much a part of the hip hop
subculture.
Rap Controversy and Censorship
Rap has been a target of controversy
from the very first rap recording. Rap
pers have often been accused of inciting
violence, mistreatment of women, ra
cism and anti-semitism. Several rap
concerts were cancelled during the early
1980s because people thought they might
lead to riots. Current controversies have
arisen over obscenity and explicit lyrics.
Why has rap been given such a bad rap?
Harry Allen feels that the contro
versy over rap lyrics weakens the whole
idea behind hip hop music. “Hip hop is
descriptive and often attempts to be
prescriptive. African-American people
are using music to make sense of our
drcumstances.”
Brian Austin said that people misin
terpret the lyrics and develop stere
otypes about rap artists and black people.
“People believe that you have all of
these rap artists who want to overthrow
capitalism and start riots because they’ve
been oppressed, which is not the case at
all. Then society interprets this to mean
that all youth in the inner cities want to
cause riots or unrest."
Dr. Margaret Blanchard, a journalism
professor, said censors always go in
behind popular music. Dr. Blanchard
teaches Journalism l60, a class on the
history of free speech in the nation.
“Rap music is the cause of the day.
Back in the 60s and 70s, there was a
campaign against the Beetles and Peter
Paul and Mary. At one time, censors
claimed that heavy metal music led to
devil worship. Now rap has become a
big thing, so censors have to go after it.
In a few years, they’ll change it to
something else again.”
One rap group in particular. Niggers
With Attitudes (NWA), has caused con
troversy with its violent lyrics and pro
fanity. NWA’s members are all former
gang members including Eazy-E. Much
of the group’s music reflects the vio
lence of ghetto life in south central LA.,
such as gangbangs, drive-by shootings
and police sweeps. They been labeled as
police haters and racists. Ice Cube served
as the primary song writer for NWA.
NWA’s first album “Straight Outta Comp
ton”, which was released in late 1988,
has achieved platinum status. Eazy-E’s
solo LP, “Eazy Duz It” has almost reached
double platinum status. NWA was
watched by the FBI after it released a
song called “F—k the Police.” Ice Cube
left the group last year after a dispute
over money. He released his debut al
bum in 1S>90 titled “AmeriKKKas Most
Wanted”, which contains the songs “The
Nigger You Love to Hate” and “Who’s
the Mack.”
NWA and Ice Cube do not seem to
glorify violence but present their side of
the world. It would be silly for them to
rap about nice, clean wholesome things.
They rap about what they know, and
what they know is threatening to the
status quo.
Margo Crawford said rap controver
sies arise because black people are out
of tough with their community.
“Upper and middle class blacks don’t
know what’s going on with the masses
of black people. As an educated black
woman, society tells me I should turn my
nose up at rap music. This shows that a
lot of rap controversy stems from people
not knowing who rappers are and what
they’re trying to do. Rappers take us by
the hand, and say let’s take a walk into
the black community.”
Minorities in the Hip Hop Subculture
The rap industry is a very competi
tive profession as hundreds of different
artists fight to earn recognition. If you
don’t be careful, someone will come
along and knock you out of the industry.
Competition also emerges when rappers
leave their groups, which is what hap
pened with the split between Biz Markie
and Big Daddy Kane. The rap profession
has been dominated by black males
from the very start. There has been little
room for the emergence of others. Over
the past several years, the field has seen
the appearance of black women and
white rappers in the rap world. Both
groups are a definite minority within hip
hop.
Brian Austin said that black women
rappers got left behind because all rap
pers were trying to succeed in the music
industry. “A lot of rap is about staking
out space. Everyone is trying to find his
place. A lot of rap also deals with mas
culinity, which excludes female rap
pers.”
One of the first female groups to
emerge on the scene was Salt-N-Pepa.
Salt-N-Pepa became the first female rap
group to hit the charts. Their first album,
“Hot, Cool and Vicious” went platinum
in 1986, and their second album, “A Salt
with a Deadly Pepa” sold 500,000 copies
after three weeks on the shelf. Their
third LP “Black’s Magic” contains the
gold single “Expression” released in late
1989. Salt-N-Pepa are important because
they paved the way for other female
rappers such as MC Lyte, Queen Latifah
and Roxanne Shame.
White rappers have had a hard time
gaining recognition in the field because
no one took them seriously at first When
the Beastie Boys released their first al
bum “Licensed to 111” in 1985, people
began to say that white people could
possibly rap. The group was the first
white rap group to hit the charts and
their album went platinum. The Beastie
Boys laid the foundation for other white
rappers to follow such as 3rd Bass. Third
Bass, led by MC Serch, released the
“Cactus Album” in 1989 with the gold
single “Gas Face”. In 1990, Vanilla Ice,
released his debut album song “Ice, Ice
Baby”, which has been certified as a gold
single. Vanilla Ice’s song went to the top
of the charts quicker than any other rap
record.
Margo Crawford said it is not surpris
ing that white rappers have come into
the music industry. “What you started
out with was a group of street kids,
rapping about their lives. Now you have
white rappers rapping about something.
White people had to step in and get their
piece of the action and probably will
eventually make more money than black
artists.”
Categories of Rappers
Rappers are a diverse group of indi
viduals who have evolved in the hip hop
subculture. People who don’t under
stand rap usually lump all rappers into
one category. They fail to see that there
are distinct patterns that exist among
musical artists in the hip hop subculture.
Rappers often rap or perform in a par
ticular way the majority of the time,
which can lead to different categories.
Over the past years, six types of rappers
seem to have emerged in the music
industry. Rappers in these categories are
divided according to song lyrics and
their stage presence. And sometimes
there is a fine line between what rapper
belongs in what category. Female as
well as male rappers have been included
wherever possible. The categories pro
vide a systemized way to look at rappers
in the hip hop subculture.
Idolists/Egotists
Idolist rappers are artists who boast
and brag about themselves in the major
ity of their songs. These rappers seem to
want the world to idolize them and can’t
get enough of talking about themselves.
Rappers in this category love to “dis”
other rappers by calling them sucker
MCs. Idolists or Egotists are some of the
most popular ones on the rap scene
today. The number of rappers in this
category is large and include Heavy
D&tbe Boyz, who came on the scene
with a 1987 song titled “Mr. Big Stuff.”
Heavy’s latest album, “Big Tyme” con
tains the song “GirlzThey Love Me”. This
song perpetuates Heavy’s belief that he
is indeed an “overweight lover.” Special
Ed falls into the idolists category. His