MUS 114 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Demography Of The United States, Institute For Operations Research And The Management Sciences, Gangsta Rap
Document Summary
As the musicians get signed to labels, the content of the music acquires larger audiences. Reaganomics portrayed african american youth and hip hop as evidence of the decaying morals of america. An educational and information arena where hip hoppers identify societal problems and potential solutions. Ice cube, "it was a good day" (1992) Similar to grandmaster flash in that there is a refrain that you come back to, and in between that, you have longer material. Same sort of musical material the entire time. Objectified, then used as an example of his prowess. Just a thing used to make points about his day. Exposes and informs to a broader audience the difficulties of urban life. Becomes a way to express one"s ghettocentric worldviews. Rejects previous modes of social justice such as the civil rights movement. This particular genre and african american narrative has become so dominant that it constructs and reinforces racial stereotypes of a singular black narrative.
