By Geetika Ahuja
Over the years, rap has become much more than music. It has become a way of life. Being associated with a certain kind of clothing, speaking and most importantly, thinking, makes it imperative to shed some light on the thriving industry of rap music and its evolution.
The rap of earlier times wasnt in congruence with the rap we know today. Currently, rap music has come under the scanner from feminists and other quarters as well. Rap music had humble beginnings in African-American neighbourhoods, and was a means of expressing the frustrations and experiences of African-Americans. Rap music provided a window into their lives, and brought to the fore their anguish against the authorities and the dissatisfaction with their lives. This, in turn, became a form of political dialogism as suggested by Stephens Wright, and also served as a black discourse, throwing light on their problems which were scathingly overlooked by the authorities.
Crooning about power dynamics, the African-American community discovered a medium through which they could have their voices heard, in an otherwise indifferent society which refused to recognize the plights of the African-Americans. Rap music has also subtly stated and lamented the inability of the African-Americans to achieve the American dream. From simply talking about their distress and agony, rap music soon graduated to symbolising black culture as non-conformist and rebellious, their hopes crumpled by the unchanging scenario.
While we can trace the roots of their discontentment to the slavery period, the blatant ignorance of the authorities further pushed them to resort to other means. Caught up in a vicious cycle of poverty, they grew up in the ghettos where they saw the drug dealers with cars, girls and money. Hence, gangster rap arose. Gangster rap was a sort of anti-thesis to the previous forms of rap, for instead of envisaging social oppression, it embraced thuggery and corruption. Therefore, the rap we hear today- which rants about how bitches, hoes and niggers came into being.
So, the glorification of violence and drug use actually hails from the alternative lifestyle which appeared to be more appealing than enduring the blatant ignorance of authorities, waiting for some wave of reform to take over. This defiance of authority, gives them a sense of victory over the bourgeoise, and also a sense of escape from the scapegoating.
Albeit today rap music has transcended boundaries and its slangs have entered our modern day lexicon, even with white rappers coming into the picture, it hasnt negated or changed the theme much. What it has done is creating and reiterating further stereotypes. Now, there is an almost instant association of blacks with crimes, and there has been an emergence of a black culture through rap music, which is synonymous with theft, drug deals and a shady way of life.
Also note-worthy is the fact that the production of rap has only been limited to the males, with hardly any female rappers in the limelight. This reiterates Dorothy Smiths views about men controlling the production of texts.
A clarion call of the marginalized, a tool of the oppressed, coupled with other methodologies, rap music has the potential to have enormous social policy implications if utilized in a serious and academic manner as asserted by Stephens Wright. What is required is a shift of attention, so that this media, which has now caught the fancy of people around the world, is carefully explored to draw attention towards socially relevant issues
Geetika Ahuja is a first year Sociology student at Lady Shri Ram College for Women. She describes herself as a quirky melange of social sensitivity and rhetoric sarcasm. A voracious reader, a poetry lover and an avid quizzer, she also loves to spend her time at an animal care NGO. When not writing or intellectually locking horns with others, she can be seen listening to the Beatles. She can be reached atgeetikaadorable@yahoo.com