Rap: A Misunderstood Medium
For many people, rap music is an anomaly. It doesn’t require any special talent, and, even worse, its lyrical content is little more than drivel. For those who follow this line of thought, it is easy tie rap closely to misogyny, violence, homophobia, and drug use. And while it is certainly true that much of rap does deal with these subjects, there is also a branch of rap that lies beneath the mainstream, promoting progressive ideas and themes. Rappers that break into the mainstream are hardly representative of the genre as a whole, because, frankly, lyrics about drugs and dancing are more marketable and danceable. Raps that addresses a real issue is harder to sell. As a result, my problem is not that people dislike rap—the problem is that they discount rap before they have even bothered to investigate further than Flo Rida or 2 Chainz. As critic Roger Ebert said:
Rap has a bad reputation in white circles, where many people believe it consists of obscene and violent anti-white and anti-female guttural. Some of it does. Most does not. Most white listeners don't care; they hear black voices in a litany of discontent, and tune out. Yet rap plays the same role today as Bob Dylan did in 1960, giving voice to the hopes and angers of a generation, and a lot of rap is powerful writing.
For those who are willing to look beneath the chest-beating and boasts, it becomes clear that many rappers spend their careers denouncing the violent and impoverished setting that they were born into. Rap often can address issues with real weight: from songs about single mothers, domestic abuse, and drug dependency, it becomes clear that rap can be and often is a social commentary. It is merely one disguised as entertainment that will actually reach those that it is targeted to.

One of the central arguments against rap is the rampant misogyny. Big releases from 2 Chainz featuring lyrics about “big booty hoes” certainly do nothing to dispel this idea. However, as mentioned before, the rappers that break into the mainstream are hardly representative of the genre as a whole, because, frankly, these lyrics are more marketable. Many raps contain uplifting or empowering messages, targeted directly at women. Many songs express the struggle of being a single mother raising a child in an often troubled circumstance. Lupe Fiasco’s “He Say, She Say” takes the form of a mother pleading for her son’s father to take an active role in his life and to act as a father should. Many rappers are born of such circumstances, homes from which their fathers abandoned them; as a result, an entire sub-genre of rap could be made up of songs about rapper’s mothers. Kanye West dedicates a lengthy song to his mother in “Hey Mama”. Rap legend Tupac (2Pac) Shakur shouts out to his mother in “Dear Mama,” a song which praises his mother for sticking around despite Shakur not always being considerate of her and not making the best decisions. Other songs, like “Tears in Your Eyes” denounce domestic abuse. Building on this message, Lauryn Hill’s “That Thing” urges young women to respect themselves and to not let themselves be taken advantage of. Even more rappers speak out about the common usage of “b****” in rap. “B**** bad, woman good/Lady better, they misunderstood” Lupe Fiasco raps. Perhaps this idea can spread throughout the rest of the game.

Of near equal notoriety to the misogyny in rap is the popular “gangsta” image, yet another theme born of poverty and ignorance. Before the advent of gangsta music in the nineties, rap was considered to be a passing fad that would eventually go away. However, gangsta music helped rap explode into the mainstream. Songs telling of gang-banging and riding on enemies are incredibly common. In the end, however, these songs are ultimately born of the environments from which rappers typically come. Even artists like 2Pac denounce the environment which produced them. Throughout much of his music, 2Pac often ridicules the situation that led him to his violent lifestyle. There is a sense that he knows that because of his choices and his birth, he will die young and violently, a prophesy which would eventually come true. More recently, Kendrick Lamar released the brilliant “Good Kid, m.A.A.d. City.” The album is a stirring tour de force through Lamar’s teenage years growing up in California, and his ultimate realization that gangbanging only perpetuates a vicious cycle of violence and ignorance. At the end of the album, a sound clip sums up the entire message of the album, in the form of a message from Kendrick’s father to him. “Any n**** can kill a man. That don’t make you a real n****. Real is responsibility. Real is taking care of your…family.” Kendrick comes to realize by the end of the album that, not only does rapping about gangbanging only encourage those who listen to him to follow in his footsteps, but that he is well placed to end the cycle. The album ultimately promotes the message that family should come first, and that violence only leads to unhappiness.

The environment that spawns the misogyny and gangbanger attitudes is another oft addressed topic. While some rappers rap lovingly about the “hood”, other artists denounce these environments throughout their music. Rap duo Gang Starr addresses the epidemic of drugs in the ghetto, pointing out that “I doubt we’d ever be big time sellin’ dope coke or dust/It’s killin’ us so let’s take our people and make an exodus”. 2Pac preaches his “Ghetto Gospel” and the tragedies created not only by poverty but also drugs and violence. For many artists, the only (perceived) ways to escape the hood are to rap or to hustle drugs: those who choose to hustle only encourage the cycle, those who rap are well placed to stop the cycle. Much like Kendrick Lamar, many rappers realize that if they can eliminate the hood, those who follow in their footsteps will not necessarily be forced into violent lifestyles. As a result, for many rappers, it is their responsibility to stop the cycle.

Rap music will most likely always be a musical genre that is discounted by fans of more traditional musical genres. It’s tendency to be dominated in the mainstream by artists who offer easily digestible but often disturbing content will hinder it’s acceptance from a broad demographic. However, it cannot be denied that there is rap that actually carries weight with its topic matter. Much of this rap revolves around an effort to change the ghetto that spawns so much grief and violence for those that live within it. Rappers who attempt this acknowledge that they are well placed to make a difference in the world, and that they have the power to improve thousands of lives. They hope to lead their listeners along a better path. As Common rapped: “The present is a gift, I just want to be.”