Rappers live their lyrics

Since bursting on the music scene more than three decades ago, rap music has gotten, well, a bad rap.
The icons of the genre, such as Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Ludacris and others, have gained acclaim and enjoyed the fruits of their labors. Those on the inside understand and appreciate the social commentary and poetry that is rap music.
Still, rap is largely misunderstood by the public because to have a genuine appreciation of the genre one must have lived the reality of it or at least have an understanding of its roots.
Various cultures have expressed themselves through songs and poems, and society listened attentively as their trials and tribulations were put to music or spoken aloud, usually just as a means of addressing shared concerns.
In the Middle Ages, entire courts would gather to be entertained by local jesters and minstrels whose tales were styled in a manner similar to the storytelling of today’s rappers. DJ Kool Herc, considered the founder of hip-hop, did nothing more than entertain friends in this fashion at parties back in the early ‘70s.
While modern rappers can be likened to these medieval troubadours, maybe it’s simply the horrific nature of the stories rappers tell that elicits such a negative reaction. Unfortunately, for the genre, the rappers are relating nothing more than the negativity of their lives. The mere fact that they are able to express themselves poetically and set their stories to music raises rap to an art form worthy of mainstream attention.
Lil’ Wayne is a rapper who certainly fits the profile of an artist who tells his story set to music. A native of New Orleans who lost his own home in Hurricane Katrina as did many of his neighbors, Lil’ Wayne speaks from his heart. He raps about the tragedy and accuses President George W. Bush of trying to erase New Orleans off the map due to his slow and poor response to the people suffering in that city.
In his recording of “Georgia … Bush,” he laments, “I was born in the boot at the bottom of the map, New Orleans baby. Now the White House hatin,’ tryin’ to wash us away like we not on the map.”
News accounts of the Katrina disaster document the truth of these painful lyrics. We know our government was slow in getting help to these devastated victims therefore we can’t point fingers at the rappers and say they are exaggerating the facts.
Rapper Immortal Technique, tells us of a different type of flood in his song, “Harlem Streets.” Flooded with drugs, violence and poverty, life in Harlem is not easy, he says, while comparing it to the Cambodian killing fields in which the communist regime of the Khmer Rouge slaughtered untold numbers of people in the mid to late 70’s. To make his comparison, he says, “It’s like Cambodia, the killing fields uptown, we live in distress and hang the flag upside down … mothers are trying to feed children. But gentrification is kicking them out of their building.”
Immortal Technique blames soaring rents, spawned by the neighborhood revitalization in Harlem, for forcing mothers and their children from their homes. Single parents were struggling already with the rents, he says, but now that rents are rising they can’t afford to live there so they have to leave.
For the most part, rappers are products of the harsh reality they dramatize; therefore, they really are qualified to report on life in the ‘hood. In addition, rappers are motivated to explain how they think these problems can be corrected and they offer viable solutions through their songs.
I think society’s problem with the rappers’ issues lies more with the public’s desire to hear a way to make things right rather than just hearing about what’s wrong. Suggesting that single parents get involved with the community to try to elect politicians who can effectively fight gentrification or that fathers step-up to take responsibility and contribute to raising their children would be wise additions to the lyrics.
Still, the facts exposed in this rap song are a wake-up call because most of us are unaware of inner city life and the deplorable conditions some women and their children are forced to endure.
We are also clueless about other social issues of this group like going to prison, racial tensions and gang pressure. Unfortunately, many rappers are all too familiar with what goes on behind bars.
Rapper Cormega, raised in the Queensbridge housing project, tells what it is like to be locked up, using his experience constructively, but also uncovering a dark and disturbing place he likens to hell. By writing his lyrics, he is able to free his mind. In “Dirty Game,” he explains, “I spend my days in a steel cage, where brothers feel rage and get real with razor blades in ill ways. So when my cell close my brain cells expose and my pen excel to a part of hell froze.”
Simply put, he is telling us that while his prison mates are cutting each other up in senseless fights, he is inspired to make some sense out of his life so he puts his thoughts down on paper. Cormega goes on to explain how being an inmate was a reality check that allowed him to be “a poet amongst slums, crimes, and crack addicts.” He vowed not to be content with that lifestyle.
Therefore, instead of passing his time alongside his fellow inmates and getting involved in the dark side of prison, Cormega spent his days in the law library where he opted to write so that he could be “the voice of the soldier in the yard.”
We don’t have to agree with what he raps, but Cormega chose to rise above the stereotype of a young man raised in the projects who is destined to end up in jail. “If you have dreams they can be achieved; never give up,” he tells us hopefully.
Whether in the medieval court or on the streets of the inner city, lyrics have provided enlightening social commentary that has served to entertain as well as educate. As with the lyrics of any work, we can agree or disagree. Sometimes, we just like the melody and pay no attention to the story being told. Rap music provides an important glimpse into a world many of us are blind to otherwise. The next time you hear a rap song, try to get past the hip-hop beat that might be intimidating you and give the lyrics a closer listen. They may just open your eyes and your mind.