Public Enemy - fight the power
This song was released in the 90's by hip hop group Public Enemy on the album 'Fear of a Black Planet'. It was produced to unravel the false accusations and representations the Government were trying to portray of black people in order to keep white people of middle upper class superior. A Marxist would have been a typical person that would be against the song because it challenges their belief of the existence of only one major class.
Fight the Power is different to the primary text 'Plug' in the sense that it acted as a protest for black people. This is because the ethnic minority in America would have struggled to have their voices heard through political events and hip hop (music as a whole) was/is a way for these artists to put forward their values and ideologies with their being an audience listening to them. Hip hop in the past was used to show the mistreatment of black people by people in power and if we consider white privileges it is evident that their opportunities are different to white folks. Which would link with the struggle that black folks have gone through in the US and the UK. However, the way the artists of now and before told these stories has definitely differed. If we look at the track 'Plug' by Rich the Kid we can see that black rappers care more to boast about their success from once being a part of the struggle in the 'ghetto'. There is no encouragement shown to young people to become successful like them or to take a more legal/professional route to success and there certainly isn't any protest against the law. Its all just obedience they show against police and other black people through what the three artists say in the lyrics. Also, rap now emits a vibe to audiences where they feel less connected with the artists because once these rappers make it they don't turn around and decide to help their community or family.
Whereas with Public Enemy, they seem really determined to 'fight the power' especially because the music video includes a load of extras. They aren't really amongst the 'background' but are beside the artists which would suggest they view themselves higher than anyone. This certainly reinforces the protest they put forward especially because we can hear the jeers of protesters in the music video with the rappers rapping over their voices as they are the ones that are most influential. Therefore, they are using their power and fame to give black people with less power a voice that the Government and people with unrealistic perceptions of the ethnic minority.
The genre of hip hop is steadily evolving which some of the fans are too pleased about. The fact the rap is becoming less political is worrying some people especially of ethnic minority backgrounds because it means that middle/upper class people's ideologies won't be challenged as much because they will only view stories based on one viewpoint which would be from large news institutions. This is negative for the genre as less people would be willing to try to listen to rap because of the reputation it would have constructed because of the news. Therefore, the production of songs like 'Plug' will mean that hip hop will take a turn for the worse as its audience won't be educated on political events and occurrences if these artists aren't informing them the only way they obtain this type of news. However, there are some artists in the industry that are sticking to producing rap songs about society like police brutality. For example, J Cole or Kendrik Lamar are just two of the artists on the scene who are famously known in the industry for producing songs that are made to challenge radical events in society (current affairs).
Mobb Deep shook ones part 2
This song was released in the 90's by hip hop group Public Enemy on the album 'Fear of a Black Planet'. It was produced to unravel the false accusations and representations the Government were trying to portray of black people in order to keep white people of middle upper class superior. A Marxist would have been a typical person that would be against the song because it challenges their belief of the existence of only one major class.
Fight the Power is different to the primary text 'Plug' in the sense that it acted as a protest for black people. This is because the ethnic minority in America would have struggled to have their voices heard through political events and hip hop (music as a whole) was/is a way for these artists to put forward their values and ideologies with their being an audience listening to them. Hip hop in the past was used to show the mistreatment of black people by people in power and if we consider white privileges it is evident that their opportunities are different to white folks. Which would link with the struggle that black folks have gone through in the US and the UK. However, the way the artists of now and before told these stories has definitely differed. If we look at the track 'Plug' by Rich the Kid we can see that black rappers care more to boast about their success from once being a part of the struggle in the 'ghetto'. There is no encouragement shown to young people to become successful like them or to take a more legal/professional route to success and there certainly isn't any protest against the law. Its all just obedience they show against police and other black people through what the three artists say in the lyrics. Also, rap now emits a vibe to audiences where they feel less connected with the artists because once these rappers make it they don't turn around and decide to help their community or family.
Whereas with Public Enemy, they seem really determined to 'fight the power' especially because the music video includes a load of extras. They aren't really amongst the 'background' but are beside the artists which would suggest they view themselves higher than anyone. This certainly reinforces the protest they put forward especially because we can hear the jeers of protesters in the music video with the rappers rapping over their voices as they are the ones that are most influential. Therefore, they are using their power and fame to give black people with less power a voice that the Government and people with unrealistic perceptions of the ethnic minority.
The genre of hip hop is steadily evolving which some of the fans are too pleased about. The fact the rap is becoming less political is worrying some people especially of ethnic minority backgrounds because it means that middle/upper class people's ideologies won't be challenged as much because they will only view stories based on one viewpoint which would be from large news institutions. This is negative for the genre as less people would be willing to try to listen to rap because of the reputation it would have constructed because of the news. Therefore, the production of songs like 'Plug' will mean that hip hop will take a turn for the worse as its audience won't be educated on political events and occurrences if these artists aren't informing them the only way they obtain this type of news. However, there are some artists in the industry that are sticking to producing rap songs about society like police brutality. For example, J Cole or Kendrik Lamar are just two of the artists on the scene who are famously known in the industry for producing songs that are made to challenge radical events in society (current affairs).
Mobb Deep shook ones part 2
Mobb Deep is a hip hop group of two rappers from New York
Prodigy (Albert Johnson), Havoc (Kejuan Muchita) and another rapper who
sometimes featured with them, Big Noyd (TaJuan Akeem Perry). The song was
released way back in 1995 on February 7th so any audience watching
it now would expect to establish the difference in quality physically because
the resolution of cameras and recorders weren’t as advanced as the ones that
exist now. This isn’t the only difference between music videos of the past
compared to the ones produced in the 21st century. We will look to
exploit the ways society has changed due to the content
of hip hop music videos.
In the Mobb Deep ‘shook ones’ music video, the artists
perform their song in front of the projects
which hip hop audiences would be able to interpret as their hood. They explicitly
express their loyalty about their friends, family and New York (place of origin)
through the use of violent gestures and behaviours in the music video. For
example, iconography is used when one of the characters is assaulted and then
robbed which is a typical behaviour of young black males. This would then
reinforce the stereotype of black males being disobedient due to the criminal
behaviour in the music video. Therefore, dominant ideologies are being
portrayed which means middle/upper class white people would would maintain
their beliefs of the ethnic minority which would make it harder for white
people to see life from their perspective (i.e Black Lives
Matter campaign).
Matter campaign).
If we consider what society was like in the 90’s because of
songs like shook ones, there are numerous differences then compared to now.
Using this music video and the primary text (‘Plug’ – Rich the Kid) we can see a
difference in appearance with clothing. In the ancient music video, fashions
are obviously different and this is evident with the baggy sports (sometimes
non-branded) tops and jeans they wear which would suggest to an ordinary
audience that the clothes are too big for the artists however for hip hop
audiences of the 90’s it was the norm and the trend (zeitgeist). In contrast
with the modern music video, the artists wear branded and loose clothes which
is almost similar to the fashion of the past but does has a different look. The
fact that the clothes are branded is important in this era of rap because it’s all
about showing off the money and expensive garments these artists possess.
Furthermore, audiences associate hip hop with gangsters, aggression and
masculinity but the artists don’t really reflect this because of the colourful
clothes they wear and I believe society is the blame for this rather than the
artists themselves. We can use the hypodermic needle model to suggest that
audiences are the easily influenced on what they see in the media and so would
be incentivised to buy what their role models have. For example, modern artists
of this generation may aspire to be like an artist like Kanye West and would
buy clothes from his clothing line which could be argued to be androgynous. So
would be seen as less masculine but this doesn’t affect them because Kanye’s
brand image is high and the clothes he offers are certainly expensive.
An obvious similarity of the two texts would be the people
involved in the music video. With ‘shook ones’ all the people from artists to
background actors are all black just like the ‘plug’ music video. This would
suggest that the ethnic minority are still in a struggle in society because
they are finding ways of becoming successful though the illegal lifestyle which
doesn’t reflect positively of the Government of these countries like England
and US. This is because people of the middle/lower class and strugglers and
reformers of the psychographic graph are left wondering whether the Government
value ethnic minority in society. So, people become motivated to run protests
and potentially riots in the future which would mean middle/upper class ideologies
wouldn’t be challenged as they are being supported because of riots.
The methods that songs were generally accessed in the past is
completely different to how it is done now. If hip hop audiences wanted to get
hold of the latest rap song, they would have to buy a record or buy a CD. This
obviously isn’t convenient for people because it’s not immediate access so would
have to travel to a store to make the purchase and then the input device (CD)
can only be used in a few devices (CD player). Compare this method to now and
it is much easier for audiences to get their music. This is because of the
development in new and digital technology which has allowed people to get immediate
access to new releases of songs or movies. Whether it is legal or not,
audiences are able to download their favourite artist’s content on the day it
releases which meets their demands. In addition, it benefits these artists
because some video/music streaming applications are free as long as there is
Wi-Fi so they can gain new audiences at much quicker rates compared to
audiences in the past being less adamant of buying music. The song ‘Plug’ was
published on YouTube on by the famous hip hop channel ‘WorldStarHipHop’ which
is used by modern rappers to distribute/promote their music or albums. This is
another form of technology giving these artists another method of allowing
audiences to interact with them. This is because some of these artists have
their own YouTube channels and would be linked to their music videos of ‘WSHH’
so audiences can directly message them or leave comments under their music videos
has reviews.
Possible
texts:
Public Enemy - Fight
the power
Released in 1990
Album: fear of a black planet
Protest
Different from both texts
Comptons Most Wanted –
I’m wit Dat
Released in 1990
Album: It’s a Compton Thang
A chill album with the artists showing what they do in the
hood
Takes a more passive approach
CPO feat MC Ren –
Ballad of a menace
Released in 1990
Album: to hell and black
This is the struggles the artists went through to become
successful
Similar the two texts above
Modern
texts:
Dae Dae – What you
mean
Released in 2016
Modern rap more about showing off
Similar to the primary text
Has been remixed and has been given a shout out through
celebrities listening to the song/artist
Madeintyo – Jerry Stackhouse
Released in 2016
Modern rap which glorifies the use
of drugs and sex
Similar to the primary text
Playboi Carti feat
DA$H and Maxo Kream – Fetti
Released in 2015
Modern rap used to show off the amount of drugs they use
More inappropriate than the primary text
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