Beginning quote of essay

Possible quotes:

• 'They ain't 'bout it if they don't listen to it' - African American teenage student (female) from Andreana Clay journal.
• 'You can't listen to all that language and film without it affecting you' - Youth, popular culture and moral panics Page 150 Chapter 6
• 'The days of making powerful, thought provoking and entertaining msuic videos are now a thing of the past' - Partners in porn by Janice Spence

Quote ideas:

• Quote one of the artists from the primary text
• Quote someone of significance from the rap industry
• Short quote with an impact

Schedule for essay

The Three days for writing the essay:

• Wednesday 21st
• Thursday 22nd 
• Friday 23rd 

I am hoping to visit the BFI library before I write the essay. If this isn't possible for next week then I will have to delay the essay to the Wednesday 28th  - Friday 30th  and visit the BFI library on the 27th Tuedsay.

Critical Investigation 6

Web Research

Police shooting statistics 2016 - 'Are more black people killed by officers than other races?'

Williams, J. (2013). Police shooting statistics 2016: Are more black people killed by officers than other races? [Internet]. Janice Williams, ibtimes. http://www.ibtimes.com/police-shooting-statistics-2016-are-more-black-people-killed-officers-other-races-2421634

Specific references/quotes:

• '990 deaths in 2015'
• '258 deaths of black people in 2015'
• 494 deaths of white people in 2015
• 172 deaths of Hispanics in 2015
• 708 deaths in 2016
• 173 deaths of black people in 2016
• 325 deaths of white people in 2016
• 111 deaths of Hispanics in 2016 
• 27 deaths described as other in 2016
• 72 deaths are still unknown in 2016
• 679 deaths were of males in 2016

In 2015, 990 people who were killed by police officers. The Washington Post reported 258 of them as black. So far in 2016, there have been 708 documented deaths in police shootings with there only being 173 African American victims. These statistics are shocking to for any person to consume because this should surely make America wonder whether allowing police to have possession of guns is ideal for the public's safety. If we consider the number of black people specifically having lost their lives in 2015 in relation with the number of deaths, which is far lower then half of the deaths. Also, the number of deaths of black people as opposed to white people is surprisingly lower with there being 325 deaths of white people against 173 black people. This statistic could possibly challenge the 'Black Lives Matter' campaign because it shows black people aren't the only people suffering at the hands of the people in authority. Therefore it could explain why some white folks, particularly in America, are against the campaign. Despite this, we shouldn't forget that white people make up the majority of the population in America so would be more likely to have more deaths by police.

Digital media has allowed audiences to see real footage of police brutality which is a major reason why people are beginning to fight for their rights. In 2016 we have seen a number of shocking events where police have victimised black people by using excessive force to detain control them. Therefore, people have joined together as a unit to form the 'Black Lives Matter' campaign. On this website it has a post on Twitter from National News which has pictures from the video recording of a number of police officers detaining one black male (citizen journalism).

MM38 - page 5 'There's A Riot Going On'

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B0i5diL3vrEiSGxRNHIyZmM4Ums

The article discusses the issues faced with young people in society and how they are being influenced by the content they see through the media. It brings up the killing of a black man, Mark Duggan, at the hands of police officers who had beat the teenager on the streets of Tottenham. Riots had then been erupted at that point across areas of the capital and other places of England's major cities.

• Also, it was interesting how the rioters were described in articles with them being referred to as 'young people', 'feral youth', 'hoodies' 'yobs'. 
• 'This was reinforced by the selection of images and perhaps especially by the iconic image of one black, hooded young man which appeared on at least five front pages following the first day of the disturbances.'
• 'Issue of "race riots" was ignored or disavowed in much of the mainstream coverage as if it were somehow awkward to discuss'

YouTube - Kodak Black (before they were famous)

McCrudden, M. (2016). Kodak Black: Before they were famous. [Internet]. Michael McCrudden, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jyP3eu_FmA

• 'Began rapping at 12 and 14'
• 'Group up in the project where other Haitians were living'
• 'Inspired/Role model was a rapper who glorified the use of drugs, alcohol and objectifying women'
• 'He was rapping for drug dealers in their "trap house" and was influenced by what he witnessed in there'
• 'His name came from the drug dealers calling him "lil black"'
• 'His mother wasn't making enough money so he decided to become a drug dealer'
• 'His father had left the two'
• 'At the age of 15 he was sent to juvenile three times'
• 'At 16 he committed a crime that was punishable by a life sentence'
• 'Dolla and Dealz entertainment got good lawyers to reduce his sentence in prison'

Youtbe - Rich the Kid (before they were famous)

McCrudden, M. (2016). Rich the Kid: Before they were famous. [Internet]. Michael McCrudden, YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x9MN4BGvQI

• 'Net worth estimated at $1 million'
• 'Prison for weapons and drugs'
• 'Brought up in the slums of New York and projects Atlanta'
• 'Haitian'
• 'Influenced by other hip hop artists'
• 'Struggled in early life - school and family'
• 'Played basketball, tried for rapping at 16'
• 'Grandma kicked out of his house' - traditional black values have been changed

YouTube - DJ Akademiks (Kodak Black gets banned from South Carolina and put on House Arrest)

Akademiks, DJ. (2016). Kodak Black gets banned from South Carolina and put on House Arrest. [Internet]. DJ Akademiks, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOSVb6VmvDQ

• 'Kodak Black has been banned from South Carolina until his conviction is gone' 
• 'Accused of raping woman, but this has been a constant occurrence against black males'
• Links to wider context as we have heard of black people being falsely accused of rape and of recent it has been rappers 

The social significance of Rap and hip hop culture - 'Keep in mind when brothas start flexing the verbal skillz, it always what's going on politically, socially and economically'

Blanchard, B. (2016). The social significance of rap and hip hop culture: Keep in mind when brothas start flexing the verbal skillz, it always what's going on politically, socially and economically. [Internet]. Becky Blanchard, web.stanford.edu. https://www.google.co.uk/url?q=https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/mediarace/socialsignificance.htm&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwjg2P3r5u_QAhUnK8AKHVnQDfUQFggUMAA&sig2=WTbyU3wAp1k3jvhEwL0KFw&usg=AFQjCNGe4X30nUE_ngvMYLPvM6uqMMQHiw

• 'It seems that an increasing number of public figures have attempted to capitalise upon remaining cultural biases and fear of African American uprising to vilify rap music as the causative agent in a recent string of incidents of youth violence'
• 'Discussion about direct correlation between media messages and actual acts of violence distracts us from getting at the real causes of mediated violence...'
• '...The discussion distracts us from the real causes of crime: things like child abuse, poverty, parental neglect in care and time spent with their child'

Justin Timberlake 'uses black culture', says hip hop star Vic Mensa.

Guardian Music (2016). Justin Timberlake 'uses black culture', says hip hop star Vic Mensa. [Internet]. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/jul/01/justin-timberlake-uses-black-culture-says-hip-hop-star-vic-mensa

• 'We're not feeling him being down when it's beneficial to him and turning a blind eye when it could be dangerous'
• 'This invention called whiteness uses and abuses us, burying black people out of sight and out of mind while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment like oil, black gold'
• 'Ghettoising and demanding our creations then stealing them; gentrifying our genius and then trying us on like costumes before discarding our bodies like rinds of strange fruit'

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jul/21/asap-rocky-views-black-lives-matter-bill-cosby

'The Ballot or The Bullet' by Malcolm X.

• 'I'm speaking as a victim of this American system. And I see America through the eyes of the victim. I don't aee any American dream; I see an American nightmare'

Introduction

Introduction

How does hip hop represent black people, with specific reference to the track 'Plug' by Rich the Kid?

This should clearly introduce your primary text, the media issue or debate you are addressing and what angle your essay will use to approach the question. It needs to engage the reader, pose some questions and give a clear indication of what direction the essay will take. The word count will vary but you want to aim for around 200-250 words.

Hip Hop’s popularity over the years has significantly been booming with a variety of audiences being incentivised to be a part of it. It is and has always been heavily affiliated with black culture which is why it’s important to identify how the genre represents the ethnic group and how/whether the media has decided to capitalise off of this confusion by attempting to demonise them. An artist like Rich the Kid has been on the rise in the American sub-genre of hip hop ‘trap’ which audiences would argue contains similar conventions of the main genre and this is where the representation of black people is constructed. When considering the track he produced called ‘Plug’ with two other artists (Playboi Carti and Kodak Black) we can see a negative portrayal of black people with the way they behave, their appearance and the lyrics used in the song. Perhaps an audience who has been influenced by large multinational news institutions (with hegemonic views) would perceive black people as ‘criminals’ through mediated news reports they consume of the ethnic minority which could potentially reinforce their views and ideologies of the ethnic group. Or maybe it’s the subject of the matter self-representing themselves through these types of songs which would make the news institutes exaggerations seem realistic. This could be the reason why some audiences (white folks especially) don’t take black people’s cries seriously when they are protesting something political like the ‘Black Lives Matter’ campaign.

Notes:

“They ain’t ‘bout it if they don’t listen to it”. These are the words of a female African American teenager who, some may argue, has no guidance in life. This is one of many responses Andreana Clay received in an observation she executed with black teenagers in an after school program called Brain Power in America. A music track like ‘Plug’ by Rich the Kid is the reason black people (especially young people) are influenced and encouraged to commit crimes. In the song, the artists show off their wealth and success through living the life of criminality. Now it is responses and behaviours like the one of the teenager displayed by black people because of hip hop that emit negative vibes towards middle and upper class folks especially white people. They aren’t able to establish the struggles black people have gone through or are going through as experiencing something first hand is completely different to reading/watching it. This is why some white people disagree with the ‘Black Lives Matter Campaign’ as they believe black people are disobedient; exaggerate these stories and that ‘All Live Matter’. Black people have turned towards hip hop to amplify their voice so society can hear their cries and struggles. But the genre has developed an image of racism and discrimination so people find it difficult to take the genre serious. 

·         Semiotics – non-verbal codes, denotation/connotation

·         Generic conventions – iconography, style, setting, narrative, characters, themes

·         Documentary elements – observational documentary, actuality

·         Mediation – constructed, mis-representation

·         Liberal values – progressive values, anti-racism, multi-culturalism

·         Patriarchy – system of society which men hold power

·         Matriarchy – system of society which women hold power

·         Narrative elements, sequences – strands, multi stranded narrative

·         American dream – cultural myth based on the belief that the USA is a land of promise and opportunity where anyone who works hard can achieve all the good things in life (love, esteem, wealth)

·         American nightmare – Malcolm X used this term to express the inequalities particularly with race and opportunity experienced by black people

·         Audience theory – hypodermic needle model, cultivation theory, effects theory, reception theory, two step flow model and uses and gratification

·         Cultivation theory – examines the long term effects of television, the longer people send ‘living’ in the television world, the more likely they are to believe social reality

·         Barthes and Roland – action codes and enigma codes

·         Binary opposition – Levis strauss, narratives are structured around oppositional elements in human culture

·         Blaxploitation film – films of the 60s and 70s had black actors featured in principal roles usually with whites

·         Bootleg – illegal copies of CD or film

·         Bricolage – French term for the random assembly by culture groups of various cultural signifiers to form new and often unintended meanings (skinheads with shaved heads)

·         Copy-cat crimes – crimes committed by individuals who appear to have imitated crimes either reported in the media or fictional crimes represented in film or television programs

·         Cultural competence – describes the advantage given to middle class children in the education system as a result of their parental and cultural background

·         Cultural imperialism – the dominance of Western, particularly US, cultural values and ideology across the world

·         Demonisation – media portrays groups of people as evil and makes them a focus of moral panic

BFI library notes and quotes

Books

Youth, popular culture and moral panics - John Springhall 

'Prime Minister John Major told the Conservative Central Council on 1993 that those who made and distributed films and videos should "think whether a relentless diet of violence won't have a serious effect on the young". He was responding to the abduction and murder a week before in Merseyside of two year old James Bulger.'  Page 1 introduction.

'Did "Penny Dreadfuls" by glamourising criminals, make crime attractive to youthful audiences? Miss Martineau's thesis, shared by many in authority, that cheap fiction for working class juveniles encouraged and even instigated delinquency'. Page 71 and 72 Chapter 3

"No one has the right to be upset at a brutal sex crime or a sadistic attack on a child or mindless thuggery on a pensioner if he is not prepared to drive sadistic videos out of our high streets", cried David Mellor, Minister of state of the Home Office (debate in November 1983). Page 148 Chapter 6

'You can't listen to all that language and film without it affecting you' Page 150 Chapter 6

'...his rise and fall says much about the millions of white American kids who brought his music as the black brothers he rapped about. For Shakur was one of the few gangsta-rap artists who achieved mainstream success, selling to affluent white mall youth who would never step  Page
This reference of a rapper who has passed away is Tupac an iconic African American. He gained a wide audience even influencing and connecting with different ethnic groups. This would have certainly impacted the dominant ideologies in society as their logic was/is 'if you listen to rap music, you can be influenced'. This can then be applied to white teenagers who were beginning to introduce themselves into the hip hop industry/culture.

'Can Hip Hop make Jesus Cool?' - Article. 38-39 pages. 2004.

'Hip Hop clearly shows that disguising rap music as gospel music is not a positive career move.' Page 38.

'Celebrity endorsement is not to be underestimated, especially when it comes to hip hop as any pop scarlet or multi national co operations seeking to make themselves or product cool would argue'. Page 39.

'There is no better way of marketing something to youth than to link it with hip hop culture' Page 39.

Article

Focus on hip hop

'In "50" 50 cent talks about his life on the streets before he got involved in the hip hop industry'. Page 40

'His story takes us through the struggle to get signed and a few weeks before his big break into the industry lucky to survive to tell the tale'.

Partners in porn - Janice Spence

'The days of making powerful, thought provoking and entertaining music videos are now a thing of the past'

'I can still remember my sense of pride when I first watched the premiere of Public Enemy's promo, for their classic single "Fight the Power" directed by Spike Lee. The powerful images of an intense but excited African American inner city neighbourhood, shouting the words "fight the power" at the request of flamboyant group member Flavor Flav, demonstrated unity and empowerment within a community and Public Enemy were the orchestrators'.

'Those videos didn't need to depend on the now obligatory scantily clad females that dominate recent crop of rap promos currently being rotated on numerous music channels'.

'Public Enemy and their peers from the golden era of hip hop, simply held the viewers' attention with a strong, demanding visual presence'. 

Useful resources:
http://www.slideshare.net/MissOzzy/theory-theorists (Theories)

http://mediamacguffin12.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/12a-representation-theories.html