arihant magazine

arihant magazine

arihant magazine  Published this article page no  32  By examining these hip-hop and gangster rap lyrics as text, I will show ways in which the lyrics attempt to reconstruct the stereotyped gangster rap identity by examining different views of violence, drugs, materialism and sexual promiscuity. In the end, one tends to wonder: Who exactly are the real gangsters? Violence That the hip-hop culture represents gangster-like violence is perhaps the biggest disputed claim amongst hip-hop artists. In order to disprove this claim, many hip-hop artists have pointed to the violence that exists within the majority social group, and how it leads to violence all over the world. In “Violence”, 2 Pac demonstrates his belief that violence was prevalent long before gangster rap existed: I told em fight back, attack on society If this is violence, then violent’s what I gotta be If you investigate you’ll find out where it’s comin’ from Look through our history, America’s the violent one Here, the poet points to American society as “the violent one” and that he has to be violent in order to “fight back.” In “Who Knew”, Eminem showed a similar viewpoint by expressing his belief that violence is a common occurrence in American society, yet not challenged in genres outside of the urban environment: So who’s bringin’ the guns in this country? I couldn’t sneak a plastic pellet gun through customs over in London And last week, I seen a Schwarzaneggar movie Where he’s shootin’ all sorts of these bad guys with an Uzi Here, the poet questions the existence of violence in a country that allows firearms and violent movies. In “Casualties of War”, Rakim blames the United States government, specifically its Head of State, as the group causing the violence in society with their war-like ways: I’ma get back to New York in one piece But I’m bent in the sand that is hot as the city streets Sky lights up like fireworks blind me Bullets, whistlin’ over my head remind me... President Bush said attack Flashback to Nam, I might not make it back In this text, the poet refers to our country’s decision to go to war as an example of the violence that exists amongst the majority social class arihant gk buy.

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