Hip-Hop+and+Controversy

Hip-Hop and Controversy  Tell me if this has ever happened to you. Your favorite rapper comes out with a new album. You’re psyched to get it, so you to the closest store that sells music and buy the album. As soon as you play it you hear a song that attacks politics, religion, the government, you name it. About a week after the album comes out you hear discussions about it everywhere, from the news, to talk-shows, magazines, etc. Why is it that whenever you hear so much about a hip-hop song, it is always something negative? Let’s look at the definition of hip-hop to understand why controversy is always near. A quick definition of hip-hop can be a culture, a form of ground breaking music, and self expression with elements that consist of graffiti art, deejaying, emceeing, and break dancing. Really taking time to understand what hip-hop is would take too long to fully express. In the definition, the key term is self expression. Different people have different ideas. One person might believe that the war in Iraq is necessary while anther may believe it is nonsense. In hip-hop, rappers tend to commonly express their views on situations through their music. Since many people base their opinions on their environment, customs, and religion, rappers may say some very inappropriate things.  About twenty years ago, at the peak of their career, gangster rap group N.W.A said their opinion about the police on their album “Straight Outta Compton.” Their opinion won them a run in with the FBI. In one of their songs, N.W.A said “f--- the police.” The group soon received a letter from the FBI and Secret Service informing N.W.A's label of the authorities' displeasure with the song. Two members from the group, Ice Cube and MC Ren claimed they were just writing about what happened in their neighborhood [Compton, California]. In reality many young blacks and Latinos in Compton were assaulted and arrested for false accusation of drug possession by the police.  About four years later, the late rapper 2Pac stated in his one of his songs, “Cops on my tail, so I bail till I dodge 'em/ They finally pull me over and I laugh, 'Remember Rodney King?' and I blast.” Because 2Pac’s mother was a former member of the Black Panthers, he had a strong sense of anti-establishment long before he was targeted for his music. Former Vice President Dan Quayle was one of those angry with 2Pac’s statements and said that 2Pac has “no place in society." After many protests and public uproars, Time Warner completely dropped 2Pac’s labels, Interscope and Death Row Records. The two labels immediately entered into a partnership with Universal Music Group.   A more recent event was rapper Cam’ron’s comments on Anderson Cooper 360. After Cam’ron was shot after an attempted robbery, he was interviewed by Anderson Cooper. During the interview, Cooper asked him would he tell the police (snitch) on a neighbor if he was a serial killer. Cam’ron responded by saying that he’d rather move than tell on his neighbor. Critics said that Cam'ron’s comments encouraged inner-city residents to continue their stance against cooperating with police.  After reading each event it still may not make sense why rappers and hip-hop are so controversial. It’s hard to know what goes on in these artist’s head. As a fan of hip-hop I find it very hard to listen to most songs. I wish I could just listen without any care, but there is always something that is not for my age. It seems that as long as hip-hop exists, there will always be a fuss about some artist’s statements. 