Arts & Culture

When Rap Gets The Rap

8 May 2016

Rudy Omisore wonders if it’s time to stopping ganging up on rap.

‘Bin known for squeezin, yeah I let my semi…

Ya’ll wanna beef me, I can make you disappear…

All my ni**ers is squeezers, it’s nuttin dawg, lemmie know,

Gotta problem with em, in broad day, I let it go, I could be the death of you,

Better you ni**ers be calm…’

[Shak Corleone ft. Ratlin Corleone: Run da hood]

You can see why people think that UK Grime and Gangsta Rap glorifiy violence and crime, not to mention misogyny. But like it or not Gangsta Rap is simply a reflection of many rappers’ reality, and it’s a reality which a lot of the fans can relate to.

Naturally parents don’t want their impressionable teenage sons being influenced by music with lyrics like: “You ever been up on the field and your nine jam up…I swung a sword in my teens, I’m the Highlander.” [Youngs Teflon] or, “The trigger just slipped and hit a collarbone…it’s like they never recognised what I really brang, chitty bang, chitty bang, chitty, chitty, bang! Ya dun know, Holloman.” [Giggs].

They are worried that their boys will begin to think that the behaviour described in the songs is somehow acceptable. They don’t want their kids to end up in prison or worse, dead.

But according to my interviewee, who wishes to remain anonymous, it all depends on who is listening to the music.

“Look yeah, you have two types of listeners: the followers who are the fans, and those that listen to the music that really know about that life. The ones who live that life won’t be influenced by it. Instead, they respect and understand the music and will see it as just that…music! They can relate to it and appreciate it as an art form which allows rappers to express themselves, and to share their stories of the pain and struggles out here.

“Nevertheless, the majority of youths I’d say are followers. They are naïve to it all, and cos they aren’t living that life, it might go to their heads and they’ll be influenced because they want that reputation, or the fame, or the money.

“So they’ll get excited and think, argh, I can go out there and do these things, or at least portray that I do. That’s until they get arrested or their friend dies from getting stabbed up or shot. Then they realise it’s not the life they wanted. But to solely blame Gangsta Rap on youths being violent and going around stabbing and shooting people is crazy. There’s more factors involved than just the music!”

OK so some studies seem to show that music does affect violence, but then other studies appear to show the opposite. So if it was innocent until proven guilty, then Gangsta Rap would not get the rap. Whereas it does – constantly.

For example, let me ask you this:

Is it not slightly odd that UK rappers Krept & Konan who won the 2014 BET award for Best International Act, four MOBO awards, and who have the highest charting UK rap album in history, failed to receive any nominations for this year’s BRIT awards?

And what about the exclusion of UK rapper Stormzy, who won Best Grime Act at the 2014 and 2015 MOBO Awards? This travesty was widely recognised and fuelled the social media hashtag: #BritsSoWhite.

“It’s like the government and the media have a way of blaming people’s actions on the music. You always hear about the way rap lyrics promote violence and reh teh teh teh. It’s like they don’t wanna put out there what’s really going on in the streets, and they don’t wanna see a black man do good! I just think it’s … a way of trying to discriminate the music and again put the black man down.

“Shows get shut down or a bagga police will turn up. Bare rappers have had their shit locked off because of police. Look at how they tried to shut down Giggs. Why? Because he’s well known to the police and too many people were starting to like him, and he does ‘bad’ things. So they think people are just gonna follow him and do what he does, when the reality is, people are out here doing these things anyway.

“People are just supporting his music because it’s talent at the end of the day, and it’s not often you see someone escape from the hood, especially through music. And look, they wouldn’t let him perform in America. They just shut a ni**a down. Why? Because they know he would have blew over there and made too much money for their liking. Also, the ones who do make it have their lyrics scrutinised, so people who don’t like it or understand it will obviously look at Gangsta Rap in a negative light.”

One of Giggs’ most well-known lyrics is: ‘I’ll have you covered in red like a portion of chips,’ followed by his signature adlib ‘umm’ which is an aggressive sound he makes after many of his lyrics. The lyric is an obvious metaphor for covering you in blood if you try and fuck with him, and the adlib adds emphasis to it.

Like Giggs, many UK rappers and MCs such as Krept & Konan, Squeeks, Youngs Teflon, Young Spray, DVS, and Kano, use a lot of creative metaphors and similes in their music. Even though they’re sometimes used to describe acts of violence, it also shows their lyrical talent. However, these literary devices combined with the concentrated use of street lingo found in this genre can often make it hard for people to understand the context of the songs, especially if they don’t understand the lifestyle, or the struggle of growing up in a deprived urban area.

“All they will hear is the basics: gang this, shoot that, stab this, and bitch that. The trouble is, people hear it, but they’re not listening. Not all UK rap music is about gun clappin, stabbing, robbing and what not. They talk about real shit that’s going on in the world, and the world through their eyes you gemmie. Some songs are deep you know, and they’re not always done aggressively. Funny how the critics don’t pay attention to those ones. Tupac’s a prime example of this,. They will focus and criticise his hard-core gangsta rap, but will forget to mention his softer songs like, Dear Mama, Changes and Keep Your Head Up. Look, even he said in one of his interviews: ‘Don’t just bop your head to the beat, listen to the words properly and you’ll understand’. For example, in one of his songs, he says: ‘Ni**ers goin around blasting they guns.’ He’s saying yeah ni**ers are doing that because that’s what it is, but listen properly – he’s not saying he himself is going around doing that, he’s saying this is his reality.

“It’s true! When we walk outside our front door, it ain’t nothing nice, and that’s why to an extent we can relate to American Gangsta Rap because they share similar experiences. You can’t expect man to rap about nice, happy things when that’s not what they see around them. I don’t leave my house and see fricking Buckingham Palace and horses and carriages, with everyone happy and all things nice, so why the hell would I rap about it?

“Don’t get me wrong though, not all rappers are authentic with what they rap about, but some of them really do live that life. Look at what’s just happened to one rapper, his chain got robbed and someone died the very next day, and that’s all I’m sayin about that!”

Sadly stories like the one he won’t expand upon happen too often. In April an aspiring 17 year old South East London rapper MDot was stabbed to death after having an altercation with two youths in Lewisham. He was found lying in a pool of his own blood before being rushed to A&E where he later died.

“They need to be able to live up to what they are rapping about, because people out there will definitely try and test them, to see if they’re really about that life.”

As an aside I also wonder whether it’s the gangster movies rather than the gangster music that might be the problem. They glorify violence to a much greater extent than the music, and often cast top actors like Denzel Washington, Tyrese Gibson, Mekhi Phifer, Wood Harris, or Ice Cube in the gangster roles – which could make young men think that being a gangster is glamorous. Also, people remember pictures more than they do words.

Having said that, some of the videos that accompany Gangsta Rap and Grime often feature teenage boys as well as the older mandem throwing up gun signs, and sometimes engaging in representations of violent acts. So maybe it’s music videos rather than the music itself that is the bad influence.

The video that goes with Shak & Ratlin Corleone’s song, Run Da Hood for example includes film of a child letting off a gun, and of a man shooting another man dead. Also, when Shak is talking about different ‘squeezers,’ an image pops up to match the gun he’s talking about.

Going back to the music though, I agree with my interviewee that to understand the lyrics you need to see beyond the words and understand the lives that are being described.

In the award-winning biographical movie, Straight Outta Compton, when asked by a reporter to respond to accusations that his group’s music glorified violence rapper Ice Cube said: ‘Our art is a reflection of our reality.’

Below, is a list of links that will introduce you to a diverse range of UK and American songs to listen to. Some contain violent lyrics and others express the pain and struggle that so many people out there have to face on a daily basis.