Flyboy 2 Themes

Superior Essays
Greg Tate’s Flyboy 2 is a collection of African American works about music, culture, and more designed to illustrate important themes within the Black society. The main themes that Tate examines throughout his work involves the discussion of race, identity, and gender in a minority race within American society. The writings composed in the novel entail historic accounts, such as Michael Jackson’s struggle in society to Ice Cube’s perspective on rap and its influence in African American culture. Sade explores the criticism and misunderstandings that the media displays while ensuring that one must stay true to their purpose within the music industry. Tate also discusses the injustices that the hip hop industry had to face in relation to whites attempting to profit off of an institution that was intended to assist in black freedom. The Black Power and Civil Rights Movements often displayed the harsh realties within the African American society that many didn’t want to accept as real and factual. They also empowered the approaches that blacks had to take to earn racial equality. The writings of musical geniuses Michael Jackson, Ice Cube and Sade, along with white supremacy in the hip hop industry, exemplify the cruel and unforgiving past that still haunts African Americans today. Art is a form of expression that many …show more content…
Unapologetic and crude, Cube rapped about the inequalities that blacks faced from the white community to the wounds that African Americans often placed on themselves. While white Americans were to blame for many injustices that we faced, blacks were also viciously degrading their own character through black on black crime, teenage pregnancies, reliance on government assistance and more. Cube’s rap songs demonstrated messages of the realisms in our society through entertainment. Blacks were able to enjoy his songs while also understanding the underlying

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    This song set a new precedent for hip-hop, shaping it into a genre full of strong social commentary about the struggles of people of color and people in poor urban neighborhoods, and drawing attention to issues of institutionalized racism. It paints an image of life in the ghetto: in the 1980s the Bronx was a victim of government neglect, with resources and funds going to more affluent neighborhoods. The song sought to inform people of the conditions in their neighborhood and ghettos like it…

    • 962 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Hip Hop Planet Summary

    • 1489 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In the Light of Hip-Hop American culture has been driven in various directions fueled by different trends which have captivated the minds and hearts of millions of people. One trend, which is a music genre, has given rise to controversy and heated debates on whether it is a good or bad influence. Hip-Hop music has changed the American culture and its effects have reached extensive grounds universally. As the Hip-Hop music started to become an important aspect of American culture, it was not understood by many and some even thought of the music as objectionable. In the article, "Hip Hop Planet," James McBride speaks about the rising impact of Hip-Hop music which he had been ignorant towards for many years since he perceived the music to be irritating.…

    • 1489 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Terrance Hayes’ poem RSVP uses symbolism, imagery and metaphors to expose how race affects beauty standards, while also exploring how the “King of Pop,” Michael Jackson views his own blackness. Throughout the poem, the author uses an array of poetic elements to focus on two points: how race affects the standards of beauty, and the importance of the discovery of one’s own racial identity. Some of the elements Hayes uses in the poem include: metaphors, visual imagery, and symbolism. The poem digs deep into how the King of Pop, or “K.O.P.,” views his own racial identity, and how that affects the racial identification that the young black boys who look up to him experience. Hayes’ poem is, for the most part, written from the perspective of a young black boy who writes a series of letters to Michael Jackson.…

    • 1792 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Going Through the Storm: The Influence of African American Art in History is collection of essay that trace the roots of African American History through art. Sterling Stuckey traces the legacy of African American art from its roots in slavery, to classical Black Nationalism, to poetry, to gospel-singing movements of the 1960s. Going through the Storm breathes over the spectrum of African American culture presenting a new look at the history of African American in the form of art. Hence the title, it expounds upon the oppression and the journey of resilience of Blacks in America.…

    • 479 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Rap Gender Stereotypes

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The article “Daughters of the Blues: Women, Race, and Class Representation in Rap Music Performance,” sheds light on how women in rap have been disproportionately represented. Dating back to the 1920s, black women have successfully been “contest[ing], protest[ing], and affirm[ing] working-class ideologies of black womanhood (187)” through the blues. Notable blues singers, such as Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Ida Cox, paved the way for women MCs today to speak out about their experiences of being a black working-class woman. The four categories of women rappers that have emerged are: “Queen Mother,” “Fly Girl,” “Sista with Attitude,” and “The Lesbian.”…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    While they are often thought of in romanticized nostalgic ways, especially by white people, the 1920s and 30s were an incredibly volatile time for race relations in America – mainly as a result of the movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. Stretching from the end of World War I to somewhere around 1937, the Harlem Renaissance was categorized largely by the attempt on part of African American – or “Negro” – artists to reassert themselves “apart from the white stereotypes that had influenced black peoples’ relationship to their heritage and to each other” (Hutchinson, Introduction). Therefore, one of the main issues for people living in the Harlem Renaissance was whether or not there was actually a tangible difference between art made by people of various races. George S. Schuyler’s piece “The Negro Art Hokum” can be seen as a direct response to this question – one that would have been extremely controversial at the time. As Robin Wiegman points out in her essay “Visual Modernity,” “the visible has a long, contested, and highly contradictory role as the primary vehicle for making race “real” in the United States” (21).…

    • 1838 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    History Of Hip Hop

    • 1167 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The History of Hip Hop Today, Hip Hop is a worldwide genre that has swept the globe with passion and soul. What started out as a generally “black culture genre,” is now accepted and done by every race and culture, and even in different languages. Rappers such as Run DMC, Doug E Fresh, Grandmaster Flash, and Kurtis Blow put a stamp on the Hip Hop world and gave it its popularity and momentum. The history of Hip Hop and how people used Hip Hop as a voice for African-Americans, shows how the evolution of Hip Hop is a great thing for the world. What is Hip Hop, and what is the history of it?…

    • 1167 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Hip-hop is a historically black genre of music, with different iterations almost everywhere in the world now. If you turn on your car radio on the way to work it’s likely that you’ll hear a popular hip-hop song. You may even come across street performers having a rap battle. Either way, it’s one of the most common genres today. Hip-hop is a genre dedicated to telling stories of hardship in a poetic form.…

    • 1539 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    8 Mile Analysis

    • 1270 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Rap Mile Of many films made about well-known Hip-Hop culture, film 8 mile by Curtis Hanson is showing Eminem and his autobiographical story as one of the most successful. It’s one of the best hip-hop movies and a great example how did artistic talent meets with commercial achievement. It had received an Academy Award for one of the best songs “Lose Yourself” and Eminem was the first who made that happen. The major elements of the film 8 mile are roles of MC and Race as well as their place in Hip-Hop culture as demonstrated by Curtis Hanson who was managing the picture. 8 mile is made around the underground rap battles which take place in Detroit where MC’s presented themselves as creators of modern poetry named rap.…

    • 1270 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The African American race is a group amongst many that faces difficulty in finding success through their art whether they are musicians, artists, writers, or dramatists. To make a change for themselves, there have been African American individuals who have united to establish movements with their motive being to seek liberation. Of the various movements formed, the Black Arts Movement was very popular. Unlike most articles, Larry Neal’s The Black Arts Movement was an effective piece that explicitly defines what the movement’s purpose is and why he believes individuals (black in particular) should engage in its political and social aims.…

    • 1124 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Rappers misuse their influence at times and rap about insignificant topics that focus on consumerism, such as rapping about cars and money, and objectifying women. The way rap music is portrayed in the media seems to capture these trivial topics rather than the important social issues some rappers discuss. However, there are few rappers who dare comment on social issues, two being Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West. Lamar and West write music about important social topics such as racial injustice and racism in America, whereas other rappers are ignoring these issues. Lamar’s most recent song, “The Blacker The Berry,” talks about the institutionalized hardships black people are still facing, such as economic inequity and harmful social perceptions,…

    • 1125 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Hip Hop Wars Analysis

    • 1143 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Tricia Rose’s “The Hip Hop Wars” commences and entitles the first chapter as “Hip Hop Causes Violence.” Before furthering on with the chapter, one may intuitively develop a bias supposition that what is titled is based on an actual fact without having any valid evidence to prove why it is the way it is. Tricia Rose, whom is an author, a scholar, and a public speaker presented an argument stating “a key aspect of much of the criticism that has been leveled at hip hop is the claim that it glorifies, encourages, and thus causes violence (Hip Hop Wars, pg.34).” Although several critics may agree that hip hop promotes violence, Tricia Rose covers the significant aspects of the controversy whether hip-hop indeed causes violence.…

    • 1143 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Book Review The book called Hip-Hop Revolution The Culture and Politics of Rap by Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar was a very informative, historical source for learning about the background of how hip hop came to be. Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar is an associate professor of history and director of the institute for African American Studies at the University of Connecticut. With his skills, Jeffrey Ogbar writes a book that examines genders in hip hop, authenticity of hip hop, and races that had an influence on hip hop. The book goes into the historical side of things and it gives the reader words like minstrel, jezebel, Nigger Heaven, Black Power Movement, Black Panther Party, and many more.…

    • 949 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Black writers and musicians have often struggled with creating pieces by Black people for Black people. The white gaze, which sees the world through a white person’s perspective is what Black artist and writers have tried to avoid in their work. Toni Morrison once said, “...life has no meaning without the white gaze.” She was criticizing the notion that blackness cannot exist by itself, but only as a contrast to whiteness. The essence of Black pieces have been…

    • 1570 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Negative Effects Of Rap Music

    • 1383 Words
    • 6 Pages
    • 6 Works Cited

    Morrison states, “Marketing messages of hate and violence to children sends the signal that violence is widespread and normal, that it is acceptable to abuse women, and that there is glamour in lawlessness” (Morrison). Teens are listening to music that sends the messages that it is okay for men to beat their wives and girlfriends because they are above the law. This has had an extremely negative effect in the black community. As stated by McWhorter, “Rap music is harmful to the black community because it links to racism, violence, and misogyny ” (McWhorter). In “Rap Music and Rap Audiences,” it states that “many scholars note that some rap lyrics attempt to objectify, devalue, or subjugate African American women through insults and name calling” (Dixon).…

    • 1383 Words
    • 6 Pages
    • 6 Works Cited
    Great Essays