Rakim

For my Zine I wanted to stay in the music area, but take a focus into a specific subgenre in the music industry called “Trap Rap” and research more for myself and its growing audience. The term "trap" is used to refer to the place where all types of drug deals are made and they incorporate their trap lifestyle into their music career. This topic is nothing new to me I’ve been listening to music, and specifically this type since I was still in the car seat. My first introduction to trap rap was…

“Legacy” by Eminem “Legacy” is a very elaborate song written by popular artist Marshall Bruce Mathers III, more known by Eminem. The song is mainly about his struggles as a child to be happy and succeed. He was not a very popular kid, so he didn’t have very many friends, and at the same time he was bullied. All of these factors made his childhood a complete and utter “Hell” for him. But as the song progresses he gets older, and grows more confidence. Overall this song is a great representation…

Is Hip-Hop terrible nowadays or am I getting old? Time makes fools of all of us. I’m not the same stallion that I used to be. The days of me drinking until four in the morning are far behind me. I mean I can still do it but instead of a cheeseburger to recover, I need three days of rest and IV bag. Just like my drinking tolerance my music tolerance has changed. This is something that will happen to all of us. We get older and our bodies change and our music palate also changes. This leads to…

A genius in the rap world, to say the least, Tupac Shakur has always been one of the most talked about artists of all times. In fact, you don’t need to be a fan of rap to feel overwhelming emotions triggered by Tupac’s songs. Born as Lesane Parish Crooks, Tupac left the world way too soon. He was shot and killed in September of 1996. There is a reason Tupac still holds a place in everyone’s heart. He was the epitome of perfection when it came to passing on a message through songs. Not only was…

Music is everywhere. Music is a melodious tune one either makes his or herself or hears in one 's surrounding. A person can whistle a tune or hit against objects. We can hear it in nature: wolves howling, birds chirping, and the rivers rushing to meet the sea. In today 's day and age, music evolves and rap music is one of the genres. Rap music begins as an alternative to violence but many believe it has a negative effect on the behavior children. Rap music is an underground phenomenon of the…

Just Like Hip-Hop Does anyone remember the feeling that hip-hop gave to make things feel better? Music by Erick Sermon does a good job for me. Sermon, along with the help of Marvin Gaye’s smooth vocals blended the true meaning of hip-hop. So to define hip-hop is difficult, but the message is very clear no matter what the culture is. Hip-hop is togetherness, happiness, and success . One important part of Hip-Hop is togetherness. Hip-Hop was started in the housing projects. Violence was a way…

My love and appreciation for Hip Hop/ Rap has been a pretty recent attraction. It was something I grew up around, but wasn’t interested in. Most of the people that listened to rap in high school were the more popular kids, so I didn’t think there would be anything I could relate to and stayed away. All I consumed was the stuff on the radio. College changed my rap consumption though. When I was on campus, I found that I was having more and more free time, so I wanted to try out this thing so many…

More than ever since the eighty’s rap has been a controversial subject. Whenever someone says something harsh someone wants to stop them from saying it. There have been concerns with how violent rap music has gotten, but is censorship the way to go about fixing these problems? There are many problems with trying to censor rap music. Violent rap music is usually an expression of the violent events going on everywhere. The difference between violent rap and violent actions is that rap music is…

A billion dollar industry that grew from humble beginnings in the Bronx sector of New York City in the mid 1970’s was created by the poor in the lowest income neighborhoods. Diverse ethnic minorities made up the group. The music they created became known as “hip-hop” a new genre of music which consists of four main components; “DJing (disc jockeying), graffiti art, and B-boying (break dancing).” (Baker, P. 8). The fourth component was rapping (rhyming lyrics over a musical background). (Baker, P…

Beata Hanson Dr. Ha-Birdsong English 1113 November 29, 2016 Hip-Hop vs. Rap While the musical genres Hip-Hop and Rap have their similarities, they are very different. One has uplifting tones that make you want to dance and the other is angry and very aggressive with its words. Rap and Hip-Hop were both created during a time of African American oppres-sion where they weren't considered very important political affairs. African Americans felt that if they put their thoughts out in music, they…