5
OPINION

Thursday, August 3, 2017

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

even begin to bombard you with 

an account. I mention these 

legends to compare to all of the 

artists they have inspired today, 

not only in their music, but their 

lyrics, persona and flow. But 

also, to establish the fact that so 

much, yet so little, has changed 

in the rap game. Eminem’s The 

Slim Shady LP, N.W.A.’s Straight 

Outta Compton, The Notorious 

B.I.G.’s 
Ready 
to 
Die, 
Jay-

Z’s Hard Knock Life and Nas’ 

Illmatic are titles of albums 

recorded 
by 
several 
of 
the 

legends I mentioned above, each 

different, unique and iconic in 

their own right, but yet, each 

all the same as they are branded 

with the large parental advisory 

warning on their covers.

“One, two, three, four, five, I 

am the greatest rapper alive. So 

“damn” great, “motherfucker” 

I’ve 
died, 
and 
what 
you’re 

hearing now is a paranormal 

vibe.” I left out some of the 

words included in this quotation 

because of their explicit nature, 

but it is spoken by Kendrick 

Lamar in his single “The Heart 

Part IV,” which preceded the 

release of his now certified 

double platinum album, DAMN. 

Let me tell you, when I heard 

him spit those rhymes over 

an incredible beat switch-up, 

I almost died myself. DAMN 

has indeed solidified Lamar’s 

high ranking in the widely-

popular 
debate 
over 
today’s 

best MC, including artists like 

Drake, J. Cole and Kanye West, 

each of whom have also made 

proclamations 
that 
they 
are 

the greatest, and additionally 

express 
themselves 
through 

explicit and vulgar lyricism.

This 
past 
week, 
I 
had 

the pleasure of seeing both 

Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole live 

in concert and have previously 

seen my other favorite artists 

as well: Drake, Kanye and 

Big Sean. Before each hip-

hop concert, besides feeling 

the anticipation of a sold-

out crowd packed into the 

arena, I usually feel nerves 

deep in the pit of my stomach, 

which 
makes 
me 
cringe. 

This is because of one single 

question/realization: Are they 

going to say it?

By they, I mean white people 

and others. By it, I mean the 

n-word when singing along. I 

was recently playing the song 

“The Story of O.J.” from Jay-Z’s 

latest album 4:44 on my speaker 

at home. If you aren’t familiar, 

he says the n-word exactly 10 

times consecutively throughout 

the chorus. Uncomfortable and 

disgruntled, both of my parents 

asked that I turn “that crap” 

off. A few weeks ago, Jay-Z 

announced the tour dates for 

the 4:44 album. Imagine the 

crowd singing along to that.

Rap/hip-hop 
now 
finds 

itself with a permanent stake 

in 
pop 
culture, 
specifically 

with 
today’s 
generation 
of 

youth. It is no longer just 

about the music; its influence 

now finds itself in the realms 

of fashion, sports and film. 

However, along with it comes 

the glamorization of violence, 

drugs, alcohol and sex; the 

sexualization and degradation 

of women and perpetuation of 

not just explicit “curse” words 

but also derogatory language 

regarding race, religion and 

sexual orientation. Yes, parental 

advisory labeling warns of the 

explicit content within music; 

however, it doesn’t prevent the 

audience from using it. The lines 

have become so blurred on what 

is “acceptable” and what isn’t. 

Use of the n-word will never 

be okay. Referring to a woman 

as a b***h will never be okay. 

Homophobic and transphobic 

slurs will never be okay. And 

it 
doesn’t 
matter 
if 
Drake, 

Kendrick, Kanye or Eminem 

says it. It doesn’t matter if you 

have Black or gay friends. It 

doesn’t matter if you thought 

it was okay…or if you didn’t 

mean it that way. There is no 

justification.

Due 
to 
its 
worldwide 

popularity, 
in 
addition 
to 

my own personal knowledge 

regarding it, throughout this 

piece I only reference rap/hip-

hop music and artists. However, 

I do not want my decision to 

do this to be misconstrued. I 

am 
not 
identifying 
rap/hip-

hop music as the only culprit 

of explicit, violent and vulgar 

messaging. Think back to indie-

pop band Foster the People’s 

smash hit “Pumped Up Kicks.” 

Insanely catchy, it blew up both 

the alternative and pop charts. 

But what many fail to realize 

is its meaning, which tells the 

story of a young boy who brings 

a gun to school intending to kill 

his classmates. Or what about 

Justin 
Bieber’s 
proclamation 

in the song “Cold Water,” that 

“everybody gets high sometimes 

you know? What else can we 

do when we are feeling low?” 

The Weeknd’s hit “Earned It” 

was used as the theme song for 

the “50 Shades of Grey” movie 

— which I am certain needs 

no 
explanation. 
How 
about 

Rihanna who, a woman herself, 

perpetuates the notion that it 

is okay to refer to females as a 

b***h or h*e? I reference these 

examples because I want to 

make it perfectly clear that rap/

hip-hop is not the only genre of 

music that needs some cleaning 

up. These artists and songs 

that I mentioned are played 

on heavy rotation throughout 

pop stations with audiences as 

young as toddlers. I am all for 

freedom of expression as an 

artist. One could argue, what 

would genres like rock or rap/

hip-hop be without its grit and 

brutal honesty or pushing the 

boundaries? But what becomes 

too 
much? 
Too 
provocative? 

Where is the line drawn? And 

when do we, as listeners, start 

to question it?

I 
absolutely 
loved 
going 

to 
concerts 
with 
headlining 

rap/hip-hop artists, as some 

of my favorite songs are by 

musicians I mentioned in this 

piece. However, while there, 

even throughout the blast of 

the music, dancing, roar and 

excitement of the crowd and 

thrum of the bass, I could 

not shake the nervous feeling 

that I mentioned earlier. My 

anticipation of the discomfort 

I would feel if the audience 

decided 
to 
sing 
along 
with 

the rapper and say the n-word 

became too subtly distracting. 

The entire time, a whisper in the 

back of my mind kept repeating,

Are they going to say it?

…They did. 

— Stephanie Mullings can be 

reached at srmulli@umich.edu.

STEPHANIE 
MULLINGS

Always low prices

“

Hi! My name is...What? My 

name is… Who? My name 

is…Slim 

Shady.” 
To 

me, these are 

some 
of 
the 

most 
iconic 

lines to ever 

grace a rap/hip-hop song. In 

1999, 
Eminem 
released 
The 

Slim Shady LP, marked by the 

widely popular song, “My Name 

Is.” Eminem’s lewd, rude and 

violent 
lyricism 
throughout 

not only The Slim Shady LP, 

but also each and every one 

of his following albums have 

identified him as one of the 

greatest 
yet 
controversial 

rappers 
of 
this 
generation. 

Eminem 
sprouted 
from 
the 

vision and mentorship of the 

legend Dr. Dre, who also shares 

a contentious history as member 

of the hip-hop group N.W.A. 

Either idolized or hated, N.W.A. 

propelled themselves into the 

spotlight following the release 

of politically-charged hits like 

“Straight Outta Compton” and 

“F**k tha Police,” even finding 

themselves under the watchful 

eye of the FBI. Their raw and 

provocative music paved the 

way 
for 
the 
emergence 
of 

fellow West Coast artists like 

Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg. 

Simultaneously, the public was 

additionally awed by similar 

voices and stories from across 

the nation through the likeness 

of The Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z 

and Nas.

The history of rap/hip-hop 

music and culture is far too 

rich, detailed and subjective to 

MICHELLE SHENG| CARTOONIST

Rap/hip-hop now 
finds itself with a 
permanent stake 

in pop culture

