Jim Crow in Modern Rap: Vince Staples’ “Progressive 3”
Vince Staples is one of the brightest young rappers currently making music, which is evidenced by the amount of praise his 2014 “Hell Can Wait EP” garnered, as it came to be regarded as one of the top rap projects of the year. Prior to that, in the end of 2013 the Long Beach MC released “Shyne Coldchain 2” which was executive produced by NO I.D. and was responsible for some of the first real waves Staples made in the rap world. The lead track on “Shyne Coldchain 2” is “Progressive 3,” a bold statement about the state of race and rap in America.
The first line of the song, and therefore the tape also, was “yeah back and blacker than ever” which acts not only as an indication of who Vince Staples is but as a warning about what the content of the song will touch upon. He continues speaking about himself and several lines later says “tried to get this money cause my people done struggled forever.” That line could purely be a reference to his family or the people he surrounds himself with, but in the context of the first line it seems he is referring to black people in America as a whole and the struggles they have endured over hundreds and hundreds of years, from slavery to Jim Crow to our current prejudices and justice system. Staples then continues with several lines about how desperate he is to make it in rap and goes as far as saying “as long as hell is burning I’ll murder God/if he was tryna fuck up my paper.” From there Staples goes wholeheartedly into the racism and struggles black people endure in America saying that “The black and brown been going through a holocaust” which makes reference to how many black people die so frequently and how they are almost persecuted by the justice system as a race, before continuing and saying “Obama just a house nigga to me” which speaks upon how Obama is just in the good graces of white people and potentially for that reason is not respected by blacks.
The next line speaks to the injustices of the United States justice system, which is often times referred to as “the new Jim Crow,” directly by referencing how long the sentences given to young offenders are saying “they lock the children up in prison and they ditching the key.” After continuing more about stereotypes of inner city blacks in America Staples begins to speak about how he is atypical in that he does not fit that mold while referencing different racial epithets saying “Breaking that tradition of the inner-city raising fools/A raisin in the sun/They let the monkey out the cage he got a gun/he got a book, he got a brain you better run!” Staples continues making reference to the past of blacks in America soon after by saying he was baptized in the tears of slaves— continually bringing up history to frame the way he, and blacks as a whole, are viewed in modern society because that history does shape our views and stereotypes of blacks now, even if it is purely subconscious.
Staples’ second verse is a bit shorter but confronts the listener the same way, saying things like “gave us hope, then take us back/to the 1800’s with these rap contracts” before continuing to talk about how desperate people will do desperate things, and eventually ending the song with the powerful lines “You got a right to the dream, whether it’s triple beam or Martin Luthers/My chain hang is you ready for that revolution?” Throughout the song, there is no explicit mention of Jim Crow or for that matter any old racial stereotypes, but by mentioning so many aspects of the past Staples’ brings up everything from slavery to now, including Jim Crow, and makes the listener consider how all of those things lead to so many blacks being in the tough situations that they are in today—because they have been systematically held down and cheated, which is why Staples will do anything he can to make it and overcome those woes.
Works Cited pt. 2
Alim, H. Samy. “On Some Serious Next Millennium Rap Ishhh.” Journal Of English Linguistics 31.1 (2003): 60. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.
This source is useful to me because it examines rap closely in the modern age for the lyrical inventiveness which can help to bring to my attention certain things that contemporary rappers do with their lyrics that I might otherwise miss or not understand, and since my song is relatively contemporary this could be useful to point out literary aspects of the song I should look for. This is a literature based source, so also it falls into that category.
Caplan, David. “The Art Of Rhymed Insult.” Virginia Quarterly Review 88.2 (2012): 119-133. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.
This source examines rap as insult, because so much rap contains insults aimed at others and how it is artful in the way it insults others. It talks about how insults are central to rap music as an entity and how rappers insult others. Ludacris does not have a large amount of insults in my project song, but he has plenty in his other material which help me to understand him as a person and a rapper, and this source can help me to understand him through that insult which is how this source is useful to me.
Kenner, Rob. “Word’s Worth.” Poetry 187.3 (2005): 221-224. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.
This source is interesting and should be useful because it examines rap as poetry which focuses on the lyrics of rap and the literature-based side of rap music which could help with my analysis of the lyrics of my song and the context in which I view those lyrics, as poetry rather than purely street language. This article was published in the journal “Poetry,” although that is not where I found it, but that speaks to the validity of this source as a literary view of rap music.
Quinn, Eithne. Nuthin’ But a “G” Thang: The Culture and Commerce of Gangsta Rap. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005. Web.
This source is about gangsta rap which much of Ludacris’ music falls into, and it has a regional breakdown of gangsta rap that examines its role in different geographic regions of the United States which can again provide context and insight into Ludacris’ music. This source will be helpful through that context and its musical analysis as it was found through a music search engine and includes musical analysis in its analysis of gangsta rap.
Sarig, Roni. Third Coast: Outkast, Timbaland, and How Hip-Hop Became a Southern Thing. Cambridge: De Capo Press, 2007. Web.
Ludacris is a Southern rapper who claims Atlanta as his hometown and this book provides careful analysis of Southern rap specifically with a special focus on Atlanta and how Southern rappers, of whom Ludacris is a prime example, rose to fame and became so successful in rap. This is useful to me because it provides context for the music Ludacris is making and it is relevant to this assignment because the book focuses on the music and the book was found through a music database.
Wood, Brent. “Understanding Rap As Rhetorical Folk-Poetry.” Mosaic: A Journal For The Interdisciplinary Study Of Literature 32.4 (1999): 129. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.
This source is useful because it looks at rap as poetry and specifically in comparison with other types of oral and folk poetry to explain how it fits into that category and how it differs from other types of poetry that fall into that category. This is useful because it examines the beginnings of rap in a literary way to provide context for what rap has morphed into by this point in time which will help my understanding of the lyricality of rap for my analysis of my project song.
Race in Rap- Mick Jenkins ft. Supa BWE “Treat Me”
Chicago has a burgeoning rap scene by any measure, but one of the brightest young stars to recently emerge from Chicago, and one of my favorite artists is Mick Jenkins. He makes very meaningful and intellectual music, and seems destined for great things. Many songs were made in response to the publicized wave of police violence against blacks through the summer and fall of 2014, but in my opinion none of them are better than Mick Jenkins’ “Treat Me.” If you are not familiar with the song, you should definitely watch the video to familiarize yourself with it, as the visuals are just as powerful as the words.
The first verse of the song is by Supa BWE. He begins by talking about how he is of mixed heritage and has both black and white family members, before making social commentary through quotes from his family members such as “ain’t shit feared like a black man,” which is evidence of the “thug” stereotype that immediately comes to mind when many people in this society picture a black male. Supa then continues to rap about situations black men had recently been killed across the country as a result of the stereotypes that other races, whites in particular, hold of black men. Specific instances that Supa references are the killings of Oscar Grant and Jordan Davis. He raps more imagining what it would be like if he lost a family member to a stupid incident when no one deserves to die, before ending his verse with the phrase “treat me caucasian.”
The chorus is very provocative, exclaiming “come off them benefits, treat me caucasian” along with phrases like “untriple our sentences” which reference the unfair treatment of blacks in America by the American justice system because blacks are convicted at higher rates than any other race and given larger sentences than other races for the same crimes, which is evidence of societal stereotypes about criminals and crime. They also say “give me that privilege” in the chorus, referring to white privilege which again is a direct statement about how difficult it is to be black in America in current times.
The second verse is by Mick Jenkins, who begins by referencing Trayvon Martin before moving into other topics such as food deserts, which generally happen in poor areas that mostly minorities reside in. Throughout that verse he broaches many other topics, such as white privilege, wages, and the idea that the Northern half of America is not racist, which clearly is a reference back to slavery but is a belief that is somewhat pervasive even today. The third verse of the song is again by Mick Jenkins but is shorter. That verse broaches more on the positive things and the future, arguing that blacks create most of the good cultural objects in America today and that while a black president was long overdue, he cannot actually change much. The song ends with Mick’s initial Trayvon Martin allusion repeated, and then the hook.
But, in my opinion, the most powerful part of the song is the video, which show Supa BWE who pretends to be white, and Mick Jenkins, being himself, as they get ready for and begin their days side by side simultaneously, and how they are different. How Mick gets harassed by a police officer and has a tougher time in general. This song and video make a strong statement about race relations in America today, and come from one of the brightest young minds in music.
Musical Analysis of The Fugees’ “Family Business”
The song “Family Business” is typical of any Fugees song in that it has a number of things going on and has a good bit of harmony in it- which could also be said about any of Lauryn Hill’s individual material. In terms of texture, there are six layers and they are percussion, vocals, background vocals, lead guitar, backup guiter, and then some high pitched wind instrument that comes in from time to time. The percussion serves to keep the tempo consistent and keep the beat moving, which it does nicely. The lead guitar and backup guitar provide the main elements of the melody, and the backup vocals and wind instrument pitch in from time to time to accent parts of the melody, typically towards the end of each verse. The vocals are mostly low pitched so from time to time they blend in a bit with the percussion because of their pitch and consistent push because the words are said with conviction. The speed of the percussion and vocals is consistent, and not particularly fast, although the vocals move more quickly than the drums. The lead guitar moves pretty slowly, whereas the backup guitar is very quickly being strummed. The backup vocals are pretty slow and the wind instrument that chimes in from time to time is somewhat quick. In terms of timbre, the lead vocals are mostly very low as it has already been mentioned they almost blend in with the drums at times. The drums are low and consistent. The lead guitar is somber but played easily with normal notes that each have their time, and the backup guitar almost flutters because it is played so quickly and at a higher pitch than the rest of the song. The backup vocals consist mainly of humming and then some “ha haaa, ha haaa”s which are high and sound almost a bit bird-like. There is a bit of call and response throughout the lead vocals.
In terms of melody, this song has a contour that is very low and consistent, but jumps up a bit from time to time— mainly as the background guitar and vocals jump in pitch, but it quickly becomes grounded at a lower pitch again. The character of the song is mostly conjunct, and includes blue notes in the guitar. The melodic range is pretty large between the low guitar and some of the high background vocals that contribute to the melody, but they balance out nicely on the lower end of the spectrum. The phrasing is relatively average, not particularly long or short other than the drums which have short phrasing. In addition the background guitar seems to have shorter phrasing than the lead guitar. The motives are pretty long with similar patterns but different pitches.
The meter in this song is duple and it has syncopation and swing. The tempo is consistent and pretty average in speed. The rhythm of the drums is pretty average for drums, but a little on the slower end. The rhythm of the guitar is interesting as the lead guitar has a very slow rhythm with long notes whereas the backup guitar is the opposite and has very slow notes that come quickly, so it has a much faster rhythm in contrast to the lead guitar especially. The vocals move a bit quickly so they have a somewhat quick rhythm, but not too fast. The rhythm of the wind instrument in the background is quick as its notes are short.
In terms of harmony, the dynamics do not change throughout the song and the character of it is consonant. In terms of timbre of the melody, the lead guitar is low in contrast with the high and fluttery background guitar. The lead vocals are low and relatively quick whereas the intermittent background vocals are slow and higher pitched. What these contrasts do is lead to a balanced song that is relaxing to listen to because it is not high pitched enough to really draw your attention but it is not low enough to seem overly moody either, although if it errs to one side it is definitely more low than high in pitch. The phrasing is not particularly notable and the text is articulated in a low way such that it complements the drums almost more than the melody. As a whole, it should be concluded that this track is beautiful to listen to which is a conclusion a listener can reach quickly and the result of that is the balance between the varied rhythms and pitches of the different layers, which paint a perfect portrait for Pras, Wyclef Jean, and Lauryn Hill to paint a picture of the tough life they live and the importance of loyalty and family in that environment.
Rap & Sociology Related Sources
Balaji, Murali. “The Construction Of “Street Credibility” In Atlanta’s Hip-Hop Music Scene: Analyzing The Role Of Cultural Gatekeepers.” Critical Studies In Media Communication 29.4 (2012): 313-330. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 9 Feb. 2015.
This text is useful because it provides context about the differences between Southern rap and rap from other geographical areas through the guise of explaining who record labels turn to in the South to find new artists. Through that it also explains how those people the record labels turn to more or less control music in that region of the country so a popular artist gets popular through them, and since Ludacris is a popular artist he must have a relationship with some of the people mentioned. This is a sociologic source as it looks at rap in the context of mainstream music and how rappers get to be known.
Emerson, Rana A. “Review Of Thug Life: Race, Gender, And The Meaning Of Hip-Hop.” American Journal Of Sociology 117.6 (2012): 1848-1850. PsycINFO. Web. 9 Feb. 2015.
This is a book review of the book “Thug Life: Race, Gender, and the Meaning of Hip Hop.” which is useful because it explores the image of “thugs” and the “bad man “ as he is present in rap music along with the fact that control over rap music now lies in corporate boardrooms and speculates how those two factors are interconnected and affect the music people listen to. It is relevant because Ludacris presents a thug like image in his song “Southern Hospitality” so this can help to explain why that image is so popular. It is a sociology source because it is in the American Journal of Sociology and it is exploring cultural factors surrounding the music genre that is rap.
LaBelle, Brandon. “Pump Up The Bass – Rhythm, Cars, And Auditory Scaffolding.” Senses & Society 3.2 (2008): 187-203. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Feb. 2015.
This source is useful as it explores the relationship between rap music and cars, and how they are interconnected with the car being a “sonic machine” for the music (188). This is relevant because Ludacris spends several lines of his song “Southern Hospitality” talking about Cadillacs and this source should be helpful because it explores more of the musicality of rap in relation to cars which is something that is more scarce on information than the sociology of rap.
Miller, Matt. “Rap’s Dirty South: From Subculture To Pop Culture.” Journal Of Popular Music Studies 16.2 (2004): 175-212. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Feb. 2015.
This is helpful because through analysis of a Goodie Mob song titled “Dirty South,” the author of this articles provides quite a bit of context as to what is expected of Southern rap and Southern rappers while simultaneously providing an example paper that I can base the structure of my paper off of because it analyzes the Goodie Mob song through every lens that my paper needs to look through except musically. This is a sociology based source because it analyzes the song through historical and cultural contexts.
Pedersen, Birgitte Stougaard. “Aesthetic Potentials Of Rhythm In Hip Hop Music And Culture: Rhythmic Conventions, Skills, And Everyday Life.” Thamyris/Intersecting: Place, Sex & Race 26.1 (2013): 55-70. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 9 Feb. 2015.
This source is useful because it explores the significance of rhythm, specifically in rap music, through a sociological perspective which directly relates to both the music side and the sociology side of this project, indicating that this could be a very good source.
Rosenthal, Debra J. “‘Hoods And The Woods: Rap Music As Environmental Literature.” Journal Of Popular Culture 4 (2006): 661. Academic OneFile. Web. 9 Feb. 2015.
This source is relevant and useful because it is about how rap music reflects the urban environment and vice versa, particularly how rap music is representative of the “metaphorical geography of African-American expression” (662). In that way it is very sociological because it is about how rap reflects society and vice versa.
Urban Decay in Rap: Immortal Technique-Harlem Streets
Urban decay is a significant problem throughout at least sections of a number of major United States cities. As a result, it heavily affects rap music since the artists typically come from low income neighborhoods in inner cities, so it makes sense it is a topic that would be mentioned in rap music. One song in particular that gives an interesting perspective on Urban Decay is Immortal Technique’s “Harlem Streets.” Immortal Technique is very anti-establishment and educated so he raps a lot about political and corporate problems, but in this song he takes a bit more of a focus on urban life. The first line of the song which reads “Harlem streets stay flooded with white powder” begins by bringing up the problems of poor neighborhoods, namely crime. He continues that verse saying things like “Gun shots rock the earth like a meteor shower” and “the subway stays packed like a multicultural slave ship” which continue to illustrate parts of New York City life, and a number of the problems with it.
But, the song really moves onto the topic of urban decay towards the end of the first verse with the lines “mothers are trying to feed children/But gentrification is kicking them out of their building/A generation of babies born without healthcare/Families homeless, thrown the fuck off to welfare.” Those lines represent the problems that follow urban decay. He is talking about what happens when a neighborhood gets devalued and becomes poor. People with lower incomes move in because they can afford it, and then before you know it everything in that area is owned by wealthier people and is being rebuilt or renovated so it is more expensive and lower income people cannot afford to live there any longer, leaving them homeless. That would typically happen as a result of comprehensive redevelopment but could come from urban regeneration projects also.
There is only one other verse in this song, and it focuses mainly on the deceit of politicians and the lack of good education provided to poorer people in the United States. First he talks about how white politicians send our country to war over and over but most of the members of the United States military are black and latino. Then he talks more about problems that relate to urban decay with two lines in the middle of that verse which read “But you can’t read history at an illiterate stage/ And you can’t raise a family on minimum wage.” In poorer areas, schools are inevitably worse and in places where urban decay occurs, the education system can also begin to lack and many of the people who now live in those neighborhoods would be those who receive a lower income, which according to Immortal Technique is not enough to raise a family. He then continues rapping until the end of the song about crime and violence and distrust- themes common in rap music that result from the influence these low income areas of urban decay have on rappers individual lives.
Flow in Ludacris’ “Southern Hospitality”
The flow in this song is very interesting. It follows a distinct pattern because each verse can be broken down into quatrains, with there being one topic covered in each quatrain. The way the rhyme is set up, the first line of each quatrain is basically divided into two short lines, some of which have internal rhyme that matches what the external rhyme will be for that specific quatrain. The following three lines of each quatrain are each full lines but they end with whatever the topic was for those four lines, and then a word after that rhymes with the actual last word in each line. What that does is create multisyllabic rhyme because there is an exact rhyme and then another perfect end rhyme immediately following which gives the song a bit of a childish, storybook type of feel to it. These rhymes are integral to the flow of the song because the flow is very regular in terms of rhythm and pace throughout the song, except where the rhymes are. Ludacris raps at a consistent rate that almost parallels talking loudly, but he pauses before each rhyme, except those in the first quatrains in the first and second verses, and then at the very end of the second verse. What that does is accentuate the words that rhyme even further and draws attention to, in those lines, the word Cadillac and then whatever word he is using that fits the rhyme. Towards the end of the third verse and the end of the song, Ludacris gets more repetitive by using whatever the theme word of each quatrain is even more times throughout the quatrain, which again makes it sound a bit storybook like. The speed of the song is consistent, and it is not very fast at that. It is just faster than a talking pace, with pauses before each of the end line rhymes, which accentuates the rhyme and adds a bit of emphasis and personal touch onto what amounts to be a very simple rap. With that being said, the rhythm is pretty consistent and goes at an average speed before slowing for the end rhyme in almost every line.
Ludacris’ “Southern Hospitality”: A Musical Analysis
“Southern Hospitality” is one of the standout tracks from Ludacris’ debut album “Back for the First Time” and it is produced by Pharrell Williams, one half of the production duo “The Neptunes” and currently one of the most famous musicians in the world. In fact, Pharrell even won an award or two at the Grammy’s last weekend. The song is very interesting because even for a rap beat, it is atypical. There are no samples, and really there is very little in the way of a melody. The song is very minimalistic. All that is there is percussion, Ludacris’ vocals, and some other computer generated sounds–totaling three layers. The percussion serves to provide the beat for the song and keep it moving, the vocals provide the little melody that there is, and the computer generated noises are used to accent and add a bit of flavor to the beat from the percussion. The layers of percussion and computer generated sounds move rather quickly, and in contrast the vocals do not move particularly fast. That allows the vocals to have a spotlight on them because rather than getting consumed by a song with many parts that is all moving around the same speed, there is very little here to overshadow the vocals, and the percussion in the background really just helps hammer home the points that Ludacris is making. The only call and response is in the chorus when a phrase is begun and then ended with a lower pitch “throw them ‘bows.” The timbre of the percussion in this song is simple and thunderous with what sounds like multiple noises being made at the same time on the baseline, creating a real banging sensation to surround the bass itself. The timbre of the vocals is low and somewhat conversational except the word at the end of each line is lingered upon which helps each line of vocals end smoothly. The timbre of the computer sounds is interesting because there is a digital sliding sound that is repeated at different pitches and then there are couplets of notes that sound computerized and are close together, but with the way they sound they could almost be from a softer sounding wind instrument.
The melody of this song is very basic because there is so little going on. The percussion and computer sounds are consistently on and off throughout the song, with the most minimalistic part of the beat coming at the beginning of Ludacris’ second verse around the 1:20 mark. With that being said, since the vocals are really the only melody, the contour is regular and low as certain words are emphasized bit pitch does not vary much with the exception of the phrase “throw them ‘bows” which is repeated in the chorus at a much lower pitch than the rest of the vocals. So there is very little up and down in the contour of the melody. In regards to the character the melody is somewhat disjunct. There is not a wide melodic range in the vocals as they are all low pitched but some of the computerized sounds in the background raise the pitch of the song as a whole from time to time. The phrases in the melody which really are just Ludacris’ vocals are in patters of five, with two short phrases, and then three long phrases following. They can be distinguished because when he sticks to one term, such as with “Cadillac” in the beginning of the song, there are five phrases and then he moves on to his next word to repeat. There are a couple different motives in the percussion that repeat over and over to make the beat, with corresponding digital sounds on top of them.
When it comes to time, this song is in duple meter with a tempo that is pretty quick. The rhythm is quick in the percussion and in the digital sounds, but slows down in the actual vocals as words that rhyme well are stretched out to emphasize the rhyme and those words, which slows down the rhythm of the vocals. An accent is put on the last note of each motive of vocals. There is no swing. The song has syncopation. There are two motives in the percussion, which are the motives that fit with time best. Lastly, when it comes to harmony, there really is no harmony in this song since the only melody is being provided pretty much exclusively through vocals. All these things come together to give a simple but fun song to listen to!
Quick Stanza
School can be so so tedious,
But for a job you need a degree I guess.
I just know there are better uses of my time,
like sitting here and working on my rhyme.
The end rhyme between lines one and two is multisyllabic, and there is repetition of words (so so) and structure (my time/my rhyme).
Ludacris- “Southern Hospitality” and Literary Devices
“Southern Hospitality” is a standout track from Ludacris’ first album “Back For the First Time.” It is a neptune (Chad Hugo & Pharrell Williams) produced track with Ludacris’ own distinctive flavor of Southern rap laid on top. As far as Ludacris songs go, it is not particularly lyrically dense, but nonetheless it displays a number of literary devices.
The most obvious literary device is repetition, as Ludacris breaks down each of his verses into quatrains which focus on one particular things, such as Cadillacs or your mouth. From that comes a lot of perfect, identical and multisyllabic rhyme as simple phrases are rhymed such as “Cadillac grills” and “Cadillac mills.” The examples of rhyme in the last sentence are in the same line of the song, showcasing internal rhyme, and the “Cadillac mills” is rhymed with “Cadillac spills” in the following line, showcasing external rhyme. Since there is both internal and external rhyme, there is crossed rhyme. There is imagery to a lower degree in lines such as “twenty inch wide, twenty inch high” and “Sleeping in a cot picking Dirty South bed.” There is elision in the chorus as the word “elbows” is shortened to “‘bows” for rhythm purposes. There is also metonymy and usage of homophones in the line “Drunk off the liquor, getting hit by bars” as “bars” is referring simultaneously to a place to drink and to a line from a rap song, making the line a double entendre. Even in a lighter song, many literary devices are used by better artists, which is evidence of how well crafted a song is.
You Got Me
The Roots are one of the most well established, well known, and critically appreciated groups that have ever made hip hop music. One of the must-have albums in their collection is “Things Fall Apart,” the Roots’ first album to sell a million copies and their top selling album to this date. Arguably the biggest standout track is “You Got Me” featuring Erykah Badu.
The song “You Got Me” describes a common problem in relationships, which is a lack of trust for one’s partner. Throughout the track Black Thought raps about difficulties he has and doubts about his woman and her loyalty, and the chorus consists of Erykah Badu retorting back “Baby don’t worry you know that you’ve got me” over and over, in an attempt to ease her man’s fears. The sound of the song begins with its texture, and this song has a number of layers. First there is the drum line, which is relatively simple, consisting of some snares and bass that move pretty slowly and add a real beat to the song. Complementing the drums throughout the track is some bass guitar which is faster than the drums when it is there, but helps propel the song and add to the beat created by the drum line while adding a bit of a more somber tone to the track. Next there is some guitar which is played very softly and at a much quicker pace than most of the other instrumentation, but the guitar provides most of the melody and complements the vocalists more because it moves at a pace closer to the speed they move at. Underneath the guitar throughout the track there are some more strings which move a bit more quickly than most of the track, similar to the guitar and help to complement the melody added by the guitar. The last consistent layer of instrumentation is some keyboard which is very slow with long notes when it is played and is really the last string to help tie the melody and the beat together, helping to unite everything.
The melody of the track is very interesting. Most of it is very low because the drums and the bass get to be the more prominent sounds, but the guitar and other strings are higher, and stay in a similar range the whole time. As a whole, the contour of the melody would go up and down without any dramatic jumps or dips, but it would do so at a pretty low level. Each layer of the melody has small intervals as the notes are never too far apart, and as a result the melodic range is not particularly large. The Phrases are relatively short, but they do not move very quickly in terms of tempo. There are several melodic motives, but they are pretty low and soft. What this does as a whole is provide a smooth, but melancholy and worrisome sounding beat that lays the scene for the difficulties being spoken about. It is mostly conjunct, with a low pitch, and the elision in the string layer really helps tie it all together and add that bit of a melancholy feeling.
The harmony is consonant, sweet and minor. The beat is triple meter with a pretty slow tempo, and it has no swing but it does have syncopation. What the slow tempo and syncopation does with this beat is emphasize many different moments, and the way that is done in low tones creates a bit of a more sad, but well flowing beat that is the perfect background for the trust issues that can befall a relationship. This song is a masterpiece and without a doubt a classic in the world of rap music, and without the Roots famous and fantastic instrumentation it most certainly would not be so.
Ludacris Information
Baker’s Biographical Dictionary Of Popular Musicians Since 1990. New York: Schirmer Reference, 2004. Discovery eBooks. Web. 1 Feb. 2015.
Being published in 2004, this is a relatively current source and is relevant because it contains a small biography of Ludcris, also known as Chris Bridges. It should be accurate and come from a good authority since it is contained in a published book, and it’s purpose is to help readers understand Ludacris by explaining some of his background.
Crosley, Hillary. “Double threat: chart-topping, Grammy-winning, Hillary Clinton-bashing rapper Ludacris is infamous for his brash lyrics and comical antics. Chris Bridges, his Hollywood persona, is more serious and versatile. In either industry, the artist is no dabbler. With the release of his seventh album and a slew of movies, the world will witness the second calling of Chris.” GIANT 2008: 112. General OneFile. Web. 1 Feb. 2015.
This article is relatively current as it was written in 2008 and is relevant as it is about Ludacris’ professional work ethic. It is from a printed publication that lists authors so it can be presumed the information contained in the article is accurate and the authority of the source can be trusted although the source is not one that I am familiar with. The purpose of this information is to allow readers to understand Chris Bridges better as a person and a professional.
“Ludacris.” Britannica Biographies (2012): 1. History Reference Center. Web. 1 Feb. 2015.
In terms of currency, this entry was updated in 2012, so it is relatively current. This source is very relevant as it provides some autobiographical details to accompany many details about Ludacris’ music career. The authority can be trusted because this is an entry from the online version of the Encyclopedia Britannica which is a reputable publication. Since this information comes from the Encyclopedia Britannica it should be accurate and trustworthy. This information exists to give readers a snapshot into the music career and life of Chris Bridges.
Pendergast, Sara, and Tom Pendergast. Contemporary Black Biography. Volume 60 [Electronic Resource] : Profiles From The International Black Community / Sara And Tom Pendergast, Editors. n.p.: Detroit, Mich. : Thomson Gale, c2007., 2007. Hoover Library Online Catalog. Web. 1 Feb. 2015.
This source is current as it was published in 2007 and relevant because it contains a small biography of Ludacris. The information can be taken as accurate and from a good authority since it is published and surrounded by information about other people of note which should all be able to be easily verified. The purpose of this information is to give readers a glimpse of the lives of a number of influential African Americans, including Chris Bridges.
Sarig, Roni. ‘Rollin’ With Ludacris.’. De Capo Press: 2007. Alexander Street Press. Web. 1 Feb. 2015.
This source is current as it was published in 2007, and relevant because it is about Southern Rap music, of which Ludacris is an essential part. It can be presumed accurate and from a good authority because this was published by a book publisher that is a member of Perseus Groups, a relatively well known set of publishers. The purpose of this information is to show how Ludacris is a key component in Southern Rap music and how he helped shape southern rap music to make it what it is today.
*For the song “Southern Hospitality” by Ludacris and Pharrell Williams there were no known samples used.