“Southern Hospitality” Analytical Essay #2: Ludacris, the Man of Many Faces and Carefully Constructed Images
Regardless of where he was born, Ludacris is an unapologetically southern rapper. The South, and even Atlanta in particular, began to develop their own sounds in rap music before Ludacris started making music, but that did not stop Ludacris from attempting to make a song that would enter the pantheon of southern rap with “Southern Hospitality”—which is exactly what happened. Not only did the song “Southern Hospitality” help put Ludacris’ name out to the public in the south, it blatantly identified the area he claims to have come from and many of the customs there, acting almost as a guide to the southern rapper lifestyle. As a whole the song “Southern Hospitality” acts as an introduction to southern rap and southern rap customs for those who would be unaware of such things which it does by having a relatively plain beat with hallmarks of dirty south rap that does not detract the listeners attention away from Ludacris’ simple and easy to follow rhymes explaining things for the listener. This idea fits the time period in which the song was released, 1999, adding a real motive and meaning to what on the surface level could be seen as a silly song.
Rap in the South caught on later than rap in the Northeast and on the West coasts, and some of the earliest pioneers of southern rap would be groups such as 2 Live Crew, the Geto Boys, and UGK. These groups all had distinct sounds and hailed from southern cities such as Miami and Houston, and were skillful enough as lyricists and entertainers to draw some national media attention. The term “Dirty South” was coined by a rapper who goes by the name Cool Breeze, as a way to distinguish southern music in the rap world that had no context to be put in (Rehagen 22). The East Coast and West Coast rap scenes were both established and based in cities, but the south is less urban and is dirtier physically, because there is “red clay” and “dirt roads,” and hence the term “dirty south” was born (Rehagen 22). Yet it was not until years later, when acts like Scarface (of the Geto Boys) and OutKast really put southern rap onto the national radar in the mid-90’s. From the perspective of sociology, “dirty south rap” became a real subculture in the mid 1990’s which is evidence of the influence southern artists during that time period such as OutKast had (Miller 203). As a result of that increasing popularity, by the late 1990’s, dirty south rap began being embraced by the critics and public—even beginning to take up a large share of the music market (Grem 56).
To contextualize this within culture in the American South in the 1990’s it is important to remember that this time period was only several decades removed from the height of the civil rights era, and that many communities in Southern states resisted changes that came from the civil rights era harder than other areas of the country. Also, like in Northern cities, integration led to white flight which led to blacks being more or less segregated into neighborhoods and school districts even though the federal government technically prohibited segregation. A big difference lies in the fact that most Northern and Western cities are primarily liberal, supporting the needs of the lower classes whereas the entire area considered the dirty south is very, very conservative (Carter 93). Immediately post-civil rights era Barry Goldwater became the first politician to use the “Southern Strategy,” which involved using coded language to appeal to whites’ racial fears and thereby get whites in the South to vote based on race rather than their own interest (Carter 94). As a result, both poor people and racial minorities, namely black people, have been victimized by the political systems in the South for decades—ultimately that ends up with black people staying poor and ending up in prison, often times due to a lack of honest ways to live and the bias of the American justice system against blacks in particular. For example in 1950 it was estimated that between 50-75% of people in Southern prisons were black, even though blacks did and still only make up roughly 12% of the population, yet in 1990 it was estimated that in the South 48% of prisoners were still black (Roscigno 324). In these ways the racial climate, particularly in the South, has been uneasy for a very long time. While it took longer for rap music to reach the south, it did there what it did across the country which was give a voice to the voiceless, and the dirty south movement in rap began as the first big wave of Southern rappers began to be able to express those voices.
Ludacris in particular was and is very aware of that racial climate, which is easily noted through the original title of his debut album which this song was first released on, Incognegro. The word “incognito” is defined as “with your true identity kept secret (as by using a different name or a disguise)” (“Incognito”). This title would suggest that Ludacris is abandoning himself and becoming a random black person in America to make this album, which is full of stereotypical rap themes with song titles such as “Mouthing Off,” “Hood Stuck,” and “Ho”— the last of which he rhymes a surprising amount of words with the word “ho” and to emphasize his point even more he inserts the word “ho” into other words (ex. the “Ho”-zone layer, instead of ozone layer). This album sold well and then was re-released after Ludacris signed to Def Jam, under the somewhat fitting name “Back for the First Time.”
While this dirty south area of subculture continued to grow and expand more towards the mainstream of culture and music, many people were already familiar with it as indicated by its growing amount of cultural significance, but being that it was growing so quickly and gaining popularity so fast, many people who were not familiar with it or it’s ideals were getting exposed to aspects of dirty south culture and music. That is where Ludacris’ “Southern Hospitality” gains its major significance. The song takes many topics that are significant in that dirty south rap culture and elaborates on them in the form of quatrains. So Ludacris picks four subjects for each verse and has a quatrain about each subject which is how the song acts as an introduction to dirty south rap culture for those who may be completely unfamiliar. Topics that Ludacris chooses to have quatrains on range from Cadillacs and sweat, to the phrases “Dirty South” and “twenty-inch.”
Throughout each quatrain, the thing that is being talked about is repeated at least once per line. For example, the first quatrain reads “Cadillac grills, Cadillac Mill’s/Check out the oil my Cadillac spills/Matter of fact, candy paint Cadillacs kill/So check out the hoes my Cadillac fills.” Through that quatrain it is easy to see the emphasis put on the word “Cadillac” because of the constant repetition of it, and the fact that the topic of the quatrain is repeated in each line immediately before the end rhyme serves to emphasize very blatantly that the end rhyme is applied to the repeated phrase and that those end rhymes are significant in relation to the current topic of the song. So just in that small quatrain Ludacris quickly conveys to the listener the importance of grills, mills, and candy paint in relation to Cadillacs using literary devices such as rhyme and consonance, while also using rhyme to convey how Cadillacs spill, kill, and fill. Through the one quatrain, Ludacris provides as much information about Cadillacs as one would ever need to understand the culture surrounding them without going into a detailed enough explanation that the listener would automatically get lost. Also, through the constant repetition and simple end rhyme (mills/splills/kill/fill) Ludacris simplifies the ideas that he is conveying quite a bit with the intention that new listeners could understand and push themselves to understand because on the face value of things what they are listening to seems so simple.
From the repetition of “Cadillac” Ludacris shifts to the repetition of the phrase “twenty inch.” The fact that phrase is a descriptor rather than a simple noun allows Luda to broach many different topics rather than restricting that quatrain to one specific topic, and it also allows him to play off of the previous quatrain by using phrases like “twenty inch high” and “twenty inch-ride” to add the idea of 20-inch rims to the Cadillac that he was previously talking about. By following a similar pattern throughout the song, Luda uses many descriptive phrases as the repeated themes, such as “mouth full,” “hand me down,” and “pretty ass,” so that in those quatrains he can touch on many topics rather than sticking to one—but that makes the quatrains when he does stick to one topic such as the ones about Cadillacs and sweat stick out even more and leaves them with more emphasis.
The music behind this song is very simple, as there are not many layers and there are no samples, making it a completely original beat created by Pharrell. The main layers of the beat are the percussion, electronic sounds, and vocals. The simplicity of the beat allows much of the attention of the song to be focused on Ludacris’ lyrics rather than enrapturing listeners with the music by itself and distracting them from the song in that way. The loud bass is used frequently as it is a hallmark of dirty south rap so it only makes sense that a song about dirty south rap would carry the trademark sounds of that subgenre of music. The bass also complements Ludacris’ raps because the bass hits twice while Ludacris is repeating the subject phrase for each quatrain to emphasize that subject, and then Ludacris pauses as the beat moves on before he adds the word that is the end rhyme which emphasizes those words also through their separation in time from the rest of the text. So the beat and Ludacris’ rhyme patterns help emphasize the important words in each line, which draw the listeners attention to those terms and makes it extra easy to follow along.
As a whole, this song is Ludacris’ introduction into dirty south rap for listeners who have not before been exposed to it or understood it. It informs the listeners how dirty south rap sounds, what it talks about, how it talks about those topics, and through those things quickly indoctrinates listeners who may not have been familiar with this type of rap music into it. In conclusion, dirty south rap is “a bold statement from rappers who felt estranged from Atlanta’s economic and social progress and excluded by their southernness from competing in a rap music market dominated by New York and Los Angeles” and this song is Ludacris’ final invitation to people who were not familiar with that musical movement after it hit the mainstream, allowing those listeners to catch up quickly (Grem 56).
Yet beyond serving as an introduction to dirty south rap culture, which this song undoubtedly does, this song is a satire of Southern rappers in general. The simple, story-book sounding rhymes and repetition sound very playful and the fact that it falls on an album called Incognegro on which Ludacris is making music under the guise of being a random black person is not a coincidence. Throughout the entire album Ludacris is making clever music all while satirizing Southern rappers by making songs about similar topics but making them ridiculous in different ways, such as the song “Ho” mentioned previously in which atleast every several words he either says “ho” or inserts it into another word. In this song Ludacris takes a different angle, making it sound very much like a children’s story book, which emphasizes his point throughout the song that Southern rappers are simple and childlike, caring about material possessions and meaningless ideas and images like kids do. Further indication that this song is a satire is some of Ludacris’ later works, some of which are also satire (ex. Word of Mouf) and some of which are very serious (ex. Release Therapy) and contain very deep songs about sexual abuse and struggles with faith. This is evidence that there are two sides of Ludacris, the intelligent, thoughtful Ludacris and the comical, satirical Ludacris—both of which make serious points. Incognegro came out before Ludacris was signed, demonstrating that he was not making this music for a major label, in which case it would much more likely be serious rather than satirical because these are themes that the music industry promotes. Then the labels liked this album as a serious album so Ludacris got signed, and his next few albums were just as ridiculous and satirical (Word of Mouf & Chicken-N-Beer), but by then he had established himself and made money, proving that he could survive in the industry. Then only several years later he released Release Therapy, his first fully serious album, and won a grammy because of it. In the context of the album and his career trajectory, it seems obvious that this song is a satire and is mocking southern rappers and their childish ways—while double timing it as an introduction to dirty south culture.
Works Cited
Carter, Dan T. “Is There Still A South? And Does It Matter?.” Dissent (00123846) 54.3 (2007): 92-96. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
Grem, Darren E. “The South Got Something To Say”: Atlanta’s Dirty South And The Southernization Of Hip-Hop America.” Southern Cultures 12.4 (2006): 55-73. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
“Incognito.” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Springfield: Merriam-Webster, Inc. Web. 26 April 2015.
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.
Rehagen, Tony. “Derivation Of Dirty South.” Atlanta 52.7 (2012): 22. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
Roscigno, Vicent J., and Marino A. Bruce. “Racial Inequality And Social Control: Historical And Contemporary Patterns In The U.S. South.” Sociological Spectrum 15.3 (1995): 323-349. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
Narrative Fidelity in Kendrick Lamar’s “Hood Politics”
Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp A Butterfly” was released on short notice in March and sent everyone who likes rap into a frenzy. The only real description from Kendrick to the public about the album before it was released is that it was “unapologetically black.” Upon release of the album, everyone could see why. There are heavy influences of jazz and R&B in the songs on the album and the album as a whole offers a very critical critique of race in America and what it means to be black. But it was done beautifully. Kendrick Lamar has always controlled his own narrative in terms of the persona he is seen through as a rapper, and what it comes back to is that he is from Compton so he is familiar with black stereotypes and gang life, but he is not a gang banger and is unfailingly honest and observant, as he has offered critiques on many different topics since early in his career—beginning more with sexism and masculinity, and now moving heavily into race.
The song “Hood Politics” begins with a voicemail on Kendrick’s phone asking Kendrick to call back. The music then really begins and before too long Kendrick begins the chorus which basically consists of Kendrick saying he has always been at the top and honest while calling out the people around him for being the opposite. He then ends the hook with lines about how they used to carry guns but now 14 years have passed since then “on the dead homies”— so he is swearing on his dead friends that what he is about to say is true. He begins the first verse saying he does not care about rap politics because his friend is really dead, and he cannot do anything about it. Kendrick then reassures himself that he will continue rapping hard and not conforming to rap stereotypes (“Wore no chain in this game”) before continuing to rap about how he became successful by rapping in a way that was true to himself so that is what he will continue doing. Then he basically says that he is cool with everybody so nobody can mess with him.
After the chorus repeats, the second verse gets going with Kendrick getting out of a car to be informed of threats from another neighborhood to which Kendrick responds toughly that they’d be making a mistake to mess with us and it would end up with an ambulance coming slow because they don’t care about black people and there would be cameras there to film the whole thing and reinforce black stereotypes. Kendrick then briefly mentions the LAPD and how they give people “football numbers” (a large number of years in prison) all of the time without a real reason or second thought. Kendrick then goes into a metaphor he extends for a while about “DemoCrips” and “ReBloodicans” which is formed on the basis of them all being opposing groups who share the same colors (republicans and bloods=red, crips and democrats=blue). That idea is introduced with the lines “They tell me it’s a new gang in town/from Compton to Congress” which is very thoughtful and reflects his album cover which depicts some of his Compton friends making crazy poses in front of the white house. Kendrick then extends the political party/gang metaphor strongly saying “The give us guns and drugs, call us thugs/make it they promise to fuck wit you” which is a strong statement that really does point out similarities between the two things, even if they work on very different levels. Then Kendrick continues the metaphor by discussing how the government always screws over black people, like gangs often do, and ends the verse with “Obama say “what it do?’’ which is a reminder that Obama is viewed as black but he is a politician so he will still make things worse, indicating that the political problem is much deeper than race.
The third verse begins with Kendrick talking about how people always want what they can’t have, which is often the past, but that it is just people putting their priorities in the wrong place. He then tells people to not ask him about simple things like his woman or shows, but to ask him about the power he has through his audience to change the world. He then says he and Snoop are the biggest rappers on the West Coast, which is a sentiment that I doubt would be refuted at this point. The verse finishes with talk of more rap politics and discussion of how that doesn’t even matter, but if it did then Kendrick would still be on top of the world because he has the most influence.
In short, Kendrick’s narrative is reliant upon honesty, intelligent observation, and having real and street credibility which he reaffirms throughout this record as he emphasizes where he came from and makes intelligent, gripping observations about the world around him and how it affects others which is presented in a masterful, overly artistic and poetic way. This song is a perfect example of why people listen to Kendrick Lamar and beautifully demonstrates why he has the narrative that he has established for himself, how that narrative is credible, and why he will stick with it as he continues to make music.
Big K.R.I.T. “REM” Presentation Outline
- Introduction to Big K.R.I.T.
- He was born Justin Scott in 1986 in Meridian, Mississippi.
- He began to have success in rap around 2010.
- He produces almost all of the songs he raps on, by himself
- He is signed to Cinematic music group, which is a part of Def Jam
- His music falls under the same dirty south rap music as Ludacris’ music, which my last presentation was on.
- General information on the song “REM.”
- It is featured on KRIT’s 2013 mixtape “King Remembered in Time.”
- “REM” stands for “Rendom Eye Movement” which is the deepest part of the sleep cycle and is also when people tend to dream the most.
- It is a short song, less than three minutes long.
- Explain the sounds in the song “REM” and how they contribute to the overall theme of dreams and sleep.
- There are 5 layers, and they are vocals, percussion, bass guitar, piano, and electronic noises.
- The melody is provided through the piano, bass guitar, and electronic noises.
- The electronic noises mainly seem like a tapping that is muffled to seem far away, or like you are hearing it in your sleep, similar to the vocals in the chorus.
- All parts of the music have a slower rhythm except the piano.
- All parts of the music are low in pitch except the chorus vocals and the piano.
- Many of the sounds such as the chorus vocals seem to be almost muffled through a computer filter which helps to provide the allusion that they are outside sounds you are hearing as you sleep in a less deep state of sleep.
- The piano scales in the chorus quickly change pitch and get lower and lower as the vocalist in the chorus repeats the word falling to add the illusion of falling into the music.
- The percussion is used to keep the beat going and provide a constant rhythm, and is used in a slower, not overly loud way so as to not disturb the low, peaceful, dreamy vibe that has been created for the song.
- Explain the lyrical content of the song “REM.’
- The song opens with the chorus, which is about dreams and ends with repetition of the word falling which creates the illusion one is falling and immediately wakes up from the dream for the verses.
- The vocals are low in pitch and not fast in pace.
- The verses are very personal, conveying many of K.R.I.T.’s thoughts through first person narration.
- He speculates on the success of his first album, success, and his drive for success amongst other things.
- A very interesting sequence of lines is “Jiggaboos’ll minstrel you, but never me/ blackface my black face could never be.” That contains many literary devices such as a number of types of rhyme and repetition, along with heavy allusions to minstrelsy and rap being modern day minstrelsy.
- In the second line KRIT asks if his first album was “a dream or a nightmare,” which follows the dream/sleep motif that has been created.
- Overall, the lyrics are about not compromising personal values for money/success and the idea that he can be successful and change the world by making art that is true to himself, which to some extent he has done. This is evidenced in lines such as:
- “The revolution of minds will never televise” which doubles as a Gil Scott-Heron reference while talking about what KRIT hopes to spark.
- “I don’t know about my dreams/ cuz I’m more spiritual than lyrical.”
- Which means I care more about vibes and ideas than words.
- “I refuse to give up what I started/For false awards and cover boards in every store.”
- Which means I won’t sell out to make extra money.
- There is great alliteration, rhyme, and assonance in that line, which leads to a flow smooth enough that it could be a dream because the mind works in a fluid way.
- “Fuck a reality show, I’d rather do a tour.”
- Which means I want to do something meaningful to me over making money.
- “Remember me as just a visionary/I’m more Geronimo Pratt than OG Bobby”
- I am a visionary and am closer to a civil rights activist/black panther member than the drug dealer stereotype that rappers and more widely black men are viewed under today.
- Each verse ends with the word dreams.
- The second verse starts with the phrase from the chorus “I don’t know about my dreams”
- Song ends with the line “Too scared to go to sleep, cuz most times I often doubt my dreams”
- As a whole, this is a candid song about aspirations, one’s ability to reach them, and the way one can reach them, which is all discussed through the motif of dreams; which double as aspirations and something your mind does when it sleeps, both of which are elaborated on and created by the music and lyrics.
Missy Elliott “The Rain” Musical Analysis
Missy Elliott is one of the most commercially successful and well known female rappers ever, and some credit much of her success to the producer she worked with throughout her career, Timbaland. Timbaland is currently one of the most well respected rap and R&B producers of all time, and he actually got his start working in music growing up with Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who would go on to become one of the most famous production duo’s of all time, The Neptunes. This song is produced by Timbaland, and is very simple which allows Missy Elliott’s vocals the opportunity to take center stage and really make the song. The beat begins with some noises that resemble human breaths before there is a jolt of thunder, making the “rain” motif that is to continue throughout the song abundantly obvious. The next thing to come in sounds like a bass guitar that is being distorted and playing several notes to make up a very small motive, and doing so at a very slow rhythm which creates a slow tempo to begin the song. At the same time as the bass comes in, the percussion comes in also. As far as percussion goes, it is rather light, allowing the bass to take center stage and accenting the bass with some softer, quicker notes to help balance out the pace of the song. Soon after, it becomes apparent that in the background of the song there is a constant chirping, almost as if there were a family of crickets stuck in the recording studio chirping throughout the recording of the song. That functions to accent the sound of the song with a higher pitch while also adding to the natural, outside vibe that is created by the thunder in the beginning and repeated at the end of the phrases with the thunder.
Besides several other small tapping-like sounds, the main other layers of the song are the vocals and background vocals, which seem to have both been provided by Missy Elliott. The background vocals are pretty constantly singing “I can’t stand the rain, ‘gainst my window.” That is sung at a high pitch which contrasts greatly with the bass guitar-like sound that provides the real basis for the music of the song, which leads to a reasonably high range in the melody. In contrast, most of the lead vocals are in a deeper, calmer, slower voice which fits more with the bass guitar and which add to the relaxed, natural vibe of the song as a whole. So in total, there are 5 layers (percussion, bass guitar, lead vocals, background vocals, and other noises—including but not limited to thunder, crickets, tapping, and distortion of the bass guitar). These layers all function to make a natural song that is low in pitch with some high accents and flows slowly but smoothly, like rain does. The bass guitar really provides the main tune and is accented by the percussion and electronic noises which help propel the song forward and accent different moments, whereas the lead and backup vocals both provide the rest of the melody of the song to contrast with the bass and both sets of vocals move very smoothly, keeping consistent with the motif of rain. The electronic accents in the song such as the thunder move at an average pace, but most of the song such as the vocals and bass guitar move slowly, with the exception being the percussion which quickly moves in and out to accent the melody. In terms of timbre, the percussion is high and quick while the bass guitar sounds almost like a moan, the way it is low and distorted. The electronic sounds range from a tapping, almost like on a desk, to the sounds of circkets and thunder, but they are mostly natural sounds that were added in to the track to accent parts of it and really create a natural, rainy vibe. The timbre of the lead vocals is low and somewhat masculine for a female artist, and the backup vocals are higher and increase in pitch as they reach the end of their phrase. There is no obvious call and response in this song.
In terms of the melody, it is led by the bass guitar and lead vocals which are both rather low, but the background vocals and higher accents provided through other sounds lift up the total sound of the melody to make it moderate, but still on the lower side and rather consistent. The contour does not change much, it mainly remains low before elevating with certain accents and the background vocals. The motives are short and simple which lead to simple phrasing, and the character of the melody seems to be rather disjunct. Also, it seems that in the bass in particular there is some elision and there are some blue notes. In that same vein, there is not a ton of harmony in the song, but the harmony that exists is mainly a function of the two layers of vocals and the bass added in. The harmony is rather consonant and hollow. The dynamics are constant and there is very clear articulation as the vocals clearly offset the rest of the music of the song. The timbre is relatively low but reaches some higher points throughout as the vocals reach higher notes from time to time.
This song is in duple meter, and as a whole has very slow rhythm. The rhythm of the bass and lead vocals are very slow. The rhythm of the electronic sounds and the backup vocals is a bit faster, and the rhythm of the percussion is the fastest the rhythm in the song gets. As a result of mostly slow rhythms in each layer, the tempo of the song, which is mainly dictated by the bass, is on the slower side. There is syncopation, and the motives are pretty slow moving and not overly long. As a whole, all of these elements come together to make a distinct sounding rap song that fits the motif of rain very well and accurately.
“Southern Hospitality” Analytical Essay
Regardless of where he was born, Ludacris is an unapologetically southern rapper. The South, and even Atlanta in particular, began to develop their own sounds in rap music before Ludacris started making music, but that did not stop Ludacris from attempting to make a song that would enter the pantheon of southern rap with “Southern Hospitality”—which is exactly what happened. Not only did the song “Southern Hospitality” help put Ludacris’ name out to the public in the south, it blatantly identified the area he claims to have come from and many of the customs there, acting almost as a guide to the southern rapper lifestyle. As a whole the song “Southern Hospitality” acts as an introduction to southern rap and southern rap customs for those who would be unaware of such things, which fits the time period in which the song was released, adding a real motive and meaning to what on the surface level, could be seen as a silly song.
Rap in the South caught on later than rap in the Northeast and on the West coasts, and ao some of the earliest pioneers of southern rap would be people such as 2 Live Crew, the Geto Boys, and UGK. These artists all had distinct sounds and hailed from southern cities such as Miami and Houston, and were skillful enough as lyricists and entertainers to draw some national media attention. Yet it was not until years later, when acts like Scarface (of the Geto Boys) and OutKast really put southern rap onto the national radar in the mid-90’s. From the perspective of sociology, “dirty south rap” became a real subculture in the mid 1990’s which is evidence of the influence southern artists during that time period such as OutKast had (MIller 203). As a result of that increasing popularity, by the late 1990’s, dirty south rap began being embraced by the critics and public—even beginning to take up a large share of the music market (Grem 56).
While this area of subculture continued to grow and expand more towards the mainstream of culture and music, many people were already familiar with it as indicated by its growing amount of cultural significance, but being that it was growing so quickly and gaining popularity so fast, many people who were not familiar with it or it’s ideals were getting exposed to aspects of dirty south culture and music. That is where Ludacris’ “Southern Hospitality” gains its major significance. The song takes many topics that are significant in that dirty south rap culture and elaborates on them in the form of quatrains. So Ludacris picks four subjects for each verae and has a quatrain about each subject which is how the song acts as an introduction to dirty south rap culture for those who may be completely unfamiliar. Topics that Ludacris chooses to have quatrains on range from Cadillacs and sweat, to the phrases “Dirty South” and “twenty-inch.”
Throughout each quatrain, the thing that is being talked about is repeated at least once per line. For example, the first quatrain reads “Cadillac grills, Cadillac Mill’s/Check out the oil my Cadillac spills/Matter of fact, candy paint Cadillacs kill/So check out the hoes my Cadillac fills.” Through that quatrain it is easy to see the emphasis put on the word “Cadillac” because of the constant repetition of it, and the fact that the topic of the quatrain is repeated in each line immediately before the end rhyme serves to emphasize very blatantly that the end rhyme is applied to the repeated phrase and that those end rhymes are significant in relation to the current topic of the song. So just in that small quatrain Ludacris quickly conveys to the listener the importance of grills, mills, and candy paint in relation to Cadillacs using literary devices such as rhyme and consonance, while also using rhyme to convey how Cadillacs spill, kill, and fill. Through the one quatrain, Ludacris provides as much information about Cadillacs as one would ever need to understand the culture surrounding them without going into a detailed enough explanation that the listener would automatically get lost. Also, through the constant repetition and simple end rhyme (mills/splills/kill/fill) Ludacris simplifies the ideas that he is conveying quite a bit with the intention that new listeners could understand and push themselves to understand because on the face value of things what they are listening to seems so simple.
From the repetition of “Cadillac” Ludacris shifts to the repetition of the phrase “twenty inch.” The fact that phrase is a descriptor rather than a simple noun allows Luda to broach many different topics rather than restricting that quatrain to one specific topic, and it also allows him to play off of the previous quatrain by using phrases like “twenty inch high” and “twenty inch-ride” to add the idea of 20-inch rims to the Cadillac that he was previously talking about. By following a similar pattern throughout the song, Luda uses many descriptive phrases as the repeated themes, such as “mouth full,” “hand me down,” and “pretty ass,” so that in those quatrains he can touch on many topics rather than sticking to one—but that makes the quatrains when he does stick to one topic such as the ones about Cadillacs and sweat stick out even more and leaves them with more emphasis.
The music behind this song is very simple, as there are not many layers and there are no samples, making it a completely original beat created by Pharrell. The main layers of the beat are the percussion, electronic sounds, and vocals. The simplicity of the beat allows much of the attention of the song to be focused on Ludacris’ lyrics rather than enrapturing listeners with the music by itself and distracting them from the song in that way. The loud bass is used frequently as it is a hallmark of dirty south rap so it only makes sense that a song about dirty south rap would carry the trademark sounds of that subgenre of music. The bass also complements Ludacris’ raps because the bass hits twice while Ludacris is repeating the subject phrase for each quatrain to emphasize that subject, and then Ludacris pauses as the beat moves on before he adds the word that is the end rhyme which emphasizes those words also through their separation in time from the rest of the text. So the beat and Ludacris’ rhyme patterns help emphasize the important words in each line, which draw the listeners attention to those terms and makes it extra easy to follow along.
As a whole, this song is Ludacris’ introduction into dirty south rap for listeners who have not before been exposed to it or understood it. It informs the listeners how dirty south rap sounds, what it talks about, how it talks about those topics, and through those things quickly indoctrinates listeners who may not have been familiar with this type of rap music into it. In conclusion, dirty south rap is “a bold statement from rappers who felt estranged from Atlanta’s economic and social progress and excluded by their southernness from competing in a rap music market dominated by New York and Los Angeles” and this song is Ludacris’ final invitation to people who were not familiar with that musical movement after it hit the mainstream, allowing those listeners to catch up quickly (Grem 56).
Works Cited
Grem, Darren E. “The South Got Something To Say”: Atlanta’s Dirty South And The Southernization Of Hip-Hop America.” Southern Cultures 12.4 (2006): 55-73. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
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.
The New Jim Crow in Raz Simone’s “So Far, So Far”
The song “So Far, So Far” by Raz Simone is one of the most honest, introspective songs off of the Seattle rhymer’s 2014 mixtape “Cognitive Dissonance: Part One.” The song is an introspective look at his life in terms of where he is opposed to where he thought he would be at this point in his life; but in his conversation of that he broaches many topics including the poverty cycle that many blacks are stuck in. The song is very low key and relaxed without many sounds and the sounds that are present are low and peaceful for the most part. The first verse begins with him unhappy with his baby mama who seems “ungrateful” and unhappy although she lives in his house and he works long hours at a minimum wage job to support her and his son. Then Raz talks about how she goes out partying on the weekends while he is out on the streets selling drugs—not because he wants to, but because he needs the money to provide his son with a reasonable life. From that Raz talks about what it’s like having lots of money, because then others immediately become needy and interested in you. From that many people spend their money in bad ways, like on women, but Raz says “I’m wise enough to know that fast money don’t stay,” so he has to keep working and working to make enough money that he can invest it in something tangible that could support him and that he could hand down to his son. That is part of his real life story because he was a drug dealer as a teen, and made enough money that by the age of 19 he bought his own club—so he has accomplished that goal.
The chorus is very nostalgic and reminiscent as Raz reflects on the dreams he had as a kid, which can be paralleled with the video below because presumably Raz is giving his son similar dreams, and hopefully a means by which to reach those dreams. The chorus ends with the repetition of the phrase “so far from that, I’m so far…” as Raz reflects on how far he and his life are from where and what he thought they would be by this point. The second verse begins the same way, with the same line as the first, about his baby mama being ungrateful. From there it goes into her complaining about him and him freaking out on her verbally, getting very profane, and then he apologizes and says he has changed before the verse ends.
The chorus is then repeated again, flowing into the third verse talking about he now has all of this money and it came from drugs as the clever line “I was turning hella white, vitiligo” is used to explain where the money came from. He then gets into the problems on the road to success, the “potholes,” and people who continually get in the way. He goes as far as saying these people are “just a nuisance” which is where he really begins to make his more direct cultural commentary. He raps “and these public school curriculums are just as useless” before continuing to rap about how the system of society needs to be tested, not the kids in schools. The strongest statement comes from the final quatrain of the third verse as Raz raps “They teach us how to go to work or to go to prison/creative marketing by the prison industrial system/And that’s pimpin’, that’s real/all these famous rappers will teach you how to go to jail.” In those lines Raz raps about how the public school system does not adequately educate black students to give them a fair chance to make it in school or in jobs, so they all end up in prison. In short, since blacks are not provided the opportunity to make a good living legally, they end up caught in the system that is the prison industrial complex, and that the people who run the prison industrial complex are the real pimps in society because they make a living off of these imprisoned blacks, taking advantage of them as a stereotypical pimp might take advantage of his girls. Lastly, Raz mentions how rappers contribute to the system, by setting an example of how to go to jail which acts as a further issue that helps direct more blacks straight into jail instead of showing them how to make something of themselves.
Through this reflection Raz thinks about how he has not reached where he wanted to be by this point, and then comes to the conclusion that the education and prison systems are part of the reason why he has not achieved what he wanted by this point. Through the video, which is very powerful, the ending lines also show how he is afraid of what fate may befall his own son, as he hopes his son will fulfill all the dreams and wishes he may have—like any father would.
Big K.R.I.T. “REM”- A Full Musical Analysis
Big K.R.I.T. is an artist who is known for crafting his own beats, which are often very soulful, and also for his candid raps. One of his most genuine and candid songs is the song “REM” off of his 2013 project “King Remembered in Time,” spelling out in full words the acronym that his rap name is made up of. The song is rather short, sitting at a mere 2:52, but it does not waste a second or a bar. The song immediately begins during the chorus, with the first distinguishable sound being a piano note at the end of the first line of the chorus which comes about a second into the song and serves to provide emphasis at that moment. During that very simple sound, there is a bass guitar playing some low notes rather quickly at the end of the bar. Immediately following that there are some computer generated noises that almost sound like soft, far off drums being tapped intermittently that echo from time to time and each note fades out very slowly, having a slow rhythm. That adds a mystique to the initial sound of the track while making the sound more complete and rich because it makes it sound like it is glazed over, almost as if one is dreaming but sounds from the world around them are being incorporated into their dream. During the beginning of the chorus, the piano only is used to accent the end of each line with one quick, relatively high note. The same line of the chorus and music then repeats, with an empty bar of the same sounds in between, before the chorus then continues with the same sounds except the piano picks up and plays scales over and over that are four notes long with notes that are close together, and move from high to low as the word “falling” is repeated to create the illusion of falling in the music as the piano pitch keeps progressively changing. During the time that the piano changes, the bass comes in and adds some undertones with simple, long, low notes to make the sound fuller. The chorus is sung in moderately high pitch but those vocals have been distorted to sound a bit unclear, similar to the drum-like noises, which adds to the illusion of sleep.
As the chorus ends abruptly and K.R.I.T. starts to rap, the real drum line which consists mainly of several notes that have a moderate rhythm at a reasonable speed which is used to propel the song along, but each motive ends with a clang that almost sounds as if the falling ended and something hit the ground. As KRIT raps “nightmare” at the end of the second bar, there is screaming in the background that sounds scared, as an added sound. Then throughout the first few bars it is like the beginning of the song musically but with the drums added in, and then at about the 35-second mark the piano picks back up with the same motives it plays over and over in the end of the chorus, creating a real melody and propelling the song along. The drums soon change into being mostly cymbals, but they have been altered also to sound glossed over and not loud or particularly clear, continuing to add to the dreamy motif of the music. Halfway through the verse the musical pattern begins again with the drums becoming normal and the piano scaling back, continuing the pattern that has already been established through the chorus and the first half of the first verse.
So as a whole, there are two vocalists but for the most part there is only one at a time, so as far as texture goes there are vocals, bass guitar, percussion, electronic noises, and piano, making five layers. The percussion is and piano are used to move the track along, but the piano along with the electronic sounds and bass guitar are used to provide a pretty low, consistent melody—much of which seems to be glazed over and distorted. The rapping vocals are low and interact with the bass, and are said in a meaningful yet quiet way, shaping up with the rest of the sounds to make a calm yet meaningful song very reminiscent of a dream or hearing other things from the real world while in a dream. The piano is slow and has a slow rhythm when the one note is played alone, but moves very quickly when the scales are played, increasing the tempo of the song from time to time before it reverts back to it’s original, relatively slow pace. There is some call and response in the bass guitar, but not in the lyrics, and in terms of timbre, the bass is low as expected, the rapping vocals are low and soft like the bass, the singing voice is higher but calming, the percussion is somewhat soft and just sounds like banging, and the computer sounds really sound almost as if a 2×4 was snapped and that noise was recorded and then distorted with a lot of reverb.
The melody of the song is created by all the layers excepting the percussion really, with the main accents coming from the piano that stands out because it is much higher in pitch than the rest of the song. The character is disjunct and the contour is low but continually cycles lower than back up with the change in pitches of the piano notes. There is a fair range since most of the song is low and the piano reaches pretty high notes in comparison. The motives are very short, generally consisting of about four notes, but they come together to form about average length phrases that are pretty relaxed due to the low pitch and the lack of harshness in the sounds that sound as if they have been electronically modified.
The song is in triple meter with a pretty average tempo that speeds up when the piano picks up speed. There is syncopation but no swing or notable blue notes. The rhythm in the vocals changes from time to time but stays on a pretty decent clip, but the vocals of the chorus are much slower. The harmony in this song is simple and like the melody, is driven primarily by the bass and piano, with the vocals also playing a pretty key part, mostly contributing towards the bass end of the spectrum except during the chorus. The harmony is a consonant and sweet minor harmony with a low timbre. The dynamics stay consistent as does the articulation, as the chorus matches up perfectly with the harmony and the verses match up well, but less so. The text as a whole represents dreams, ambitions, and the path towards reaching them which can be rough, but fits the synth-sounding and soft, deep sound palette that the music of the song provides very well.
The “N Word”- A Discussion with Byron Hurt
Race is clearly a huge problem in America, and news outlets only recently decided to expand their views to begin to cover that recently as videos became easier to procure on things like cell phones, but nonetheless it is a huge problem, and has been for 400 years. Byron Hurt, award winning writer and documentary filmmaker, came to McDaniel to lead us through a discussion on “The N Word.” He began by defining the word and explaining its racial history in America before opening the floor to comments. Throughout the discussion he showed some videos, such as the Oklahoma SAE video and an MSNBC anchor blaming the incident at Oklahoma on rappers, specifically Waka Flocka Flame. The discussion that this fostered allowed many students to open up and share their opinions which resulted in several black students explaining that the word “nigga” is different from the word “nigger” in it’s connotation so they use the word “nigga,” several black students explained why they do not think the use of the word is okay, and several black students questioned the use of the word. Most of those comments seemed reasonable as they come at some level from experiences because black people in America have all had to deal with the word so most of the comments seemed well thought out and informed.
When it came to the non-black students comments, I was shocked. Several students stated that they were not bothered by the use of the N-word in the SAE video, and that what bothered them about that video was the mention of hanging–which is murder and everyone knows that is wrong. One student tried to compare black racism in America to the worldwide racism experienced buy Jews using the holocaust and the deli attack in France this year as examples of how Jews are targeted, so he completely missed the point of what racism in America is. One black student said he stopped using the N-word when his mother asked him if he would call her that word and he realized he wouldn’t, so he stopped using it, and another student responded that he wouldn’t call his mom the c-word–again greatly missing the point. So as a result, I became very frustrated during this discussion because the majority of whites not only in the world, but at this school, seemingly do not understand racism or why the N-word is so loaded, which is almost unbelievable to me. In conclusion, I believe a lecture on the N-word and its history would be much more appropriate for the members of the McDaniel community that need to come to terms with the word because a discussion certainly did not do it, so I spoke to Richard M. Smith, Assistant Professor of Sociology–who specializes in race, about the possibility him giving of such a lecture.
Sexuality and Stereotypez Through J. Cole’s “No Role Modelz”
J. Cole has a very intellectual sermon almost on sexuality and several female stereotypes on his song “No Role Modelz” from his critically acclaimed, late-2014 album “2014 Forest Hills Drive.” Most critics and fans thought this was a great original body of work and was very true to J. Cole (Jermaine Cole) is as a person. The song “No Role Modelz” is a standout track amongst many great songs and it begins with an intro commemorating James Avery as “Uncle Phil” from the t.v. show “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” He continues to say that Uncle Phil was the only father he ever had which is very powerful and that if he has a child soon, he will be a better father than Uncle Phil was, before continuing to speculate briefly on how Martin Luther King would have signed to J. Cole’s record label had the label been around back then.
Next, the chorus begins and the first few lines read “One time for my LA sisters/One time for my LA hoes/Lame niggas can’t tell the difference/Only time for a nigga who know.” That is powerful because it is talking about the stereotypes of a strong female african american woman (Earth Mother and Sister Savior stereotypes) verses the stereotype of a ho (gold digger, freak stereotypes). Through these lines Cole is indicating that men should desire the strong african american women and not women who are all about the sex and benefits, which is stigmatizing the ho stereotype as a negative—which it usually is. The chorus then continues with a repeated “Don’t save her/she don’t wanna be saved” refrain that seems to indicate many women are happy where they are, even if where they are and the state they are in is not how/where Cole feels they should be.
The first full verse begins with Cole unable to think of or find a role model, potentially for himself, potentially for all the young girls and women who need one. He continues to talk about how he was with a “bad bitch” last night which is a term that would typically refer to someone who falls in either the freak, gangster bitch, or diva stereotype. He then says that the girl is so bad she would make you leave your significant other to stay with her, before continuing to detail his sexual interaction with her. He then mentions how she says he is spoiled because he can have any woman he wants which he quickly denies, but then begins to think about how much better he was before he was a minor celebrity and included in that he thought about how when he was not famous he did not use the word “bitch” nearly as much, before the chorus comes back in.
The second verse starts with Cole talking about how he desires a deep, true love and making reference to Aunt Viv who was Uncle Phli’s wife on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” He continues rapping about how he cannot find that love because all he finds are girls from reality shows and then talks about how he will bring a number of girls home for the night and even let one wear his clothes, which usually is a mark of affection, but that happens before he asks for his clothes back and asks her to leave in the morning. The hook then comes in again and there is a quick interlude where someone older says something to the affect of “fool me once, shame on you. You won’t be able to fool me again.” There is then a quick bridge where J. Cole gets violent as he gets fooled multiple times which is evidence of either his lack of thought or his lack of self control, which could likely be related directly back to his sex life.
The third and final verse starts with J. Cole regretting that he is too young to be with Lisa Bonet and Nia Long who are t.v. actresses (NIa Long was in “The Fresh Prince”, making another reference back to the show) and who he seems to think of as more respectable, beautiful black women than the ho’s he deals with. He continues saying “All I’m left with is the hoes from reality shows” and that she probably could not even read a script which is why she was probably on reality t.v. He then reverts back to his regretting his young age wishing he was the same age as Sade or Aaliyah but that he is now just left with girls from the club. After that he repeats the phrase “she shallow but the pussy deep,” which is making a very clear statement about how he can get fulfilling sex but not a fulfilling woman, four times before reverting to the chorus.
As a whole, this song talks about how too many girls fit into the gold digger and freak stereotypes where they have no intellect but will have sex willingly either for their own pleasure or for material objects, and Cole is blaming the idea that so many women are currently like that on the fact that there are no good, wholesome, respectable role models for women these days, the way Uncle Phil was able to be his role model as he grew up in a fatherless home. That was discussed in our chat with Dr. Raley because all black women in the media are shown to be one, very dramatic stereotype that is highly sexualized which is why as J. Cole says, there are no role modelz for young girls today. By exploring that idea, Cole has an interesting take on modern sexuality and female stereotypes along the way.
Ludacris’ “Southern Hospitality” Lit. Review
Rap music is very cultural because of the roots it has in African American, particularly urban, communities— but it also varies geographically, both domestically and internationally, in its sound and style. Rap in what is considered by most to be the Southern part of the United States did not catch hold until after rap had begun to spring up in the Northeast and on the West Coast. Some of the first big name rappers and rap groups to come out of the South were the Geto Boys, UGK, and 2 Live Crew, and then before long groups like Three 6 Mafia and OutKast came out. For a time the South had no distinctive sound as the artists that were coming out all had sounds representative of their individual region so the music in places like Miami, home of 2 Live Crew, sounded much different than the music in Houston, home of the Geto Boys. Still regional distinctions differentiate Southern artists from one another, but OutKast brought much of the momentum in the rap world that the South had to Atlanta, and it has never left. The more recent artists out of Atlanta to make big names for themselves range from Ludacris, T.I., and Young Jeezy to the Migos, Young Thug, and Rich Homie Quan. Atlanta began to develop a regional sound in their rap music, and that style of music is now known as “dirty south” rap, which owns places in both the music and literary canons and is strongly representative of the society from which it comes.
From a societal and sociological perspective, dirty south rap was created as “a bold statement from rappers who felt estranged from Atlanta’s economic and social progress and excluded by their southernness from competing in a rap music market dominated by New York and Los Angeles” (Grem 56). But then, by the late 1990’s dirty south rap was embraced by the public and critics alike, gaining much acclaim and turning into a large section of the music market (Grem 56). A specific aspect that has been explored by sociologists is the connection between music and cars, which as far as rap goes is particularly present in the dirty south and is evidenced by Ludacris’ extended amount of lines about Cadillacs in the song “Southern Hospitality” (LaBelle 200). From a music perspective, this article also examines how cars can act as an auditory vehicle, specifically with rap music (LaBelle 200).
Matt Miller, a professor at Emory University, wrote about how “dirty south” music really started to come around in the mid-1990’s and became a subculture and how that culture promoted by dirty south artists has now become a section of popular culture, but how it has lost some of it’s original meaning that came through racist critiques along the way (Miller 203). It has also been noted how reflective of society rap is and how influential rap music can be in society as Marshall Berman wrote “rap is a product of the late twentieth century, not only in politics and economics, but in art” because it represents the main artistic elements of the time period which were dissonance and collage (13).
Dirty South rap is musically important for many reasons, but it is relevant to this project because Ludacris’ music fits into the dirty south category and “Southern Hospitality” is a perfect example. The song “Southern Hospitality” by Ludacris, along with arguably all rap is driven by the beat and the rhythm that is provided by the beat (Pederson 64). The rhythm of the beat is crucial as it represents the rhythm of the overall music and the rhythm of the hip-hop lifestyle, which in the South is typically on the slower side (Pederson 64). Also, no samples were used in the creation of the song “Southern Hospitality” which is a phenomenon that is becoming more and more common in a once sample-based art form (Marshall). The reason that sampling is becoming progressively less and less common is because the costs of sampling have risen and the number and scale of lawsuits over sampling have risen, making it more expensive and more risky for artists to make songs that are even loosely based off of a piece of work that has already been created (Marshall). From a music perspective, those considerations could start to explain the regressing prevalence of sampling in rap music and potentially why Ludacris’ “Southern Hospitality” has no samples in it (Baker).
Dirty south rap has also made legitimate language contributions to our society as chronicled in a recent article of the “Southern Journal of Linguistics” when Jennifer Blomquist and Isaac Hancock argue that it has not only made contributions to African American English, but that it has helped revitalize and publicize southern African American English again for the rest of the country (Bloomquist and Hancock 1). Much of this language would be dismissed by the public as insignificant slang, but linguistics research shows that it is very relevant because these words, some of which have history in African American English, are now getting exposed to the public on massive levels through dirty south rap which is changing the overall lexicon of America. From a literary standpoint that is an important idea to consider. Beyond that, rap music should be recognized as poetry more widely than it is, because “at the end of the day, Nas and Homer are both in the same line of work. Do we disqualify one because he rhymes over a break-beat instead of a lyre?” (Kenner 222).
In other words, as many people are starting to realize, regardless of rap musics presentation, it is poetry. Also from that angle, the literary contributions rap has made to the field of poetry are great, as “Hip-Hip MC’s have both built on and expanded far beyond the American poetic tradition” (Alim 60). Professor Alim of Stanford recognizes rap music as an “Innovative form of verbal art” that takes a great deal of effort and knowledge to deconstruct due to it’s literary merit and high level of intertextuality, which he shares in a published article in which he deconstructs the literary elements behind rap lyrics from some of the best lyricists in rap such as Pharoahe Monch and Talib Kweli (Alim 61). In David Caplan’s “The Art of Rhymed Insult” rap music plays a central role as he examines the history of rhymed insult and the difficulty of creating it, as rap is the most common and creative modern way of rhymed insult (Caplan). Rhymed insult is a large part of all rap, including dirty south rap, and thereby this article is useful in understanding just how difficult it is to create well-constructed rhymed insults (Caplan).
Ludacris is an example of a Southern rapper having great success highlighted by grammy nominations and a “Rap Album of the Year” grammy for his highly acclaimed “Release Therapy.” Ludacris’ real name is Christopher Bridges and he was born in Champaign, Illinois where he lived until the age of nine when his mother and him moved to Atlanta, where he has lived since. He got involved in rap music as a radio DJ and made money that way which he eventually used to start his own label and record and release his debut album titled “Incognegro” (Baker). He was then signed by Def Jam South and the album was re-released as “Back for the First Time,” which is the album that the song “Southern Hospitality” happened to be released on (Baker). He is currently one of the most influential Southern and dirty south rappers, influencing his peers as much as those before him influenced him.
References
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.
Baker, Soren. “Pop Music; Ludacris Lives His Dream; The rising hip-hop artist, 21, is signed with Def Jam South, a subsidiary of the legendary New York rap label that was his favorite while growing up in Atlanta.” Los Angeles Times 2001: Academic OneFile. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
Berman, Marshall. “Close To The Edge: Reflections On Rap.” Tikkun 8.2 (1993): 13. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
Bloomquist, Jennifer, and Isaac Hancock. “The Dirty Third: Contributions Of Southern Hip Hop To The Study Of African American English.” Southern Journal Of Linguistics 37.1 (2013): 1-27. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
Caplan, David. “The Art Of Rhymed Insult.” Virginia Quarterly Review 88.2 (2012): 119-133. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.
Grem, Darren E. “The South Got Something To Say”: Atlanta’s Dirty South And The Southernization Of Hip-Hop America.” Southern Cultures 12.4 (2006): 55-73. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
Kenner, Rob. “Word’s Worth.” Poetry 187.3 (2005): 221-224. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.
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.
Marshall, Wayne. “Giving Up Hip-Hop’s Firstborn: A Quest For The Real After The Death Of Sampling.” Callaloo 29.3 (2006): 868. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 9 Mar. 2015
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.
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.
Big K.R.I.T. “REM”: A Literary Analysis
The song begins with the hook, which is full of repetition as the phrase “I don’t know about my dreams” is repeated three times with the word falling repeated quite a bit in-between. This “falling” is alluding to stumbling and failing to reach his aspirations (dreams) and also the falling feeling that can happen during a deep sleep (while dreaming) that wakes one up and is generally thought to be indicative of anxiety and uneasiness. As a whole, with the refrain being about dreams, of multiple types, alludes back to the title of the song “REM” which in terms of the sleep cycle stands for “random eye movement” which is the deepest sleep one experiences, and also happens to be the type of sleep during which most dreaming occurs.
The first verse begins soon after, and begins with simple wordplay setting up a pattern of end rhyme. The first two lines actually have multisyllabic and mosaic end rhyme, with the only other readily apparent literary device being an allusion to his debut album with the phrase “LFU,” standing for “Live from the Underground.” That album has a continual theme of him belonging in the underground music scene rather than the mainstream, and he begins to further explain why that is in the coming lines. The next couplet has slant multisyllabic end rhyme. The following couplet has perfect multisyllabic end rhyme and gets interesting as some heavy allusions are being made as K.R.I.T. raps “Jiggaboos’ll minstrel you, but never me/Black face, my black face could never be.” In the first line from that couplet there is internal rhyming also (boos/you), with a continued reference to minstrelsy through characters from it such as Jiggaboo, and the mention of black face which was a staple of minstrelsy in America. Through that all K.R.I.T. is saying that he will not be made into one of the stereotypical archetypes of black people such as a jiggaboo, and that he will not be a stereotypical rapper because some refer to rap as modern minstrelsy.
The couplet immediately following has the same structure with multisyllabic end rhyme (otherwise/televise) and internal rhyme in the first line (Sambo/cammo). By mentioning Sambo K.R.I.T. refers back to the old stereotypes of African Americans and then in the following line makes reference to Gil Scott-Heron saying “the revolution of mind will never televise.” The next line has no literary devices, and the following couplet has exact end rhyme, repetition of the phrase “tell ‘em,” and a reference to the label he is signed to that is one of the oldest and most respected labels in rap, Def Jam Records. The following couplet has multisyllabic end rhyme with a parallel structure in the phrasing that continues for three lines (I swear I’ma kill niggas/I swear I don’t feel niggas/I swear I’ma deal wit ‘em). There is a double entendre in the second line of the couplet as K.R.I.T. says “No pause is needed, I swear I don’t feel niggas” because he is saying firstly that he will keep going and that he does not enjoy other rappers, but in rap “pause” is used simultaneously with the phrase “no homo” and so the following statement “I swear I don’t feel niggas” is also emphasizing that he is not homosexual. The next line has no rhyming, with the only literary device being an allusion with the word “snakes” to the meaning that has come from the bible to indicate that snakes are seen as being cunning and often ill-intentioned. The last couplet has multisyllabic rhyme towards the end with a little alliteration (feel/failed) but very little else.
The chorus then repeats, bringing back the dream-like state of the song, before the second and final verse of the song begins. The first line of the verse is the last line of the chorus repeated again, so it has no distinct literary aspects involved other than repetition. The next set of lines is a couplet with exact end rhyme (lyrical/miracle), and the first line of the couplet has internal rhyme (spiritual/lyrical) so there is also crossed rhyme. The next couplet also has exact end rhyme (hearted/started) along with alliteration in the first line (was/wrong and heavy-hearted). The next four lines make up a quatrain with common end rhyme (store/pour/more/tour— the word tour is bent to rhyme), and this is where some of the greatest artistry in the lyrics of this song lie. There is tons of internal and crossed rhyme (line 1-awards/boards/store, line 2- shore/bore/poor, line 3- galore/more) which makes for a very nicely flowing set of lines with lots of assonance. There is also alliteration in the first two lines of the quatrain (for/false and people/poor). In the next couplet of lines there is slant end rhyme (surf/first). The next set of lines makes another couplet with good end rhyme (cemetery/visionary) and the second line of the couplet has some good consonance (remember me. The next quatrain of lines is confusing as the first line rhymes with the third (Bobby/lobby) but the second and fourth lines have no rhyme. The first line of that quatrain makes reference to several things as K.R.I.T. exclaims “I’m more Geronimo Pratt than OG Bobby.” Geronimo Pratt was a member of the Black Panthers whose real name was Elmer Pratt and he was wrongly imprisoned for 27 years, including eight in solitary confinement, before being freed in 1997 at the age of 49. OG Bobby Johnson was a gangster in the movie “South Central,” so K.R.I.T. is saying he is more of a spiritual and activist than a gangster or thug, regardless of how he is stereotyped as a rapper. There is some parallel structure in the second line and a metaphor in the third (“the stairway to heaven is packed, I’m in the lobby”) that is about the wait for salvation, and how close K.R.I.T. is.
The verse ends with the line “Too scared to go to sleep, cuz most times I often doubt my dreams” which is very deep because it brings all of the speculation and dancing around back to the topic of dreams and hammers home the meaning of the song, which has to do with aspirations and self doubt getting in their way. After that the chorus is repeated to reinforce the dream state, and the song ends.
Black Masculinity in Childish Gambino’s “Hold You Down”
Childish Gambino aka Donald Glover is a rapper from Stone Mountain, Georgia— which is more or less a suburb of Atlanta. He grew up poor in a busy and full home as his parents constantly had foster children in and out of the house. He ended up going to college at NYU and writing for the show “30 Rock” before starting his own stand up comedy career, and now rapping/acting career. He is set to have large roles in the upcoming Spiderman film and Magic Mike 2, and his rap albums have garnered critical acclaim and Grammy nominations. “Hold You Down” is standout track from his debut album “Camp” for both it’s good musical quality and meaningful message.
The song begins with the chorus which is all about Childish Gambino being willing to “hold you down” which in effect means to stand in your corner through thick and thin. The first verse then begins rather promptly and Gambino starts to reminisce about the way he was bullied as a kid for not being cool and having the newest clothes. He then talks about one day how he stole a cool jacket from lost and found but the other kids knew it wasn’t his so it did not help his social standing at all. Then Gambino recollects about music he listened to at the time like the Notorious B.I.G. and how he always wanted to be a “dope boy” but that he was always more of a nerd. He then gets into some great wordplay, which is typical of him, with the lines “It’s funny how you smoke niggas then you start coffins/all my people need a throat lozenge” which is a play on words for killing people and smoking cigarettes at the same time. The end of the first verse is when the racial commentary of Gambino not fitting the mold of a black boy gets very intense as he says he was not comfortable in church because he wasn’t black enough and the barber shop was full of culture shock for him because he went to a black barber but did not often experience other exclusively and stereotypically black aspects of society. He gets even more somber then, saying “But we all look the same to the cops, ain’t that good enough?” which seems even more relevant now in the light of recent police brutality, particularly in the incident of the black University of Virginia student who was educated and from a wealthy family yet was subject to terrible mistreatment from the police regardless of those things purely because of his skin color. The verse ends with the lines “White kids get to wear whatever hat they want/ but when it comes to black kids one size fits all.” That is very true in that all black males are stereotyped as thugs and things like that whereas by the way they act and dress, white males can almost pick and choose stereotypes that they will be seen as.
After the chorus is repeated, Gambino begins another hard-hitting verse saying “The reason they say I’m nothin what they seen or heard’s/the same reason Will Smith always opposite latino girls.” That is referencing the fact that if Will Smith starred along with a black woman in a movie it would be “too black” and alienate white audiences but if he starred alongside a white woman it would bring up the “young buck” stereotype and be threatening to whites, but a latino woman is perfectly in between. ‘Bino then goes on talking about how whites will only see a black person as another stereotype is if they try overly hard to embody that type, and he goes very far with that in his verse saying “this one kid said something that was really bad/ he said I wasn’t really black cuz I had a Dad.” That is awful, but it proves the point but people go beyond skin color to verify stereotypes and that Gambino was alienated from the black male stereotypes in every way possible. He continues talking about how we need to see others for who they really are, not who we think they should be, before getting into some braggadocio and ending with the line “They ask me what I’m doing and I said I’m stealing rock back, nigga.” In the previous line he referenced Jay-Z so that line is a reference to Jay-Z’s rap labels (Roc-a-fella records and Roc Nation) but it also is a statement about the white appropriation of black (rock) music and how he is going to make it black again, which is again a very strong racial statement.
As a whole, this song very blatantly explores the stereotypes and ideals of black masculinity in our society and makes some strong, thought provoking statements about it which should be listened to by a wider audience and provide a good example of why you should not stereotype people.
“Blacking Up” and White Privilege
The movie “Blacking Up: Hip-Hop’s Remix of Race and Identity” draws interesting connections and poses good questions to viewers about the relationship between the appropriation of hip-hop culture and rap music by mainstream, white, America. Many black people who spoke in the film such as the notorious comedian Paul Money and the very well respected Amiri Baraka more or less think that white people taking black people’s culture inherently makes a mockery of the culture because white’s do not have to endure the same things as blacks because of white privilege.
This connects specifically with the music of hip-hop culture, rap music, because rap music started on the basis of social change and to this day one of it’s most common topics is the struggle of growing up poor, often in an inner city, and having to deal with racial stereotypes and racial profiling. When white people take that culture and have not had to endure the same things it can be seen as them mocking because they do not have the basis from which to make real music along those lines. The movie connects this to minstrelsy because minstrelsy was the appropriation of black music and stereotypes onto a mainstream-friendly American stage, during which many performers wore black-face to physically appear black such as the example used in the film who was Al Jolson, and the filmmaker is posing the question as to whether white people putting on a rap persona to perform and make rap music is similar to the black face put on in minstrel shows. I would argue that the groups the filmmaker presented (Crackd Out, Too White Crew) clearly did represent modern-day minstrelsy but that the majority of white rappers make rap music with respect and find a place in rap/hip-hop culture that they can occupy with their own experiences and ideas (like the artists interviewed Eyedea, Sage Francis, and Aesop Rock). Any white person engaging in rap music and hip-hop culture is to some extent responsible for cultural appropriation, but not directly for making it a minstrelsy.
One of the best quotes from the film came from Paul Mooney who said something along the lines of “white kids are bored, and the parents don’t want black kids in the neighborhood, but now they got lil naggers in they houses.” The line makes reference to the large fan base that hip hop has in suburban America, and makes a valid point about the silly way people view different aspects of black culture and the ways they try to control it. The line is also very relevant because suburban white kids make up the largest section of the market that rap occupies. But I think Amiri Baraka’s quote towards the end of the film was the most telling line and was very thought provoking as he stated “black face still goes on see, it’s just updated and more complicated.”
Ludacris’ “Southern Hospitality”: A Full 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. 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. The entire song consists purely of percussion, Ludacris’ vocals, a few repeated notes from a wind instrument, 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 along with the electronic noises and wind instrument 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 song begins with a thudding bass pattern that moves pretty quickly in sets of five with two thuds, a quick break, two more thuds, another quick break, then one thud and quick break before the pattern starts all over again. That is the exact bass pattern that continues throughout the rest of the song uninterrupted. Behind that bass, beginning at the same time there is a small tapping noise that sounds almost like a handheld drum being tapped very quickly and consistently adding another layer to the bass. Soon after that some small clanking noises, sounding as if two small metal objects are being tapped together, are interwoven into the bass pattern in a beat that is syncopated with the bass, but more irregular in that the phrasing is a bit more complex. At the end of the first bass pattern, which comes about two seconds into the song, there is an electronic “ding” noise that sounds to mark the end of the phrase, and that establishes a pattern that is continued throughout the song.
On the third repetition of the bass phrase, more electronic sliding noises that sound almost as if a small toy car or something is straining to turn its wheels, but at a changing and sliding pitch, are interwoven into the elements that were already introduced. The next time the bass phrase is repeated, a clapping sound is made that hits on the pauses in the bass, adding more syncopation with a pretty quick rhythm. The following time the bass phrase is repeated, or about the fifth repetition of the bass phrase, hi-hats are introduced to accentuate the bass as they follow the exact same pattern and are placed at exactly the same moments, which created a real thudding sound as the bass and hi-hats crash simultaneously. That adds a very dirty-south like vibe to the song because one of the defining characteristics of most of the rap that would be considered “dirty south” is to rely heavily on a strong bassline. So by pairing the bass and the hi-hat together at the same time Pharrell manages to make a song called “Southern Hospitality” sound very southern in a very simple way.
After several more repetitions Ludacris comes in and begins to rap at about the twenty second mark. Ludacris raps at a reasonable speed, slowing down at the end of each line to emphasize the words in the end rhyme which always happens during a pause in the bass, adding another layer of syncopation to a song already full of it. The layers of 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 real changes from this point forward in the song come when the chorus arrives, as at the chorus Ludacris increases the vigor and overall volume of his rapping from a loud voice more towards a distinct pitch of shouting, and with that the small, several note segments from a wind instrument are added to accent the chorus. The small segments from the wind instrument again fall in the off-beats of the bass, adding syncopation and making up for Ludacris not sticking with the beat as precisely in the chorus.
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 as the beat is temporarily stripped down to the drums and minimal noises it had in the beginning. At that point it follows the same progression that the song began with for the beat to reach its normal point again where it stays for the duration of the vocals, before it is slowly stripped down as the song reaches its end. With that being said, since the vocals are almost the only melody, the contour is regular and low as certain words are emphasized but 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. As a whole there is very little up and down in the contour of the melody, with the lows being Ludacris’ vocals and the highs being the few notes from the wind instrument.
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!
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.
All of these elements come together to make a song that sounds very smooth, clean, and crisp— and to make one of the biggest rap songs of the turn of the millennium.
Potential Project Song: Big K.R.I.T. “REM”
Big K.R.I.T. is known for his complex and soulful beats and for his honesty in his lyrics, and this is one of his most well received and one of my favorite K.R.I.T. songs. This song is atypical of modern rap for the full, rich sound it has since much of popular current rap is very simple and purely bass driven with a couple chords on top (a la DJ Mustard), and lyrically it showcases K.R.I.T. being very candid which leads to him covering many serious topics in a way that is far more genuine and passionate than most rappers–even today when it is more widely accepted for a rapper to show real feelings beyond merely anger and lust which have always been thought to be masculine.
Lyrics:
[Hook] I don’t know about my dreamsI don’t know about my dreams
All I know is, I’m falling, falling, falling, falling
Might as well fall
I don’t know about my dreams
In a room full of tight stares
Was LFU a dream or a nightmare
I dare rap about my real life
Good Lord I gave my all but just don’t feel right
Jigaboos’ll minstrel you, but never me
Black face, my black face could never be
Sambo, my cammo, say otherwise
That revolution of mind will never televise
One album I’m still kickin
Def Jam I’m tell em I’m still whippin
Tell em I’m still winnin, Tell em I’m still in it
Next time, I drop a bomb, I swear Ima kill niggas
No pause is needed, I swear I don’t feel niggas
Snakes in my front yard, I swear I’m a deal wit em
All that still hear me, Pray that they still get it
I feel like I failed y’all, it’s hard to live with it, my dreams
I don’t know about my dreams
All I know is, I’m falling, falling, falling, falling
Might as well fall
I don’t know about my dreams
I don’t know about my dreams
Cause I’m more spiritual than lyrical
Produced my whole album, It’s nothing short of a miracle.
Was I wrong to be so heavy hearted?
I refuse to give up what I started
For false awards, and cover boards in every store
A different shore is a bore when all my people poor
Yeah there’s some broads galore, But yeah I want it more
Fuck a reality show, I’d rather do a tour
I’d rather crowd surf
Before I live as if God ain’t real, I’d rather die first
Bury me inside a cemetery
Remember me as just a visionary
I’m more Geronimo Pratt than OG Bobby
They love the fact you made it but hate, the fact you got it
Stairway to heaven is packed, I’m in the lobby
Too scared to go to sleep, Cause most times I often doubt my dreams
I don’t know about my dreams
All I know is, I’m falling, falling, falling, falling
Might as well fall
I don’t know about my dreams.
White Privilege in Rap: Killer Mike and “Reagan”
The song “Reagan” by Killer Mike off of his critically acclaimed 2012 album “R.A.P. Music” is where Mike unleashes complaints about Reagans terms as president in a very politically charged song that touches on many things, such as white privilege. The song starts with a Reagan quote before Killer Mike tears off saying “The ballot or the bullet, some freedom or some bullshit,” which quickly tells the listener how Mike feels about Reagan and the United States government as a whole. The first verse talks mainly about how the people of the United States are kept in the dark as the government works with corporations to entertain them with useless and mindless things such as dancing and mansions, before ending the verse with several lines about the Iran Contra affair in the 1980’s when the United States government smuggled cocaine into America to benefit the rebel group in Nicaragua, and simultaneously began to destroy poor, inner city, predominantly black areas.
In lou of a hook, another Reagan quote is used after the first verse to preface the second verse, and this quote is Reagan contradicting the one used earlier in the song, effectively admitting that he lied to the United States public. When it really gets into privilege is several lines into that verse, as Killer Mike states “They declared the war on drugs, like the war on terror/but what they really did is let them terrorize whoever/but mostly black boys,” as Killer Mike began to unleash a vivid picture of police brutality then, and as we still know it today from recent incidents that made national news such as the deaths of Eric Garner and Tamir Rice. That is the main section that addresses privilege as white people are much less often harassed or taken advantage of by policemen— purely due to their skin color. From that point on Mike complains about overly long prison sentences, which blacks are again most commonly the victim of, in part due to their skin color, about how people in jail are really government slaves, and about how all presidents are just puppets of the wealthiest people in America, which to some extent is true. Ronald Reagan in particular helped pass laws and policies that were detrimental to some black communities such as the three strikes law, and further institutionalized the racism of America, thereby building white privilege even further up.
In the words of Killer Mike, “I threw a barbecue when Reagan died. Straight the fuck up— a Reagan’s dead barbecue. Kept it negro as a motherfucker.”
Annotated Bibliography #3
Baker, Soren. “Pop Music; Ludacris Lives His Dream; The rising hip-hop artist, 21, is signed with Def Jam South, a subsidiary of the legendary New York rap label that was his favorite while growing up in Atlanta.” Los Angeles Times 2001: Academic OneFile. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
This is a biographical piece about Ludacris that was published in the “Los Angeles Times” which is relevant and helpful since “Southern Hospitality” is by Ludacris so his life and background provide important context for his music.
Berman, Marshall. “Close To The Edge: Reflections On Rap.” Tikkun 8.2 (1993): 13. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
This article is from the field of sociology as it explores the cultural context of rap music and in turn, how rap music affects the culture from which it comes. This article takes a focus on Public Enemy and uses that group as an example of how rap can unite people and provide hope. This is useful because it demonstrates how to think about rap as part of society which is important for the sociological aspect of this paper.
Bloomquist, Jennifer, and Isaac Hancock. “The Dirty Third: Contributions Of Southern Hip Hop To The Study Of African American English.” Southern Journal Of Linguistics 37.1 (2013): 1-27. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
This article examines particular terms along with the overall vernacular used by rappers from the South who are considered to make “dirty south” rap from an English and language perspective which is relevant to this project because “Southern Hospitality” is a dirty south song, so this article could make parts of the song easier to understand and help explain how this song fits into the genre of dirty south rap.
Grem, Darren E. “The South Got Something To Say”: Atlanta’s Dirty South And The Southernization Of Hip-Hop America.” Southern Cultures 12.4 (2006): 55-73. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
This document will be useful to because it is about the rise of the dirty south and southern rap, of which Ludacris’ “Southern Hospitality” is both representative of and a part of. It explores how “dirty south” became a subgenre of rap the same way g-funk is and gangsta rap are, and the artists who played a part in that such as OutKast and Goodie Mobb in particular. This article is from the journal “Southern Cultures” which explores all things that geographically happen In the South.
Marshall, Wayne. “Giving Up Hip-Hop’s Firstborn: A Quest For The Real After The Death Of Sampling.” Callaloo 29.3 (2006): 868. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 9 Mar. 2015
This article is about sampling in rap music, along with the ideas that its costs have continually risen over time which is difficult for hip hop artists, many of whom rely on samples for integral parts of their beats. This examines rap from both musical and sociological perspectives and is relevant because “Southern Hospitality” includes no samples and this article could help provide reasons why rap is becoming less and less sample-based.
Musical Analysis: Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5 “The Message”
Grandmaster Flash invented scratching on the turntables, so he is a legend in his own right as a solo musician, but his greatest success came with his group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, composed of himself and five emcees. Back then disc jockeys were rightfully the stars of the show, and so Grandmaster flash was the headliner. This song was largely produced by Grandmaster Flash, and he created what was to become the first popular single in rap music, greatly expanding the reach of the genre. Beyond that, he managed to do it in a pretty simple manner. The track begins with just the percussion for several seconds, highlighting the timing which is in a duple meter, and the underlying beat that will keep the track moving on pace, which is the main function of the percussion in this track, along with providing emphasis at specific moments. The drums move pretty slowly and keep a slow rhythm so after the drum line comes in, there is a quick and bland picking of guitar to foreshadow what is to come to the listener, and a small electronic whistle of sorts to introduce the many electronic noises that help form the melody of the track.
Things really start to pick up about 5-6 seconds in as the electronic noises fully get going with the scales that they will provide, sounding almost like disco noises (which is a genre this track is not far removed from in time) strung together in scales, and they also provide accents in between scales while there are pauses in the electronic noises. The electronic sounds move quickly and thereby have a fast rhythm but the later notes in the scales will be allowed to echo some, filling up the sound space more and making it seem as if there are more electronic sounds than there are. At the same time the electronic noises start, so do the bass and guitar. The bass combines with the drums to really provide the backbone of the track and does so with a relatively quick tempo and rhythm for a bass, which keeps the pace of the beat on track, and is very useful due to the lack of a bass drum in the percussion so it helps to fill that sound space.
The guitar comes in from time to time and plays some hollow, quick notes in a short scale of sorts which provides an accent and helps bring the overall sound of the track together before jumping out to tune in for quick moments later. It comes and goes so quickly that it’s rhythm is on the quicker side. Lastly, at about the 24 second mark the vocals come in. The vocals are somewhat rough and deep, contrasting with the higher drums and blending those to the lower bass, and offsetting the generally much higher pitched electronic sounds. Those (percussion, bass, guitar, electronic noises, vocals) are the five layers that really make up the track and work together throughout. The vocals are on the quicker side in terms of tempo and rhythm so they contrast with the slow drums, but are not overly fast. There is also no real call and response in the track, nor swing, but there is some syncopation between the bass and electronic noises as well as the vocals.
When it comes to melody, this song is interesting. The melody is created primarily by the electronic sounds and vocals, with the small amount of guitar thrown in. Those noises are all very contrasting as the vocals are low pitched and rough sounding whereas the electronic noises are mostly higher pitched and are smoother, easier noises. The contour of the melody is pretty low due to the vocals and bass which bring it down, but the guitar and electronic sounds pull it up in pitch from time to time. The song is relatively conjunct, but not too distinctly so, and the melodic phrases are somewhat average in length, maybe a bit long if anything. Like the phrasing, the motives are a bit long and that can mostly be heard in the bass and repeated computer generated scales, and there is a pretty large range since the vocals and bass are so low whereas the computer sounds reach much higher pitches.
There is not much in the way of harmony in this song, but what there is in the way of harmony is provided by the bass, electronic sounds, and sometimes vocals all sounding at once. It is on the consonant side as far as harmony goes, but many of the sounds are relatively hollow. The dynamics do not change as the overall soundscape stays consistent throughout the song, with the main changes coming in the form of added extra electrical noises such as a sound similar to a knife sharpening at about the 3:45 mark and sounds similar to a deck of cards being shuffled at right about the 5:00 mark. The timbre is relatively dry as many of the sounds are different and do not blend particularly well, as the sounds in the inner city are—representing the sound of where the music comes from and the grimy and rougher topics that are mentioned in the text of the song. When all of the aforementioned things come together, what do you get?
You get the first big rap single ever.
Gender in Lupe Fiasco’s “Bitch Bad”
In “Bitch Bad” Lupe Fiasco offers a critique of how he believes the portrayal of women in rap music has led to a disconnect between genders about what is expected out of the other. Lupe acts as if the average female in a rap video is some mixture of diva and freak, occasionally with the gangster bitch stereotype thrown in also. The first verse of the song focuses on a young boy in the car with his mother, who is a very respectable woman but is singing along to rap songs and through that, calling herself a “bad bitch.” As a result of the boy knowing that his mother is a respectable woman and mother, he will take the idea of a “bad bitch” to mean a respectable woman who can take care of herself and is well put together.
The second verse centers around young girls watching rap videos and when they watch videos, being that they are girls, they focus on the women. The women in rap videos are typically very sexualized, scantily clad, and usually all over men. Since that is the image that is being served to them, that is what girls will think they should aspire to be like— that they should be all over men, and very in touch with their sexuality among other things.
The third verse is focused on a meeting point between a girl who was raised to think that she should be one type of “bad bitch” who is hyper sexualized and controlled by men when the boy thinks of a “bad bitch” as a respectable woman, leaving a large disconnect with the girl not being what the guy wants even though that is all she is trying to be. The lines “and he thinks she a bad bitch and she thinks she a bad bitch/he thinks disrespectfully, she thinks of that sexually” represent how the boy thinks that this girl is bad at being a bitch because she is nothing like his mother, but how the girl thinks she is doing the right thing because she is imitating the videos to a “T” and being extremely sexual. Lupe goes on to say that the girl is actually smart and nice, but she is acting like her idea of a “bad bitch” because she thinks that is what men and society want, which is sad because it indicates that her and the guy could actually get along but they won’t because of the disillusioned way she is presenting herself. Then the song ends with the lines “but bitch still bad to her if you say it the wrong way/but she think she a bitch, what a double entendre” indicating that even though she is trying to be a “bad bitch” the word bitch can still have it’s negative meaning to her, so it is all up to interpretation and everyone is just confused about the term bitch.
As a whole, Lupe uses this song to provide a social commentary to the use of the term “bad bitch” and the confusion and issues he thinks it will create with the younger generation to whom it is formative, rather than purely being seen as an aside of popular culture. This is relevant because it actually is critiquing the role of women in rap music and how that could affect society, creating a meta moment because this is still a rap song about “bad bitches.”
Stereotypes in “Southern Hospitality”
Ludacris’ “Southern Hospitality” is more or less the epitome of a dirty South rap song. That being said, many stereotypes of rappers are mentioned such as frequenting clubs, driving nice cars, spending money on things such as chains and clubs, and threats of violence. yet as a whole, not many racial stereotypes are present. Through lines such as “hand me down drug dealers,” “mouth full of platinum, mouth full of gold/ 40 block cal keep your mouth on hold,” and the last quatrain of the third verse which repeats the phrase “thugged out” reinforces the stereotype that young black men are thugs and they should be feared as a result of their priorities and the physical danger they may pose. With that the line “rip out your tongue cause of what your mouth—told” seems to be reinforcing a snitches get stitches kind of gang outlook that impedes cooperation with law enforcement in particular. In those ways the lyrics are representative of the stereotype that black men are thugs, but there is no real evidence of any of the older stereotypes about blacks in the lyrics to this song.
Being that Ludacris is from the South, this song contains more allusions to Southern and country life than the urban environment even though he calls Atlanta his home. The only real way this song references city life is through the idea that drugs and drug dealing is a city problem and the mention of triple-beam scales, and drug dealers. This song makes no explicit reference to anything city related because as a Southerner Ludacris is attempting to brand himself as a country person almost, playing off of a stereotype many people from above the mason dixon line have that everyone from below it are country hicks.
Musical Patterns in “Southern Hospitality”
The main piece of the music in Ludacris’ “Southern Hospitality” is the percussion. The drum line has one main rhythm that basically continues through before starting over again. It consists of multiple things, with a drum and cymbal being hit simultaneously for two beats, then a clap, then a drum and cymbal again for three beats but with a slight pause between the first and second beats, then a clap after those three beats are completed. Then the beat slows and there are two longer beats of the drum and cymbal simultaneously before that loop restarts.
All that is on top of the drum beat in this song there are intermittent taps that are relatively high pitched that happen in twos and threes on and off, looped throughout the song. Then at about the 40-second mark the electronic sounds begin and there are several different pitches of the same sound that resembles a digital sliding sound and when it happens, it is looped and gets lower and lower, repeating eight times before the loop begins again. At roughly the one minute mark is when a high pitch wind instrument chimes in a couple of notes for the first time, and that continues in seemingly every other break between the sliding sounds for most of the song, with a similar two note slide just of varying pitches, although always relatively high.
Throughout the beat, electronic sounds, and wind instruments, there are about four patterns going on at once when the beat fully gets going, and they seem to be in sync so that when one restarts, they are all restarting even though some are shorter than others.
Ludacris’ “Southern Hospitality”: A Complete Lyrical Analysis
After a letting the beat come in and a short grunt, Ludacris opens the song talking about Cadillacs and some of their parts, such as “grills” and “mills,” with the grill being on the exterior of the body of the car and the mill being on the interior. The first line is two short phrases with parallel structure that create perfect and identical internal rhyme. In the second line of the song Ludacris continues with his Cadillac motif talking about the oil that comes out of the car, with “spills” at the end of the line creating perfect end rhyme with the first line (mill’s) and crossed rhyme with the first line (grills). The third line continues with Cadillacs, talking about the candy paint on his Cadillac which continues the end rhyme (kill) and also uses internal slant rhyme with the words fact and cadillac. That line also contains alliteration with the phrase “candy paint Cadillacs kill.” The subsequent line is about the women that end up in his Cadillac and continues the end rhyme (fills). That is the first quatrain, as each of Ludacris’ three verses of 16 bars each are broken down into quatrains that rhyme and are about one specific topic, then from quatrain to quatrain within a verse the topics and rhyme changes, although it is almost all monosyllabic rhyme. The talk about Cadillacs in the first quatrain is relevant because it shows that material things, particularly one kind of car, are important to Ludacris and when the song title is taken into consideration, it shows that cars—in particular ones with factors the Ludacris talks about such as big grills and candy paint, are important in the South. Since the release of this track, many southern rappers have adopted or further developed interest in vintage cars, especially Chevrolet’s and Cadillacs (see UGK, Big K.R.I.T., Curren$y, etc.).
The second quatrain opens with the repeated topic for that quatrain as the first quatrain does, but this time it is twenty inches. The first line of that quatrain has internal slant rhyme (wide/high), before the second line of that quatrain which has perfect crossed rhyme and slant end rhyme with the line before (ride/wide, ride/high) is talking about rim size for cars, which relates back to the previous quatrain because big rims became another topic about Southern rappers cars in particular that is popular to talk about (see T.I., Three 6 Mafia, and Big K.R.I.T.). Ludacris then continues with a line resembling the first in the quatrain that has internal exact rhyme (thighs/eyes), slant crossed rhyme (thighs/ride), and exact end rhyme with the following line (eyes/pies). That third line in the quatrain changes topic from cars to girls thighs and them making a male’s eyes wide, with the following line addressing the movie American Pie saying “hoping for American 20-inch pies” in which “pie” is used as a euphemism for female genitalia. In that, Ludacris seems to be making a reference to Americana in general, with a clear focus on women and sex.
The third quatrain in the first verse repeats the term “pretty ass” as the terms “Cadillac” and “twenty inch” were repeated in the first two quatrains,with the focus first falling on clothes and then shifting to girls for the rest of the quatrain. It continues with a similar pattern of rhyme as the first two quatrains with end rhyme that follows through (toes, hoes, goes, ‘bows), which is all exact in this quatrain, and internal rhyme in the first (clothes/toes) and third (ass/class) lines of the quatrain. There is also alliteration in the second line of the quatrain (make my). The use of the word “‘bows” at the end of that third quatrain is significant because it represents the first use of elision with a term that is repeated throughout the song—particularly in the chorus. The last quatrain of the first verse repeats the term “long-john” which follows a similar pattern with end rhyme through the four lines, some perfect (stalls/calls/balls) and some slant (pause/stalls). The phrase “long-john” is old and has roots in a number of different places, but particularly with long-johns meaning long underwear which is used to keep warm in the winter. That quatrain shifts the focus more from women to purely sex, which is how the first verse ends and the chorus is ushered in.
The chorus is very boisterous with each couplet of the eight lines rhyming, and the second and last couplets holding the same end rhyme. The chorus also is broken up into tow quatrains, with the first addressing men and the second addressing women, and repeating the same phrase at the end of each (throw them ‘bows). The first two lines of the chorus have alliteration (buy/bar and candy car) and the third has assonance (know/don’t/love/hoe) and a lot of repetition of the word you. The fourth line has internal and crossed rhyme (throw/‘bows/hoes) and the second to last line of the chorus has alliteration (or/open). The final line of the chorus has internal and crossed rhyme (flo’/throw/‘bows/toes) and the elision mentioned above in the shortened words “flo’” and “‘bows.” The subject matter through the chorus involves men spending money and dancing, and women dressed well with nice bodies dancing, with the presumption that the men and women are dancing together.
The second verse opens with more of the crux of what Ludacris is talking about after using the first verse and chorus as an introduction, he opens up with the phrase repeated throughout the first quatrain which is “Dirty South.” That is the style of rap Ludacris represents so he is using this song as a way of introducing himself and telling the listener some things about him. This follows a similar pattern as the earlier quatrains, with repetition in the first and fourth lines and the end rhyme staying consistent throughout the quatrain (bread/fed/bed/head). The first and fourth lines also have alliteration (blowin’/bread and guls/gimme). This quatrain in it’s discussion of the dirty south mentions fried catfish and girls amongst other things. The third line (Sleep in a cot’-pickin dirty south bed) has elision (cot’) and with the phrase “cot’-pickin” being an obvious reference to the past of the American South throughout which for hundreds of years slaves who were African American, like Ludacris is, were abused and taken advantage of, and many of them had to pick cotton as one of their jobs since cotton was one of the largest cash crops at the time.
The second quatrain repeats the phrase “hand me down,” further indicating that those in the dirty south are not rich and use hand me downs. The first two lines follow parallel structure in their repetition. The first line has consonance (flip flops) and the second has alliteration (drug dealers) and they both have perfect end rhyme, as the rest of the quatrain does (socks/rocks/box/stocks). This quatrain talks about old things but also shifts a focus onto drugs by mentioning drug dealers, rocks, and swisher sweets. The third quatrain of the second verse repeats the phrase “mouth full” and talks about a plethora of things such as grills, guns, murder, and lying, which it would appear must all be related back to the dirty south and thereby thought of in that context. There is perfect end rhyme throughout the quatrain (gold/hold/cold/told) and the first line has repetition and a parallel structure. The second line has slight assonance (your mouth on hold) along with there being repetition of the word “you” in the third line and assonance (out/mouth) in the last line.
The last quatrain of the third verse goes from the seriousness of the end of the third quatrain into a more playful tone again. He uses the same repetitive structure in the first two lines as he does in the first two lines of the second quatrain of the second verse, first talking about drinks and shifting to sex. Then he goes into talk about burning and about fear, which bring about a more serious tone again, ending the verse on a serious note. As a result of the title of the song and first quatrain of this verse it can be assumed that the things mentioned are intimately related to the dirty south, and the serious ending about fear leaves the listener on a frightening note. The quatrain has normal end rhyme that is perfect all the way through, and on top of that and the repetition, the third line has internal slant rhyme (burn/third) and the last line has consonance (sweat/sleep/sweat) along with the repetition of the word you as in the third line in the previous quatrain.
After the chorus lightens the mood again, the third verse begins with a quatrain about being “hit by” things. The first line has repetition and parallelism (hit by-stars, hit by-cars) along with perfect internal rhyme, and perfect end rhyme and crossed rhyme with the next line (bars). The second line is clever because the word “bars” is being used as a homophone to indicate that the listener is getting hit by bars such as the place liquor comes from, but also the bars that are Luda’s rhymes. That line also contains metonymy through the use of the word “bars” in reference to the whole place drinking occurs. The third line contains more elision (yo’) and the fourth line contains the same parallel structure as the first, while paying a compliment to the Neptunes which is a production duo who produced the song composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo. The following quatrain sticks to exactly the same structure in terms of rhyme and repetition, but the thematic focus is much more clear as it focuses of African American things reminiscent of the hippie days of the 1960’s and 1970’s, by referencing afro-picks and soul glow which is a product made to be used in African American hair. From there, Ludacris deploys another clever line saying “rabbit out the hat pulling afro-tricks” which is referencing the way an afro could just appear out of a hat when it is taken off the same way a rabbit appears out of a hat in a magic trick, but it is also a play off of Trix cereal whose mascot in their commercials and on the box is a rabbit. The first line of the quatrain contains internal rhyme (picks/chicks) and perfect end rhyme with the following lines (chicks/dick/tricks). Also there is assonance in the phrasee “soul glow” along with further repetition in the last line of the quatrain.
The next quatrain focuses on the term “overall” and talks about the south saying things like “country” and “jeans” before quickly jumping into talk about drugs again by referencing a triple beam scale. This quatrain has serious repetition and parallel structure in the first, second, and fourth lines, and has good perfect and slant end rhyme (jeans/clean/mean/beams), while further introducing the listener to the dirty south. The last quatrain of the third verse focuses on the phrase “thugged out” and the transition from the southern and country topics before to this phrase indicate that those things are not mutually exclusive and that Ludacris can be both a country boy and a thug at the same time. This quatrain follows a similar pattern as the last ones with a repetitive parallel structure in the first and second lines. The end rhyme is all slant (chains/games/range/thangs). The word “range” in the third line of the quatrain is reference to a Range Rover, which is a big and expensive brand of car.
As a whole, Ludacris uses this song to introduce the listener to the Dirty South and uses imagery to help the listener envision the place he comes from by giving somewhat detailed descriptions of things like his Cadillac, mouth, and the dirty south lifestyle all while including doses of why he is a gangsta through topics such as fear, death and the idea of thugs.
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.