Introduction

Many of us perceive hip-hop as negative. However, the reason these rappers and emcees rap about all this violence, drug activity and other illegal things, is because of who buys the records being sold. Mk Asante created a concept of hyper violence and hyper masculine content and named it the ‘reel’. But for me to explain this concept i must go deeper into the history of hip-hop. in the beginning rappers rapped about social issues and police brutality which was happening towards young black people. Hip-hop began in 1970, the first song to be commercially successful was ‘rappers delight’ by the crew ‘the sugarhill gang’. But traditionally Hip-hop generated from black oral traditions such as blues, jazz and soul. Eventually Hip-hop became really popular and major hip-hop corporations such as Warner Bros and Universal which both took on a massive bet by investing into smaller companies, and i guess it was the right play. However down the line the lyrical content began to change and many rappers began to rap about things like drugs, having sex with girls and also killing people. The white suburbians were seen to be the largest consumers off this genre and when asked why they liked it, they quoted “we enjoy the hyper violent lyrics. which is why rappers now are restricted to what they rap about as if they rap about something different record companies will drop them as that is whats making the most money.

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One rapper that criticises the ‘reel’ is Kendrick Lamar in his song ‘the blacker the berry the sweeter the juice’.
Kendrick Lamar was born on June 17 1987 in Compton, California. He began his musical career as a teenager and went by the name of k-dot. Around this time there was a group called N.W.A which were aware of what was going on and i believe Kendrick Lamar took inspiration from them. Lamar then released a small mix-tape which gathered local attention which then led to him being signed by a record company called top dawg. In his song ‘the blacker the berry the sweeter the juice’ Kendrick criticises ‘the reel’ as he repeated “the blacker the berry the sweeter the juice” by him using repetition is shows that he is desperate to deliver a message to the public and people who listen to his songs. also this line tells us that he is saying people who are black should not change for what is going on but embrace it. This song shows us that Kendrick Lamar is socially conscious as he released it around the time two black teenagers were murdered by police officials.

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Another Emcee we have studied that criticise the ‘reel’ is Kingslee James Daley who goes by the name of Akala. Akala was born on the 1st December 1983 and was raised up in kentish town, London. He chose the name Akala because it was a Buddhist term for ‘immovable’. Akala began to release music in 2003 from his own independent music label ‘illa state records’. In Akalas SBTV freestyle he criticises the ‘reel’ by talking kicking of his freestyle by apologising to his audience for not rapping about the same things as everyone else. One line that stands out in his rap is ‘The ghettos in our heads, we are delirious.’ This line is very meaningful in my opinion by Akala saying ‘the ghettos in our heads’ he is telling us that all this ‘hip-hop’ music that we listen to has changed how we think of the world and it has got into our heads; all the things that the rappers lie to us about. Also many of the younger generations are taking inspiration of these rappers ‘trying to be like them’. The word ‘delirious’ makes an impression that everything we listen to is some sort of illusion, as if all these rappers lifestyles are perfect. which we know is not true.

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Yc the cynic is another emcee that criticises the ‘reel’. Yc the cynic other wise called Matthew Jefferson was born on the 21st November, 1990 and originates from Hents, point, Bronx, New York. Matthew released two mix-tapes ( you’re welcome in 2012 and fall fwd in 2011 ) both of these were highly regarded by critics. He was named one of the ” Top 5 underground hip-hop artists in New York” by deli magazine and was also ordained “dxnext” by the hip-hop website hiphopdx.com. Yc the cynic criticises the ‘Reel’ in his song ‘Negus’ , the part most meaningful is the hook ” I ride for my negus, i die for my negus” this is criticising as if you were to listen to the song without looking out the lyrics, we would think he is saying the word ‘Nigga’. This is because we have built up this picture in our mind of the ‘Reel’ world due to all of these other rappers who continuously rap about all of this nonsense. The word ‘Negus’ actually means emperor in the Ethiopian language. Personally i believe Yc the cynic is taking about how black people should embrace the fact they are who they are and take it upon themselves to become good things and there were many black people in ancient royalty who are not spoken about. Instead of being dragged into the rappers fantasy of being involved in gang activity and other illegal things which seems to be portrayed as good in social media.

Conclusion

It is obvious from what I have studied there is more to hip-hop than the ‘reel’ concept of selling drugs and killing people, And many artists apply much more depth and meaning into their songs. These rappers have chosen to build on the genre of hip-hop and try to create it into a positive thing, instead of being affiliated with major record companies, and delivering the wrong message to the public and in particular the younger society which has been influenced by this the most. So i hope my essay has helped you understand that there is more depth and meaning in hip-hop and those rappers talking about selling drugs, killing people and having sex with girls are characterising hip-hop and not showing the true meaning of hip-hop.