Rap up your troubles and frown, frown, frown
by Udochi Igbokwe, reporter

    Two years ago, America’s major concern apparently was the increase in the rate of violence aired on television and movies.

    This year’s concern seems targeted toward the restriction of “inappropriate” rap albums.

    The interest in the censorship of rap music results from what some consider explicit images and lyrics portrayed in these songs.

    Since the end of the years of oppression, the average black has attempted to engrave a name for himself in this country.

    In the past, many blacks thought the only possible way to achieve success was through sports and music.

    The era of hip hop music that we are experiencing is called “Bling-Bling,” for the ringing sound a cash register makes when it opens.

    Because of the amount of money and fame involved in the hip hop industry, many young people cannot help but admire the artists and try their luck for fame and fortune.

    Most hip hop fans know that rap started in the mid- to late ’70s with artists such as the Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambatia and Fab 5 Freddy.

    It achieved mainstream commercial success with Public Enemy, MC Hammer, Run DMC and NWA, with its controversial song, F____ tha Police.

    Then, hip hop music was about expressing blacks’ views.

    It was also about creating and branding a part of America blacks believed was rightfully theirs.

    Young black men used rap to convey their message loud and clear to their vast audience and were very successful at it.

    The earlier music was enjoyable, relaxing and entertaining, but now, some observers say, it is full of junk with novices rapping about a fantastical world full of pimping, sex, drugs and hard-core gangster life.

    “Nowadays, all you got to do to get a (record) deal is possess the strut of an old school pimp, wear oversized clothes and talk dirty to the mic,” Chuck D. of Public Enemy said.

    About three months ago, Lynne Cheney, wife of the vice-president, began a campaign to restrict and censor rap music containing explicit lyrics and depicting violence.

    Cheney and her supporters blame the lyrical content of rap for the increase in violence and corruption among American youth.

    Several TCC students agree that hip hop has “gone out of control,” but disagree that rap should be censored.

    “It (rap) shouldn’t be controlled; after all, lots of people enjoy it.

    If rap is censored, it’s just a way of restricting freedom of speech,” Veronica Spikes, TCC student, said.

    Rap’s blame for corruption cannot be placed on the performers alone; the women portrayed in their videos are also to blame.

    They are treated as sex objects in the videos and viewed by these rappers as whores who would do anything to share the rappers’ wealth.

    The women pictured in these videos degrade not only themselves, but women as an entire gender.

    Not long ago, women used their potential and talent to become CEOs of large companies.

    Recently, one became the first wife of a sitting president to be elected to a public office.

    But women in hip hop videos imply that “sex sells,” and they will do what it takes to earn money.

    In a Newsweek interview, female rapper Li’l Kim, widely known for her skimpy dressing and raunchy ways of portraying sex in her lyrics and videos, explained why she produces such videos.

    “People wanna see it, so I give it to them. Hey, women have sex appeal, so they should use it to the best of their advantage, which is exactly what I do,” she said.

    Unlike Li’l Kim, female MC’s like Queen Latifah, MC Lyte and YoYo portrayed positive messages in their lyrics and videos during their reign in the early ’90s.

    These popular performers rapped positively and made multi-million-dollar albums.

    Another ironic issue is the extravagant spending on irrelevant material possessions by rap artists.

    For example, most rap artists are recognized by the size of the gold and diamond chains worn around their necks. One might sometimes wonder if the size of those chains does not weigh their necks down.

    Some rappers, such as Baby of the Cash Money Millionaires, Master P, Slick Rick or Nelly have about $200,000 worth of gold and platinum dentistry in their mouths.

    According to Newsweek magazine, the Jewelers of America recently reported a 40 percent-plus increase in the sales of white gold and platinum since Puff Daddy hit the hip hop scene in 1995.

    Whether one likes hip hop music, one cannot help but overhear the sounds of Ludacris’ I Wanna, Juvenile’s Back That Thang Up, Jay-Z’s Big Pimping or Mystikal’s Shake It Fast playing in passing cars.

    Apparently, many Americans love the music and the style. That is why eight of the top 20 albums in the United States are by rappers.
Before hip hop hit the big scene, some blacks wished for the opportunity to become popular in this nation.

    “I remember back then when we used to say, ‘If we had TV and movie access and all those things the white boys have, we’d be doing a whole lot better than they are.’ We have all of it now and are not doing a thing with it,” Chuck D. said.

    A few rappers have achieved success beyond their music.

    MasterP and Jermaine Dupri are also CEOs of their own labels, So So Def and No Limit Records, respectively.

    Rap fans know rap is not just black. Eminem, a white rapper, has stirred up more controversy than many black rappers.

    Although the controversial and infamous rapper does not portray sex and luxury in his lyrics, they are filled with R-rated violence.

    In his song Kim, he raps about slitting his wife’s throat and locking her in his car trunk.

    “Hey kids, wanna see me stick nine-inch nails to my eyelids?” he asks in The Real Slim-Shady while in Kill You, he raps about raping and then killing his mother.

    Many rappers say that pimping, sex, luxury and violence are the American way of life, so there is nothing else to rap about.

    But opponents believe that too much of everything is bad for the mind and body because monotony leads to boredom.

    The legends of the late Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls still live because they were considered the best rappers ever to enter the music biz.

    Although they rapped about sex and violence, they did so in small doses and kept their fans in anticipation for their next album.
They also had music for every generation with songs like Dear Mama, Keep Ya Head Up and Smile for Me and earned worldwide, cross-generation approval.

    Music should not be about rapping endless nonsense on the mic; it should be positive.

    Rappers also have to bear in mind the effect of their lyrics on the younger generation.

    Kids imitate whatever they see on television.

    Once they hear the lyrics and see the illusions painted in these videos, they immediately believe that image is the only way to live.
Therefore, rap lyrics should not end with Rolex watches, Gucci and Versace shoes, “smoking a five-pound bag of weed a day” and having sex with the most beautiful women in the world.

    Rap lyrics should also be about morals and positive messages for all generations.