Running Head: Message of the Beat 1

MESSAGE OF THE BEAT:

Portrayals of African Americans in Three Political Rap Music Videos

A Senior Seminar Paper

Presented to

Faculty of the Department of English

School of Arts & Humanities

Ferrum College

Ferrum, VA

In Partial Fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree of

Bachelor of Arts

Kathleen Corey Boxley

2018

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APPROVAL SHEET

This senior seminar paper is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of

Bachelor of Arts

______

Author (Full Name)

Approved, December 2018

______

Lana A. Whited, Ph.D., Senior Seminar Professor

______

Allison Harl, Ph.D., English Program Coordinator

______

John Kitterman, Ph.D., Professor of English

______

Mingxiao Sui, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Media & Communication

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The author of this senior seminar paper hereby gives consent to the English

Department, School of Arts & Humanities, of Ferrum College to reproduce this whole document in whole or part for educational or publicity purposes. This permission extends

to both print and electronic publications.

______

Author (Full Name)

______

Date

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Message of the Beat:

Portrayals of African Americans in Three Political Rap Music Videos

Kathleen Corey Boxley

Ferrum College

Running Head: Message of the Beat 5

Acknowledgements

Firstly, I’d like to thank my parents. Without their love, support, and at times necessary firm hand, I would not be where I am today. I know that I can be very stubborn and determined to do everything on my own. You’ve always stood by with open arms, ready to be there when I need you. Thank you, so much, for everything you’ve ever done for me. I hope that I can make you proud to call me your daughter.

I’d like to thank Dr. Karl Roeper for always giving me a hard time in jest and asking how my paper is coming along. You’ve been a huge part of my college career and a fantastic mentor. You’ve taught me so much. Thank you for all your dedication to the Media Communication program.

I’d like to thank Dr. Lana Whited for teaching this Senior Seminar class. But more specifically for giving me feedback, articles, and being there when I had a billion questions. Thank you for your dedication to Micaela and I. Your honesty and support has helped us both get through this thesis paper.

I’d like to thank my committee members: Dr. Harl, Dr. Kitterman, and Dr. Sui for all of your honest feedback, correcting my endless drafts of thesis papers, and having open office doors when I needed advice. Thank you, so much, for your time and dedication in helping me write this thesis paper.

I’d like to thank my roommate Alexis Toliver for having Game of Thrones constantly playing in the background when I wrote. Also for making me coffee, giving me hugs, and lending me an ear when I needed to vent about how stressed I was.

I’d like to thank all of my sisters in Delta Phi Epsilon for encouraging me, pushing me to never give up even when I really wanted to, and always keeping me on my toes.

Without each and every one of you, I don’t know where I’d be right now. I hope that I can become a woman you’re all proud to call “sister.” Running Head: Message of the Beat 6

I’d like to thank my little Madison Harris for listening to me when I’m raging about having to do more research for Senior Seminar, riding around campus with me for late night talks, and just being there when I need a hug. I love you so much. I hope I can be someone you really look up to someday.

Lastly, I’d like to thank my boyfriend Will Philips. Thank you. I’d really be lost with you sometimes. Thank you for many, many late night phone calls, huge hugs when I was too stressed to function, and being patient with me when I complain for an hour about something really dumb. I truly love you. Here’s to having some stellar careers after we’ve both graduated. Running Head: Message of the Beat 7

Abstract

This content analysis looks at how African Americans are portrayed in three political rap music videos. The music videos were observed for three specific variables: issues, values, and images. The specific issues that were documented were police brutality, racism, poverty, and gang violence. The specific values that were documented were whether or not the rapper brags about his or her wealth, whether or not the rapper explicitly tells the audience to practice humility, whether or not the rapper expresses the importance of cultural appreciation, and whether or not the rapper expresses the importance of having a natural physical appearance. The specific images documented were positive portrayals of African Americans and negative portrayals of African

Americans. The results of this content analysis were calculated by repeatedly watching each political rap music video. A coding sheet was used when documenting any instance of issues, values, or images that occurred in the music video. The assumption that African Americans are likely depicted in a positive way, such that the music video primarily pushes the importance of good values like appreciation for natural appearance, cultural appreciation, socio-economic status, and humility, was found to be true. The assumption that African Americans are likely depicted in a positive way, such that the music video primarily focuses on African Americans’ positive images than negative images, was found to be false. The assumption that African Americans are likely linked to politically “black” issues, such that the musical video primarily relates African

Americans to historically black issues i.e. police brutality, racism, gang violence, and poverty, was found to be true.

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Introduction

Three-fourths of the way through the music video of “Humble,” Kendrick Lamar, wearing white, stands among a group of African-American men clothed in black. The scene is set with the group of men standing on a rather large set of stairs. At first, there isn’t really anything special about the scene other than Kendrick’s difference in clothing – but then we get a closer look. The men surrounding Lamar are dressed as though from the 1950’s Civil Rights Movement – perhaps a tribute to African-American history and how far our nation has come. Kendrick, in the dead center of the group, repeats the lines, “Bitch, sit down. Be humble. Sit down.” As the scene progresses, the men begin to move forward down the stairs and out of the scene. Kendrick remains right where he is, waiting. Time moves forward as if signifying a movement on toward the future as the final tune of the song is played. Finally, Lamar begins to walk down the stairs alone following in the footsteps of those who left before him.

Most music videos start and end with something that grabs our attention and occasionally makes us think. They are embedded with messages, sometimes blatant and sometimes hidden. These messages, regardless of how they are conveyed, are always presented with purpose. They are intricate and detailed. The underlying messages of “Humble,” “Formation,” and “Warzone” are each intricate. Within each of these intricacies, there are messages waiting to be uncovered.

The present study, therefore, explores the following research questions: what specific issues are portrayed in modern political rap music videos? What are the values promoted in modern political rap music videos? How do political rap music videos portray African-Americans? The assumptions of this thesis are that African-Americans are generally portrayed in a positive manner within modern rap music videos, that rap music is used to promote specific political and social issues such as police brutality, racism, gang violence, and poverty, and finally that rap artists push the importance of Running Head: Message of the Beat 9 certain values such as appreciation for natural appearance, cultural appreciation, socio- economic status, and humility within their music.

The Beginning of Political Rap Music

When people think about modern rap music, most generally don’t think about political and social framing. They think about high fashion, attractive women, flashy cars, and occasionally booze. At least, this is usually the case. However, within the political rap genre, lyrics and visuals provoke the audience to think deeper about the message in the beat. The words, plus the visuals, have a deep effect on the viewer. Lakeyta

Bonnette (2015), Associate Professor at Georgia State University, states in her book tilted Pulse of the People:

Political rap, a subgenre of the larger rap genre, follows the model of

uniting African Americans through music by discussing issues relevant to

the Black community and providing information about injustices the community

members face (p. 8).

From its beginning, political rap was not inherently “political” by nature. But regardless of original intent, the influence of political rap music spread throughout the world. Bonnette

(2015) states, “Many cultures and nations utilize rap songs as a means of resistance, motivation, information and entertainment for marginalized movements and groups” (p.

114).

The start of political rap began in the 1970s and was mostly about “the message.” The first instances of social and political problems, police brutality and gang violence, are brought up by artists in rap music. They use their lyrics as “the message” to begin creating awareness in society. By the 1980s political rap music was swiftly becoming hard-core in the form of “gangsta rap.”

Michael Dyson (1993), author of The Culture of Hip Hop, states,

As it evolved, rap began to describe and analyze Running Head: Message of the Beat 10

the social, economic, and political factors that led to its emergence

and development: drug addiction, police brutality, teen

pregnancy, and various forms of material deprivation (p. 4).

The references to political and social issues during this phase of political rap music were more prominent and blunt. In its current state, political rap music delivers its messages with more irony and vague messages. This evolution of political rap music to its current state has caused controversy along the way.

The Controversy of Political Rap Music

The 1990’s marked a musical evolution of political rap music and music videos. With an increase of gang violence, drugs, racism, and police brutality, rap music became the voice of African-Americans and other minorities to express the injustices they dealt with on a daily basis. Dyson (1993) says,

Such expressions of violence certainly reflect the actual life circumstances of

many black and Latino youth caught in the desperate cycle of drugs and gangs

involved in L.A. ghetto living. N.W.A. celebrates a lethal mix of civil terrorism and

personal cynicism (p. 10).

Specifically in the political rap and hip-hop industry, messages about racism and injustices against minorities are more common than in other music genres.

This trend in rap music was not always taken so well. Rachel E. Sullivan (2003) claimed in the Journal of Black Studies, “Rap music has long been the target of criticism from the popular media, White politicians, and even some older African Americans” (p.

608).

Most often, political rap music was criticized for its lyrics. An excellent example of both this and the musical evolution to political rap is when Fuck Tha Police by N.W.A was released in 1998. The song’s lyrics themselves ring with an uncomfortable truth, Running Head: Message of the Beat 11

Fuck tha police! Comin' straight from the underground

A young n***a got it bad ‘cause I'm brown

And not the other color, so police think

They have the authority to kill a minority

The song itself was banned in Australia. It’s depiction of violence against police and police brutality against African-Americans was not well received by both police officials and white Americans.

A second example, and perhaps better known, is the rap group called Public

Enemy. Their two most controversial songs were “By The Time I Get To Arizona” and

“Fight The Powe”r. “Fight The Power”, released in 1990, was originally written as part of the soundtrack for the movie Do The Right Thing. The controversy of this song was due to saying that African Americans need to fight the government through free speech. It also claimed Elvis and John Wayne to both be extremely racist people,

Elvis was a hero to most

But he never meant shit to me you see

Straight up racist that sucker was

Simple and plain

Mother fuck him and John Wayne

Cause I'm Black and I'm proud

However now, it is among the most iconic political rap songs of the century.

“By The Time I Get To Arizona” was Public Enemy’s most controversial song by far. After it was released in 1991, the nation was immediately up in arms, especially people in the states of Arizona and New Hampshire. It was aired on MTV only once and then banned. The controversy of this song was mostly due to it discussing Arizona and

New Hampshire’s refusal to give tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. It states this clearly at the beginning of the song, Running Head: Message of the Beat 12

Public Enemy believes that the powers that be in the states of New Hampshire

and Arizona have found psychological discomfort in paying tribute to a black man

who tried to teach white people the meaning of civilization.

The song is currently known as one of the most controversial political rap songs to date.

Hypothesis

This study will test the following assumptions about how African Americans are often depicted in modern rap music videos:

H1: African Americans are likely depicted in a positive way, such that the music video primarily promotes an appreciation of a natural physical appearance, appreciation of African American culture, history, and heritage, good socio-economic status, and humility.

This hypothesis was tested by documenting the singer explicitly promoting specific values, beliefs, or expectations for African American groups.

H2: African Americans are likely depicted in a positive way, such that the music video primarily focuses on African Americans’ positive images rather than negative images.

This hypothesis was tested by documenting if African Americans are depicted positively or negatively in these three music videos.

H3: African Americans are likely linked to politically “black” issues, such that the music video primarily relates African Americans to historical issues i.e. police brutality, racism, gang violence, and poverty.

This hypothesis was tested by documenting explicit issues the artists brought up in these three music videos.

Method

The method of research used during this study is as follows: Running Head: Message of the Beat 13

Sample of Political Rap Music Videos

The music videos chosen for this research study were “Humble” by Kendrick Lamar,

“Formation” by Beyoncé, and “Warzone” by T.I. There were a couple of reasons for making these choices; first, they are all recent political rap music videos, and second, they are relevant to the current state of both politics in the United States of America and political rap music as a musical genre. These music videos were examined for three variables: issues, images of African Americans, and values about African Americans.

Each music video was watched repeatedly and notes were taken to capture each instance of all three variables.

Definitions of Variables

The three variables observed were issues, values about African Americans, and images of African Americans. The definition of values about African Americans is the artist’s attitudes, expectations or beliefs about African American groups. The definition of issues is the topics that the artist links to African Americans in his or her music video. The definition of images of African Americans is the positive or negative depiction of African

Americans as they are depicted in the music videos.

Measurements and Examples of Variables

During each observation, there was a precise set of measurements for each variable.

For values about African Americans, the measurement was to determine if the artist explicitly promoted some values, beliefs, or expectations for African Americans. Specific examples of the values about African Americans observed included natural appearance, humility, and socio-economic status. The measurement for issues was to determine explicit topics the artist brings up in their music videos. Specific examples of issues observed included police brutality, gang violence, racism, and poverty. As for images of

African Americans, the measurement was to determine if they are depicted positively or negatively in music videos. Specific examples of images of African Americans observed Running Head: Message of the Beat 14 included positive frames, i.e. being depicted as hard working and successful and negative frames, i.e. being depicted as a gangster and criminal.

Results

The assumption that African Americans are likely depicted in a positive way, such that the music video primarily promotes an appreciation of a natural physical appearance, appreciation of African American culture, history, and heritage, good socio- economic status, and humility was found to be true.

Within the music video “Humble,” Kendrick Lamar explicitly brags about his own personal wealth and discusses the success of his rap career in the beginning of the music video. He also explicitly tells the listener to “sit down, be humble.” In regards to cultural appreciation, Lamar uses the image of African American women in a hair salon to show the importance of “black hair culture” and various religious scenes to demonstrate the importance of religion in African American culture. Other images used, such as a woman with natural hair and body and the change between a photo-shopped

African American woman and a natural one, demonstrate the importance of natural appearance in African Americans. The assumption was, therefore, that the music video

“Humble” pushes the importance of good moral values was found to be true.

In Beyoncé’s “Formation,” natural appearances of African Americans were demonstrated through an image of three young African American children with natural hair. Cultural appreciation was demonstrated by the historical references to Hurricane

Katrina, historical references to slavery in New Orleans, images of New Orleans culture, and beauty culture of African American women. At the end of the music video, Beyoncé explicitly tells the audience to have a humble attitude by saying, “always stay gracious, best revenge is your paper.” Running Head: Message of the Beat 15

During the “Warzone” music video, the values of natural appearances did not appear. The values of cultural appreciation also did not appear. T.I. never explicitly bragged about his own money or told the audience to practice humility.

The assumption that African Americans are likely depicted in a positive way, such that the music video primarily focuses on African Americans’ positive images rather than negative images, was found to be false.

The findings within the “Humble” music video contained equal amounts of both negative and positive framings of African Americans. There were six observed and documented instances of positive framing and six observed and documented instances of negative framing. The results, therefore, for framing of African Americans within the

“Humble” music video are inconclusive.

In the music video “Formation,” there were seventeen observed and documented instances of positive framing and seven observed and documented instances of negative framing. The results, therefore, were that African Americans were portrayed in a positive manner more than in a negative manner.

“Warzone” was a difficult music video to observe for positive and negative framings of African Americans. On the whole, thorough observation was not able to pinpoint any specific instances of positive or negative framing of African Americans. The reason for this was that African Americans were “police” in the music video and

Caucasians were “victims.” The combined results of all three music videos are that

African Americans are generally portrayed in an equally positive and negative manner within modern rap music videos. The results, therefore, are inconclusive.

The assumption that African Americans are likely linked to politically “black” issues, such that the music video primarily relates African Americans to historically black issues (i.e. police brutality, racism, gang violence, and poverty), was found to be true. Running Head: Message of the Beat 16

The topics of police brutality, gang violence, racism, and poverty were apparent in all three of the selected music videos.

Examples of Issues within “Humble” include scenes where gangsters surround

Kendrick Lamar and begin to fight amongst each other in the background, images of trash and graffiti in the background suggesting poverty, and a moment when Lamar is seen with police lasers and police lights shining on him. Examples of Issues within

“Formation” include scenes with suggested economically-deprived African Americans, scenes with rundown homes and buildings, references to the aftermath of Hurricane

Katrina, an African American child dancing in front of armed police officers, graffiti saying

“Stop Shooting Us,” references to the history of plantations and culture of New Orleans, and Beyoncé sinking a cop car into flood waters with her own body.

There was only one thing that could skew the research data, the fact that there was only a single researcher that did all observations of the variables. Therefore, the opinion of the researcher had some impact on the data observed. It was up to the researcher, based on the coding sheet created, to determine what scenes within the music videos “Humble,” “Formation,” and “Warzone” were considered instances of issues regarding African Americans, values about African Americans, and positive or negative images of African Americans. This involvement of interpretation and opinion could cause the research data to change if another researcher were to perform this content analysis.

Discussion

“Sit Down, Be Humble”

The song “Humble” by Kendrick Lamar rings with a message to society about African-

American culture, history, and daily struggles. From the start, “Humble” is chock full of both positive and negative portrayals of African Americans. In the opening scene, Lamar is wearing what very obviously looks like the pope’s religious clothing. Clearly, he sees Running Head: Message of the Beat 17 himself as a powerful leader. He has control over his own life, money, and music. The opening lyrics of the music video are actually different from the song itself. The music video opens with the words:

Wicked or weakness?

You gotta see this

Waaaaay (yeah, yeah)

But the song itself opens with the lyrics:

Nobody pray for me

It been that day for me

Waaaaay (yeah, yeah)

The difference here was intentional. Combined with the music video, the words “wicked or weakness?” beg the audience to consider Lamar’s questions: are African Americans

“wicked” because they are criminals? Are they “weak” because of low social status? Are they neither? He leaves it up to his audience to decide.

The first thing observed in the music videos was positive or negative images of

African Americans. One of the first positive portrayals occurs at the beginning of the music video with Lamar lying on a table of money surrounded by beautiful African

American women counting that money. Firstly, the image sends the audience the message that he is wealthy. The lyrics, on the other hand, are talking about “syrup sandwiches” and “crime allowances,” implying that Lamar has not always had his current state of wealth. Contrary to the song title, this imagery does not reinforce a sense of humility.

There was an overall equal amount of positive and negative images of African

Americans in the music video. However, what could be debated are the lyrics and images in the music video leave the viewer with a lasting impression that African Running Head: Message of the Beat 18

Americans are good or bad. In Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble,” the video has several specific scenes that portray African Americans in both a positive and negative manner.

A prime example is a scene in which Kendrick Lamar, wearing a white sweatshirt that says “dreamer,” stands in front of a dumpster (Appendix B). Surrounding him are

African Americans wearing black sweatshirts with burning rope wrapped completely around their heads. This would appear to signify an obstruction of ideas or freedom.

Society tries to retrain African Americans mentally. In the background of this scene, there are what appear to be the stereotypical depictions of “gangsters” sitting on top of the dumpsters. There is a lot to take in within this scene. Starting with the positive image within this scene, Lamar’s sweatshirt is significant. It says “dreamer” and it is white. He stands out from the people surrounding him and the sweatshirt also implies a message that he is someone who dreamed of becoming better and rising above the “gangster life” seen in the background. Second, the negative images of African Americans – the stereotypical depiction of “gangsters” in the background obviously portray African

Americans in a negative way. Society can often stereotype African Americans as criminals and gangsters if they dress and act a certain way.

Another instance of positive and negative portrayals occurs towards the end of the music video and is seemingly more powerful than the first. Kendrick takes his viewer on an intellectual journey to look at the reality of life. In a scene towards the end of the music video, Kendrick stands beneath a highway or bridge dressed almost like an academic individual wearing a black turtleneck and glasses (Appendix C). Behind him is what appears to be the stereotypical depiction of “gangsters” who are gathered together.

Later in the music video, the scene is brought up again with the African American men fighting in the background. This is obviously a negative portrayal of African Americans and it could be argued that it is significantly more powerful than Image A. During the scene itself, the camera turns from right to left showing the stereotypically depicted Running Head: Message of the Beat 19

“gangsters,” graffiti on the bridge or highway behind them, and grocery carts full of trash and belongings. Such scenes are common among the United States lower socio economic communities. Lamar brings to the audience’s attention the reality of poverty, gang violence, and how it is destroying our communities all through the perception of an intellectual individual.

The values that Lamar wants other African Americans to have were narrowed down to a few main themes within the music video. These values were being religious, being humble, and having an appreciation for a natural physical appearance. Beginning with religion, Lamar shows from the beginning of the music video how important religion is to him. The opening scene of the music video has Lamar dressed in what appears to be the Pope’s ceremonial clothing (Appendix D). While he does not explicitly say anything about religion, it is important to note that the scene itself includes religious themes.

The second time religion appears in the music video is a bit later when Kendrick

Lamar and several other African American men are seated in what appears to be the scene from DaVinci’s The Last Supper (Appendix E). In this scene, Lamar tells the man standing next to him to “Sit down, be humble.” Here, we see the value of humility enter as Lamar is visibly telling the man to “be humble.”

This isn’t the first time Lamar mentions humility. The lyrics of the song itself repeat the line over and over again. It is, however, very ironic that Lamar implores his audience to “be humble” when he himself brags about his own wealth repeatedly throughout the music video. Over all, humility was a prominent theme both in words and visuals during the music video.

Appreciation for natural appearance was also a prominent theme in the “Humble” music video. About three-fourths of the way through the music video, Lamar talks about appreciating the natural physical appearance of an African American woman by saying: Running Head: Message of the Beat 20

I'm so fuckin' sick and tired of the Photoshop

Show me somethin' natural like afro on Richard Pryor

Show me somethin' natural like ass with some stretchmarks

As he is rapping these lyrics, a woman moves from one side of the camera to the other and the audience sees a physical change from “Photoshopped” to “natural.” Her hair goes from being sleek and smooth to big and curly. Her clothing changes from extravagant to simple. The visual aspect combined with the lyrics themselves tell the audience that Lamar wants all African Americans to appreciate and love their own natural physical appearance.

The final variable was issues discussed within each music video. The four main issues discussed in “Humble” were police brutality, racism, poverty, and gang violence.

Police brutality and racism go hand-in-hand. The first time these two issues are brought up is about three-fourths of the way through the music video in a scene where Lamar is standing in front of a window wearing a white sweatshirt as red police lasers focus on him. The white sweatshirt represents his innocence and is recognition of the victims of police brutality and racism. The red lasers obviously are the police preparing to shoot

Lamar. The overall image gives the audience the impression that something violent is about to happen. In this case, it would be police shooting a perceivably innocent Lamar.

When it came to poverty and gang violence, Lamar used very realistic scenes to bring up these issues. In a scene where Kendrick Lamar stands underneath a bridge or highway, he shows his audience what the reality of poverty and gang violence is (Image

B). The camera moves through the scene to show graffiti in the background and a grocery cart full of trash. Objects and scenery in the background are a representation of what many low economic communities in the United States look like. Later, when the scene is shown again, the “gangsters” in the background are fighting with each other. Running Head: Message of the Beat 21

In conclusion, the findings from the “Humble” music video were mixed in regards to positive and negative portrayals of African Americans. This was simply because there was an equal amount of both in many scenes. The two scenes mentioned in the sections above are excellent examples. There are both positive and negative portrayals of African

Americans in what would appear to be an overall negative scene. The assumptions made about values and issues were both found to be true within “Humble” because the music video and lyrics both explicitly mention and discuss issues such as police brutality, poverty, and gang violence and values such as good socio-economic standing, an appreciation of a natural physical appearance, an appreciation of African American culture, history, and heritage, and humility.

“Okay Ladies, Now Let’s Get in Formation”

When “Formation” by Beyoncé hit, it took the Internet by storm. Beyoncé is well loved and very respected by the public. From the start of her hit music video, Beyoncé takes a bold, raw approach to issues prevalent in today’s culture and society. When it came to positive and negative portrayals within “Formation,” there were many of both. Many of the positive portrayals had to do with African American culture and, specifically, the

African American culture of New Orleans. Some of the first positive portrayals of African

Americans occurred in the beginning of the music video itself in scenes where women and children are seen with “natural” hair and physical appearance. It shows that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and the positivity of accepting your body in its natural state.

The biggest instance of a positive portrayal is when an African American man holds a newspaper with Martin Luther King, Jr. on it (Appendix F). The message on the newspaper says, “more than a dreamer.” In this scene, a well-dressed African American man holds up the newspaper of MLK. The message here is over all positive and portrays

African Americans in a positive light. Running Head: Message of the Beat 22

Another instance of a positive portrayal is when Beyoncé and several African

American men are standing on the front porch of what appears to be an old plantation home (Appendix G). The scene is portraying African Americans in a positive manner because they appear to hold the power here. It is both a nod to the historical aspect of slavery in New Orleans and a depiction of African Americans now free and holding power over themselves. In this scene specifically, Beyoncé is the one holding the power.

In regards to negative portrayals of African Americans, Beyoncé’s “Formation” music video didn’t have too many. The few instances of negative portrayals occurred in scenes containing run down buildings, old bridges with graffiti, people eating or just gathered on street corners, and many poor looking homes. Poverty was used to portray

African Americans in a negative manner in every instance of negative portrayals.

The values documented in the “Formation” music video were being religious, being humble, having an appreciation for African American culture and history, and having an appreciation for natural physical appearance. The first several times appreciation for natural appearance occurs in the music video are when women and children are shown with natural African American hair. Beyoncé herself has both natural hair and braids throughout the music video. There are several scenes where men have natural Afros as well.

Religion made some very obvious appearances in the music video. There were two main scenes where religion was depicted and both of them were inside a church. In both of these scenes, there is an African American pastor preaching to his audience.

Next, the audience is shown dancing, singing, and “worshipping.” These scenes stress both the cultural importance of religion to African Americans and the importance of incorporating religion into life.

Appreciation for African American culture and history was the most prominent value within “Formation.” There are several references to the history of New Orleans and Running Head: Message of the Beat 23 its people as well as the African American culture in New Orleans. Some examples of these scenes are a brief scene of a trailer home submerged in floodwater, a scene where a newspaper about Martin Luther King, Jr. is featured, a scene where people are dancing in a parade through the streets, and a scene where portraits of someone’s

African American ancestors are briefly shown.

Humility appeared once at the end of the music video when Beyoncé tells her audience “always stay gracious, best revenge is your paper.” When saying this, she lowers her head so that she is looking at the ground rather than the camera. This is both a symbol of humility through her action and a command to be humble through the lyrics.

Issues discussed in the “Formation” music video were the most notably documented. Things such as poverty, racism, and police brutality were noted within the music video. The most prominent of these three issues was poverty. The music video had several depictions of what appeared to be poor homes, people gathered on street corners, people eating on street corners, and flood damage from what can assumed was

Hurricane Katrina. The music video actually had many, many references to Hurricane

Katrina and how it devastated the New Orleans community. When it came to racism and police brutality, “Formation” was as blunt as possible. There are several references to the historical aspect of slavery in New Orleans in many different scenes. One of these scenes was when Beyoncé and several African American men are standing on the front porch of what looks to be an old plantation home.

Police brutality and racism are brought up together in a scene where a young

African American child wearing black pants, a black hoodie with the hood up, and black shoes is dancing in front of a line of police officers. The police officers, all armed with guns and shields, stand stoic as the young child continues to dance in front of them. This scene returns later in the music video just after a scene showing graffiti reading, “stop Running Head: Message of the Beat 24 shooting us.” In this second scene, the child stops dancing and raises both of his hands.

In response, the police officers all raise their hands as well (Appendix H).

The final scene regarding issues involves a little bit of each issue. This scene in particular shows Beyoncé sinking a New Orleans cop car in floodwater with her body

(Appendix I).

This scene itself may very well become iconic. During the scene, Beyoncé is on top of the cop car surrounded by floodwaters and destroyed homes and as the scene progresses, Beyoncé lies on the cop car and proceeds to sink it with her body. The visuals here show that Beyoncé is trying to sink police brutality and racism with her own body, or in other words, with her reputation and image.

“We Livin’ in a Warzone”

Unlike “Humble” and “Formation”, “Warzone” takes a completely different approach to the portrayal of African Americans by having Caucasian actors play the roles of African

Americans. The music video depicts the deaths of victims Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, and

Philando Castile through this acting reversal. Overall, it is powerful. However, because of the role reversal in acting, no instances of positive or negative portrayals of African

Americans were documented within the “Warzone” music video. In other words, because

Caucasian actors were acting the story of African American victims of police brutality there were no positive or negative portrayals. There were also no documented instances of values being promoted in “Warzone.” The music video primarily contained issues rather than values.

Police brutality is the most prominent issue depicted and discussed within

“Warzone.” The difference with “Warzone” is that it uses Caucasian actors to re-enact the deaths of African American victims to police brutality. There are several scenes that bring up police brutality. The first is a scene where a young Caucasian boy wearing a white shirt is playing with a toy gun in a park, African American police then drive up and Running Head: Message of the Beat 25 shoots him almost immediately. The next scene is of the boy lying dead on the ground with caution tape around the park scene (Appendix J). The scene itself is the re- enactment of the death of Tamir Rice.

The second scene where police brutality is depicted is when a Caucasian man is standing on a street corner talking to police. As he begins to become very distressed, police tackle him to the ground. The police holding him down have their arms wrapped around the man’s neck while the man is mouthing the words, “I can’t breathe” and continuing to struggle (Appendix K). This was a re-enactment of the death of Eric

Garner.

The third and final instance of police brutality depicted in “Warzone” was when a

Caucasian man, his wife, and their child were pulled over by a police officer. In the music video, the officer appears to be telling the man to step out of the car. The man motions to the his seatbelt mouthing what appears to be, “I’m going to take off my seatbelt.” The police officer then opens fire on the man inside the car as he reached for his seatbelt.

The man is then shown lying dead in the driver’s seat of the car (Appendix L). The wife, all while this is happening, is shown live streaming or recording the entire encounter.

The scene ends with the wife still filming and talking to her phone camera as their baby cries in the backseat of the car. This scene was the re-enactment of the death of

Philando Castile.

Racism is depicted briefly at the very end of the music video. In this particular scene, a Caucasian woman boards a bus and begins to look for a seat. The bus is full of

African American people. As she approaches each of them to find a place to sit down she is met with many headshakes saying “no” or is ignored. Finally, she is forced to sit in the back of the bus away from everyone else. The scene ends with rolling credits containing the names of police brutality victims followed by a quote saying, “The new racism, is to deny that racism exists.” Running Head: Message of the Beat 26

Conclusion

Political rap music videos have evolved and developed as media and technology have continued to advance. The way African Americans are portrayed in political rap music videos has also changed. It could not be proven whether or not African Americans are portrayed in a positive or negative manner, but it was proven that specific political and social issues such as police brutality, gang violence, racism, and poverty are prominent in political rap music videos. It was also proven that specific values such as cultural appreciation, humility, and appreciation for natural physical appearance were prominent in political rap music videos.

These results show that political rap music videos are pushing current political and social issues that matter to the public. Whether you read about them in a newspaper article, magazine, or watch a rap music video, these issues are brought up to the audience. Current rap and music artists are obviously concerned with keeping the public informed and up to date about issues such as police brutality, gang violence, poverty, and racism by using their lyrics and visuals in their music videos.

Instances

There were several things that could skew the research data in this content analysis.

These would be lack of time, small sample size of music videos, and bias. In regards to lack of time, this paper should have been much longer to do each music video justice.

Every instance of the stated variables could not be documented due to time constraints and page limits. If there had more time to research and write, there would’ve been quite a lot more written on each music video in the discussion section.

The sample size of music videos was also very small. While it was only possible to look at three different political rap music videos, it is possible that if several more music videos were added to the sample of music videos the data would change. Running Head: Message of the Beat 27

Therefore, it is important to note that because only three music videos were researched and discussed this could have skewed the data.

Bias is yet another thing that could have impacted the data specifically because much of the research dealt with, to a degree, interpretation and opinion. All of the documented instances of issues, values, and positive or negative portrayals were documented based on the researchers own interpretation of what they were. The coding sheet, of course, was used while documenting these instances. But it was up to the researcher’s own observations and opinion to decide whether or not something was indeed a positive or negative portrayal for example. Considering that the researcher in this study was a Caucasian female this should also be taken into consideration when observing the findings of this study.

Anyone interested in analyzing these videos can locate them at the links provided (Appendices M, N, and O). By these limitations, this study has concluded that

African Americans are not portrayed in an overall positive manner; specific political and social issues are promoted within modern political rap music videos; and specific values are promoted in modern political rap music videos. This study therefore contributes the furthering research on modern political rap music and its influence on society.

Running Head: Message of the Beat 28

References

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDZJPJV__bQ

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Bonnette, L. (2015). Pulse of the People: Political Rap Music and Black Politics.

University of Pennsylvania Press. Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt13x1p58

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K. (2017, March 30). Kendrick Lamar - HUMBLE. Retrieved December 04, 2017, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvTRZJ-4EyI

KUBRIN, C. (2005). “I SEE DEATH AROUND THE CORNER”: NIHILISM IN RAP

MUSIC. Sociological Perspectives, 48(4), 433-459.

Morgan, M., & Bennett, D. (2011). Hip-Hop & the Global Imprint of a Black Cultural

Form. Daedalus, 140(2), 176-196. Retrieved from

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Petchauer, E. (2009). Framing and Reviewing Hip-Hop Educational Research. Review of

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SPENCE, L. (2011). A Little Knowledge Is Dangerous: Consuming Rap and Political

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55-94). Minneapolis; London: University of Minnesota Press. Retrieved from

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Sullivan, R. (2003). Rap and Race: It's Got a Nice Beat, but What about the

Message? Journal of Black Studies, 33(5), 605-622. Retrieved from

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T. (2016, September 16). T.I. - Warzone. Retrieved December 04, 2017, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKcw35_saLY

Talbird, J. D. (2014). A Secret History of the Music Video. The Literary Review, (3), 147.

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Running Head: Message of the Beat 30

Data

Appendix A:

Variabl Defintion Measurement Examples es Values the singer's attitudes to capture if the singer about or beliefs about AA explicitly promote 1= socio-economic status African group, i.e. what some values, beliefs, or for AA (whether the singer Americ he/she expects them expectation for AA talks about their wealth) ans to have. group. 2=natural appearance (natural versus faked) 3=morality (being humble) 4=cultural appreciation (having appreciation for the

AA culture, history, and heritage)

the issues that the to capture explicit singer links to AA 1= police brutality (police Issues issues he/she brings up groups in his/her violence against AA groups) in music videos music video 2= gang violence (black on black crime) 3= racism (disrespect and discrimination against a person or group of people

based on the color of their skin) 4= poverty (having very little money or a very low

socioeconomic status)

Image to capture if they are of the positive or 1=positive (depicted as depicted positively, African- negative depiction of successful, hard-working neutrally, or negatively Americ AA groups group) in music videos an 2= negative (depicted as gangsters, criminals) depictions)

Running Head: Message of the Beat 31

Appendix B:

Appendix C:

Running Head: Message of the Beat 32

Appendix D:

Appendix E:

Running Head: Message of the Beat 33

Appendix F:

Appendix G:

Running Head: Message of the Beat 34

Appendix H:

Appendix I:

Running Head: Message of the Beat 35

Appendix J:

Appendix K:

Running Head: Message of the Beat 36

Appendix L:

Appendix M:

“Humble” by Kendrick Lamar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvTRZJ-4EyI

Appendix N:

“Formation” by Beyoncé https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDZJPJV__bQ

Appendix O:

“Warzone” by T.I. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKcw35_saLY