Public Enemy's Views on Racism As Seen Trough Their Songlyrics Nama

Judul : Public enemy's views on racism as seen trough their songlyrics Nama : Rasti Setya Anggraini CHAPTER II LITERARY REVIEW A. Public Enemy and Hip-Hop Music 1. Hip-Hop Music in America Hip-hop or rap is an art form and culture originated from the South Bronx, New York around early 70s. It was a totally new and unique music genre that challenged all rules in the music industries. The music is made by cutting and mixing sounds (i.e. sampling) from other (two or more) well-made records—an action known as DJing. Thus, the DJ only needs two turntables as the musical instrument. This is cheaper and easier to do than using a full band instruments like in other music genres. The record sources itself can be taken from various resources like rock, bebop jazz, Israeli folk music, advertising jingles until TV news. On this unique music, people started to chant the lyrics in rapping style (i.e. the vocal expression of lyrics in sync to a rhythm beneath it). Based on this, the fans then often synonimize hip-hop with rap. The predominant mode of aesthetic evaluation of hip-hop is reality and the authority to present it. Thus, rap lyrics talk about the reflection of the daily lives of its 12 13 creators (the black community) with topic ranging from the trivial, such as one’s new Adidas sneakers, to the significant, like the infuriation spurred by police harassment. As hip-hop spread in United States, each region built their own identifications. For example, the rappers in Los Angeles (such as NWA, Tupac Shakur, Ice T, etc.) developed the gangsta rap (gangster rap) that highlighted the hard life in the ghetto along with its violence, drug, gang, and misogynistic attitude. Meantime, New York rappers were more political. There were many conscious hip- hop artists like KRS-One, Public Enemy, Paris, and female rapper MC Nikki that forwarded social and political criticism of the Black urban experiences. Their topic was not merely discuss on racism, but had expanded to anti-war songs, anti-drug songs, women’s right songs, and so on. Either way, hip-hop music was essential in bring to vivid the plight of black youth and its communities to the world. Storey has said in his book that “our musical choices contribute to our sense of self” (1996 : 93). Accordingly, these days, a youth’s musical preference has played a significant role in determining its acceptance among its society. It has become a way of being in the world. The youngs judge and are judged by others based on their music consumption. Thus, hip-hop music also becomes a tool of actualization for the young Black people in the hood. Hip-hop’s popularity and its ability to provide a space of self-expression that measures the pulse of the youth culture are some its main reasons. Moreover, hip-hop has developed into a way of life affecting the speech, style of dress, and the overall disposition of its followers. For the youths, having the ability of rapping is a privileged that give them higher credit among their friends. Ultimately, through hip-hop, young Blacks have an opportunity to define themselves based on their own terms in a positive way. “Davey D” Cook (a hip-hop 14 performer, historian, and journalist) has interesting perspective related to this matter : “Hip-hop has became one of the main contributing factors that helped curtail gang violence due to the fact that many adults found it preferable to channel their anger and aggressions into these art forms which eventually became the ultimate expression of one’s self” (Cook in Blake, 2003). This suggests that hip-hop has a redemptive power, because through this music the young people can use their energies to express their feeling, defines their realities and hope, and vent their frustration and fears in a nonviolent manner. The launch of “Yo! MTV Raps” program in 1989 functioned as the first national broadcast forum for rap music and was credited for moving hip-hop from the exclusive Black to mainstream audiences. Immediately, hip-hop attracted the young white audiences and turned them into excited fans. Black music and the image of blackness always becomes an attractive subject for whites. Hip-hop’s abrasive music and rude language fulfils those both, as David Samuels points out in his essay : “Rap’s appeal to white rested in its evocation of an age-old image of blackness : a foreign, sexually charged, and criminal underworld against which the norms of white society are defined, and, by extension, through which they may be defied” (1992 : 355). Beside that, the white suburbs’ routine life and boredom makes its young crave for excitement and action. Hip-hop record is an instant way to taste ‘what life is like for a black city teenager’ for those suburban white kids. It is also much safer and easier to do because they can dig all the fun and excitement without even have to go to the Black Hood. 15 “People want to consume and they want to consume easy. If you’re a suburban white kid and you want to find out what life is like for a black city teenager, you buy a record by N.W.A. It’s like going to an amusement park and getting on a roller coaster ride – records are safe, they’re controlled fear, and you always have the choice of turning it off. That’s why nobody ever takes a train up to 125th Street and gets out and starts walking around. Because then you’re not in control anymore: it’s a whole other ball game” (Hank Shocklee in Samuels, 1992 : 365). The white world has appropriated black music through the whole century and used it to make countless fortunes. Yet, the authentic black artist was often left destitute because the white listeners are often more comfortable hearing it from white performers. Nevertheless, it never bothers hip-hop because “unlike jazz and rock n roll, rap cannot hastily and prolifically appropriated and “covered” by white artist. For the black urbanity of the form seems to demand not only a style most readily accessible to black urban youngsters, but also a representational black urban authenticity of performance” (Baker in Sartwell, 1998). Thus, black artist is one of the essential factors in presenting the authentic feeling in hip-hop. Even the white audience more prefers listening to black rapper than white rapper. It is the first time, a black artist can match the popularity of the music. In the market, there are hip-hop as entertainment and hip-hop as social message. The second type was mainly popular during the late 80s (which is known as the “Golden Era” of hip-hop), where many rappers dealt head-on with issues such as the upward mobility, national politics, and race relations. However, as hip-hop became popular, its primary concerns have changed. Hip-hop is incorporated into a big business with mainstream (meaning white) audiences and commercial sales. Likewise, the rappers (mostly the new comers) become more profit-oriented in making their music. Nowadays, the mainstream prefers the entertainment hip-hop 16 (such as gangsta rap) that provides more action and excitement, and is easier to digest. Consequently, new generation of rappers often choose to go with the market preference, which gives more profits. Such condition, for some fans and senior rappers, suggests the degrading values of hip-hop. Chuck D of Public Enemy is among those that strongly criticize this later development of hip-hop : “The difference is, in the first 10-12 years of rap recordings, rappers rapped for the people and they rapped against the elite establishment. In the last 10 or so years, rappers rap for their companies and their contracts, and they’re PART of the establishment now” (A To The L, 2003). However, there are some rappers that still produce conscious and political rap records. This makes the rappers split into two sides. One side is the artists that are “basically satisfied with the way things are and see no relationship between their art and the social condition that created their art” (Blake, 2003). For instance, a gangsta rap that furiously express black’s anger to the authority and might sound resistant may actually be a standard work with broad appeal. The other side is the rappers that understand the power of words to build and heal, and use hip-hop as a means to provide social commentary and social activism. Unfortunately, those that choose to be more progressive and socially aware remain to be the minority and usually do not sell as many albums as their nonpolitical counterparts. Outside of its internal problems and rappers rivalry, the music communities eventually acknowledge hip-hop’s existence as quality music. Its legalization was marked with the inclusion of rap category in 1989’s Grammy Award. At the time, rapper Fresh Prince (Will Smith) won the award. Musically, hip-hop has diversified into many styles, fusing with various other genres. Since the 80s, there were already 17 some diversifications of hip-hop: like the Chicago’s hip-house, Los Angeles’ electro clash, Miami’s bass, and Detroit’s ghettotech. Meantime, late 90s to early 2000s was crowded with the coming of new fusion of hip-hop. For instance, there were rapcore (a fusion of hip-hop and heavy metal) with Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park among its popular bands, nu-soul (a mix between hip-hop and soul music), and pop-hip hop with Eminem as one of the artists.

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