My creation's background

Creation #4: Rap "Bye Baby" is a rap for Emmett Till.

Creation #3: Black is for my current boyfriend who is Jamaican
Creation #2: “Jamaica” is also based off my boyfriend
Creation #1: "I Let Him Go" is about a boy I was involved with this summer & how his hustling kept us apart.

*All these creations were made during the semester. 

Critique # 5:Hip Hop Demeans Women

Chapter five is based upon the reality that most main stream Hip Hop is very sexist. Groups attempt to blame Hip Hop for all the sexism. The conservative groups do this, but they do not touch on the topic of feminism, and liberal groups do the same, but with a more holistic inclusive lens.
           Putting aside the different groups that complain about Hip Hop, we can go deeper into the issue. One of the critiques of the use of sexism in Hip Hop is it shows how American society and culture is on a decline. This belief rests on the idea that woman in the history of America have been treated equally, but suddenly with Hip Hop, they are now demeaned and treated unequally. The of course is a silly idea, but one that is used to blame Hip Hop with a larger cultural problem.
           One of the problems about Hip Hop and its sexism is the way it does not give a voice to women equally (or how the White corporation’s producing the music do not). Women are not allowed to have sexual empowerment, but in most songs they need to be the target of sexual use. On page 123, Tricia Rose speaks about the female artist that was almost fined, because her song was seen as explicit, when really it mimicked male Hip Hop artists. Male Hip Hop artists are allowed to be sexual and use women as objects, but once the tables are turned, it is not seen as acceptable for women to do the same.
           Overall mainstream Hip Hop is demeaning to women  One of the only positive sides to this is the push to change this, and the concern in all communities about the effect this will have on young women growing up today. 

Creation #4: Rap "Bye Baby"

“Bye Baby”

A rap for Emmett Till

I was beautiful before I knew
my skin was the color of life
and mama told me, “beware my hue.”
But I talked to that man’s wife.
“Bye baby,” I said to that woman.
I was a Chicago boy not knowin’
that Jim Crow would kill me, showin’
the whole country whites controlled.
My mama cried over my body
she didn’t want my story to go untold
she wanted to show what the South embodied.

Oh Lord, Oh Lord
I thought I was free,
free like the White man be.
They beat us in slavery,
tried to break us in slavery,
but I ain’t no slave
to no man’s ways.

Mama put my beaten corpse on display,
but Whites only reasoned and tried to down play
my murder, but the truth won’t betray
what history has let decay.
Those White judges let them White men go
and the South went back to statuesque
a thumb on the Southern Negro
like a hand on mosquito.

Oh Lord, Oh Lord
I thought I was free,
free like the White man be.
They beat us in slavery,
tried to break us in slavery,
but I ain’t no slave
to no man’s ways.

But what them White men didn’t know
is how my death would grow
and I ain’t no Negro
no Nigger,
Not your fucken slave.
I was just a boy
used as a White man’s toy.
To keep control of the Southern Negro.
What they didn’t know
is how my story would grow

Now in Heaven I say:
Oh Lord, Oh Lord
I thought I was free,
free like the White man be.
They beat us in slavery,
tried to break us in slavery,
but I ain’t no slave
to no man’s ways.

Creation #3: Black

“Black”

He is my Black panther.
Militant to the whisper of disrespect.
When he sleeps his breath escapes in low
guttural growls.

His eyes watch my movement in the dark
his finger twitches
mimicking the tail
of his common brother.
The brother on the street,
the one who couldn't keep his finger still
and now he’s deported
back to the Jungle.

At night,
he blends into the milky sky.
His inky outline
covering the moonlight.

I find him by the water’s edge.
The water beads off him
and slowly runs back into
the stream.

The water trickles over his.
I found him by the water’s edge. 

Imitation #7: My Chick Bad - Ludacris

Listen, I'm saying my chick bad, my chick hood
My chick do stuff that yo' chick wish she could
My chick bad, better than yours
My chick do stuff that I can't even put in words
Her swagger don't stop, her body won't quit
So, fool, pipe down, you ain't talkin' 'bout shit
My chick bad, tell me if you've seen her
She always bring the racket like Venus and Serena

This is a simple rap about how this man’s woman is “bad”, meaning she is an outstanding female.

This stanza has a rhyme scheme of AABBCCDD. In line three and four, the words “yours” and “words” do not rhyme by sound, but the singer makes them rhyme. This makes them a slant rhyme. This slant rhyme can be seen in the last two lines with “her” and “Serena”.
A beat is created with the repetition of “My Chick” in lines 2-3,7. This helps the listener’s ear get use to the words, but there is a break of two lines before it is repeated again. This break keeps the listener on edge, because they expect the repetition, but this interrupted by different words.
The overall tone of this stanza is one of masculine ownership of a woman. This is reinforced with the phrase “my chick”, which is repeated several times, as mentioned before. It also implies that his chick is bad, because she overly sexual. For example the line “My chick do stuff that I can’t even put in words”. This phrase is not usually linked with house cleaning, but it is more aligned with sexual favors.

Even with this poems sexual agenda, I do enjoy this rap. It has a very catchy rap, and I find it as a parody on other raps. The reason I find it a parody is, so many raps speak about their “bad” woman, and this rap over dose it’s reference to its “bad” woman.

Critique # 4:Hip Hop Is Destroying America's Values

The major point in this chapter was; what are American values? People who hold conservative values will most likely be against Hip Hop. The problem with this is people with conservative values are attempting to shape all of America’s values around their values. These people will look at any change in the American culture as the scapegoat for economic, political, and social changes that are taking place. 
           The major problem with this scapegoat is not all changes happening in American culture are bad. A country sound mold and keep shaping itself to keep up with the times and current events. When people of the older generation, who are more likely to hold conservative values to heart, speak of the “good ole days” they forget to add in the Jim Crow laws and sexism, which ran rampant and unchecked throughout America. 
           People find it easy to target Hip Hop music as the reason why American values are being destroyed. It is a new art form, which does not go along with mainstream America. It also is something easy to target, rather than looking into why Hip Hop was created. Critics complain about the context of Hip Hop, but they will not look into where the context comes from. People do this, because the voice of Hip Hop is rooted in a real problem, and it’s a problem that will take a lot of time and money to fix. Rather than spend the money and time in fixing the problem, people just blame Hip Hop for almost all the wrongs in America. 

Critique # 3: Hip Hop Hurts Black People

Hip Hop hurts Black people, like guns hurt Black people. They are both a part of American culture and they both can be misunderstood. The argument that Hip Hop hurts Black people is an argument that is used by critics outside of the Black community. These critics are coming from a different community and background, and when they judge and critic Hip Hop; they are basing this off their own personal experience. So, when they see Hip Hop not matching their own community, they are quick to blame Hip Hop as the problem of the Black community.
           The idea that all Hip Hop hurts Black people is wrong. There are many different forms of Hip Hop and not all of them are gangster rap. If we look to why Hip Hop started, especially gangster rap, we can find a valid reason. This rap started as a way to tell the story of the conditions in the ghetto. These conditions are usually only seen within the community, and the White community almost never sees this life. The problem with this strategy is the music sold, but the conditions did not improve.
           Instead of accepting Hip Hop as a voice within the American story, critics blame it for the entire problem within the Black community. This happens, because it easy to blame something as simple as music for a communities problems, rather than look into the reason why the community has problems.