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. 

Creation #2: “Jamaica”

“Jamaica”

His feet have been sculpted
by the Jamaican land.
Smoothed and rounded
as though Jamaica
was a great river
that flowed through him.

Slowly, her current
brought him to America,
like so many before him.

His feet slid
into the foot prints
laid down before him.

And when his son was born
he held his boys feet.
And tried to mold them
into the Jamaican rhythm.
As though his fingers where springs
rolling over his son’s pebble feet.

The Fall sets into the Catskill mountains
and the air catches a cold
that Jamaica’s water never held.
Now, he crushes his soul
of his feet into shoes,
But the current of his land
still runs
into America land.

Critique # 2: Hip Hop Reflects Black Dysfunctional Ghetto Culture

In chapter two of Hip-Hop Wars the major idea highlighted is, Hip-Hop is critiqued by racist ideas, just in a new light. On page 66 and 67 in Hip-Hop Wars this idea of Black music being seen as dangerous, especially to white culture, is explained. In today’s times Jazz and Blues music is not seen as threating, but when it first was introduced it was seen in a different light. This can again be seen in the way Hip-Hop is seen in our culture today. Many people in power, who are generally White, see Hip-Hop as having no value, and that it is not a valid art form. This view also comes from a historical time. During and after slavery, it was thought that the Black community had no cultural traits or values. Instead of having an identity, the Black community just copied the colonizing, Western power’s culture. And within this copying of White culture, the Black community just chose to have the “wrong” culture.
           This view is of course wrong. The Black community has a strong culture that grew from the experience of slavery and life within America. It is an experience that is usually ignored by Whites. So, when the Black community comes up with different music from the White music, it is usually shunned as nothing of value. This can be argued is happening again with Hip-Hop. The White community sees little value in Hip-Hop, or the complete opposite, they think it’s the only part of Black culture. Both these views of Hip-Hop are wrong. Hip-Hop is an important part of the Black community and culture as it tells a part of the Black experience in America. At the same time, Hip-Hop does not speak for all of the Black experience in America. Instead, it should be viewed like other music types. It is a voice, but it should not stand for a whole community. 

Imitation #6: Tyga, Tyga Tyga

On my way to the penthouse, tend a little me-ha
Her friend like meet her, you don't know Tyga?
She don't really care 'bout neither
Either, I'm too far where her mind can't reach up
Or she don't like music making money niggas
I do know that I ain't got time I maneuvers
Like that, voodoo, like that, you knew
Me don't, I'm already high rap guru


This section of the rap by Tyga is explaining how if women do not know about Tyga, then they are not cool or current, because he is the “rap guru”.

Tyga does not use many end rhymes in this stanza, instead he uses more slant rhymes. These can only be heard after you listen to the song. In the first line he ends with the word “me-ha” which slant rhymes and cross rhymes with the word “her” in the second line. The second line has an end rhyme with the first line, rhyming the words “me-ha” and “tyga”. This rhyme is again a slant rhyme. The artist, Tyga raps the words in such a way that they rhyme. In the third line the A rhyme scheme is kept with the word “neither” and then it is crossed rhymed with the word “either” in the next line.

The second half to the stanza changes from an A rhyme scheme to a B one. This helps keep the rhythm. The rhythm comes mostly from slant rhymes and cross rhymes. This creates a distinct rhythm, because most people are used to end rhymes, but Tyga chooses to use cross rhymes and slant rhymes. This creates a catchy beat that I highly enjoy. I think the word selection is weak, he rhymes words that do not make much sense, or they could have been explained in a better way. For example, line seven makes little sense. “Like that, Voodoo, Like that, you knew”, this line could be explained better, but instead the artist attempts to keep a beat rather than a context.

Imitation #5 (1990s): Patricia Smith "Skin Head"

It’s easy now to move my big body into shadows,
to move from a place where there was nothing
into the stark circle of a streetlight,
the pipe raised up high over my head.
It’s a kick to watch their eyes get big,
round and gleaming like cartoon jungle boys,
right in that second when they know
the pipe’s gonna come down, and I got this thing
I like to say, listen to this, I like to say
“Hey, nigger, Abe Lincoln’s been dead a long time.”

Patricia Smith’s poem “Skinhead” is by far my favorite poem of all time. I remember reading it my freshman year of college. My teacher had withheld the race of the author from us. I remember thinking how offal of a poem it was, so full of hate. Then when my teacher told us that this racist, angry, pro-White poem was written by a Black woman, it literally tore down walls in my creative process. This poem has allowed me to write in a new voice, a new way I would have never thought of, if it was not for Patricia Smith.

This poem is a slam poem. It does not rhyme, but it has a rhythm. The poem written as a narrative story that flows out of the reader’s mouth. It evokes the emotion of pure hatred towards any race that is not White.  This point cannot be highlighted enough that the author is a Black female. She had to put herself into the shoes of a skinhead, and for this poem she had to think like one. It is a testament to what an amazing creative writer Patricia Smith is.
              In this section of the poem we see the word “Nigger” appear. This is a rare case where I believe the word is in context and makes sense.  Too many times, in raps and poems, the N word comes up and it is used as in a light, fluffy context, almost used just for its shock value, and it ignores its historical background.  In the poem “Skinhead”, the N word is used the way it was used over history, not just for shock value. The shock value of this stanza comes from the words that surround the N word.  The words around the N word explain the graphic violence that this “skinhead” wants to commit onto the non-White world. This poem does not use traditional literary elements, but it forges its own way into becoming a wonderfully creative poem.

Imitation #4 (1980s): N.W.A. "Straight Outta Compton"

Straight outta Compton, another crazy ass nigga

More punks I smoke, yo, my rep gets biggerI'm a bad motherfucker and you know thisBut the pussy ass niggaz don't show thisBut I don't give a fuck, I'ma make my snapsIf not from the records, from jackin' the cropsJust like burglary, the definition is jackin'And when illegally armed it's called packin' 

This whole rap is about how tough the people from Compton are, and about all the illegal actions they have taken. The part of the stanza I chose explains how strong and “crazy” the people from Compton are. The rap also touches on the subject of drug dealing and caring illegal weapons.  
              The tone of the rap is very aggressive. It does not only have aggressive lyrics, but it has a strong, fast beat, which compliments the lyrics. Within the aggressive tone, the lyrics are telling a narrative story about how life is rougher in Compton; and because life is rougher in Compton, it makes rougher and tougher people.
              This section of the rap has a very clear end rhyme. The end rhyme is AABBCCDD. There is no attempt by the artist to change this rhyme pattern. An interesting development in the stanza is the “Nigga and Bigger” rhyme, because it is a sound rhyme, but not a visual rhyme. The next stanza is followed by what I like to call a weak rhyme. To me, a weak rhyme is one that rhyme’s the same word twice. If we look further at the rhyme in the third and fourth line, it can be seen the second to last words (Know and Show) also rhyme. This helps makes the rhyme stronger, but it does not dismiss the fact that the third and fourth line end in the same rhyme. Over all to me, the rhyme scheme was easy, and did not challenge the artist. 

Critique # 1: Chapter One: Hip-Hop Causes Violence

The chapter about “Hip-Hop causing violence” was very much muddied on how it confronted its critique.  It would give a critique like, critics say rappers are speaking autobiographical, and then it would show how they are not. It seemed the author wanted to show the critique, but then almost immediately after doing so she would put in her own view.  This greatly weakened the critique, because the author imminently told the reader why this critique did not work.
              In the begging of the chapter, a critique on violent stories was brought up, but never revisited again in the chapter. It was a critique that was backed up with a study, saying violent music lyrics have been proven to increase “aggressive thoughts and feelings”.  The author imminently moves on to state that Hip-Hop is perceived to have more violence, because of the medium it appears in. The problem is, the author neglects to really look at this idea, that violent music lyrics create aggressive thoughts and feelings. This to me is a glaring sign that Hip-Hop can cause violent behavior, because if you have aggressive thoughts and feelings, you eventually act on them. (Look at bullies in schools.)  The author tries to sweep this idea under the rug, by saying rap is perceived to be more violent, and if the same lyrics are presented in a different context they are not perceived the same way. The problem with the study is, it does not talk about beat or rhythm. Hip-Hop usually comes in faster beat or rhythm, were country music is a slower beat or rhythm. These faster beats and rhythm’s paired with violent words could cause a double affect making the listener feel more aggressive. Even though this idea was only briefly touched upon in the start of the chapter, I believe it is something that should be discussed more.
              Over all, the chapter high lights why the critique’s about how Hip-Hop causing violence is wrong, instead of letting the reader decided. This chapter should have been combined with the “keeping it real chapter”, because it’s almost the same message, just packaged a little differently.  

Imitation # 3 (1970s): Nikki Giovanni, My Poem

“i have been robbed
it looked like they knew
that i was to be hit
they took my tv
my two rings
my piece of african print
and my two guns
if they take my life
it won't stop
the revolution”

The complete poem is about how, if Nikki Giovanni ever got killed, and could never write another poem, it would not stop the Black revolution. The small stanza I selected focuses on how people are trying to intimidate her to by robbing her.

The lines in the poem are short, with no punctuation. This makes the poem read fast, as each line runs into the other. This creates a different affect for each reader, because each reader can choose which words to emphasize, and where to put in pauses.

There are no end rhymes in this poem, but there is alliteration at the start of some of the lines. Lines one, two, eight and nine repeat the “i” sound. Lines three, four, and ten repeat the “th” sound. And lastly, lines five and six repeat the “m” sound. This repetition of sounds helps create a rhythm. With the rhythm created, it helps empathizes the words that fallow the alliterated sound.

This poem is a narrative poem, that tells the story of Nikki Giovanni’s struggle of expressing herself. She uses a strong tone, to get her point across. Not many people want to think of their own deaths, but she confronts that idea, and then says in a simple way, “Even if I die, you cannot stop this revolution from happening.”

Overall this poem uses strong alliteration to get the poem into a rhythm, and with the lack of punctuation, it lets the reader emphasize different parts of the poem.

I personally was very affected by this poem, and I wrote a response to it last winter. This is the poem:

“I Be Writtin’”

They say I won’t be writtin’ anything good.
They say I’m too black to be in the day.
I should lower my head, ‘cause I’m too hood.
But I still want to feel the sun’s hot rays.
They’ve seen where I live, tryin’ to scare me.
They came by in night, set fire to my car.
I don’t know why they can’t, won’t, let me be?
One night, they came at me in a bar.
They see me and tell me to bow my head.
I just grin at them because I will not.
I hear them speakin’ that they want me dead,
lynch me on string, just to see me rot.
           I’m free ‘cause I ain’t their slave no longer.
           “Nigger,” they hiss, but I ain’t no gonner.
          

  

Creation #1: "I Let Him Go"

"I Let Him Go"

It's night.
The TV flashes over him
And he lays his head in my lap--
He needs these moments
These times no one will see,
A place he can finally rest.
Where he's not afraid.

I don't know his fears,
But I see how they bear down on him.
And he's tired.
From the moving
The hustling
The constant motion of living.

I attempt to stop his movements.
But I have to
Let him go.
I, Gotta let him go.

And when he leaves
There's no guarantee he'll ever come back.
So I count my blessings
Asking the Lord if I can borrow
Just one more.
Oh, lord, just one more
To keep him safe
To get him back to me.