“Somebody told me that it’s only one shot so
I’ll be goddamn im ever gone stop”
How is
J.Cole Represented in Hip-Hop and how does he challenge the negative
stereotypes of the music genre of Hip-Hop?
Back in the 1980's many people considered hip-hop
to be “primarily about DJing (and) graffiti,—involving
black, Latino, and some white youth...”[1]
This implies how hip hop brought cultures together during times that it was
really hard to do so back in the day without the use of hip hop and really does
imply the amount of power hip hop brings to the world to make every race come
together peacefully. This is important because these representations seem “starkly
at odds with the way hip-hop is currently represented, marketed, and sold in
mainstream America”[2]
This shows the amount of
negativity that is represented in today’s hip hop and really does put a mixed
opinion on the genre of music. Mostly meaning over the years many people have
tended to change their opinion on this genre of music and think it is mostly
linked towards “gun homicide, suicide, and aids among
young blacks”[3]
and many
stereotypes believe that this is putting a huge negative affect on our society
as many young adults seem to copy what many of the hip hop artists portray to
their audiences. I would also link this to Alvarado’s theory of black people
being represented to be dangerous and really does imply how black people are
treated to be criminals which clearly shows why many audience’s stereotype hip
hop to be dangerous as most rappers are black. This investigation will be
expressing views on how hip hop is represented mainly focussing on
the artist J.Cole but also giving a lot more examples in media language on how
he challenges the negative stereotypes to represent hip hop in
a positive way.
The rise of “Media
Technology” [4]has had a
huge effect on how Hip-Hop is portrayed to be, from the uses of “Twitter Beef”[5]
to explicit and violent videos being put online, to many Hip-Hop artists’
social life; as well as concerts. For instance, The Game was recently featured
to be one of the Hip-Hop artists to be seen online for beating up other Hip-Hop
artist 40 Glocc[6] as seen in the video The Game is seen to be
rapidly punching the rapper 40 Glocc. This automatically will bring the
negative stereotype of Hip-Hop as it may be seen that both artists are
promoting violence by recording such violent events in their life and
sharing them with the public. Also as the videos were broadcasted live, this shows
the ‘negative effect that media technology has in relation to hip hop’[7]
as more viewers have the chance to witness the types of behaviours hip hop
artists take out.
Many people consider hip hop videos to be very
disturbing and portray a lot of negativity towards audiences; however J.Cole
represents himself in videos to be a role model type and usually sends a good
message to his audiences compared to very negative artists such as Chief Keef. The main comparison with Chief Keef and
J.Cole would be easily based on the different types of videos they do. The “Mise En Scene” [8]used
in most of Chief Keef’s videos includes props such as cannabis and other
harmful drugs. Also the continuous costume of baggy jeans and no shirt may
attribute a negative look on Chief Keef as this may make him look intimidating;
this therefore may provoke audiences to be scared of his image. This relates to
the theory of the ‘Bobo Doll affect’[9] for example’ young children copying exactly
what he does in relation to drugs and the way he dresses, this would make him a
bad role model as he is influencing negative and disobedient behaviour.
However J. Cole
represents a more positive side of hip hop within his music videos. Majority of
his videos are
lesson learning and show a story of what he has been through and overcome. His videos
tend to show audiences you have to go through some powerful wars to pre-vale.
His videos would most likely be linked to Todorov's theory of ‘equilibrium,
disequilibrium and new equilibrium’[10].
The video “lost ones” would be an example of this as the video starts off with
a female telling him that she is pregnant, resulting in confrontation and
negative aura as he decides he would like her to abort the child. However, by
the end of the video they both decide it’s for the best to keep the child as a
new life will benefit both of them and happiness of a birth is more important
than anything else. This theory and video therefore effects the audience as it
may make them f eel very motivated on doing the right things in life. This
video also allows audiences to see he can be seen as a wise man and also a
positive role model towards his fans, as well as showing the amount of
positivity Cole brings from his videos and how much he really does the
challenge the negative stereotypes of hip hop. I would also link this to
Perkin’s theory that people often believe some parts of a stereotype but not
always all, portraying Cole is one of the main reasons why not all people
believe in stereotypes as he brings to hip hop from his wise music.
J.Cole
represents himself to be a very positive figure in the hip-hop industry from
the uses of inspirational storytelling within his videos. He focusses much more
on a positive mise en scene and defeats
the stereotypes of a hip-hop video as instead of 'strippers and drugs' he
delivers 'pain and emotion' which is very unique as this pushes back the
stereotypes of the hip-hop genre as Cole doesn't represent himself to be
negative in his videos but a role model figure instead. Most people stereotype Hip-Hop to be
negative, promote violence and very explicit images. This is surely a bad look
to Hip-Hop as many people portray the genre to be disrespectful making it
really hard for them to break through and prove that there is a positive side
to Hip-Hop. Although there are many
positive hip hop idols, the new generation within hip hop are making it much
more difficult for the positive artists to shine. This could be from simple
factors such as their ‘tag name’ (rappers name) or their song titles. For example
rappers such as ‘Blood Money’ or ‘Gunplay’ automatically allow audiences to
judge their character based on their names. Some hip hop songs such as ‘Who
shot ya’, ‘Bitches love me’ or ‘Trap house’ will also represent a negative view
upon what hip hop brings to the table. These song titles alone connote
disregard to women, questions towards murder and houses full of drugs.
These type of
artists and songs therefore push away and block those artists that rap about
positive things and real life happy situations. Artists with their own real names
may not get as much recognition and praise, for example ‘Kanye West’, ‘Kendrick
Lamar’ ‘Kevin McCall’ and Jermaine Cole.
Lyrics from
Kanye West such as ‘Nothings ever promised tomorrow or today’ or ‘Hey Mama, I
want to scream so loud for you, cause I'm so proud of you’; show the ambition
and heart felt experiences he has been through. He also brings wisdom and good
emotion to the music and this is a real positive of rap music as this is how
rap music originally started. “Hip Hop and its most popular form, rap, changed from the
1970s to the 1990s”[11]. Sugar Hill Gang were one of the first males
to record and produce a rap single called ‘rappers delight’. The video focussed
on 3 black males all taking part in rap activities whilst young ‘hippie’ [12]
type of individuals, mostly white watched on enjoying the rapping taking place.
This also gave the chance for viewers to see different ethnicities mix together
and enjoy rap music.
When
linked to theories I believe that gender and ethnicity has a huge role to play
when linked to hip hop, reason being is that there are not a lot of powerful female rappers in Hip-Hop in
society today. Rap music is mostly dominated by males whilst females are
usually represented by some male rappers to be tools and decorations towards
male rappers. The men within rap music and rap videos are usually stereotyped
to be powerful and dominant whilst females are represented to be explicit in
terms of wearing hardly any clothes and usually and under control by the men.
This is done by making woman look like toys and just used for entertainment in
videos. An example would be the current video ‘Bitches love me’. A certain part
in the video shows a long shot of the male rapper (Lil Wayne) to be on a bed
and has at least eight women in bikinis surrounding him. This connotes the
dominance and power the male has as his wealth allows him access to this amount
of women. “Some people say that it’s just boys being boys, but I
think it has a lot to do with boys figuring out early that girls are there for
us to sexually objectify or to be our sexual playthings.” [13] This shows the amount of negativity
that hip hop brings on itself from the uses of representing females as if their
objects. The users and gratification
means an audience that wants entertainment and escapism; as they want to be
satisfied and watch something good but also watch something that has something
to do with their lifestyle they are seeking.
I would
link to users and gratifications from the theory of Blulmer and Katz as The
use of J.Cole motivating lyrics would most likely influence audiences to aim
for success and do something with their life instead of wasting time, giving
the audience personal identity which allow them to learn new behaviour from his
music and this is very positive for hip hop as this represents the genre to
motivate audiences and make them do something with their lives. "Popular songs of today have more power than ever
before. They dictate social circles, fashion trends, the clubs you go to
(preference of DJ playlists), new memes, slang... the list goes on. And let’s
not forget – according to popular conspiracies – mainstream music is also
responsible for ‘brainwashing’ the delicate minds of the prepubescent
population."
[14]
This is very effective as this really does challenge the negative stereotypes
of hip hop promoting negativity as artists like J.Cole motivate audiences in a
positive way. It also allows a positive reflection upon black males. “Black
youths have turned to hip hop as a means to define themselves”[15]. Stereotypes and self-fulfilling
prophecies amongst black males may find it difficult for them to have a chance
to shine and have their say so they turn to rap in order to get a chance to
have the voices spoken. Other critics see it as a door for young
white people to try to see and understand black culture[16]”.
The psychographics would most likely be linked to aspirer's and mainstream people as they seem to follow the most popular trend
but also because they are mostly motivated to do well and earn good money to
live a good life and this would be very beneficial to them and suit their taste
that’s why they would most likely be hip hops physcographics. There are many different types of audiences that
may like rap music; this will be due to different generations of rap music.
Some audiences may enjoy the ‘old school’ type of rap whilst other audiences
may prefer the new generation of rap music. The new generation of rap may be
teenagers and young adults, “It was reported that more people
purchase hip-hop CDs than any other genre of music in any time in history”[17] and also “though the
music and culture are frequently associated with urban America and with youth
of colour, more than 70% of hip-hop CD's are purchased by white middle class
teens”[18]
“However people in the CDE classes would be the typical working class as they
may seem to relate to Hip-Hop as it helps guide them and motivate them to do
something with their life. When
analysing 'Chief Keef-I Don't Like' there are many negative sources that really
imply the negative stereotyping of hip-hop.
For instance, Chief Keef is shown to be holding a gun in a
threatening way, the “iconography” [19]of
the gun could portray to audiences viewing the video that holding up a gun to
someone he dislikes is ‘okay’, “So intense that it beckons you to act violent”[20] this therefore puts a huge effect on hip-hop
as this implies to audiences that hip hop tracks and videos such as these imply
the negative stereotypes towards the genre. Also the mise en scene of props within
the video such as a ‘ghetto’ type of area where drugs and ‘beat down’ areas are
acceptable make him look intimidating and provokes many audiences to be scared
of him. The different use of camera shots within the video also gives the
audience a chance to reflect on the rappers actions. There are extreme close
ups in the video of him smoking cannabis as well as showing how intoxicated he
is really does imply the negativity he brings to hip hop in this current
generation of rap music. The lyrics within the song itself such as 'we smoke
dope all day all night’; this shows all he focusses on life is the activity of
smoking cannabis. “Some of the greatest painters, writers,
poets, and social critics in history have admittedly used alcohol, marijuana,
absinthe” [21]this is very effective as this implies that many hip hop
artists shouldn’t be judged from taking drugs as many iconic people in the
world do drugs but don’t get judge like hip hop artists and really does imply
how the media criticises hip hop artists unfairly also this is dumbing down the
audience as the use of lyrics talking about ‘drugs, sex and violence’[22]
puts a huge effect on their audience and really does show the negative
stereotyping on hip hop as Chief Keef seems to be a very violent and
frightening role model. Also the use of ‘low-key lighting’[23]
in the video seems to be mostly dark; this can portray the darkness behind his
lifestyle.
This could scare audiences as they may feel he is living a
threatening and unfortunate life. Also many times we see that the camera seems
to go blurry at times, this could possibly imply the vision of Chief Keef as
the use of him being very intoxicated, the camera shot is trying to represent his
vision after smoking that amount of cannabis, “As
Blacks moved out of
the inner city, drugs such as heroin and crack moved in. The introduction of hiphop
also marked the beginning of the Reagan/Bush era that governed for the next
decade and into the 1990s”.[24]
the inner city, drugs such as heroin and crack moved in. The introduction of hiphop
also marked the beginning of the Reagan/Bush era that governed for the next
decade and into the 1990s”.[24]
When analysing 'J.Cole-Sidelines’ there are many positive sources
that challenge the negative stereotypes of hip hop, for example, the use of
J.Cole showing the amount of famous city's that he is visiting to tour really
does put a positive on Cole’s lifestyle by showing off the success he is trying
to gain. The amount of cities shown can also imply to audiences that Cole is
recognized around the world for being a very good rapper and Cole is welcomed
in many famous places in the world to perform and even places that main music
audience isn't even rap such as Dubai shown in the clip. Also the way J.Cole is
dressed is very casual and efficient, from the uses of just wearing simple
straight jeans and a hoodie really does challenge the negative stereotyping of
hip hop, as many people would think that a rapper would stereotypically wear ‘baggy
jeans and no shirt with tattoos’[25]
all over their body, however, Cole challenging these stereotypes by wearing
very casual clothes could be seen as a positive to a wider range of audiences. The
use of camera shots are very effective within this video, for instance, the
long shot of Cole rapping outside of a church is very positive as this implies
to audiences that Cole is very religious but also very different to rappers
such as Chief Keef as he doesn't have any drugs or violence throughout most of
his videos but shows how holy he is which isn’t usually linked with a rap
video. There are also long shots’[26]
of fans screaming his name but a key point would be the amount of mix cultured
fans within the video. This would show that Cole’s music is very affective as
it shows that his music is very much appreciated and that he can bring everyone
in the ‘world to come together from different cultural background’[27]
to hear his own music really does put a positive onto hip hop as he is
connecting everyone in the world together on the bases of hip hop music.
In conclusion hip hop stereotypes can be challenged in many ways
from the uses of artists such as J.Cole as they provide their audiences with
motivating and wise lyrics and videos to promote their music in a good way,
however artists such as Chief Keef imply the amount of negativity that
stereotypes brings to the genre.
[1] Hip-hopsploitation:
Representing 1980s Hip-hop in Wild Style and Beat Street
[2] Hip-hopsploitation:
Representing 1980s Hip-hop in Wild Style and Beat Street
[3] Bakari
Kitwana
[10]
Disequilibrium Foundations of Equilibrium Economics
By Franklin M. Fisher
[11]
Media
Messages: What Film, Television, and Popular Music Teach Us about Race
Linda Holtzman HL p244-p245
Linda Holtzman HL p244-p245
[14]
Media Magazine 2011
[16]
Media Messages: What Film, Television, and Popular Music Teach
Us about Race
Linda Holtzman P245-P246
[18]
Media/cultural Studies: Critical Approaches Peter Lang P153-P154 HL
[20]
Ibid
[22]
Sex, Drugs, and Violence in the Jewish Tradition: Moral
Perspectives
By Daniel B. Kohn
