So I am going to openly admit that I had no idea what that
Lil Wayne quote on the board the other day meant and yes English is my first
language. I mean obviously I assumed it had something to do with either guns,
sex or drugs because its Lil Wayne and that’s what most of his songs are known
for. Or maybe they’re not, I guess I’m not really sure because I don’t know his
music very well, only what’s on the radio. No disrespect, but its hard not to
be immediately judgmental when this guy’s name pops up based on the already
known knowledge that he was in the hospital and almost died from having
seizures because of all of the drugs he does. Obviously rap music is its own
genre (which I know very little about so feel free to rip apart my blog post)
but I was wondering if whether you can consider rap as its own discourse
community, with the rappers being its members. I assume the main goal of
rappers is to produce music right? But clearly, just by owning a radio, you can
tell that rappers have their own agenda. Some rap for fame, some rap to send a
message, some rap for many other reasons I’m sure. Just for example: Lil Wayne,
Jay-Z and Macklemore. As I stated before, Lil Wayne doesn’t have the best track
record when considering morality. Now keep in mind, this is all coming from a
complete outsider. Lil Wayne may actually be some life saving, charity helping
angel that I have no idea about, so I apologize if I offend anyone. Anyways,
Jay-Z, although he may rap about some inappropriate topics, now has a wife and
a child and I think is a pretty respectable man. I don’t know a lot about his
past, I’ve only been keeping up with him recently, well because I’m a 21 year
old female and obviously love Beyonce, so he may have a racy past that I don’t know
about. And lastly, Macklemore, who has only recently come into the mainstream
music scene. I’m sure most of us have heard his song ‘Same Love’, which I find
to be incredible. He is a perfect example of a rapper trying to send a message,
a message of equality and fairness. I have read that he is said to be one of
the most inspiration artists of our time. I guess my point is last blog entry I
wrote about how a restaurant is a discourse community and now taking rap
artists as a discourse community, is a completely different task. I’m sure if
you broke it down, step by step, rap could be easily seen as a discourse
community, I guess its just difficult for me to see how people, which the same
title, but have such different backgrounds, agendas and are known for such
different things, can be all members of the same discourse community. Again, I
took some of the most mainstream rappers and analyzed based on only my previous
knowledge, which again is very limited, so my blog entry may be completely
biased. I think it just got me thinking about how the term discourse community
can be used in so many instances, but can have so many diverse contents.
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ReplyDeleteDon't feel bad - I had no idea what the quote meant either. All I could think of when I saw it was Spongebob Squarepants.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think rappers form a discourse community on a universal scale and also on a more localized scale. I think the main point of rap is to express their feelings, but they do so in a genre that is universally seen as rebellious and 'ghetto'. Depending on culture, the content and agendas (as you mentioned) changes, but the goal of rappers is to produce music. I listen to rap and it is rarely about drugs, sex, and violence because it is from a completely different genre of music (Korean pop music).
Really, don't feel bad. I had difficulty interpreting what the lyrics meant in class too! To be honest, even though I did interpret a Lil Wayne song, it took a lot of me to really understand what some parts of the song were saying. And I agree with you on your views on Lil Wayne. It also took me by surprise when I found this song a year ago because I didn't know that he sang songs others than sex, money, and drugs. But that's just the beauty of music and the idea of self expression. You really never know what the artists will sing about next. I really like how you mentioned that it was difficult for you to see how people who are called rappers have the same title but hold such different backgrounds and sing about such different things. I feel like we sometimes limit and categorize rappers in a weird sub-community of music that only sings about specific things because of the tone and dynamics they bring to music. It's really nice to be proved wrong and see that there is so much more to the artist than what we research and see on the surface.
ReplyDeleteFrancesca, being a rap aficionado, I completely understand your point of view. When people who haven't had too much involvement in the culture try to interpret the lyrics, it's always difficult for them. And if they do try to analyze the lyrics, his/her analysis is always based on that idea that rap talks mostly about sex, drugs, and violence. That too is completely understandable as a lot of mainstream rap involves those topics.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, you stating that RAP is difficult to see as a discourse community, is agreeable. Breaking it down, even to its roots would not make rap a discourse community. If rappers are the members, then there is no way that rap will even meet the first criteria of being a community. All rappers do not have a common set of goals, hence the reason for all the "beef" out there. It easily meets the other criteria, but the first reason is why rap, or any genre of music really, can never be a discourse community. Using the rappers you stated:
1. Macklemore - Aside from the fun and crazy songs he creates, he does have social messages in his songs especially after being a drug and alcohol addict (listen to "Neon Cathedral")
2. JAY Z - He is a father now but his raps have remained constant. He talks about his struggles in the past, his current state of being, and his success now and for the future
3. Lil Wayne - Seemingly creates music for the hell of it now, especially after he stated he's more into skateboarding (Sorry, this is somewhat biased as I am no longer a Lil Wayne fan)
As you can see, each has his own agenda. They may be striving for fame, they may be striving to storytell, or they maybe striving to give hope. Regardless of the motive though, I completely agree in how it is difficult for you to see rap as a discourse community and you should be confident in your conclusion.