{"id":3871,"date":"2017-05-05T06:56:44","date_gmt":"2017-05-05T10:56:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/?page_id=3871"},"modified":"2017-05-05T06:56:44","modified_gmt":"2017-05-05T10:56:44","slug":"hip-hops-consciousness-conundrum","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/?page_id=3871","title":{"rendered":"Hip-hop’s consciousness conundrum"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted May 5, 2017<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By MICHAEL FRANCA<\/p>\n

Hip-hop is a genre founded on the principles of lyricism and social awareness. In fact, Ronald Savage \u2013 a member of one of the genre\u2019s founding groups, Zulu Nation \u2013 considered various forms of awareness to be the key elements of hip-hop.<\/p>\n

Why, then, is the label of \u201calternative conscious rap\u201d or \u201csocially conscious hip-hop\u201d (defined as a sub-genre of hip-hop that focuses on social issues of any sort) such a controversial topic to the modern audience? Though it\u2019s impossible to know for sure, it may stem from the public\u2019s rejection of anything that may seem sanctimonious.<\/p>\n

It may also be a result of artists taking exception to being labeled as a way to avoid the perception that they are one-dimensional. Both of these views, however, narrow the definition of \u201cconscious rap\u201d to something specific and unfavorable. By doing this, the genre\u2019s core value of awareness becomes at risk of being diluted.<\/p>\n

Recent releases from Joey Bada$$, Freddie Gibbs and Kendrick Lamar have each tackled various elements of socially conscious rap in different ways.<\/p>\n

Joey Bada$$\u2019s \u201cAll-Amerikkkan Bada$$\u201d took a macro approach to consciousness, focusing on the current woes of black people in American society. Freddie Gibbs\u2019 \u201cYou Only Live 2wice\u201d was a confessional of wrongdoings and acknowledgement of his second chance.<\/p>\n

Kendrick Lamar\u2019s \u201cDamn\u201d was a deeply personal reflection on Kendrick\u2019s worthiness in the face of damnation. Each of these albums could be considered \u201csocially conscious rap\u201d even though they differ from one another in many ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll-Amerikkkan Bada$$\u201d is the 12-track sophomore album from the young Brooklyn native Joey Bada$$. It opens with a soulful, but brief and subdued, intro titled \u201cGood Morning Amerikkka.\u201d The song successfully introduces the concept of the album, but suffers from the laid-back instrumental and an equally laid-back delivery from the rapper. From there, however, the album hits a stride the nearly doesn\u2019t break for the remainder of the listening experience.<\/p>\n

Joey transitions into the jazzy \u201cFor My People\u201d and high-energy \u201cTemptation\u201d with the next two tracks, in which he dissects the struggles of \u201chis people\u201d and his potential role as a voice for positivity in the community.<\/p>\n

The ultra-political \u201cLand Of The Free\u201d continues this run with a strong message.<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry America, but I will not be your soldier \/ Obama just wasn\u2019t enough, I just need some more closure \/ And Donald Trump is not equipped to take this country over,\u201d he raps passionately.<\/p>\n

After that track comes \u201cY U Don\u2019t Love Me (Miss Amerikkka),\u201d which is undoubtedly the most conceptually impressive song on the album. On it, Joey convincingly raps as if America is a woman with which he has a troubled relationship.<\/p>\n

From this point the album continues to impress with aggressive cuts like \u201cRockabye Baby\u201d and \u201cRing The Alarm\u201d before hitting the only bump left in the road with \u201cSuper Predator,\u201d a reference to the infamous remarks by Hillary Clinton. The lax New York boom-bap beat is a return to Joey\u2019s roots, though it misses the opportunity to refresh the style.<\/p>\n

The following track, \u201cBabylon,\u201d combines some of Joey\u2019s most urgent and passionate lyrics and deliveries with some beautiful singing from himself and guest Chronixx.<\/p>\n

The outro, \u201cAmerikkkan Idol,\u201d is when Joey seems to fully come into the role of a leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cGot a message for the world and I won\u2019t back out,\u201d he exclaims.<\/p>\n

The song evolves into a spoken-word conclusion in which he calmly explains what he believes to be the government\u2019s \u201cplot\u201d and looks for solutions to these issues. It serves as a fittingly \u201cconscious\u201d ending to an incredibly aware and thoughtful album.<\/p>\n

Conversely, Freddie Gibbs is not an artist many consider to be a \u201cconscious rapper.\u201d The Indiana native makes music that most would categorize as \u201cgangsta rap,\u201d though he still embodies many of the characteristics of conscious rap.<\/p>\n

Right from the intro, \u201c20 Karat Jesus\u201d Gibbs tells his personal stories of street life and the dangers of \u201cliving in the moment\u201d over trap influenced instrumentals.<\/p>\n

This continues on \u201cAlexys\u201d where he introduces the recurring theme of outgrowing his friends from the streets.<\/p>\n

The third track, \u201cCrushed Glass,\u201d was the single from the album reflecting on his time in European prisons for a false rape accusation.<\/p>\n

\u201cRound the world, jail system like a slave trade, [expletive] \/ Got me in this foreign prison, monkey in a cage [expletive],\u201d he raps before detailing some of the undesirable living conditions he suffered until being acquitted.<\/p>\n

The remainder of the short track list has few standouts, though \u201cAmnesia\u201d is certainly one of them. The unapologetic banger shows why \u201cGangsta Gibbs\u201d is identified as a gangster rapper, but also proves consciousness in rap does not limit an artist\u2019s subject matter.<\/p>\n

The outro \u201cHomesick\u201d is the most emotional and personal song on the album and likely the best. The atmospheric production allows for emphasis on the worthy lyrics. On the track, Gibbs details some of the thoughts he had while in prison as well as those he\u2019s had since he returned. He explains some of his own contradictions, and that he still loves his friends even though he hasn\u2019t seen them since he returned. He comes to the conclusion that he has to live for his wife and daughter rather than his troubled friends.<\/p>\n

Though \u201cYou Only Live 2wice\u201d isn\u2019t what many would call conscious rap, it still models the same social and personal awareness that define it. It serves as an example that there is room for versatility in the maligned genre.<\/p>\n

Lamar himself has denied the designation of \u201cconscious rapper\u201d for fear of being labeled as just one thing. Still, he has delivered the best rap album of his generation with the incredibly dense, thoughtful, and artistic \u201cTo Pimp a Butterfly\u201d that many would consider conscious rap.<\/p>\n

With his new album \u201cDamn\u201d he continues to provide incredibly thoughtful lyrics, though perhaps masked in less layers than TPAB.<\/p>\n

The intro track, \u201cBlood,\u201d is a short and symbolic narration in which Lamar tells the story of helping a blind woman, only to be shot by her.<\/p>\n

The song also mentions the struggle of wickedness versus weakness that is essential to the album.<\/p>\n

The woman could be a reference to the devil, as he has previously personified her as \u201cLucy.\u201d It could also be a way to introduce Kendrick\u2019s death, triggering the judgment of his worthiness to avoid damnation that ensues.<\/p>\n

The next track, \u201cDNA,\u201d is a thumping banger that finds Lamar ruminating on what makes him who he is. \u201cYah\u201d introduces the concept of Yahweh and the curse of Lamar\u2019s people over a slow percussion-heavy instrumental.<\/p>\n

\u201cElement\u201d begins with Lamar saying that he would \u201cput the Bible down and go eye for an eye for this [expletive].\u201d It shows a dichotomy within Lamar and on this album. It is the \u201cwickedness\u201d to the \u201cweakness\u201d that he displays on \u201cYah.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPride\u201d and \u201cHumble\u201d continue this theme of juxtaposition and contradiction in song titles, production, and subject matter. They are both standouts, with \u201cPride\u201d surprisingly being the spacey rap ballad, and \u201cHumble\u201d being the speaker-knocking firecracker.<\/p>\n

\u201cLust\u201d and \u201cLove\u201d more accurately match their song titles, but continue the recurring dichotomy. \u201cLove\u201d is also one of the more surprising songs in Lamar\u2019s catalogue, as it is a genuinely pretty love song from an artist who usually provides dark perspectives on profound issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cFear\u201d is perhaps the best song on the album, finding Lamar diving into his biggest fears at three different points in his life and tying together many of the album\u2019s themes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy God, why God do I gotta suffer? \/ Pain in my heart carry burdens full of struggle,\u201d is hauntingly and fittingly chanted on the bridge of the song.<\/p>\n

The album concludes with \u201cDuckworth\u201d The title is actually Kendrick\u2019s surname, and the song is the real story of a chance encounter between Kendrick\u2019s father and the founder of his label, Anthony \u201cTop Dawg\u201d Tiffith. The song is a lesson on karma and the fragility of life; a perfect ending to an album like \u201cDamn\u201d<\/p>\n

These albums are unique. Each covers different subject matter with some intersecting points (notably the experiences of black men in the modern world). They also have completely different production from each other, creating albums that sound nothing like each other.<\/p>\n

But they share an awareness of self and society that is easily detectable in their lyrics. This thoughtfulness and versatility are what make \u201cconscious rap\u201d a valuable and misunderstood subset of hip-hop.<\/p>\n

\u201cALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n