Music that brings so much attention to its lyrics and metaphors stands as an important artifact in our nation's history, that could one day be used to understand the dismay and horrific "scape-goating" of the early 2000s (368 McCann.) Two articles that mainly discuss the association gangster rap music between criminology records and "perceptions" on the American judicial system are used to decode the harsh lyrics found in hundreds of popular songs (Steinmetz, Henderson).
In his article, "Contesting the Mark of Criminality: Race, Place, and the Prerogative of Violence in N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton," Bryan J. McCann explains how rap artists use catastrophic events in their life time to convey their feelings against bad situations. The notorious song "Straight Out of Compton" may seem explicit before broken down verse by verse, but McCann argues against Michael Quinn's assumptions of the rap music being "based on the construction of an urban mise-en-sce`ne of drugs, rape and murder'' (McCann 368.) This article focus' on the fact that this gangster rap music is not all bad, in fact, it gives a people a voice to be heard and should be taken seriously!
With a similar take on the gangster rap music and culture, Kevin F. Steinmetz and Howard Henderson discuss the intertwined meanings within the lyrics, in their shared article "Hip-Hop and Procedural Justice: Hip-Hop Artists' Perceptions of Criminal Justice." They both suggest that this music is so "under examined" and could instead be used to explain criminal charges, judicial perspectives, and reasoning behind on-going crime (Steinmentz, Henderson 155.)
The impact that these two articles have, when combined and even read separately, could change people's outlook on this gangster rap. Are these artists being explicit or being truthful? Perhaps this music and its lyrics can be taken seriously; these words of wrongs be brought into light and made right!
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