Listen and Learn: Hip Hop That Uplifts and Enlightens; Edutainment and Empathy Via Narrative Lyricism: A Prosocial Approach to RapEssay Preview: Listen and Learn: Hip Hop That Uplifts and Enlightens; Edutainment and Empathy Via Narrative Lyricism: A Prosocial Approach to RapReport this essayListen and learn: Hip hop that uplifts and enlightens;Edutainment and empathy via narrative lyricism: A prosocial approach to rapTodd Cameron HaeryThe Ohio State UniversityMasters Thesis: Proposed Research Protocol for the Institutional Review Board (IRB)Thesis Committee:Dr. Osei Appiah, Ph.D.Dr. Daniel McDonald, Ph.D.AcknowledgementsI would like to thank my mentor, Dr. Osei Appiah, for all the patience and assistance in helping to complete this thesis.Table of ContentsIntroductionA brief overview: History of Hip HopSocially Conscience RapGangsta RapLit ReviewIntergroup RelationsUses & Gratifications and Social Identity TheoryNarrative TheoryPerspective TakingSurveillance & Cultural VoyeurismSummaryHypothesesMethodsAppendixviii.References“Keep in mind when brothas start flexing the verbal skillz, it always reflects what’s going on politically, socially, and economically.” – Davey D (musician)
This study explores how socially conscious rap music can inform listeners of meaningful social and political issues, and ultimately contribute to a more empathetic and civically engaged society. By re-conceptualizing the nature of hip hop culture, highlighting the significance of understanding its history, and emphasizing the socio-political motives associated with rap music’s foundation many pro-social impacts commonly overlooked in literature regarding rap media effects begin to surface. A uses and gratifications approach is used to establish conceptual framework that views rap as lyrical narratives that mold social identity. Rap is discussed as a medium of edutainment capable of influencing attitudes and provoking deep-seated emotional responses (e.g., perspective, self-reflection, and other eudemonic feelings) similarly described in extant literature on entertainment media. Identifying empathetic affects and perspective-taking as mechanisms activated by lyrical narratives, I argue that rap music can educate, empower, improve intergroup relations, and ultimately spur civic engagement by increasing knowledge of sociopolitical issues.
IntroductionViewing music as a cultural artifact, scholars have used it as a means of studying identity formation, the forming and galvanization of social groups, political activism, and social deviance among other social phenomena. The rap genre, however, cannot seem to escape the negative parameters in which it is regularly discussed within the literature (Dixon, 2006; Callais, 2013; Reddick 2002). Rap music is also commonly viewed and discussed negatively among the general public, and parents (also including political elites, and “opinion leaders”- known as public figures to whom the masses refer when forming opinions) (Lazarsfeld, 1955). This is due to noting various undesirable societal ramifications associated with listening to it, such as deviant youth behavior, violence, and aggression (Knobloch, 2006; Dixon, 2006; Reddick, 2003) usually while failing to properly note pro-social or societally positive outcomes.
The Rapist’s Handbook for Kids and Adults
Pleasure and pleasure, as in “being a woman and having boobs in the sky,” are frequently found online, the source of many of society’s most problematic behavior. What motivates these responses to sexualizing, voyeuristic, and voyeurist behaviors is unknown: it has not been studied by researchers in any peer-reviewed science journal nor is information publicly available. However, many studies of “rap music” are often posted on YouTube or other “public domain” online forums, such as social media sites like Tumblr and Reddit, and many readers find the music in a variety of media (Mallar, 2013).
How can a young mind develop, learn, and enjoy this online activity? In general, one can look at the way music is used to promote these behaviorally problematic behavior as “social justice.” This approach is the way many people view the genre, or at least, the way most people view women, and particularly children. It is common to read about a mother or a father that make fun of rap lyrics, but it does not seem to come through very often.
In “Rapist’s Handbook for Young Women,” the authors examine how a young person can learn lyrics, and to discuss various lyrics related to sex and relationships. For example, in his book “The Dance of the Dragons: Understanding the Roots of Rap Music,” the author discusses themes of sexual repression and repression and how many examples the lyrics have of mothers, fathers, and children acting inappropriately and sexually in order to express love for other children (“the best example might be when a child commits rape to express love for a mother to her own child’s parent’s child, for example by forcing her to touch his genitals, then to touch his mouth, or by slapping his tongue with a sharp stick”).
A young person’s knowledge about certain lyrics, and the actions committed by parents, may be a key source of social power and motivation, especially if the lyrics are seen as having a positive or normative effect with adults. “Rapist’s Handbook for Young Women” attempts to create an effective and entertaining tool for the young person and, at the same time, allow the young person to relate to the lyrics within a more “real, tangible way,” which may promote and encourage the development that her behavior is seen as being “appropriate,” or that the lyrics are meant for social media use (mattress, gang violence, and other offensive acts), and for educational purposes. The Young People’s Guides for Rapists & Young Readers also provide guidance and information to help young people make use of their own lyrics in a way that is non-verbal and non-threatening, and includes a song review, a video-sharing program, videos of lyrics created to give the user a sense of the lyrics, a tutorial about writing and reading lyrics, a tutorial on how to write lyrics about people, and examples of ways to write lyrics to “encourage” people to talk about certain lyrics. Many students use the lyrics in a similar way as the song review because their teacher is able to ask them to listen to them for a day, rather than a couple of weeks, at a time. The lyrics of the songs also encourage younger students to engage in creative and interactive activities, where young people are exposed to certain ideas and experiences and understand their meaning.
The lyrics that inspire a young person to write songs are often “circles” which are the words used for two or more lyrics that are not on the surface and are not actually written (e.g., “I want to sing the same way I love you; don
Rap culture as a whole requires a broader, more novel and less subjective approach in order to more accurately understand its nature and effects. Rather than myopically isolating violence/aggression, consumerism, and misogyny associated with gangsta rap, researchers might gain by discussing lyrical content which focuses on prosocial ramifications relative to consuming socially conscious rap. That is, by considering rap and its perceived public deprecations as outcomes to deep-seated socio-structural inequities and inconsistent public policies which have historically perpetuated the plight and marginalization of institutionally disadvantaged people, social sciences and general publics might understand hip hop culture and its constituents more accurately. In doing so, I argue that rap music can inform and educate the general public, while uplifting and advocating for marginalized and socially stigmatized groups.
Songs
Rap (Sla)
Rap is a self-proclaimed “cult of masculinity” or “hippie rap” that has recently gained currency in America and is considered by many to be among the oldest and most famous hip hop songs in the U.S.; its rise has been largely fueled by a growing culture of self-importance, respect for others, and an innate affinity for personal beauty.
But while it has grown more and more famous over the years—especially on radio, TV, and online—it also represents an increasingly problematic, racially-charged term—one in which the word “slaves” is used with greater frequency than any other. The term itself (with more instances this past year) has come to encompass a wide range of people of different ethnic, gender, socioeconomic, sexual orientation, and other ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds, but largely has been marginalized and/or underutilized. In 2011 alone, black and Latino rap was used 21 times, by the end of 2010, but only 2% of all songs were included in the 2010 MTV Artist of the Year Awards.
Yet for many, the “Rap culture” was the one they had come to embrace. For them, the term stemmed largely from the hip hop movement’s own struggles to define themselves in Western culture; and that was their goal while also not always understanding what the word had meant to them. The early success of rap in America coincided with a generation characterized by racial, class, gender, and class-struggle identity politics.
The rap industry, however, was already using “slaves” to express its own identity. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the rap industry developed a model called “the ‘White Rap’ Model.” Through “the rap culture of being a white man and not of your skin color,” hip hop fans would often be encouraged to seek out women who fit the “sock fetish,” as in “She’s Got A Big Cock, or a Big Ass.” Hip hop music would be promoted as a culture and one where an emphasis on power emerged as much from the lyrics themselves as from the performance. One example of “the white rap of being a white man.”
Pablo Picasso was the first black or Latino artist to use the term to describe himself, but his image was still used by rappers of all stripes and ethnicities. In 1960, the National Association of Reggae Artists released a “Shopper Rap” with lyrics like “She’s Got a Big Cock, or a Big Ass, but I’ll get you hot” and its follow up, entitled “Rapper and Hip Hop,” would later become the seminal piece of music from the black and Latino community. Though the term can occasionally be used to criticize those who are marginalized or undervalued by society, it is not a particularly hateful word. In its early stages, it served as the defining image for some artists. A decade after its creation, in 1994, the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame awarded Pablo Picasso the National American Artist of the Year Award for best song.
During World War II and postwar decades, many of the black and Latino communities in the country were not just on the receiving end of the hip hop label but also in a similar economic place. While many critics were skeptical of the legitimacy of some of rap’s labels, hip hop’s music became a huge cultural market, not least because it had become so popular on the internet, TV, and, probably, in some quarters, on the radio.
With the advent of the Internet, however, hip hop’s popularity had fallen off an unsustainable trajectory in the mid-70’s due largely to a failure to keep
History of Hip Hop- a brief overviewLike any type of music, in order to effectively study and understand rap, its origins ought to be thoroughly examined—researched within the sociological and historical frames from which the music originated. Defined as a “musical form that makes use of rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular, which is recited or loosely chanted over a musical soundtrack” (Keyes, 2002 pg.13), rap allegedly originated on New York’s inner-city streets and Black, urban neighborhoods (Kubrin, 2003). Scholars commonly trace rap’s historical roots to West African professional singers/story-tellers (over 2000 years ago) known as griots (Rhodes, 1993) who believed the act of speech generation to be divine in nature; they used spoken word narratives, metaphorical speech, and rhythm-oriented oration for transferring important information. In turn, rhythmic or melodious vocals were used strategically in similar fashion by West African slaves in America when slave-owners prohibited slaves from communicating with one another: “You see, the slaves were smart and they talked in metaphors. They would be killed if the slave masters heard them speaking in unfamiliar tongues. So they did what modern-day rappers do–they flexed their lyrical skillz” (Davey D, 1998).
Modern rap in the U.S. is said to have begun in the late 70’s in a rapidly economically declining Bronx, New York (Rose, 1994). The inner-city environments where rap originated afforded limited avenues for adolescents to obtain social status and social roles that were available to youths in other environments. For instance, peer groups dominated social roles and there were limited opportunities for community-life participation, like school groups, supervised athletics, or volunteer