Hate It or Love It Essay

In 1972 the Cross Bronx Expressway was completed this marked the insularism of the southern Bronx and was followed by the Bronx is burning which began the follow upward spiral for this urban, African the Statesn neighborhood. Around the same time hip-hop was founded and became an outlet for the frustrations of the poor, suffering multitude of this region. The result was the culture of hip-hop that glorifies violence, drugs, money, and a gangster persona. This has be get on the image of the Hip Hop artist, and is practiced by medicineians to gain the approval or street cred of their fans/peers. With this proof of legitimacy, however, many rap/hip-hop artists perplex sent passs of criticism and condemnation of the deportment in the hood and the failures of the civilized sounds Movement. In the song Hate it or Love it, these themes of hip-hop ar portrayed throughout the song. Rappers The spirited and 50 centime both use signification and naturalism to gain credibility an d critique the failures of the polished Rights generation. As defined by Imani Perry, a processor of African American studies at Princeton University, strongism encourages a critique of the media and reflects the significant materialisticities of social inequality and signifying is a metaphor for the revision of previous texts and figures (Perry, 61, 101).Credibility is an idea that is very primary(prenominal) in hip-hop. It is lots referred to as keeping it legitimate and calls attention to the authenti city of the rap artist (Perry, 87). correspond to Imani Perry, this entails maintaining allegiance to b escape youth populations or subgroups within their alliance. Most en consequentlyiasts reckon that hip-hop artists should stay true to their root and stick with the drift of their home-region. The play stays in truth by enter Hate it or Love it as West Coast style hip-hop and visually signifying N.W.A. (a hip-hop group in addition from the same city of Compton, CA) in the music video. The song in addition allows featured artist 50 penny the chance to stay authentic when he signifies Tupac and Rakim, both of which were to a fault from New York. The hazard and 50 centime though non in a flash sampling from these artist do cover the identity their predecessors relieve oneselfd as a result, they cover and maintain allegiance to the image of men from black American urban communities.In addition to signifying, Hate it or Love it uses ingenuousness throughout its lyrics to build credibility with the audience. Rappers/ Hip-Hop artists argon expected to security guard and croak out the tarradiddles that they tell. 50 Cent starts the song saying, lets takeem back signifying the transition to story of a real time before he or The Game were known boobs. both(prenominal) artist reference this reality by disclosing details of ghetto/gangster manner in lines same(p) Brenda is inactive throwing babies in the garbage, niggas had stole my bike, a nd one recollect callll suck up your body dumped in marshes. These phrases all refer to individualized or witnessed events that describe the problems like teenage pregnancy, theft, and gang violence in black American urban communities. This reality regardless of righteousness authenticates the bosom because it shows he has experienced the pains of racism, and poverty.It gives the listener a reason to believe the artist can sympathize with his/her own struggles and authenticates the words in the song. Imani Perry also says that, Realism is a testimony to the emotional state resulting from the experience of poverty, blackamoor, and the crisis of urbanity (Perry, 87). After proving oneself as real and establishing their ability to relate to black America, rap artist can go on their credibility by targeting the emotional hardships of urban poverty. 50 Cent conveys these emotions when he raps, Different day, same shit, aint nonhing good in the hood. Id run away from this bitch an d never come back if I could. Here he expresses a genuine nauseate for the hood and shows his vulnerability as a child, a sentiment not much admitted to in rap. It is this type of realism and openness with emotions that gives musicians the chance to yoke and gain trust from the audience. With trust, support, and belief in the lyrics, credibility is established. The artist becomes real.Establishing a sense of being real is not restricted to the lyrics. In the music video for Hate it or Love it, The Game employs several images that create both emotion and establish his witnessing of gangster liveliness. For example, both 50 Cent and The Game be represented as children in the music video. They are shown alone in an empty house, stand up next to a wild body, and being arrested (as a child and adult). These pictures create feelings of pity and sorrow for the offspring rappers who appear to have nobody understanding out for them, a truth often seen in poor urban communities. Thi s again earns credibility for the rappers because it shows they have lived out the experiences that they rap about. (Perry, 90) With this evidence of living as a real African American, The Game and 50 Cent progress toward a offspring of respect by contrasting the hood with their new reality. This new life is what Nelson George would describe as, the black man craveing a context for that style, one that often comes as part of a male-dominated collective (George, 52).In otherwise words, 50 Cent and The Game must cover a glorified adaption of that style ascribed to the black, male demographic to earn respect from their peers. This glamorized image of blackness is seen throughout the Hate it or Love it music video. The Game is shown standing on top of a building in suburban Los Angles, cruzing down the Boulevard in a red convertible, and wearing two Jacob watches. These images are all a signifying call-response trope between rapper to rapper and rapper to audience (Perry, 62). These images of wealth, and power are a cover of African American males desired collective style, a style make by the previous generation of rappers, and a style African American public continually tries to mimic. It is with the success of achieving this style that 50 Cent and The Game earn respect, and it is with this respect that they gain that final amount of credibility that makes them real rap artists.Realism is not restricted to the construction of credibility for an artist, it also has the ability to inform listeners about life in the hood. Imani Perry describes this type of realism as a telling narrative. She says, a telling narrative is to inform and enlighten sooner than simply depict (Perry, 91). The Game accomplished this throughout the lyrics in his song. He raps, Thinking how they spent 30 million dollars on airplanes when theres kids starving, and No schoolbooks, they used that wood to build coffins. These two lines are highly powerful and a harsh criticism of society as a whole. These words enlighten us of problems for children in black urban communities like hunger, poor education, and violence. The Game shows contrast when rapping that we spend 30 million dollars on airplanes. He is clearly condemning society for its failure to take debt instrument for African American children despite the availability of resources.A telling narrative does not only express disapproval for society in general, still also provides an internal critique of sociological conditions and the prospects of social control through planned communities (Perry, 91). The possibility of social control or an improvement of life style is implicitly suggested in The Games lyrics. He repeatedly shows the availability of wealth with references to items like Jacobs watches, Mercedes Benz, and sheepskin coats. 50 Cent however provides a true internal critique of the African American community, not just society as a whole. Within the jump stanza 50 Cent recounts the poor/lack of parenti ng he received from his flummox and father.He says, Coming up I was confused, my mom kissing a girl/Confusion occurs coming up in the cold mankind/Daddy aint around, probably out committing felonies. These three lines are a direct criticism of 50 Cents parents and other ghetto parents of the same generation, the children from the Civil Rights Movement. It is commenting on their collective failure to use the impulse of the civil rights movement as a medium for agitate. Instead, many, like 50 Cents parents, went the opposite route. They fell into illegal activities and abandoned their children. This reality of an illegal life is further exemplified when 50 Cent says, I wanna live good, so shit I sell dope. With no parents, money, or real support, children of the Civil rights generation had to turn to drugs and other illegal activities to live good. through and through these types of lyrics, 50 Cent and The Game inform and critique life in urban black neighborhoods.Criticism of ghe tto life and the disappointment of the Civil Rights generation are also accomplished with the use of signification. According to Imani Perry, Signifyin(g) is a way of saying one thing and meaning some other (Perry, 61). The Game successfully does this with both images and lyrics. For example, he raps Pac is gone and Brenda still throwing babies in the garbage/I wanna know Whats vent On like I hear Marvin. This literally is somewhat confusing however, if we look beyond the referencing previous black artist, The Game is signifying problems that the African American community has been enduring since the 60s. Brenda, for instance, is not literally throwing babies in the garbage. Rather, The Game is addressing the keep emerge of teen pregnancy in black urban communities and criticizing the lack of change in these problems.He is looking at a homogeneous underlying meaning when he references Marvin Gayes song Whats Going On. An artist from the era of the Civil Rights Movement, Gaye w as concerned with issue of drug addiction, poverty, and the Vietnam War. It is clear that the Game is concerned with the lack of change that has occurred since the 1960s and is calling out the failures of society. The Game continues this use of signifying as social percipient by sampling the background music from The Trammps song Rubberband. It is this imitation, as Glenn Gould calls it, that gives art importance. (Gould, 58) Gould argues that imitation upsets the idea of progress. This is exactly what The Game and 50 Cent are indicating. Since the Civil Rights Movement, the generation of the Trammps, there has been limited progress. The Game is thus imitating and covering a lack of change. He is criticizing the black peoples ability to make change happen.Progress for African Americans has been limited since the Civil Rights Movement. Despite the lack of change, many people have tried to help, improve, challenge, and change the urban black Americans way of life. Rappers, like The G ame and 50 Cent, release music that alludes to the gangster life and its hardships. This signification often is criticized as an affirmation of stereotypes however, on a deeper level the music is challenging the assumptions of what a black man is (Perry, 61). When The Game ends his music video, he stands looking at the camera holding, kissing, and loving his baby. Looking directly at the camera he is staring into every African American home in America saying I will be different, I will be a good father, I will make a change. The Game understands the power he has as a rapper, and though this may not be a revolution like the Civil Rights Movement, it sends a message that change is possible even if it is one person at a time.