Scott Crossley's Metaphorical Conceptions In Hip Hop
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intro to research Rap is a sub genre that originated in the 1980s from the hip hop culture and is predominantly characterized by its violent nature. Rap music is commonly referred to as “Gansta Rap” and is associated with various themes such as, crime, promoting the use of illegal substances, and hyper masculinity. Rappers have argued, the art of rap is in telling the daily struggles of poor inner city blacks living in America. Today, there is an emergence of rappers that do not fit the common characterization of the popular rappers of the 1980s and early 2000’s. Rappers such as Drake and Childish Gambino, who were both actors prior entering the music industry, are challenging the image of the rapper, however, with little success in…show more content… The reason that I am interested in researching this topic is that discourse surrounding rap is often on the image that stems from gangsta rap of the 1980s. The characteristics of the rappers during that time focused on telling the stories of what it meant to grown up poor and black in the thoughts streets in America.
Scholars
“Metaphorical Conceptions in Hip Hop,” by Scott Crossley argues that metaphors are community specific. He argues that the community of hip hop stems from the culture surrounding the music. Over representation of black males has caused the genre to become more representative of the cultural norms of African Americans. Crossley examines the metaphorical uses of the “neighborhood”, which is a reference to physical space and to the failed promises of the civil rights movement. He analyzes the underground economy, which serves as a theme for rappers to represent the struggles within the occupation in order to prove that is is not as glamorous as popular media perceives it to be. The representation of women as sexual- objects in hip hop music, is argued to be examples of the already objectified…show more content… Lastly, the theme of materialism, is the distinguishing factor that has the power to identify success. (HERE INCLUDE MY “OPINION”). In the article, “Blame It on Hip-Hop: Anti-Rap Attitudes as a Proxy for Prejudice” (2008), Reyna and Brandt argue that the internalization of the stereotypes associated with rappers influence anti-black attitudes and justifications for discrimination in the late 90s to early 2000s. Reyna and Brandt situate their argument around the discourse surrounding the connection that scholars have found between people’s perception of black people, specifically young black males, due to rap music. First, “gangsta rap” facilitates the stereotypes created that work towards the negative association of black males in america. Second, due to the frustration of the black community against the stereotypes associated with rap music, the white community is met with little retribution when denigrating the gangsta rap subculture. Lastly, Reyna and Brandt draw a connection between the disenfranchisement of the black urban poor due to the stereotypes that have been created from gangsta