Quote

“The ghost of Mandela, hope my flows they propel it, let these words be your earth and moon you consume every message”

Critical Investigation Days

Sunday 18th
Monday 19th
Tuesday 20th 

I intend to go to the BFI library Thursday 22nd.

Critical Investigation Task #6

Dyas. P. Media Magazine 42. 

“Kanye West; admittedly a polarising figure notorious for his own self-aggrandisement, arrogance and lack of self-awareness, but often vulnerable, emotional and conflicted in his lyrics” 

-the success of Kanye West reveals not only lyrics that represent his life as something of a struggle but expresses the effects he faces through his own self-aggrandisement

“Childish Gambino rejects the violence and gang associations of hip-hop culture, demonstrating a social progressiveness and willingness to challenge conventional models of masculinity”

Aidoo. D. Media Magazine 45. 

“Hip-hop, grime, urban, rap, spoken word – the success of artists within this multifaceted genre depends on how easy it is for everybody to understand their lyrics and relate to their content.”

“The elder generation have an inclination of blaming rap for much of the violence that goes on within the younger world. I see this as a misinterpretation. It begs the ongoing question of whether the media create and reinforce violent stereotypes, or whether media producers simply construct a reflection of society’s ills” 

Bateman, A. (2016). Using Theory in A Level Media Studies. Retrieved December 06, 2016, from http://media.edusites.co.uk/article/using-theory-in-a-level-media-studies/
"George Gerbner’s cultivation theory (1979) which investigated the content of television programmes. Gerbner argues that the drip feeding of similar negative media messages influences the viewer’s perception of reality and makes them susceptible to adopting a negative view on the world, Gerbner calls this Mean World Syndrome."
-the stereotype of black males are predominantly negative and the Cultivation Theory suggests an explanation for this and how the media is a potential blame for this
"(Galting & Ruge, 1965), arguing that high value is placed upon negative news by those responsible for reporting the world’s events, then a theoretical basis for arguing that negative news is prevalent and that it has an effect upon the audience is established"
-supports the idea that audiences want to see negative news as that is what they know, therefore it becomes more dominant and prevalent within the media

Hirsch, A. (2012). African hip-hop is recreating America. Retrieved December 06, 2016, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/03/african-hip-hop-america
"Ironically the gap between rich – including the music mogul rich – and poor is itself fuelling the growth of hip-hop in Africa."
-conscious rappers who focus on social and political themes; growing industry through materialistic lifestyle juxtaposed and contrasted with the ghetto life

Ellis-Petersen, H. (2016). Kanye West's travails help hip-hop open up on mental health. Retrieved December 06, 2016, from https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/nov/25/kanye-wests-travails-help-hip-hop-open-up-on-mental-health
"The macho and often adversarial culture of hip-hop, coupled with the fact that African American men are significantly less likely to seek help for mental health issues, has meant, in the public arena at least, it was rarely discussed"-Kanye West's 'Lockdown' video reveals his vulnerability and how he was trying to speak out about his own issues in order to change the 'macho' stereotype
"evident in rapper J Cole talking publicly about his struggle with depression, and fronting the #OKNotToBeOK campaign"

"the most significant figure breaking down this stigma around depression and revealing weakness is Kendrick Lamar. Arguably the world’s biggest hip-hop artist, they said Lamar’s public discussion of the inner demons and survivors’ guilt that fuelled his Grammy-winning album, To Pimp a Butterfly, have proved that depression is no longer perceived as a fallacy in the rap community"

-The Guardian is a well recognised  and acclaimed news institution so critical acclaim for Lamar reveals the importance of him in the genre

Bixby, S. (2016). Kendrick Lamar galvanizes Grammys with politically charged performance. Retrieved December 06, 2016, from https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/feb/15/kendrick-lamar-grammys-2016-awards-political-performance-blacker-berry

"The performance, which like Lamar’s music was studded with strong allusions to racial inequality, the prison-industrial complex and black identity, brought the audience to its feet."

-importance of the performance and how he becomes a voice and an important performer, enhancing the issue of black identity. Links to his BET awards performance where he performed atop a police car and this caused a great deal of controversy - Fox news

Mcleod, K. (2005). MP3s Are Killing Home Taping: The Rise of Internet Distribution and Its Challenge to the Major Label Music Monopoly1. Popular Music and Society.
"had to rely heavily on record labels, which agreed to sell an artist's music, under certain conditions which usually gave the record label more money from each sale than the artists"
"Some hip-hop artists end up only breaking even with record companies after they produce an album, because of all of the expenses that they pay to effectively market and produce their albums and the small percentage of royalties received"

-the power of the music industries and the institutions in comparison to the artists.

Welsh, A. C. (2016). Kendrick Lamar has challenged Barack Obama to a basketball showdown in Compton. Retrieved December 11, 2016, from http://www.factmag.com/2016/12/05/kendrick-lamar-challenged-barack-obama-basketball-showdown-compton/
"Kendrick goes on to joke that Barack will also be “playing a little basketball. He needs to work on his jump shot a little bit… I’ve been trying to bring him out, that’s why I’m throwing shots at him right now. I want him to come to Gonzales Park in Compton.”

-reveals the influence of Lamar on Obama and how a respectable and highly acclaimed individual such as Obama can truly respect the works of Lamar, revealing the sheer genius from Lamar. 

Geslani, M. (2015). FOX News says Kendrick Lamar “has done more damage to young African-Americans than racism”. Retrieved December 11, 2016, from http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/06/fox-news-says-kendrick-lamar-has-done-more-damage-to-young-african-americans-than-racism/ 

"female commentator who says Kendrick’s performance “didn’t excite her” or “turn her on”. Because I’m so sure that’s exactly what the Compton MC was aiming for — not to stimulate fans’ minds or draw attention to our society’s many racial and social issues, but to turn people on"

-counteracts argument 

We Will TV. (2015). Geraldo Rivera rips Kendrick Lamar's BET Award set. Retrieved from YouTube.

"This is why i say hip-hop has done more damage to young African-Americans than racism"

"This is exactly the wrong message"
-the sarcasm throughout reveals the pure ignorance of these journalists for them to not understand the message of Lamar - the problem with FOX news is that they hold conservative ideologies and therefore as soon as a fruitful artist like Lamar speaks out, moral panics are formed and therefore they become threatened by the fact that audiences will listen.

TMZ. (2015). Kendrick Lamar -- Geraldo's Twisting My Message ... I'm Preaching Hope, Not Violence | TMZ. Retrieved from YouTube. 
"How can you take a song about hope and turn it into hatred"
"The overall message is we gon' be alright not I want to kill people"
"It's avoiding the truth"
"Hip hop is not the problem, our reality is the problem of the situation"
-Lamar speaks passionately counteracting Geraldo's thoughts of his performance and addresses the fact that hip-hop is merely an expression of speech to provide a positive influence.

Radowitz, J. V., Webb, S. (2015). Hip Hop is the most important genre of music to emerge in last 50 years, claim pop scientists. Retrieved December 11, 2016, from http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/hip-hop-most-important-genre-5642569
"Hip hop has been named the most influential musical genre to emerge since 1960, beating the British invasion of the Rolling Stones and The Beatles"
"The impact of Hip Hop, the rhythmic rapping style that originated in Jamaica and became the voice of disaffected black youth in New York and Los Angeles, was much more profound, they claimed."

-impact of hip-hop music and how it has a bigger role to play in society than the mainstream bands and acclaimed artists such as The Beatles. 

-The Mirror = tabloid newspaper, Labour 

Shah. V. (2015). The Role of Hip-Hop in Culture. Thought Economics. Retrieved December, 11, 2016, from https://thoughteconomics.com/the-role-of-hip-hop-in-culture/

"deeply pitted with metaphors that became consistent, ubiquitous and global. Hip-hop is unplanned- but a reflection of shared truths in communities"
Tricia Rose - "The profitable stories tend to dovetail around the central-stereotypes about Black People that have existed for hundreds of years. That doesn’t mean there isn’t some truth, but to rely on the illusion that these are the truths is to rely on a lie being reinforced as THE truth."

-stereotypes and representations of black people and how it has become the fake truth of what audiences are seeing through the media's eye
Russell Simmons - "Hip-hop is (amongst many things) a cultural manifestation of the challenges- the creation of a new identity, a new social structure- a new institution. Like any emergent art-form it jars at our senses and sensibilities, providing us a safe theatre in which to observe ourselves, and contemplate that which we face."

-the power of the genre as a positive and cultural art form rather than mere sound

Simmonds, R. (2013). Why You Should Let Your Children Listen To Hip Hop. Retrieved December 11, 2016, from http://rosssimmonds.com/leadership/children-hip-hop/
"If you can get past some of the language and ignore the songs that are about booty poppin and lip gloss; there really is some quality to be found in the lyrics and skills of these artists."

-it is undeniable that some rap artists glorify and glamorise the life of a luxury millionaire but the artists that are fruitful reveal the power of the genre as a cultural respectable art form. 

Pearce, S. (2016). J Cole: 4 Your Eyez Only review – unsparing, unflinching raptivism. Retrieved December 11, 2016, from https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/dec/10/j-cole-4-your-eyez-only-review-unsparing-unflinching-raptivism

"With his new album, 4 Your Eyez Only, Cole channels Be Free, finding a new niche and renewed purpose as a mouthpiece for black frustrations, throwing himself headfirst into rap activism"

-speaking on police brutality and the issues revolving around him 

"Outside of Deja Vu, which is basically a rehash of a Bryson Tiller song, Exchange, with the same sample (KP and Envyi’s Swing My Way), this is a collection of songs with a clear and unified vision, scrutinizing mass incarceration, police brutality, toxic masculinity (which he brands as “tough guy culture”) and other tensions plaguing black communities. He does it best on Change, a song that transports the listener into the shootout that took the life of James McMillan Jr, Cole’s friend, and on Immortal, which memorializes those lost to gun violence."

-overview of Cole's songs and what he is doing in each to portray his visions of what he believes is important and significant. 

J Cole. (2016). Neighbors. Dreamville, Roc Nation, Interscope Records. Track 7 in Studio Album, 4 Your Eyez Only.

"Fuck the fame and the fortune—well, maybe not the fortune, But one thing is for sure though, the fame is exhaustin'"

-material aspects and the importance of the music more than the actual fame that comes with it - he wants to make an impact and doesn't want the fame of it all consuming him. 

Y. (2016). Ab-Soul ‘Do What Thou Wilt.’ 1 Listen Album Review. Retrieved December 11, 2016, from http://djbooth.net/news/entry/2016-12-09-ab-soul-do-what-thou-wilt-1-listen-album-review.

"Ab-Soul's new album has more layers than a wedding cake, but his raps are sharper than ever"

"a bright wordsmith that cared about lyricism. If he wasn’t a genius, he had the kind of talent that made him appear as one."

-positive review of the album as something important and artistic, a talented raw form that focuses on the US elections in Huey Knew.

Monteyne, K. (2013). Hip hop on film: Performance culture, urban space, and genre transformation in the 1980s. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.
"The entire corpus of the hip hop musical thus represents an army of ideological positions, and within particular texts themselves we find multiple social and political attitudes."
-influence of hip-hop music as a genre that involves social and political commentary rather than fruitless themes

King, D. (2006). Black Filmmaker.
"Hip-hop is a form of expression - how we make and portray ourselves to the world."

-reinforces the expression of hip-hop as more than just music but a valuable art form. 

Spence, J. (2004). Black Filmmaker."It seems hip hop artists have been accepted into the Hollywood fold and look set to stay."

-the times have changed and artists have become more valued and respected within the mainstream

Bibliography

Books 

Angelou, M. (1970). I know why the caged bird sings. New York: Random House.

Bloom, L. (2014). Suspicion nation: The inside story of the Trayvon Martin injustice and why we continue to repeat it. Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint.

Chang, J. (2005). Can't stop, won't stop: A history of the hip-hop generation. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Charnas, D. (2010). The big payback: The history of the business of hip-hop. New York, NY: New American Library.

Chuck, D., Jah, Y. (1998). Fight the Power: Rap, Race and Reality. Delta

Dates, J., Barlow, W. (1993). Split Image: African Americans in the Mass Media. Howard University Press

Dyson, M. E. (2004). The Michael Eric Dyson reader. New York: Basic Civitas Books.

Ghansah, R. (2013). When the Lights Shut Off: Kendrick Lamar and the Decline of the Black Blues Narrative. LARB

Gilroy, P. (1991). 'There ain't no black in the Union Jack': The cultural politics of race and nation. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Gray, J., Sandvoss, C., & Harrington, C. L. (2007). Fandom: Identities and communities in a mediated world. New York: New York University Press.

Hall, S., Evans, J., & Nixon, S. (2013). Representation. London: Sage.

Keyes, C. L. (2002). Rap music and street consciousness. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Lee, H. (1960). To Kill A Mockingbird. United States. J. B. Lippincott & Co

Monteyne, K. (2013). Hip hop on film: Performance culture, urban space, and genre transformation in the 1980s. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.

Morrison, T. (1987). Beloved. United States. Alfred Knopf.

Osumare, H. (2007). The Africanist aesthetic in global hip-hop: Power moves. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Rome, D. (2004). Black demons: The media's depiction of the African American male criminal stereotype. Westport, CT: Praeger.

Rose, T. (1994). Black noise: Rap music and black culture in contemporary America. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England.

Rose, T. (2008). The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop--and Why It Matters. Basic Civitas Books.

Russell, K. (1999). The Color of Crime: Racial Hoaxes, White Fear, Black Protectionism, Police Harassment and Other Macroagressions. NYU Press.

Terkourafi, M. (2010). The Languages of Global Hip-hop (Advances in Sociolinguistics). Continuum International Publishing Group.

Journals 

King, D. (2006). Black Filmmaker.

Korom. A, Y. (2006). Black Filmmaker.

Vernal, L. C. (2001). Screen.

(2003). National Film Theatre Programmes. 

Leigh, D. (2004). Sight & Sound.

Goldie, L. (2004). Black Filmmaker. 

Smith, S. L. (2002). Journal of Communication. 

Spence, J. (2004). Black Filmmaker.

Magazines 

Aidoo. D. Media Magazine 45. 

Dyas. P. Media Magazine 42. 

Moving Image Texts

Ab-Soul. (2016). Huey Knew. TopDawgEntertainment. Retrieved from YouTube.

Billboard. (2015). Kendrick Lamar sits down with N.W.A. Retrieved from YouTube. 

Clique. (2015). Kendrick Lamar – How to Clique a Butterfly. Retrieved from YouTube.

Eminem World. (2013). Eminem Talks about Kendrick Lamar. Retrieved from YouTube.

Gray. G, F. (Director). (2015). Straight Outta Compton. USA.

Green Hits Production. (2014). Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap. Retrieved from YouTube. 

Hanson, C. (Director). (2002). 8 Mile. USA. 

HisLifeAsTupac. (1988). Tupac Interview at 17 years old, 1988. Retrieved from YouTube.

Hot 97. (2014). Kendrick says Macklemore went too far + who “i” is for the state of HipHop. Retrieved from YouTube. 

Kaiser Permanente Thrive. (2016). Find Your Words. Retrieved from YouTube. 

Kendrick Vs Pac. (2015). Kendrick Lamar Discusses Tupac. Retrieved from YouTube.

MTV. (2015). Kendrick Lamar talks about u, Depression, and Suicidal Thoughts. Retrieved from Youtube. 

Pal Tube. (2016). Drake or Kendrick? Obama quizzed on rap battles, Star Wars. Retrieved from YouTube. 

The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. (2016). Kendrick Lamar does not want to surpass Michael Jackson. Retrieved from YouTube.

TMZ. (2015). Kendrick Lamar -- Geraldo's Twisting My Message ... I'm Preaching Hope, Not Violence | TMZ. Retrieved from YouTube.

We Will TV. (2015). Geraldo Rivera rips Kendrick Lamar's BET Award set. Retrieved from YouTube.

Tracklist 

Dr. Dre, Anderson .Paak. (2015). Animals. Aftermath, Interscope Records. Track 14 in studio album, Compton.

Dre. Dre, Anderson .Paak, Justus, Kendrick Lamar. (2015). Deep Water. Aftermath, Interscope Records. Track 9 in album studio album, Compton.

Immortal Technique. (2003). Point of No Return. Viper Records. Track 2 in studio album, Revolutionary Vol. 2.

J Cole. (2014). Be Free. Dreamville, Interscope Records.

J Cole, Omen. (2015). Caged Bird. Dreamville, Interscope Records. Track 4 in studio album, Revenge of the Dreamers II.

J Cole. (2013). Chaining Day. Dreamville, Roc Nation, Columbia Records. Track 12 in studio album, Born Sinner.

J Cole. (2016). Neighbors. Dreamville, Roc Nation, Interscope Records. Track 7 in Studio Album, 4 Your Eyez Only.

Kendrick Lamar. (2015). God Is Gangsta. TopDawgEntertainment, Aftermath, Interscope Records.

Kendrick Lamar. (2015). Institutionalized. TopDawgEntertainment, Aftermath, Interscope Records. Track 4 in studio album, To Pimp A Butterfly.

Kendrick Lamar. (2012). M.A.A.D. City. TopDawgEntertainment, Aftermath, Interscope Records. Track 8 in studio album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City.

Kendrick Lamar. (2015). To Pimp A Butterfly. TopDawgEntertainment, Aftermath, Interscope Records. Studio Album.

Kendrick Lamar. (2012). Swimming Pools. TopDawgEntertainment, Aftermath, Interscope Records. Track 9 in studio album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City.

Kendrick Lamar. (2009). Vanity Slaves. TopDawgEntertainment. Track 11 in EP, The Kendrick Lamar EP.

KRS-One. (1993). Sound of da Police. Jive Records. Track 7 in studio album, Return of the Boom Bap.

N.W.A. (1988). Fuck tha Police. Ruthless, Priority Records. Track 2 in studio album, Straight Outta Compton.

Tupac. (1991). Trapped. Amaru, Interscope, T.N.T., Jive Records. Track 2 in studio album, 2Pacalypse Now.

Online 

Ahmed, I., Drake, D., Callahan-Bever, N., Werthman, C., Baker, E., Kenner, R., Scott, D. (2016). The Best Rapper Alive, Every Year Since 1979. Retrieved December 02, 2016, from http://uk.complex.com/music/2016/01/the-best-rapper-alive-every-year-since-1979

Bateman, A. (2016). Using Theory in A Level Media Studies. Retrieved December 06, 2016, from http://media.edusites.co.uk/article/using-theory-in-a-level-media-studies/

Benjamin, M. (2016). Kendrick Lamar’s Music Has Become The Soundtrack For Battling Depression. Retrieved December 02, 2016, from http://uproxx.com/realtalk/kendrick-lamar-kaiser-commercial/

Bixby, S. (2016). Kendrick Lamar galvanizes Grammys with politically charged performance. Retrieved December 06, 2016, from https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/feb/15/kendrick-lamar-grammys-2016-awards-political-performance-blacker-berry

Davey, D. (2006). Is Rap Actually Music or is it a Bad Influence? Retrieved December 02, 2016, from http://hiphopandpolitics.com/2006/08/23/is-rap-actually-music-or-is-it-a-bad-influence/

Ellis-Petersen, H. (2016). Kanye West's travails help hip-hop open up on mental health. Retrieved December 06, 2016, from https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/nov/25/kanye-wests-travails-help-hip-hop-open-up-on-mental-health

Geslani, M. (2015). FOX News says Kendrick Lamar “has done more damage to young African-Americans than racism”. Retrieved December 11, 2016, from http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/06/fox-news-says-kendrick-lamar-has-done-more-damage-to-young-african-americans-than-racism/

Giovacchini, A. M. (1999). The Negative Influence of Gangster Rap And What Can Be Done About It. Retrieved December 02, 2016, from https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/mediarace/negative.htm

Hirsch, A. (2012). African hip-hop is recreating America. Retrieved December 06, 2016, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/03/african-hip-hop-america

Ide. D. (2013) How Capitalism Underdeveloped Hip Hop: A People's History of Political Rap. Retrieved December 04, 2016, from http://www.hamptoninstitution.org/capitalismhiphoppartone.html#.WAUmWeArLIV

Jones, J. (2016). Georgia students study Kendrick Lamar for class. Retrieved December 04, 2016, from http://college.usatoday.com/2014/09/01/georgia-students-study-kendrick-lamar-for-class/

Mcleod, K. (2005). MP3s Are Killing Home Taping: The Rise of Internet Distribution and Its Challenge to the Major Label Music Monopoly1. Popular Music and Society.

Mize, C. (2015). History of Rap - The True Origins of Rap Music. Retrieved December 04, 2016, from http://colemizestudios.com/how-did-rap-start/

Modern Blackface: The Cultural Appropriation of Rap. (2015). Retrieved December 04, 2016, from https://www.theodysseyonline.com/satire-as-survival

Pearce, S. (2016). J Cole: 4 Your Eyez Only review – unsparing, unflinching raptivism. Retrieved December 11, 2016, from https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/dec/10/j-cole-4-your-eyez-only-review-unsparing-unflinching-raptivism

Pitlane Magazine. (n.d.). Retrieved December 04, 2016, from http://www.pitlanemagazine.com/morals-values-and-norms/why-rap-music-is-a-bad-influence-yes.html

Platon, A. (2016). Kendrick Lamar Opens Up About Meeting President Obama: 'No Matter How High-Ranking You Get, You're Human.' Retrieved December 04, 2016, from http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/magazine-feature/6866105/kendrick-lamar-meeting-president-obama

Radowitz, J. V., Webb, S. (2015). Hip Hop is the most important genre of music to emerge in last 50 years, claim pop scientists. Retrieved December 11, 2016, from http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/hip-hop-most-important-genre-5642569

Shah. V. (2015). The Role of Hip-Hop in Culture. Thought Economics. Retrieved December, 11, 2016, from https://thoughteconomics.com/the-role-of-hip-hop-in-culture/

Simmonds, R. (2013). Why You Should Let Your Children Listen To Hip Hop. Retrieved December 11, 2016, from http://rosssimmonds.com/leadership/children-hip-hop/

Welsh, A. C. (2016). Kendrick Lamar has challenged Barack Obama to a basketball showdown in Compton. Retrieved December 11, 2016, from http://www.factmag.com/2016/12/05/kendrick-lamar-challenged-barack-obama-basketball-showdown-compton/

Williams, S. (2016). Hip-Hop’s History with Police Brutality: Why We Should Live in the Now. Retrieved December 04, 2016, from http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/07/11/hip-hop-s-history-with-police-brutality-why-we-shouldn-t-romanticize-the-ogs-and-live-in-the-now.html

Y. (2016). Ab-Soul ‘Do What Thou Wilt.’ 1 Listen Album Review. Retrieved December 11, 2016, from http://djbooth.net/news/entry/2016-12-09-ab-soul-do-what-thou-wilt-1-listen-album-review.

Introduction

“The ghost of Mandela, hope my flows they propel it, let these words be your earth and moon you consume every message”

Hip-hop is a genre that revolves around fruitful themes and complex social and political commentary, dating as far back as the 1970’s, focusing on the main idea of liberation and the emancipation of the black man; this is particularly evident in Kendrick Lamar's extended music video 'Alright.' His music essentially provides a platform, not only for young African-Americans and the black youth to self-identify with but also a wider audience through the universal themes discussed by particular revolutionary hip-hop artists like Lamar, Public Enemy and N.W.A. However the stereotypes associated with hip-hop provide a negative platform for the genre due to the glamorisation and the fetishizing of the materialistic aspects such as 'gangsta life' and violence, therefore elder audiences especially, negatively associate the genre with the three ignorant foundation words, 'drugs, sex and violence’ which is undoubtedly a “shallow understanding of rap, which in many cases results from people’s unwillingness to listen to rap lyrics, many of which counsel anti-violent and anti-drug behaviour among the youths who are their avid audience.” Lamar’s lyrics address significant, complex debates from racial discrimination and the dichotomy of race and class to the potential demise of hip-hop artists through their materialistic demeanour, therefore Lamar is able to provide a universal voice of reason as the “entire expressive culture of hip hop resonate not only with the anxiety of youthful social rebellion, but extant global socio-political inequities as well” whereby audiences are able to be positively impacted by his social and political commentary. 

BFI Notes

Books

Keyes, C. L. (2002). Rap music and street consciousness. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

"Commercial exploitation of and within the hip-hop community also contributes to a growing polarization. As a result, some artists believe that hip-hop is headed for its demise" 

"N.W.A veered away from this stance toward the controversial rap sub-genre labelled 'gangsta rap.' In the sensationalism generated by this sub-genre, non-gangsta rap artists fell by the wayside while one dimensional gangsta rappers signed six figure album deals and dragged hip-hop away from its roots" 

-N.W.A essentially revealed a side to the hip-hop genre that caused controversy and was able to socially and politically comment on 'real life'

The portrayal of "gangstas. thugs, pushers, pimps, and sex-kittens" all "led the public to question the moral value of all rap music"

"Media coverage often reported violence at rap music concerts and called this music the catalyst for violent behaviour" 

-This negative media coverage catalyses the stereotypes of rap music as a third party is unable to understand the music as something more than mere derogatory language

Julio Fuentes 19 year old- 'Dope Jam' rap concert at Long Island's Nassau Coliseum - Sept 10, 1987

"Malcolm X epitomizes to the Hip-Hop nation a northern urban black experience against racial injustice and the zeal for redefinition, redirection and self-respect that is reinforced in the mandate of the Universal Zulu Nation"

"It is embedded in a community-based system called the Zulu Nation, which endeavours to provide inner-city gang members with an alternative to violence" 

-Malcolm X is a figure in history that provides a voice to the black community and more predominantly a voice for change - the idea of the Zulu Nation is something that consists within Lamar's work - 'Complexion (A Zulu's Love)' included in his album TPAB. 

Journals 

Korom. A, Yaya. (2006). Black Filmmaker.

"Cinema buffs and film industry people still scorn the possibility that music video has anything to offer their art while most in the music industry refuse to go back innovation preferring to churn out MOR MTV gunk"

Vernal Lis, Carol. (2001). Screen.
"This genre is most importantly the voice of inner-poor youth or the streets."
-the importance of the genre as a voice rather than just fruitless music for entertainment but obtains a message

(2003). National Film Theatre Programmes. 
"Much of the particularity of music video editing lies in its responsiveness to the music. It can elucidate aspects of the song, such as rhythmic and timbral features, particular phrases in the lyrics, and especially the song's sectional divisions" 
-the editing of a music video makes it an art form and not merely a piece to be enjoyed for entertainment but to further enhance the message behind the lyrics, this reinforces the 'Alright' video and how it poses more so as an art form rather than a mere conventional music video.

Leigh, Danny. (2004). Sight & Sound.
"Initially Hip-Hop referred to a symbiosis of several disparate elements including vocal ingenuity, vinyl dexterity and innovation in the field of DJ technology" 

Goldie, Luan. (2004). Black Filmmaker. 
"Hip-hop history clearly shows that disguising rap music as gospel music is not a positive career move."
-Kanye West is an example of this. The use of religious connotations within rap music and the gospel music beats is something that a lot of artists include to reveal their religious ideologies and focus back on their roots.

Smith, Stacy L. (2002). Journal of Communication. 
"The results reveal that 15% of music videos feature violence, and most of that aggression is sanitized, not chastised, and presented in realistic contexts." 
"characters involved with violence by genre
nature of perpetrator 
% of adult - 96 
% of male - 78 
% of white - 13
% of black - 56

nature of target 
% of adult - 96 
% of male - 84
% of white - 12
% of black - 62"
-the results from the study reveals the effects of rap music on certain audiences and the racial group that are targeted are black and the perpetrators are also black revealing the extent of black on black crime.