Tuesday, 18 April 2017

Critical Investigation Final Draft

“The ghost of Mandela, hope my flows they propel it / let these words be your earth and moon you consume every message”[1]

To what extent are rap/hip-hop music videos, like Kendrick Lamar's "Alright," able to provide political/social commentary and how does this impact upon different audiences?

Hip-hop is a multifaceted genre which includes complex social and political commentary, dating as far back as the 1970’s. The dominant idea of liberation and the emancipation of the black man are particularly evident in Kendrick Lamar's 2015 extended music video 'Alright.' His music essentially provides a platform, not only for black youth to self-identify with but also a wider audience through the universal themes discussed by particular revolutionary hip-hop artists like 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 fetishisation of materialistic aspects such as 'gangsta life' and violence, conforming to Alvarado’s idea of “the dangerous black man.”[2] Thus older 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.”[3] 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 countenance, therefore Lamar is able to provide a universal voice of reason as the “entire expressive culture of hip-hop resonates not only with the anxiety of youthful social rebellion, but extant global socio-political inequalities as well”[4] whereby audiences are able to be positively impacted by his commentary. 

Axiomatically, Kendrick Lamar's music video is a clear representation of black lives, commenting on social and political themes throughout the video stylistically, impacting audiences through self-identification. The ‘Black Lives Matter’ campaign is an international activist movement, initiated in America, catalysed from the 2013 Trayvon Martin case. However "the social movements which have sprung up in different parts of the world as evidence of African dispersal, imperialism and colonialism have done more than appeal to blacks everywhere in a language which could invite their universal identification;”[5] in Manchester thousands attended a solidarity march and “sang the Kendrick Lamar song Alright,”[6] emphasising the significance of Lamar’s music as a form of identification for the audience, thus reinforcing Blumler and Katz’s “Uses and Gratifications theory”[7] of both personal identity and personal relationships, due to the empathising and sympathising of audiences. Furthermore, conventional hip-hop videos are merely a path for diversion and entertainment, in terms of the latter theory, as “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.”[8] Music videos are significant as "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,”[9] illustrating the importance of music videos.  

The alternative hip-hop genre focuses on originality and creativity; Lamar’s video is therefore crafted purposely in order to heighten his own social and political ideologies. The monochromatic video subverts the stereotypical colour scheme and could symbolise the theme of police brutality and racial discrimination through the literal and metaphorical meaning of black and white imagery - focusing on the conflict between the two races. The chiaroscuro lighting juxtaposed with the low angle shots of the sky and rising of the sun, portrays the idea of hope being surrounded or perhaps even consumed, by the darkness and the corruption of the world, emphasising Levi-Strauss’ idea of “binary oppositions,”[10] - the good and the evil. Evidently through the stylistic element of the colour scheme alongside the lyrics juxtaposed with the cinematography it reveals the paradox within society, thus highlighting the dichotomy in terms of racial discrimination. This apocalyptic sky is complemented with the soundtrack of Lamar's ‘U,’ which precedents 'Alright' on his album ‘To Pimp A Butterfly.’ The screams from ‘U’ relate to the depressive state Lamar was in but how “with money and being a celebrity how can [he] use it, how can [he] pimp it, can [he] pimp it negatively or can [he] pimp it in a positive way.”[11] There is light in dark situations however a change must be made in order to find this light which is reinforced by the low angle shot of the church juxtaposed with his lyrics, ‘Lucifer was all around me.’ This low angle shot reveals the height of the church, the importance of religion to Lamar and also “reveals the primary ethical and semantic influence of the Bible on new world black cultures."[12] In this case perhaps the 'evils of Lucy,' which is a line repeated several times through ‘TPAB’, are the police force. The devil is a mythological figure yet the evils of him are everywhere; this could relate to the idea of the corrupt law enforcement within the postmodern society, which Lamar is implicitly addressing through stylistic devices.

Furthermore, there are connotations of police officers as societal princes and in terms of status are of a higher authority, thus the fact that they are carrying Lamar's car may heighten the extent of Lamar's reign of authority. This links to Gramsci's idea of “hegemony”[13] as the law enforcement are positioned at a high status yet subvert the stereotype through the corruption of their leadership. Alternatively, this could represent the theme of police brutality and the historical context of slavery as there is a contrast between the white officers and the black males, revealing the paradox within the history of slavery; this also relates to Frantz Fanon's idea of “Black Skin, White Masks”[14] and how Lamar may in fact be trying to appropriate and imitate the culture of the coloniser through this flip of roles. The car could perhaps symbolise a coffin as there are four males carrying the car like a coffin therefore implicitly suggesting the effects of police brutality and how the law enforcement, who are supposed to be the heroes, in terms of Propp’s “stock characters”[15], are the ones leading these men to their deaths. This is further reinforced by the officer holding the car being the same one who shoots Lamar at the end of the video, suggesting that this image foreshadows police brutality. Lamar also raps using the semantic field of death, ‘R.I.P’ and ‘write another eulogy’, perhaps Lamar is simply trying to compete with other rap artists here or maybe this semantic field is used in relation to the police officers holding the car as these are the ones essentially guiding black men to their death. Artists convey their thoughts on this explicitly; Cole voices his opinion on the 2014 Michael Brown case in his single ‘Be Free,’ and he’s “tired of being desensitised to the murder of black men.”[16] The media have essentially created a norm out of the murders, “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,"[17] thus the idea of inoculation is present. Therefore through the works of conscious hip-hop artists such as Cole and Lamar, universal audiences are positively impacted by their music through both sympathising and empathising with the lyrics.

Lamar also adopts a nostalgic tone within the extended video and references influential artists such as Tupac and Eazy E, who were similarly socially and politically charged; this emphasises the zeitgeist and rebirths traditional political hip-hop to impact contemporary audiences. Following the title of the video the song initiates with silence, which forces the audience to simply marvel at the mise-en-scene. Four black males are within the car that Lamar is driving, all of which belong to the independent record label ‘Top Dawg Entertainment’; the shot pans from the passenger seat round to the front of the car to Lamar, whilst doing so we see the TDE logo as a sticker on the front window; beneath this there is a ‘STD's F*** YOU!’ sticker, perhaps in relation to Eazy E and how he died of aids. This subtle iconography may be embodying the nostalgia that Lamar and Co are going through as they may be 'taking a trip down memory lane' here. To further reinforce this idea, Lamar says, ‘R.I.P Pac Doe,’ this post-production sound is almost like a backing echo and a pastiche of Tupac. This is further emphasised when Lamar conveys his personal ideologies in a 2015 YouTube video; “when are we gon’ understand that we are put on earth to love, that’s all it’s about. Everyone wanna figure out how complicated life is and break it down […] it’s gon’ keep going on. War gon’ keep going on, frustration gon’ keep going on, anger gon’ keep going on until we go back to this one word.. love.”[18] Lamar almost mirrors Tupac who believed that “everything wasn’t meant to be analysed,”[19] life should be simpler than it is now and he believes that adults are the ones to complicate the world. It almost becomes a memorial and a commendation of the rap legends as he recites 'on my dead homies,' he mirrors Tupac through the idea of the “ghetto lullaby”[20] which could be in relation to Tupac's ‘Ghetto Gospel’ and could emphasise the mirroring of both 'Alright' and 'Ghetto Gospel' through the idea that both are an outcry to end the war on the streets; the racial discrimination and dichotomy in society. Tricia Rose believes “if the late Tupac Shakur were a newly signed artist today, [she believes] he’d likely be considered a socially conscious rapper and thus relegated to the margins of the commercial hip-hop field.”[21]  

Artists today are producing music that meets societal expectations, however Lamar arguably subverts this as he socially comments through his music on a similar level to Tupac, or perhaps even further. At the beginning of the video “Cartoon and Cereal”[22] is played over the rioting of black youths, portraying very defiant behaviour. Lamar recites, ‘making myself realise what my foundation was,’ before the introduction of the hook of 'Cartoon and Cereal' initiates; here this may relate to the idea that this song was the foundation for his first major studio-debut album ‘Good Kid, M.A.A.D City,’ however this failed to appear on his debut. The theme of this song relates to Karl Marx's idea of the “Opiate of the Masses,”[23] as the idea of sugar and cheap entertainment is something that consumes our society and an audience lets them enslave their mind. This 'opium,' and this idea of being a slave to the media relates to societal issues as Lamar is attempting to reveal the issues within society through his video, 'Alright.' It almost bases its idea around Stanley Cohen’s “Moral Panics”[24] as the media is effectively providing audiences with the view that all black people are defiant; however the power of the mass media has created this problematic state, through the idea of the ‘Hypodermic Needle Model’ and how the media constructs the image of the “decivilised black man.”[25] Literary texts such as Toni Morrison’s Beloved convey similar themes such as slavery – the novel is fragmented into 3 parts highlighting the cycle of slavery; “this is not a story to pass on”[26] and one that cannot be repeated but can never be forgotten, like the character of ‘Beloved’ herself, thus the historical commentary within Lamar’s music, addressing the issues of slavery and “the emancipation of a real n****,”[27] highlights the importance of remembrance. New and digital media also offers the cultivation of the hip-hop genre as “the Internet provides copious sites across the map where one can travel to diverse international hip-hop scenes at the click of a computer mouse in the comfort of one's own home.”[28] This highlights the significance of hip-hop music and the intertextuality with other music emphasising the zeitgeist and how Lamar is an artist who can successfully comment through his music, providing a positive influence for audiences.

Following on from this idea of the ‘zeitgeist,’ Public Enemy’s “Fight The Power”[29] music video perfectly demonstrates social and political commentary through their lyrics; their style being somewhat different from Lamar yet conveying the similar message, audiences are therefore able to become impacted by the themes explored within the video, such as racial discrimination. “Public Enemy undoubtedly pushed political hip-hop to a new level. Their intense, in-your-face rhymes promoted a historical revival amongst black youth previously separated from prior cultural developments and struggles of the past.”[30] Chuck D voices that “once [he] realised that [he’s] a voice that people listen to, [he] realised [he] had to fill [his] voice with something of substance”[31] and his “goal [was] to be used as a viaduct, as a dispatcher of information,”[32] proving their ideologies to provide a positive influence upon audiences. Therefore “we decided that rappers like Chuck D and Tupac had the preapproved pedigree to offer criticism and insight; they’d earned a certain amount of cultural real estate, in that regard, because they’d always embraced commentary in their music.”[33] Like 'Alright,' African Americans are being presented in both music videos. The video begins with a news-type clip about the 1963 march on Washington. This provides the video with verisimilitude and emphasises the political commentary that Public Enemy embodied, the extract also finishes with 'The End' almost like a traditional cartoon would. This may therefore represent the irony of the situation and reveals Public Enemy's ideologies as they believe that this march did not change anything as African Americans are still being discriminated, therefore could represent the negative aspect of the situation. The zeitgeist is clear to notice here as this 1989 text embodies the idea of hip-hop being a political platform for artists to express themselves, which Lamar explores in his own work. The use of the Jazz beats at the end of 'Fight the Power' is also mirrored throughout the whole of Lamar's album ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’ and this referral back to the roots of hip-hop, through these Jazz beats, reflects the political commentary within hip-hop music today and how artists are more socially able to explore political themes. Chuck D raps, "our freedom of speech is freedom or death,"[34] the original slogan was of Revolutionary-era France, "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, or Death,"[35] which dates back to the 18th century, highlighting the historical impact upon artists. The difference between the way that Public Enemy express themselves and Lamar does is the main focus on love of everyone; Lamar's ideologies revolve around the idea of God and love of everything, whilst Public Enemy were against cultural appropriation as they had radical views on Jews, women and gays, which jaded their message.

There are arguments to suggest that not all hip-hop music has positive effects on audiences. Through the glamorisation of the “rich, luxurious lifestyle”[36] that Dyer highlights, artists become mere slaves to the industry; however artists like Lamar who belongs to an independent record label, comments on the negative effects of institutionalisation and how fruitless artists are merely corrupted by the idea of capitalism. “When America desegregated, the music business itself remained one of the most segregated industries in the country;”[37] the music industry is the controller of artists who "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.”[38] Mainstream artists fall victim to the fame and believe they have to commodify to the stereotypes of rap and hip-hop therefore are dominated by the institution as they believe “the only way to blow up and become megastars is by presenting themselves in a negative light,”[39] linking to the Marxist idea of alienation as the artists are no longer responsible for their music. The underground rapper, Immortal Technique, highlights “the opposition between the major label ‘super powers of the industry’ and the ‘underground third world of the street.’”[40] It is believed that “corporate capitalism, aided by neoliberal deregulation and privatization, have stolen the culture, sterilized its content, and reformatted its image to reflect the dominant ideology. Independent, political rap containing valuable social commentary has been replaced with shallow, corporate images of thugs, drugs, and racial and gender prejudices filled with both implicitly and explicitly hegemonic undertones and socially constructed stereotypes,”[41] reinforcing Fanon’s idea of the ‘decivilised black man.’ But the bricolage of hip-hop has changed significantly with artists providing a positive impact on audiences; Lamar’s song ‘i’ has been used in the “Find Your Words Campaign,”[42] focusing on mental health and depression. Eminem also portrays his struggles of penetrating into the hip-hop scene and this is evident within ‘8 Mile.’ Rappers have become a slave to the industry and those that have not become consumed have been able to become insightful. J Cole’s album ‘4 Your Eyez Only,’ “channels ‘Be Free’, finding a new niche and renewed purpose as a mouthpiece for black frustrations, throwing himself headfirst into rap activism,”[43] whilst Ab-Souls’ ‘Do What Thou Wilt’ album portrays political commentary, basing itself around the law of Themela. Although most mainstream hip-hop artists are consumed by the fame and fortune, conscious rap activists such as Lamar, Cole and Ab-Soul are able to provide audiences with positive political commentary, enabling an audience to become enlightened by the lyricism within their artwork.

Artists who are able to socially and politically comment through their music axiomatically receive controversy and Lamar is no exception to this; however the bricolage associated with the genre is formed from media representations and the definitive ‘binary opposition’ of the black man that is seen throughout the media industry; the good and the bad. Most predominantly, within journalism two black men are constructed and “for every threatening image of the black subject as a marauding narrative, menacing savage or rebellious slave, there is a comforting image of the black as a double servant, amusing clown and happy entertainer,”[44] linking to two of Alvarado’s representations – ‘humour’ and ‘danger.’ It is also interesting to note that “black success stories do not counterbalance images of black deviance [...] In many instances Black superstars are not perceived in terms of their blackness”[45] they essentially “become colourless, while those blacks who conform to the criminal stereotype remain ‘black.’”[46] However it could also be argued that the media cannot be blamed for the stereotypes as “we do not come to the experience of mass media and popular culture as blank slates waiting to be written upon or voids waiting to be filled,”[47] but undoubtedly audiences are influenced by the images reflected, creating ‘Moral Panics.’ Unjustifiably, “rap music also glorifies drinking, and sex. Two things which happen to be a major problem among many children today,”[48] and David Cameron also voices his opinion, posing a question to Radio 1,”do you realise that some of the stuff that you play on Saturday nights encourages people to carry guns and knives?”[49] These are clearly ignorant assumptions of hip-hop music being an advocate of violence as there are no statistics to provide evidence for this, according to ONS figures “teenage pregnancies continue to fall,”[50] therefore the correlation is non-existent. FOX news hold very conservative ideologies and Lamar’s BET awards performance caused a great deal of controversy through his performance atop of a police car; Geraldo Rivera comments on this by voicing, "this is why I say hip-hop has done more damage to young African-Americans than racism."[51] This is a perfect example of the “Reception Theory”[52] as the audience failed to correctly decode the message and this has been considered as an oppositional reading, highlighting the inability to accept the issues within society. Lamar then counteracts Rivera’s comments by passionately saying "how can you take a song about hope and turn it into hatred."[53] Audiences are therefore able to understand the positive message that Lamar is portraying through his music and how he is attempting to provide positive social and political commentary through his music to impact an audience in a beneficial way.

Undoubtedly, Kendrick Lamar is a rap activist, a conscious rapper and one that influences audiences substantially. Surely, if Lamar’s commentary had a negative impact upon audiences he would not have inspired a college course in Georgia, where the teacher of the class realises that “hip-hop is about immediate feedback to the world people observe around them;”[54] he also would not have impacted upon the former president of the United States, Barack Obama, to believe “his lyrics are outstanding, his last album was outstanding, best album of the year;”[55] he would also not be part of “The National Mentoring Partnership”[56] or the “Find Your Words Campaign.”[57] These are not the actions of an artist that provides a negative impact upon audiences and therefore highlights the importance of the genre as something more than just music but as an art form that has healing powers, impacting audiences through social and political commentary. "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"[58] emphasising the significance of hip-hop music as a genre whose varied artistic qualities provide a positive impact upon audiences.




Bibliography
Works Cited

Books
Alvarado, M., Gutch, R., & Wollen, T. (1987). Learning the media: an introduction to media teaching. Basingstoke: Macmillan Education.
Blumler, J. G., & Katz, E. (1974). The Uses of mass communications: current perspectives on gratifications research. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.
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
Cohen, S. (2002). Folk devils and moral panics: the creation of the Mods and Rockers. London: Routledge.
Dyer, G. (1982). Advertising as communication. London: Routledge.
Dyson, M. E. (2004). The Michael Eric Dyson reader. New York: Basic Civitas Books.
Fanon, F. (1967). Black skin, white masks. New York: Grove Press.
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Gramsci, A., Hoare, Q., & Nowell-Smith, G. (1972). Selections from the prison notebooks of Antonio Gramsci. New York: International .
Hall, S., Evans, J., & Nixon, S. (2013). Representation. London: Sage.
Lévi-Strauss, C. (1969). The raw and the cooked. New York: Harper & Row.
Marx. K. (1843). Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right. Manuscript, Französische Jahrbücher.
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Morrison, T. (1987). Beloved. United States. Alfred Knopf.
Osumare, H. (2007). The Africanist aesthetic in global hip-hop: Power moves. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Propp, V. I. (1968). Morphology of the folktale. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Rome, D. (2004). Black demons: The media's depiction of the African American male criminal stereotype. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Rose, T. (2008). The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop--and Why It Matters. Basic Civitas Books.
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Magazines
Aidoo. D. Media Magazine 45. 

Moving Image Texts
Hanson, C. (Director). (2002). 8 Mile. USA. 
HisLifeAsTupac. (1988). Tupac Interview at 17 years old, 1988. Retrieved December 17, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u19HmKx69GE&t=1050s#
Kaiser Permanente Thrive. (2016). Find Your Words. Retrieved 06, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfJBXNzQjS4
Kendrick Vs Pac. (2015). Kendrick Lamar Discusses Tupac. Retrieved December 15, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpoeDYNHEUw
MTV. (2015). Kendrick Lamar talks about u, Depression, and Suicidal Thoughts. Retrieved December 09, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu4Pz9PjolI
Pal Tube. (2016). Drake or Kendrick? Obama quizzed on rap battles, Star Wars. Retrieved December 06, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce1ZdSl2lcw
TMZ. (2015). Kendrick Lamar -- Geraldo's Twisting My Message ... I'm Preaching Hope, Not Violence. Retrieved December 06, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh2aG57JrEc

Track List
Ab-Soul. (2016). Do What Thou Wilt. TopDawgEntertainment. Studio Album.
J Cole. (2016). 4 Your Eyez Only. Dreamville, Roc Nation, Interscope Records. Studio Album.
J Cole. (2014). Be Free. Dreamville, Interscope Records.
Kendrick Lamar. (2015). Alright. TopDawgEntertainment, Aftermath, Interscope Records. Track 7 in studio album, To Pimp A Butterfly.
Kendrick Lamar. (2015). i. TopDawgEntertainment, Aftermath, Interscope Records. Track 15 in studio album, To Pimp A Butterfly.
Kendrick Lamar. (2015). Mortal Man. TopDawgEntertainment, Aftermath, Interscope Records. Track 16 in studio album, To Pimp A Butterfly.
Kendrick Lamar. (2015). The Blacker the Berry. TopDawgEntertainment, Aftermath, Interscope Records. Track 13 in studio album, To Pimp A Butterfly.
Kendrick Lamar. (2015). To Pimp A Butterfly. TopDawgEntertainment, Aftermath, Interscope Records. Studio Album.
Kendrick Lamar. (2015). U. TopDawgEntertainment, Aftermath, Interscope Records. Track 6 in studio album, To Pimp A Butterfly.
Kendrick Lamar. (2012). Cartoon and Cereal. TopDawgEntertainment, Aftermath, Interscope Records.
Kendrick Lamar. (2012). Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City. TopDawgEntertainment, Aftermath, Interscope Records. Studio Album.
Public Enemy. (1989). Fight The Power. Motown Records.
Tupac. (2005). Ghetto Gospel. Amaru Entertainment, Interscope Records. Track 4 in studio album, Loyal to the Game.

Online
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/
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BBC News. (2006). Cameron attacks Radio 1's hip-hop. Retrieved December 06, 2016, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5055724.stm
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/
Four Freedoms: Preparing for War, Envisioning Peace 1939 – 1941. Retrieved January 01, 2017, from http://fdr4freedoms.org/four-freedoms/
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/
Ide, D. (2013). How Capitalism Undeveloped Hip Hop: A People’s History of Political Rap. Retrieved December 04, 2016, from http://www.hamptoninstitution.org/capitalismhiphoppartone.html#.WGtsxLKLQdU
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/
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
Pidd, H. (2016). Thousands attend Black Lives Matter solidarity march in Manchester. Retrieved January 01, 2017, from https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/11/black-lives-matter-solidarity-march-protest-manchester
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
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



Works Consulted

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.
Dates, J., Barlow, W. (1993). Split Image: African Americans in the Mass Media. Howard University Press
Lee, H. (1960). To Kill A Mockingbird. United States. J. B. Lippincott & Co
Rose, T. (1994). Black noise: Rap music and black culture in contemporary America. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England.
Terkourafi, M. (2010). The Languages of Global Hip-hop (Advances in Sociolinguistics). Continuum International Publishing Group.

Journals
Korom. A, Y. (2006). Black Filmmaker.
Leigh, D. (2004). Sight & Sound.
Smith, S. L. (2002). Journal of Communication.

Magazines
Dyas. P. Media Magazine 42.

Moving Image Texts
Ab-Soul. (2016). Huey Knew. TopDawgEntertainment. Retrieved December 06, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS1P75OPnRE
Clique. (2015). Kendrick Lamar – How to Clique a Butterfly. Retrieved December 01, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yndiXwJ5yEM&t=732s
Gray. G, F. (Director). (2015). Straight Outta Compton. USA.
Green Hits Production. (2014). Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap. Retrieved 01, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz8yg06xiJs&t=1069s

Track List
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, Omen. (2015). Caged Bird. Dreamville, Interscope Records. Track 4 in studio album, Revenge of the Dreamers II.
Kendrick Lamar. (2012). Swimming Pools. TopDawgEntertainment, Aftermath, Interscope Records. Track 9 in studio album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City.
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
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/
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
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
Mize, C. (2015). History of Rap - The True Origins of Rap Music. Retrieved December 04, 2016, from http://colemizestudios.com/how-did-rap-start/
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/






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[3] Dyson, M. E. (2004). p. 403.
[4] Osumare, H. (2007). p. 173.
[5] Gilroy, P. (1991). p. 305.
[6] Pidd. H. (2016). https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/11/black-lives-matter-solidarity-march-protest-manchester.
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[15] Propp, V. I. (1968). p. 46.
[16] J Cole. Dreamville Website. http://dreamville.com/?s=+tired+of+being+desensitised+to+the+murder+of+black+men.
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[18] Kendrick Vs Pac. (2015). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpoeDYNHEUw.
[19] HisLifeAsTupac. (1988). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u19HmKx69GE&t=1050s.
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[22] Kendrick Lamar. (2012). Cartoon and Cereal.
[23] Marx. K. (1843). p. 7.
[24] Cohen, S. (2002). p. 7.
[25] Fanon, F. (1967). p. 3.
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[28] Osumare, H. (2007). p. 173.
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[30] Ide. D. (2013). http://www.hamptoninstitution.org/capitalismhiphoppartone.html#.WFMRRvmLTIU.
[31] Chuck, D., Jah, Y. (1998). p. 5.
[32] ibid.
[33] Williams, S. (2016). 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.
[34] Public Enemy. (1990). Fight The Power.
[35] Four Freedoms. (1939-1941). http://fdr4freedoms.org/four-freedoms/.
[36] Dyer, G. (1982). p. 73.
[37] Charnas, D. (2010). p. 11.
[38] Mcleod, K. (2005). p. 28.
[39] Chuck, D., Jay, Y. (1998). p. 3.
[40] Ide, D. (2013). http://www.hamptoninstitution.org/capitalismhiphoppartone.html#.WFMelvmLTIU.
[41] ibid.
[42] Kaiser Permanente Thrive. (2016). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfJBXNzQjS4.
[43] Pearce, S. (2016). https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/dec/10/j-cole-4-your-eyez-only-review-unsparing-unflinching-raptivism.
[44] Hall, S., Evans, J., & Nixon, S. (2013). p. n/a.
[45] Russel, K. (1999). p. 4.
[46] ibid.
[47] Rome, D. (2005). X, Series Forward.
[48] Davey, D. (2006). http://hiphopandpolitics.com/2006/08/23/is-rap-actually-music-or-is-it-a-bad-influence/.
[49] BBC News. (2006). http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5055724.stm.
[50] BBC Health. (2016). http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-35761826.
[51] Geslani, M. (2015). http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/06/fox-news-says-kendrick-lamar-has-done-more-damage-to-young-african-americans-than-racism/.
[52] Hall, S., Evans, J., & Nixon, S. (2013). p. n/a.
[53] TMZ. (2015). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh2aG57JrEc.
[54] Jones, J. (2014). http://college.usatoday.com/2014/09/01/georgia-students-study-kendrick-lamar-for-class/.
[55] Pal Tube. (2016). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce1ZdSl2lcw.
[56] Platon, A. (2016). http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/magazine-feature/6866105/kendrick-lamar-meeting-president-obama.
[57] Kaiser Permanente Thrive. (2016). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfJBXNzQjS4
[58] Radowitz, J. V., Webb, S. (2015). http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/hip-hop-most-important-genre-5642569.