Are rappers showing remorse through their lyrics?
Driving to work listening to “the people’s station,” V-103, I couldn’t help but notice a subtle, yet surprising trend in the music I was listening to: It was substance.
In between R-Kelly’s latest musical anecdote of stealing your girl while your head is turned, and the latest, uninspired club banger, composed of little more than a catch phrase, a snare drum, and several references to some gaudy, or ridiculous purchase, I heard music that expressed concern about the state of black America, particularly the youths of black America.
In Jay-Z’s new hit “30 Something,” he slyly attacks the social ills he believes are keeping many black youths from getting their piece of the rock: apathy, ignorance of the world outside of America, and bad financial decisions.
At the very beginning of the song, Jay-Z announces, “You ain’t got enough stamps in your passport to [explicative] with H-O…international.” Translated in metro Atlanta terms, he is telling folks to get out of the 285 loop and see what the world has to offer.
He goes on to say, “I’m young enough to know the right car to buy, yet grown enough not to put rims on it,” and “I don’t got the bright watch, I got the right watch, I don’t buy out the bar, I bought the night spot.”
In his own way, he is telling black youths to buy things that appreciate, such as real estate, instead of wasting money on things, such as rims, shiny watches, and alcohol. The hook even includes a reference to “good credit and such.”
Andre 3000 attacks the 5X white tee (plus-sized T-shirt) that has become so popular with black youths in recent years in the new remix to DJ UNK’s “Walk it Out.” Andre says “your white tee to me looks like a nightgown; make your mama proud and take that thing two sizes down.”
He goes on to say, “then you’ll look like the man that you are, or what you could be.”
Get a passport? Wear shirts and pants that fit? Have good credit? These lyrics are a 180-degree turn from earlier commands, such as “smoke weed everyday,” “drop it like it’s hot,” and “ride on spinners.” What’s with the change of heart (and lyrics)?
Frank Ski, one of the hosts of V-103’s “Frank and Wanda in the Morning” radio show, recently took calls from people who expressed their opinions on CNN anchor Paula Zahn’s recent report, titled “Hip-Hop: Art or Poison.”
Many callers said that hip-hop was, indeed, poisoning our society, but Frank Ski made the argument that hip-hop’s lyrics change when the tastes of the people change.
Rap lyrics are changing, but, is it because the public is demanding rap that will inspire it, or is it because the artists have seen the monster they helped create and are attempting to repent?
Whatever the reason, there appears to be a tinge of remorse in many of the rap lyrics of the day.
Perhaps the most remorseful lyrics to come out of rap in recent time is Lil’ Wayne’s 16 bars from Outkast’s song “Hollywood Divorce,” from the soundtrack of the movie “Idlewild.” In the song, Lil’ Wayne, the artist who coined the term “bling, bling,” laments over the term’s use and the importance people have given it in today’s society.
“Your grill’s glistenin’…spent a hundred thousand on mine to feel different..what’s the real sense of it?” Lil’ Wayne said.