That's A Rap

Buffy Sainte-Marie, we miss you!

On page A-2 of my local daily newspaper (The Minot Daily News), I read a short news piece in the section “The Nation at a Glance”. The article told about a 14-year-old student in Pittsburgh, PA who was expelled from school due to rap lyrics that he had wrote.

The lyrics are as follows:

So watch what you say about me, I’m everywhere son/ And the word of mouth is that I’m carrying guns/ Now that I’m comin’ for you – what the [expletive] you gonna do/ I come double with the pump tons of slugs that will punish you

A future Grammy winner in the making? Perhaps. The student was expelled on counts of “terroristic threats and harassment.” However, because school officials failed to take immediate steps to investigate the music, such as searching the student's locker or contacting his parents, the case was weakened, and the student was re-admitted to the Riverside Beaver County School District.

If you could punish on words alone without looking at context, you could wipe out the entertainment industry – and especially rap music.” said Witold ‘Vic’ Walczak, the Pennsylvania legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Well, of course! And that could be a good thing. Without violent lyrics such as what passes as music in mainstream twenty-first century, I’m sure that life could be a better place for sure.

Urban life has become more violent over the past ten years. While I can not put the blame of all of society’s ills (i.e. gang violence, et al) on rap music – particularly with the advent of “gangsta rap”, you must admit that it does persevere as an aggressor.

Rap artists nowadays are glorified. Put on pedestals, even. Turn on MTV and there they are. Turn on the news – and there they are.

Gun possession, murder charges, etc...they're all badges of honor for our up and coming rap stars. It's just fodder for future "songs" which will guarantee millions. DMX, Lil’ Jon, Lil’ Kim, the Ying Yang Twins, Snoop Dogg, and Ice-whatever. And of course, who could forget the loveable 50 Cent. I can’t keep up; it seems every week, there is a new breed of rap artists with lyrics more degrading and disgusting than the last.

For example:

I'm like the Dow Jones of rap, my stocks is high/And it never was all of, so stop the lies/

Mothafu**as'll blow your brains out, and watch you bleed/The same ni**az that you trust, let 'em watch your seed/You got a dead ni**az, money don't stop the greed/ That's why now I gotta rock my vest, pop my 3/And whoever die first, may god forgive/ the ni**a who lives, sometimes you gotta handle your biz/

That little gem, ladies and gentlemen, is just part of DMX’s 'anthem' “Kiss Of Death”. A far cry from The Partridge Family, right?

And, as the news dictates, we see that rap artists are not the best candidates for role models, but somehow, today’s urban youth strive to emulate these fallen heroes. Gun-shy Dad isn’t cool, but 50 Cent is. Today’s musicians are a far cry from Buffy St. Marie and “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee”.

And speaking of dear old dad, the father of the 14-year-old boy who was almost expelled from school due to the rap lyrics he wrote – Pittsburgh’s answer to Eminem – supports his son’s rap aspirations. “My grandparents didn’t like Elvis, and my parents didn’t like Pink Floyd. Rap isn’t my taste in music, [but the boy's] mother and I support his passion for it.”, John Latour told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Ah, John, but those three styles of music are completely different. Rock and roll and progressive rock are on the other side of the spectrum when compared to our youth’s gangsta rap. As far as I can remember, Elvis and Pink Floyd weren’t brainwashing our children to go out and murder for profit.

The parents of our nation’s youth should be warned. Rap music isn’t just for teenagers and twenty-somethings anymore. One day, my five-year-old nephew was listening to music on his Discman. I wasn’t sure what he was listening to until I stopped to hear what he was singing. It was Eminem. I remember back in high school when Eminem was the new kid on the block, the guy that critics and parents loved to hate because of his misogynistic, discriminatory lyrics. ("Slut, you think I won't choke no whore/til the vocal cords don't work in her throat no more?!/…Put your hands down bi*ch, I ain't gon' shoot you/I'ma pull +YOU+ to this bullet, and put it through you"). Need I go on?

At five years old, music wasn’t my thing. I did watch MTV, but mostly for the game shows (Does anyone remember “Remote Control?”). Plus, when I was younger, music wasn’t that threatening. Frankie told the public to relax, The Bangles just wanted us to walk like an Egyptian, and Michael Jackson was curious about Billie Jean.

Now, instead of relaxing (RIP Frankie Goes To Hollywood), we're looking over our shoulders, wondering when and where the next bullet will hit us. (Welcome, Eminem).

Bulletproof vests, anyone?