Free Choice - Ill Bill Analysis

Ill Bill is considered a lyrical mastermind in the underground world of hip-hop. With songs such as “My Uncle” that tell a beautiful story while remaining lyrically stunning, he will always be remembered as one of the true legends of hip-hop.

This song specifically was dedicated to Ill Bill’s uncle, as is made apparent by the title, but he wrote it so that his uncle would realize that his heroin addiction is something that couldn’t continue. Unfortunately, the message didn’t get through to him, but stuck in the heads of thousands of dedicated fans who share similar struggles with family, friends, or even themselves.  His uncle died a few years ago but was an icon to all Ill Bill fans alike. 

The music video is visually stunning as the animation matches the lyrics perfectly. The song remains intelligent while exploring the life and struggles of Ill Bill’s drug circle. The tone can be best described as grimy but at the same time elegant. His voice is so rough, but behind such an elegant beat it creates a perfect synergy for the listener.  

Hip-hop tracks like this will always trump mainstream radio-friendly artists simply because they impact the listener far greater and influence them in a more positive way. Entire songs about guns, women, and partying are virtually extinct in the underground realm and should remain that way for the future of hip-hop. Ill Bill is one of the few artists left who can consistently mesmerize the listener with his raw talent, and luckily for us he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. 

Tupac Shakur

http://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/14/arts/tupac-shakur-25-rap-performer-who-personified-violence-dies.html

This is an article written by Jon Pareles of The New York Times the day after Tupac Shakur's death. Pareles believed Tupac personified violence until his death on September 13, 1996. He claims that Tupac was a “contradictory figure, with a career featuring million-selling albums, gunshot wounds, and run-ins with the police”. Pareles uses Tupac's lyrics, quotes and history to build on an argument that he was a man that tried to exemplify both the positives and negatives of his “gangster” life.

Jon Pareles is totally unbiased as he makes his point that Tupac “glamorized the life of a 'player'” and how he “portrayed portrayed the gangster life as a desperate, self-destructuve existence of fear and sudden death”. I totally agree with these stements because when listening to his music you don't just get the feel that Tupac is only embracing the life that he lives but also trying to get away from the life in other songs.

I think the most important part of this article is when he quoted Tupac saying “children should be told that 'because I'm talking about it doesn't mean it's O.K.'”. I think that this is a strong message from Tupac and by the author for mentioning it. Tupac have been the personification of violence but the children or anyone listening to his music do not have to act on his music. But the worse part of this is that some people do act on his music that he might not have wanted to be known for. Some people forget that he was “this wonderful, charming, bright, talented, funny person that no one is going to get to know; they are just going to know this side”.

A Hip-hop Mashup

Comparing Hip-hop Genres -- CLICK FOR VIDEO

This is a mash-up I made featuring a few of the different styles of hip-hop. I cover underground, old school, and modern rap to show the wide spectrum of styles available to us today, and I’ll leave it to the viewer to decide which sounds the best with my own opinions inserted for criticism.

I am a very strong critique of Lil’ Wayne, mainly because he is undoubtedly the most popular rapper today, but more interestingly because he reached such a status without having any recognizable talent that sets himself apart from the rest of his competition. He doesn't write his own music, he can’t keep up with the flow of most of his songs, and the rhymes and punch-lines in most of his music are mediocre at best when compared to other artists who really care passionately about the music, and not only the fame and recognition it brings; proof lies in the video.

I’ll leave the criticism of modern rap there for now, and I wanted to also comment on the actual progression and change that hip-hop has exhibited. We still have amazing talent to listen to in the industry, and this is made evident with the insane lyrical power of artists such as Blackalicious and Celph Titled. While these are only two artists who challenge mainstream rap and continue to focus heavily on the writing and lyrics that go behind a song, underground rap in my experience has a better reception in regards to producing a higher quality of rhetoric by the artists. No one can tell me that the artists who are pouring their souls into creating their music can be matched by someone who does it strictly for money.

Undoubtedly, artists such as Tupac who started the hip-hop trend, as well as dedicated underground hip-hop artists, leave more of an impact on the listener because they are on a completely different level of production than what we hear today in the radio.

Reaction to Nas - I can

Nas nearly always captures so many people in awe with his insightful music, but when "I can" came out, it was revolutionary in terms of positive influence for youth. The song focuses on the idea that anyone can achieve what they want as long as they work hard for it. He delves into the negative influences on children today, and makes it the entire goal of the song to urge kids to not fall for the lies and manipulations of reality. The chorus can best summarize the song: "I know I can... be what I wanna be... if I work hard at it... I'll be where I wanna be". Kids who strictly listen to hip-hop need this message more than anything because of the many negative, and somewhat cheap, concepts that songs usually convey.

This song makes me feel extremely proud of Nas, that he can make songs like this and still have such a powerful standing in hip-hop today. If we're being honest, positive messages are not exactly what hip-hop has been built on, which is a bit sad. The direction Nas takes in this song should be one that every artist needs to consider, for the future of the youth who absolutely need positive role models in their lives. The idea of success by working hard and never giving up that Nas is communicating is certainly respectable to say the least. In the music video, he is surrounded by many young kids who symbolize the future. Looking at the kids surrounding Nas in the video elicits so many emotions because while they are so young, it makes the viewer wonder where they will be when they are adults. 

Especially at such a young age, kids need to feel that they have the ability to do whatever they want when they truly apply themselves. With this generation becoming evermore clung on partying, drugs, being lazy, and using "you only live once" as the scapegoat for their detour on the path to reach success, it is reassuring to know that there are kids who listen to Nas and really do hope for a more positive future that involves determination and hard work to secure a fantastic future. 

I Used To Love H.E.R.

“I met this girl when I was ten years old, and what I loved most, she had so much soul”. In “I Used To Love H.E.R.”, Common describes a girl he met as a kid in Chicago. He describes how over time, she and her beliefs changed. In the first verse he describes how she and Common got to know each other. He would imagine being with her and he would listen to her whenever she was around him. In the second verse he describes how she became Afrocentric and began to praise non-violence. “Out goes the weave, in goes the braids, beads, medallions. She was on that tip about, stoppin' the violence.” Her personality changed, her appearance changed, and her home changed. She moved to the “West Coast”. She dumped Afrocentricity and non-violence and began to just have fun, and that was one thing Common still liked about her. In the third verse he describes how she changes for the worst. “Talking about poppin' glocks, servin' rocks and hittin' switches, now she's a gangsta rollin' with gangsta bitches.” She turned into a “gangsta”. Whenever she visited Chicago, she would only talk and about guns, drugs and drinking. He begins to reminisce about how he knew her before she changed. How she was the realest person to him and how he wants her to become what she once was.

By the end of the song, we know that he was not talking about a woman. She was a metaphor for Hip-Hop. How Hip-Hop changed over time. How it went from being soulful and Afrocentric to gangster. This song criticizes Hip-Hop in the “West Coast” by implicitly claiming that they ruined it with their creation of “Gangster Rap” and its rapid change to commercialization. H.E.R. is an acronym for Hearing Every Rhyme. Common believes that Hip-Hop had changed so drastically during the 80s and 90s that the conscious Hip-Hop of his youth was gone. Even though I believe this song was made to criticize the reason for the downward spiral of Hip-Hop, it is still a small history lesson in one of the best songs of the genre.