4 ms·

That's an exception. Rap music is very prevalent in today's society, and almost all of the subject matter deals with rape, killing, and selling drugs. You basic

That's an exception. Rap music is very prevalent in today's society, and almost all of the subject matter deals with rape, killing, and selling drugs. You basically had to go back to the '90s to find an example.

danso 7y ago
I did not have to go back to the 90s to find just this example; I picked it because it was a critique by a sitting U.S. president, something that is quite rare and notable in any era. Critiques of rap music have been a not uncommon phenomenon in the years since: John McWhorter in 2003: https://www.city-journal.org/html/how-hip-hop-holds-blacks-back-12442.html https://www.city-journal.org/html/how-hip-hop-holds-blacks-b... USA Today; "It's 2014, so why are Eminem's violent lyrics still OK?" https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2014/11/25/eminem-shady-xv-misogyny-violence/19444645/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2014/11/25/eminem-... Trump attacking Jay-Z on the campaign trail in 2016: https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/29/politics/trump-jay-z-hillary-clinton/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/29/politics/trump-jay-z-hillary-... Eminem being called out in 2018 for using homophobic slurs: https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/8473186/eminem-homphobic-slurs-accountable https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/8473186/eminem... Wynton Marsalis in 2018: https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-conservative-war-on-hip-hop-white-scapegoating-and-black-respectability https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-conservative-war-on-hip-ho... It's ironic (or actually, fitting) that you claim "I had to go back to the 90s" to find an example, because your perception of rap music seems to be stuck in the 90s, back when it faced peak critique and backlash. That we see less such critique today does not indicate that rap music has gotten a pass, but rather, that rap music has softened since what you perceived it to be in the 90s. The most recent Billboard listing is paywalled, so I'll link to the 2018 year-end here: https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/hot-rap-songs https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/hot-rap-songs: https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2018/hot-rap-songs https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2018/hot-rap-songs The top 5 songs are: 1. "God's Plan" by Drake 2. "I Like It" by Cardi B and others 3. "In My Feelings" by Drake 4. "Psycho" by Post Malone 5. "Nice For What" by Drake I don't know all of the top rap songs in 2018, but I'm pretty comfortable asserting that the majority (nevermind "almost all") do not deal with "rape, killing, and selling drugs". I linked above to this Eminem story, but it's worth re-mentioning here: Eminem's peak work had extremely controversial lyrics; today, he's ripped for being lukewarm and for using the f-----t word, which was definitely not as verboten as back in the 90s and early 2000s: https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/8473186/eminem-homphobic-slurs-accountable https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/8473186/eminem...

danso 7y ago

I did not have to go back to the 90s to find just this example; I picked it because it was a critique by a sitting U.S. president, something that is quite rare and notable in any era. Critiques of rap music have been a not uncommon phenomenon in the years since: John McWhorter in 2003: https://www.city-journal.org/html/how-hip-hop-holds-blacks-back-12442.html https://www.city-journal.org/html/how-hip-hop-holds-blacks-b... USA Today; "It's 2014, so why are Eminem's violent lyrics still OK?" https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2014/11/25/eminem-shady-xv-misogyny-violence/19444645/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2014/11/25/eminem-... Trump attacking Jay-Z on the campaign trail in 2016: https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/29/politics/trump-jay-z-hillary-clinton/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/29/politics/trump-jay-z-hillary-... Eminem being called out in 2018 for using homophobic slurs: https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/8473186/eminem-homphobic-slurs-accountable https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/8473186/eminem... Wynton Marsalis in 2018: https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-conservative-war-on-hip-hop-white-scapegoating-and-black-respectability https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-conservative-war-on-hip-ho... It's ironic (or actually, fitting) that you claim "I had to go back to the 90s" to find an example, because your perception of rap music seems to be stuck in the 90s, back when it faced peak critique and backlash. That we see less such critique today does not indicate that rap music has gotten a pass, but rather, that rap music has softened since what you perceived it to be in the 90s. The most recent Billboard listing is paywalled, so I'll link to the 2018 year-end here: https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/hot-rap-songs https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/hot-rap-songs: https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2018/hot-rap-songs https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2018/hot-rap-songs The top 5 songs are: 1. "God's Plan" by Drake 2. "I Like It" by Cardi B and others 3. "In My Feelings" by Drake 4. "Psycho" by Post Malone 5. "Nice For What" by Drake I don't know all of the top rap songs in 2018, but I'm pretty comfortable asserting that the majority (nevermind "almost all") do not deal with "rape, killing, and selling drugs". I linked above to this Eminem story, but it's worth re-mentioning here: Eminem's peak work had extremely controversial lyrics; today, he's ripped for being lukewarm and for using the f-----t word, which was definitely not as verboten as back in the 90s and early 2000s: https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/8473186/eminem-homphobic-slurs-accountable https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/8473186/eminem...