Rap As Art
INTRODUCTION The word "artist" is a term that is used to
describe
professions such as painters, chefs, and even musicians. Painters
use paints and
canvas as their medium, chefs use food for their delicacy, and
musicians use the
words and musical instruments to create the art of sound.
Even within this, the
terms of chief, painters, and musicians encompass many
facets. For example, some
chiefs specialize only in pastries, some painters
only work with watercolor, or
the in the instance of music, musicians who
create rap music. IN ALL INSTANCES A
FORM OF CREATION HAS TAKEN PLACE BUT
MODERN DAY SCRUTINY ON WHO CAN OR CANNOT BE
CONSIDERED ARTISTS HAS
BANISHED RAPPERS AS ARTISTS. FIRST SUPPORTING PARAGRAPH
RAPPERS ARE
MUSICIANS WHO USE FAST-PACED RHYMING VERSES ACCOMPANIED WITH A HEAVY
BEAT
AND SYNTHESIZING RHYTHMS. The lyrical verses can reflect everything from
love
to a drug deal gone wrong to strong opinions about social and
political
issues. Lately though, rappers such as Tupac Shakur, Notorious BIG,
and Puff
Daddy have been scrutinized as to weather or not their form of
expression can be
considered art. Notorious BIG uses offensive language to
describe his lifestyles
and his objects of desire. Many people think that the
profanity and
offensiveness of his lyrics serve as reasons to dismiss him as
an artists.
However, according to the definition of an artist, rappers
can be considered
artists. SECOND SUPPORTING PARAGRAPH IN ORDER TO FULLY
ESTABLISH THAT RAPPERS
ARE ARTISTS, THE DEFINITION OF "ARTIST" AND "ART"
MUST BE ESTABLISHED.
An artist is a person skilled in a fine art, such as
painting, dance or music.
Art is the creation of a work bringing about a
variety of new combination of
elements in the medium (tones in music, words
in literature, ect.) To further
establish the definition of artist, lets look
at some examples. Painters for
instance are considered as artist because they
meet the defined criteria. First,
painter must be skilled in their field.
They must have an eye for color, shapes,
patterns and details. Second,
painters must be able to combine different
variables to form a variation of
artwork. They must be able to bring different
existing colors, textures, and
shape together to create something new, abstract,
or even definitional.
Third, painters must use their skill as a form of
self-expression. Colors
portray their emotions and the shapes to signify a
certain mood. In these
aspect painters meet all the criteria that make an artist
an artist. Now you
need to examine the characteristics of a rapper to determine
whether or not
they meet the same criteria of being skilled in a fine art such
as music,
being able to bring out new combination of elements to form something
new,
and being able to present a form of self expression. THIRD
SUPPORTING
PARAGRAPH IN FACT RAP IS A FORM OF MUSIC THAT REQUIRES MANY
TALENTS IN THE
SIMILAR FORM THAT PAINTERS MUST BE SKILLED AT THEIR TRADE.
According to the
Merriam Webster’s Dictionary, rapping is defined as "a
rhythmic chanting
often in unison of usually rhymed couplets to a musical
accompaniment."
Therefore, in addition to the skills required of other
musicians, such as being
able to detect musical notes, and being able to read
music, musicians who rap
must be able to write rhyming lyrics as well as
being rhythmically inclined. For
example, well-known rapper Bizzy Bone from
the rap group Bone Thugs ‘N’
Harmony is acclaimed for his ability to rap
with an incredible speed and at the
same time maintain a steady beat and
rhythm. In addition to those talents, a
rapper must be able to create and
write verses and couplets. Two of the most
popular rappers, Notorious BIG and
Tupac Shakur, were recognized for their
ability to write lyrics that had not
only absorbing meaning but were also known
for their choice of words and
semantics. In light if this, rappers begin to fit
the definition of artists
because they posses certain musical skills necessary
to their particular form
of art. FORTH SUPPORTING PARAGRAPH THE SECOND ATTRIBUTE
THAT RAPPERS
MAINTAIN TO BRING IS A NEW COMBINATION OF ELEMENTS. Just as
painters must be
able to take different colors and shapes to create a painting,
rappers must
also be able to take pieces and put them together for a new song.
For
instance, a method of compilation used by many rappers is called
sampling.
An artist takes a musical cord or series of notes from
different musicians and
builds upon it to produce their own sound. A rapper
may take an introduction to
a song and use that as the basis for their song.
An instance of this can be
found in Puff Daddy’s sampling of Lunez "I Got 5
ON IT." Puff Daddy uses
the background music and creates his own lyrics to
form a new and slower love
song, "Satisfy You." FIFTH SUPPORTING PARAGRAPH
ANOTHER CHARACTERISTIC OF A
RAPPER THAT GIVES HIM OR HER THE RIGHT TO BE
CONSIDERED A RAPPER, IS THE
EXPRESSIONS THEIR SONGS PRESENT. Painters may
use red to signify their anger or
yellow to express cheerfulness, paralleling
to rappers use of words and lyrics
to express their feelings and emotions
about politics, personal reasons, or even
their happiness in their wealth.
Rapper Tupac Shakur was noted for his anger and
frustrations that was his
seen in his lyrics and music. He used his feelings
from his unstable
childhood and life in the inner city. He also often describes
his lost
friendship and hate towards Notorious BIG due to Notorious BIG
stealing
lyrics from Tupac further creating a rivalry among the two rappers.
Many rappers
such as Juvenile and the group Cash Money rap about topics such
as success in
life, wealth, and the things they can buy with it. There are
all sorts of
variation of rappers just as there are variation of painters;
some painting are
only abstract and other paintings are in details.
CONCLUSION Rappers use their
life and its tribulations as a source of
inspiration to their music. The music
they create present all the forms of
what would consider them to be artist; due
to their unique ability to create
rhythmic lyrics, to express themselves, and to
use different elements to
create something new and distinct.
Bibliography
Marian Webster’s
Dictionary – pg. 78&79, pg.
1128