Politics and Music: Class Meetings

Professor Courtney Brown

Meeting #24: Hip-hop III (Rap and Gangsta Rap)
LECTURE NOTES
SELECTIONS played in class:
Video Selections:
Rage Against the Machine: "Killing in the Name" (live version)
Eminem: "Stan"

Songs (lyrics only read aloud and discussed):
Dead Prez: "Police State"

Poetry:
Sylvia Plath: "Daddy"

QUESTIONS and DISCUSSION: Rage Against the Machine normally promotes a broad spectrum political message. In the case of the song, "Killing in the Name," the message is one against police brutality and the society that condones this brutality. The broader attack on the society is aimed at an empty justification of police brutality that is rooted in an unthinking acceptance of the police's role as repressive agents of physical force. Zack de La Rocha's lyrics almost sound like an attack against "mind control." Note also the defiant call to rebel against this control. You should be able to clearly identify the influence of Bob Marley in this music, especially Marley's call to "rebel" from the mental constraints of the Babylon system.

We began our discussion of Eminem's song, "Stan," by reading Sylvia Plath's poem, "Daddy." There are deep parallels between the two works. Can you find them? In particular, note the similarity of the endings of each poem, with the death of Stan and the predictive suicidal end for Sylvia Plath. Note also the parental conflicts in both works. In "Daddy" there is the conflict between Ms Plath and her father, Otto Plath (who suffered a premature death when Sylvia was 10). With "Stan," the conflict is between Stan and his mother. In both works, there is evidence of a resultant impotence to control their own fates, and a desire to blame their strained mental balance on unsupportive parental influences during their childhoods. This results in Stan's attack on his pregnant girlfriend (played by Dido). The pregnancy is significant since it symbolizes motherhood, and an adult attack of revenge on Stan's own mother. Note that this attack is preceded by Dido's discovery of Stan's attraction to "Slim." There is an implied reference to latent homosexuality in this discovery. Can you find it? (Note the picture episode with Dido.) In both "Daddy" and "Stan," the broader societies from which the parents originated are deeply attacked. Both works cry out against the emotional sterility that is ingrained in these societies, especially those supportive of emotional coldness as a proper parental response to childhood needs for warmth. Understanding Eminem's "Stan" is crucial to understanding the appeal of hip-hop to the growing millions of white suburbanized youth. For those of you wanting to investigate this further, I suggest you begin with the front-page New York Times article titled, "Guarding the Borders of the Hip-Hop Nation" by N.R. Kleinfield (Thursday, 6 July 2000, page 1A, 18A-19A(National Edition).

The song by "Dead Prez" is a good example of a new and highly political band. This is a band clearly of your current generation. Their song, "Police State," serves as a useful reminder to come at the end of this course that Politics and Music is an ongoing phenomenon. Keep your ears and your minds open.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT:
Since this is the end of the course, let us pose some questions that allow us to reflect on some of the broader ideas which we have learned. This course began with Beethoven and proceeded up through the current genres of hip-hop, gangsta rap and their derivatives. Before any music is "classical" it is "popular." What are some of the arguments for studying the politics of popular music? Why is music relevant to understanding political and social discourse, and even the evolution of society? Why is popular music by its very "popular" nature an essential component of the "grass-roots" intellectual organization of social and political thought? When thinking about these issues, look for examples from both developed and developing societies that support the idea that music is a crucial medium of political and social expression and transformation. Finally, think about why - in theory - popular music can always convey revolutionary potential, and why this is connected to the fluid state of any popular genre. And by the way, did you know that one Pakistani political party wanted to have Madonna and Michael Jackson extradited and tried on the charge of being cultural terrorists? If you want a good start on these ideas, re-read chapter 1 in your text, Dance of Life: Popular Music and Politics in Southeast Asia, by Craig A. Lockard.

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