Changes Tupac Analysis
To what extent does your chosen subject either perpetuates oppressive gender attitudes/myths, or allows participants involved in it to transcend the limitations imposed by gender/gender myths? Gender Degradation of Rap and Hip-Hop Music Dating back to the eras of the Beatles and the Rollingstones, music has always had an affect on the ways that people act, dress, and live their lives. With the arrival of rap and hip-hop music in the mid 1980's, new lyrics and cultural values began to spread throughout the radio frequencies of every household and car in society. Rap provided a new form of music - a music based upon fast and catchy rhythms that could launch an audience off of their seats, forcing them to dance in the isles
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Rap music effectively shows the conditions of the "hood" and helps to open the eyes of the listeners that life for everyone isn't easy and worry-free. In the song "Changes" by Tupac Shakur, the rapper illustrates an image of the common inner-city urban street. In his lyrics, Shakur describes a scene where white and blacks are enemies, and crack sellers are around every corner. Yet, even though these lyrics talk about the violence in the streets, it talks about needing to make a change within the society. Shakur raps "We need to make changes, Learn to see me as a brother instead of two distant strangers. And dats how it's supposed to be. How can the devil take a brother if he's close to me, uh, I love to go back to when we played as kids, but things change, and that's the way it is." In the previous lyrics Tupac is encouraging peace within the community. He is encouraging whites and blacks to see each other more as individuals rather than two different enemies, but in the end he says that is just the way the life is (filled with hatred). The ability that the rap and hip-hop genre has to expose how life really is in the ghetto not only can promote change, but it helps to show people of all socioeconomic backgrounds that life everywhere isn't truly kosher. Many of the rap lyrics composed by various artists focus on the neighborhoods that they live in, not generally depicting masculine views, but talking about how harsh urban life really
Rap music effectively shows the conditions of the "hood" and helps to open the eyes of the listeners that life for everyone isn't easy and worry-free. In the song "Changes" by Tupac Shakur, the rapper illustrates an image of the common inner-city urban street. In his lyrics, Shakur describes a scene where white and blacks are enemies, and crack sellers are around every corner. Yet, even though these lyrics talk about the violence in the streets, it talks about needing to make a change within the society. Shakur raps "We need to make changes, Learn to see me as a brother instead of two distant strangers. And dats how it's supposed to be. How can the devil take a brother if he's close to me, uh, I love to go back to when we played as kids, but things change, and that's the way it is." In the previous lyrics Tupac is encouraging peace within the community. He is encouraging whites and blacks to see each other more as individuals rather than two different enemies, but in the end he says that is just the way the life is (filled with hatred). The ability that the rap and hip-hop genre has to expose how life really is in the ghetto not only can promote change, but it helps to show people of all socioeconomic backgrounds that life everywhere isn't truly kosher. Many of the rap lyrics composed by various artists focus on the neighborhoods that they live in, not generally depicting masculine views, but talking about how harsh urban life really