Hidden Meanings

Hidden Meanings

What is the true meaning behind the lyrics of today's popular hip hop/rap songs? We sing them at the clubs, quote them as captions for our Instagram posts, or tweeting them to show how you are feeling, but do we really know what we are saying? Over time the lyrics have changed and adapted from the point that hip hop/rap came about until now. 

Recently seeing Straight Outta Compton at the movies it helped me to consider the lyrics of hip hop/rap more. For people that have not seen the movie, it is the story about how Easy E, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, Snoop Dogg and many more started their careers. The movies focus goes through the development of N.W.A (N****z with Attitude) as well as the history that went along with it.

One of the most popular songs that N.W.A. is known for is "Fuck Tha Police." There was a great amount of backlash that was caused from this song being aired, produced, and performed.




To the right is an excerpt from The Daily Beast written by Rich Goldstein. When the song was put on the record it was one of the first of its kind to say, "Parental Guidance Suggested" on the cover. Yes, in 1988 it was not "a thing" for people of color to voice their opinions in a record while making money off of it. At the same time we have "Freedom of Speech" given to us by The Constitution. On the other side it was the Federal Government that sent a threatening letter to N.W.A to halt the further production of the song. 

Clip from "Straight Outta Compton" that is all over the media
for being a reality for many in 1988 on the streets of Compton.

When N.W.A. received this letter from their record label manager they were out on tour.  Here N.W.A. were warned against playing the song further or selling the recording of it. To the right is a clip from the movie, Straight Outta Compton, that was all over the media in 1988. This was a real life reality for many but was portrayed in the media that the African Americans were the "bad" people. Coming from a Caucasian  twenty-one year old female in college this probably doesn't mean much but my opinion is the Caucasian police at the time were irrational.  When we consider the reasoning behind "Fuck Tha Police" the history makes sense but for some reason it is negatively viewed and portrayed in the media currently. 

While on the other hand, a song like "Tip Drill" by Nelly is not even talked about as being negative content; the song may be more than 10 years old but the meaning and reasoning is still there. So why do we give backlash to a song that has some history behind it? When "Tip Drill" is talking about "... another name for runnin' a train on a girl" (Urban Dictionary, 2004)

 Hip-Hop and Rap developed from being an outlet for frustrations regarding unfairness, or real life that was happening in the streets. The song by N.W.A. came out while all of the Los Angeles and Compton riots were occurring. Unfortunately Hip-Hop/Rap's genre has taken a turn for the worst in today's industry. The lyrics to the songs in Today's current Hip-Hop/Rap do not have as great of an impact as they once did when Hip-Hop/Rap were discovered and created. 

Works Cited

Berenson, Tessa. "Watch Ice Cube Say What N.W.A. Doesn't Stand For." Time. Time, 6 Aug. 2015. Web. 25 Sept. 2015. <http://time.com/3987064/ice-cube-jimmy-fallon-nwa/>.

Female, Top Notch. "Tip+drill." Urban Dictionary. Urban Dictionary, 07 June 2004. Web. 25 Sept. 2015. <http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tip%2Bdrill>.

Genius Media Group Inc. "N.W.A – Fuck Tha Police." Genius. Genius Media Group Inc., 2015. Web. 25 Sept. 2015. <http://genius.com/Nwa-fuck-tha-police-lyrics>.

Goldstein, Rich. "A Brief History of the Phrase 'F*ck the Police'" The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 23 Aug. 2014. Web. 25 Sept. 2015. <http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/23/a-brief-history-of-the-phrase-f-ck-the-police.html>.

IMDb. "Full Cast & Crew." IMDb. IMDb.com, Sept. 2015. Web. 25 Sept. 2015. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1398426/fullcredits/>.