The reel is a concept created by Mk Asante to explain hyper violent and hyper sexual content in new age        hip-hop. According to Asante previous hip-hop was ‘real’ because it talked about socially aware content and things that were realistic in the black community. Now, however, he calls the new age hip-hop community. ‘Reel’ because it is almost like a show reel used in a movie or for entertainment.To truly understand how this happened,we need to look at another therapist : Flores(1998). According to Flores,70% of hip-hop is bought by white consumers this relevant because,as we know, hip-hop started out as a socially aware art form but as bigger companies took notice of a growing consumer base, they began to flood money into it. According to Flores, when consumers from white suburbia listen to hyper violent lyrics they feel as if they are experiencing black culture. However, Asante tells us that these lyrics are only used for entertainment and for the hip-hop industry to make money.

Kendrick Lamar – the blacker the berry

Criticizing the reel?

(Who is he?)

Kendrick Lamar came from humble roots in the streets of Compton. He grew up in a very violent area were there was constant war between two gangs known as the bloods and crips of which he had family in both. There was only really two options in life for him, to follow the gang culture and stay in the box or work his way out of his situation. At the age of just 14 he began to take his music a lot seriously and to do this he would study great rappers and mc’s of the past such as Snoop Dog,2pac,Nas,the notorious b.i,g and etc. Kendrick would begin his career under the name K.dot and would perform locally in Compton and his talent would be taken notice of by music label top dawg ent when dropped his first mixtape. At this stage of lamars career he would change his performance name k.dot to his government name Kendrick Lamar. His socially aware rap was quickly noticed by people in the hip-hop community as it reminded some fans of the pre-era rap group N.W.A who also made ‘socially aware’ rap in which they would criticizes police brutality ,racism towards black people and the ‘reel’. It wasn’t only Kendricks rap that that reminded people of N.W.A but also that they both originated from the streets of Compton trying get the same message out to the world. The two songs that correlate the most for Kendrick and N.W.A is ‘The Blacker The Berry’ and ‘Straight Outta Compton’.

Through out the song Kendrick talks about socially aware subjects such as racism and attempts to terminate black culture for example

  • “My hair is nappy, my dick is big, my nose is round and wide you hate me don’t you?”
  • “You hate my people, your plan is to terminate my culture you’re fucking evil i want you to recognize that am proud monkey ,you vandalize my perception but cant take style from me.”

After addressing some socially aware subjects and racism towards black people, he then begins to talk about being a proud black person in the pre hook

 

 

 

Nas – one love

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(who is he?)

As a teenager, Nas enlisted his best friend and upstairs neighbour Willy “Ill Will” Graham as his DJ. Nas initially went by the nickname Kid Wave before adopting his more commonly known alias of Nasty Nas. In the late 1980s, he met up with the producer Large Professor and went to the studio where Rakim and Koop G Rap were recording their albums. When they were not in the studio, Nas would go into the booth and record his own material. However, none of it was ever released. In 1991, Nas performed on Main Source’s “Live at the Barbeque”. In mid-1992, Nas was approached by MC Serch of 3rd Bass, who became his manager and secured Nas a record deal with Columbia Records the same year. Nas made his solo debut under the name of “Nasty Nas” on the single “Halftime” from Serch’s soundtrack for the film Zebrahead. Called the new Rakim,his rhyming skills attracted a significant amount of attention within the hip-hop community. In 1994, Nas’s debut album, Illmatic, was finally released. It was awarded Five Mics from The Source.It also featured production from Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, L.E.S. and DJ Premier, as well as guest appearances from Nas’s friend AZ and his father Olu Dara. The album spawned several singles, including “The World Is Yours”, “It Ain’t Hard to Tell”, and “One Love”. Shaheem Reid of MTV News called Illmatic “the first classic LP” of 1994.In 1994, Nas also recorded the song “One on One” for the soundtrack to the film Street Fighter. In his book To the Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip Hop Aesthetic, William Jelani Cobb writes of Nas’s impact at the time:

 

 

Santan Dave

Criticising the reel?

(who is he?)

Santan Dave a 17 is an upcoming rapper in the new generation South London rap. Originating from Streatham Common in South West London