The Flimsy Reason Critics Use To Dismiss Rap - Kendrick’s Halftime Show Highlights It
Guitars and rock music of many types usually get me going the most, but I’ve always also loved R&B, Classical, Jazz and yes - Rap. I can trace my love of rap music back to 1982 really. Blondie’s Rapture and The Tom Tom Club’s Wordy Rappinghood from 1981 don’t really count as the first Hip Hop I became aware of per se, so I’ll pinpoint Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five’s The Message as the point where it really began for me as a kid. I even have video of myself awkwardly rapping it at my bar mitzvah in 1983 (no - you will NOT see that). I made sure ahead of time it was played when we met with the Joe Cornell MC’s (IYKYK).
And after all the bullshit being spewed on social media about how Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show was tHe wOrSt eVeR (and you can guess the demographics on most of these comments), I’m here to address one key criticism I’m seeing over and over today and what many are missing about Hip-Hop that they should stop and think about…
The Flimsy Reason Critics Use To Dismiss Rap - Kendrick’s Halftime Show Highlights It
First let’s look at some of the comments pulled directly from Facebook about Kendrick’s performance… Trigger alert - lots of nastiness here:
Now, I’m not here to lecture on the deep symbolic meaning of the halftime show (of which there was a lot and it was brilliant). I’m not going to get into a deep dive on the culture or Kendrick’s feud with Drake. I’m not going to explain everything you missed. I’m not the guy to do that - I'm still trying to fully understand all the elements of the performance myself. There’s a decent amount to unpack. I’m not even a “huge fan” of Kendrick per se so that’s not my point here either. I like him - I’ve given good kidd, m.A.D.d. city and To Pimp A Butterfly full listens (my son Tony has always been a fan and told me to check those out) and I did like them both even if I didn’t really stick with them. You can bet I’m going to revisit some of his stuff now.
But here’s my problem and what I want to cover as step 1 in addressing………let’s call it the “Hate Graphic” above.
I also didn’t understand all of the lyrics. SO. THE. HELL. WHAT. And hey, guess what else?
YOU’VE BEEN LISTENING TO SONGS FOR YEARS - DECADES - WITHOUT KNOWING THE WORDS.
The first full length R.E.M. album is called MURMUR. You do NOT know the words to ONE SONG on that album unless you’ve looked them up and STUDIED them - and even then I’d love to hear you sing one. Sorry for the all caps but yes I’m yelling. I’m a little disgusted by the ignorance I’ve seen today.
How about Pearl Jam’s Yellow Ledbetter? Ever see this video? It’s been viewed 10 million times because of how indecipherable Eddie Vedder’s lyrics are - it’s a funny joke it’s so ridiculous. And I LOVE that song. Would the people in the facebook comments turn off Pearl Jam and comment how they couldn’t understand a word? No way.
And here’s the thing you may not understand about Hip-Hop. It’s an extremely creative and diverse genre. Do I love all of it? No - I don’t love ALL of any genre. Can rhyming a rhyme over a spare beat be a bit simplistic? Sure. So is pretty much EVERY single Ramones song. But just like some of my favorite bands in several genres a good hip-hop album may not reveal itself right away. You WON’T get it all on the first or even the 10th listen in many cases. Some of my favorite rock albums take me years to fully digest and that’s what’s so rewarding about some of my favorite music. Give some rap a listen - and stick with it until it starts to make sense just like you would do with the latest Tool album (those albums take YEARS). You’ll start to pick up on a take or a storyline that the artist is getting across, married to the beats and the samples that are all part of the art. It’s worth your time. You don’t have fall in love with rap and have it dominate your listening - but you shouldn’t completely dismiss it. You’re in the wrong in doing so. There’s great hip-hop and yes, great perspectives that you may want/need to hear.
I (more than) suspect that there are ulterior motives and biases in plenty of those Facebook comments beyond saying they simply didn’t like this particular halftime show - and so much of the stupid focus on not understanding the words highlights it. Let’s just say most of the profiles check out.
But... If you’re just trying to make sense of this, honestly don’t get rap and haven’t tried to get it, if you are even the least bit curious about trying to understand, do not fall into some trap thinking you can’t because you’re unfamiliar with the phrasing of the lyrics or the culture. Don’t let haters make you think you won’t get it because you “can’t understand the words.” Just like an athlete adjusting to a level of sport where the game “slows down” for them after a while, the same thing will happen here and you’ll start to get it. And if you’re a bad actor trying to dismiss rap don’t you dare try to use not understanding the words as your weapon like the ignorant people on the “Hate Graphic.” It’s a flimsy reason. You’re exposing yourself. As Ice-T once said and said it best in my opinion, you’ve played yourself.
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M10 Social is owned by Doug Cohen in West Bloomfield, MI and provides social media training and digital marketing services from the Frameable Faces Photography studio Doug owns with his wife Ally. He can be reached there at tel:248-790-7317, by mobile at tel:248-346-4121 or via email at mailto:doug@frameablefaces.com. You can follow Doug’s band Vintage Playboy at their Facebook page here. You can also visit our other business Detroit Jerky at the website www.DetroitJerkyLLC.com!