Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five PDF

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Sohail 1 Tabish Sohail Dr. Sara Grewal ENGL102-AS84 April 5, 2019 Poetic Interpretation of Hip Hop Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, an American music group coined to as one of the founding members of Hip-Hop, released the now historically renowned track “The message,” written by Ed "Duke Bootee" Fletcher, arguing that Hip-Hop is a form of cultural expression and a tool used to observe visual perceptions of growing up into an oppressed survival state. With the use of literary devices and incisive marginality in his lyrics, Fletcher’s argument establishes Hip Hop as a poetic form of representation with effective word choice to embrace Hip Hop’s creation of societal margins. When the common consumer is questioned about Hip Hop, the popular belief in society argues Hip-Hop as a violent form of expression, depending on the tone of context presented. Fletcher’s song, counters this argument, showing that Hip Hop possesses the quality of analyzing the genre in a hygienic form. In my paper, I will argue that Hip-Hop can serve as a representation of poetic freedom and black cultural expression, contrasting with lyrical citations from Fletcher’s lyrics. I will also look at how Hip-Hop can counter react to poetic expression because of hidden transcripts and sociological contexts misguiding one who reads it. Conventional belief in white mainstream society shows Hip Hop being a form of poetic expression. One can employ literary devices and symbolic representation to convey one’s definition of hip hop, depending on the context presented. American literary critic on Hip Hop lyrics Adam Bradley goes into this; appealing in his text Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip

Sohail 2 Hop. In his scholarly journal, Bradley argues Rap and Hip Hop as “public art, and rappers perhaps our greatest public poets, extending a tradition of lyricism that spans continents and stretches back a thousands of years” (Bradley 13). While Hip Hop might be a form of new music in modern day, Bradley sees “old school poetry” representing the foundations of the genre’s originality. Bradley references The South Bronx where Hip Hop was, citing economic disparities, inferior educational opportunities, and poor housing standards being one of many motives that “conceived innovations in rhythm, rhyme, and wordplay that would change the English Language itself” (Bradley 14). In these lines, Bradley uses relevant factors of commercial struggles prior to the creation of Hip Hop, linking with old-style use of the English Language, morphed together into new form of expression. In another example of Hip Hop being a form of expression through poetry, Fletcher’s chorus in The Message states, “It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under.” Using imagery, the jungle describes the environment surrounding Fletcher, the South Bronx being a symbolic representation of the realities entrapped around him. Referring to Bradley’s poetic reasoning on Hip Hop, Fletcher stresses the constant hazards and troubles surrounding contemporary urban life in the late 80s and early 90s, questioning the larger picture of the future well-being of his community. Both Bradley’s research and Fletcher’s lyrics strongly imply that Hip Hop reflects a form of literature through which an individual can openly express their views. Although Bradley argues that the poetic expression reflects Hip Hop’s origin, Derrick P. Alridge adds on to this in the chapter “Imaging, Sampling, and Scratching: Transcending Linear Notions of Time In Hip Hop,” arguing that struggles brought out from Civil Rights Movements (CRM) and Black Freedom Struggles (BFS), adapting literary techniques providing a better view

Sohail 3 for metaphorical, symbolic, and concrete connections between both CRM and Hip Hop (229). Alridge provides an in-depth critique of two generations, pre and post CRM; how the clash created a divide on the initial thoughts on Hip Hop. Alridge emphasizes the term Imaging, referring to people who would use Hip Hop to evoke “images, events, people, and symbols (229),” applying past ideas into nearer immediacy. Alridge speaks on CRM being a front facing issue in the outbreak of retaliation in the African American population, citing reasoning ideas of well-respected activists Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr. Knowing the spread of Hip Hop creates a prolong influence towards the population whom consumes the genre, Alridge’s research suggests that Hip Hopper’s increased in efforts denouncing the rule of law unwillingly exercised prior to CRM gave birth to “fluidity of ideas” (Alridge 228). In addition, Alridge’s conception of Hip Hop working as a symbol for pre and post CRM generation can be compared in Fletcher’s lyrics. For example, “You'll grow in the ghetto livin' second-rate, and your eyes will sing a song called deep hate.” In these lines, Fletcher uses imaging of second-class citizens and their discrepancies when observing lives of privileged citizens, expressing a hatred being built because of continuous oppression transcending from CRM. Fletcher’s unique lyricism advocates deep emotions, expressing that the agony is so deep, that the eyes personify to express the frustration of downsides to BFS. Both authors illustrate the intricate appearances of Hip Hop through their research and conclude that Hip Hop does form an expressive opinion through poetic freedom, but the influential realist movements and suffering incurred by the previous generation sparked the mood for change. Hip Hop’s rise in effective change between two generations from CFM and BFS glinted Hip Hop in Alridge’s argument, Tricia Rose counters this argument. Rose addresses hidden transcripts and sociological contingencies of Hip Hop in the chapter “Rap Music and the Politics

Sohail 4 of Black Cultural Expression” of her scholarly monograph. Rose conducts her own research, arguing from a cultural study on arts resistance that respective “public” and their exercise of expression through social practises reveal “hidden transcripts.” Rose’s explains rap and Hip Hop being a form of Hidden transcript that challenges the inequalities roaming in form of intimidation (Rose 100). She references artists of Hip Hop being dominant figures to engage the public, “tempting to legitimate counter hegemonic interpretations (102).” Fletcher makes use of hidden transcripts in the song writing; “I'm cool, huh, I'm no fool, but then you wind up dropping outta high school”. This quote reveals the pressures of the neighbourhood norms formed in The Bronx, pressuring youth to pursue a life of crime rather than receiving a formal education. Fletcher then adds; Now you’re unemployed, […] like you’re Pretty Boy Floyd. Known for for robbing banks, while ridding people of their financial debts by ripping of debt documents in the process, Fletcher name drops Floyd to compare the consequences of picking an illegal route to break free from subjugation. This goes to show the various contrasts Hip Hop represents; Hip Hop does form from poetic expression, but messages can be misinterpreted by the public and instead lead to increased crime rates. On the other hand, while the use of hidden transcript appeal to one’s true beliefs on Hip Hop, sociological perspectives are overlooked when analyzing Hip Hop as a form of expression. E. Jerry Persaud takes this into account in the chapter “The signature of Hip Hop: A Sociological Perspective” of his monograph of Criminology and Sociological Theory. Persaud claims that construction of whiteness in mainstream society with disregards to African American Identity created discourse in Hip Hop (628). He explores conditions in the 1970’s up until the 90’s synthesizing “cultural, institutional, structural, economical, historical, social and political concerns” (Persaud 629) as contributing to oppression within the Black population in response to

Sohail 5 the increasing consumption of Hip Hop. In his research, Persaud indicates rap music and Hip Hop culture from a “epistemological position” basing the notion that the genre’s unique form of performance and ancestral beginnings between “Africa, America, and Blackness” had an impact in the introduction of Hip Hop in South Bronx. Persaud’s argument concludes that Hip Hop’s creation while influences from poetic expression, needs to analyze human institutions and their behaviour fundamental to Hip Hop’s origins. Lastly, artists who manage to come up from the struggles once signing up for the life of Hip Hop comes with a platform of openly stating an individual’s aggression. Eithne Quinn explains these aggressions and its extents in the chapter “Alwayz Into Somethin”: Gangsta’s Emergence in 1980’s Los Angeles,” where she maps out the “sociological account of gangsta rap’s emergence.” Quinn conducts the study to give insight of the effects of Post-Fordism that was rampant in 1980’s, analyzing the city of Los Angeles and the economic struggles imposed on black youth. Quinn claimed it being “deteriorating conditions” in response to young people gaining mass attraction the extravagant new fashion gangsta rap introduced. She terms “Economic Segregation” and the growing trend of drug trafficking leading to imprisonment as one of the key reasons to the aversive reactions to lower job opportunities being presented within the black community (46). Similarly, Fletcher’s writes; “Don't push me cause I'm close to the edge, I'm trying not to lose my head.” The aggressive tone mirrors the black youth’s in LA’s frustration involving youth unemployment and poverty rates soaring in the 1980’s, leading to a rise in street gangs (49). Economic trends put into effect instigated a polarized ideology forming within the black youth, to the point the rage would consume hopes for prosperity. Both Fletcher and Quinn’s research in their arguments conclude that economic pressures that were put on youth during the birth of brought out frustration, while Hip Hop and raps lyrics unintentionally fueled

Sohail 6 some of the population in the wrong direction, but alternatively, Hip Hop helped awake a new form of expression for one to speak for themselves. In conclusion, Hip Hop originated on values that promotes the expression of an individual’s views using poetic expression. However, the context that is put forth may reflect how society choses to react, even if the true connotation behind the words isn’t understood. Hip Hop can also be used to express realities of the past social and economic movements; however, it increases the chances of gaining a negative response from the public. What one of Hip Hop’s many hidden transcripts and messages indicates society takes time to understand when something new is brought forward.

Sohail 7 Works Cited Alridge, Derrick P. “From Civil Rights to Hip Hop: Toward a Nexus of Ideas.” The Journal of African American History, vol. 90, no. 3, 2005, pp. 226–252. Bradley, Adam. “Rap Poetry 101.” Book of Rhymes, Basic Civitas, 2009, xxiii-xiv. Persaud, Jerry E. "The Signature of Hip Hop: A Sociological Perspective." International Journal of Criminology and Sociological Theory, vol. 4, no. No. 1, 11 June 2011, pp 628-629 Quinn, Eithne. Nuthin'but a" G" thang: the culture and commerce of gangsta rap. Columbia University Press, 2004, pp 39-64 Rose, Tricia. “Prophets of Rage: Rap Music and the Politics of Black Cultural Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary

Expression.”

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University Press of New England, 1994, pp. 99-106, 124-145 Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. “The Message.” Edward G. Fletcher, Sylvia Robinson, Sugar Hill....