research paper

Rhetoric is word that can be defined in many different ways. I was really surprised on how many different views people had on what they thought rhetoric meant to them personally. There is really no true definition. According to dictionary.com the common definition for rhetoric is the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques. I believe music is can be described as rhetoric as well. Music is an art of sound that expresses ideas and emotions in rhythm, and melody. Music as evolved in every generation especially in the rap/hip-hop genre. In this world today political issues surround us that we all have different opinions on and me personally I would like to voice my opinion and make sure I am heard. Rappers in Hip-hop have the ability to speak for the black community thru their music because majority of hip-hop is African American. Rap Music involving political issues has raised a lot of questions throughout the years and now in our society today we still have them. Although we still have similar political issues, such as racism, police brutality, and economic in our generation today comparing Rap music back then in 1990s and 2000s didn’t have the same impact it does in our current generation.
I believe there are still some affects of racism and police brutality in the world today, but in the earlier generations it was a major problem many Artists wanted to speak about it and clear their mind. 2pac who was deceased by homicide had a song called “Changes” which discusses racism and police brutality. 2pac is still considered one of the greatest rap artists of all time because the motivational songs he wrote about. He wanted to stand up for his community and express that we need to change. The song is made in 1997 and the opening lyric was very powerful. He raps “I see no changes, I wake up in the morning and ask myself is life worth living or should I blast myself? I’m tired of being poor, and even worse, I’m black.” I believe he saying that he is not witnessing any changes in a society that is not helping African Americans out and he thinks twice about actually still wanted to live on this planet because there is no hope at the time. He then raps, “cops give a damn about a Negro pull the trigger, kill an African American, he’s a hero. Again it’s a reference to the racism acts in 1990s meaning if police shot a black man he would be considered a hero instead of a criminal. I was very young at the time when this song was made but my older cousins would play the song and express how they feel the same way 2pac does. The song was Grammy nominated in 2000 so I would say it had some impact on the world. Another song that influenced the 1990s was a song called ‘F*ck the police” by a group named NWA. This song was very controversial and some arenas security guards did not want to protect NWA to while there were there to perform the song due to hatred towards the police. The song mainly is highlighting tensions between the black youth and the police white or black officers racial profiling, and brutality. One lyric that stands out is “But don’t let it be a black and a white one ‘cause they’ll slam ya down to the street top. Black police showin out for the white cop.” The lyric means the black cops doesn’t treat us any better, they mistreat kids in order to show off to their bosses or simply because that’s the nature of the job. The song was ranked 417 out of 500 of rolling stones all time greatest songs because of the impact it had. A lot of people supported the song by buying the record. Now in 2015 Ice Cube films is making a movie that will appear in theaters worldwide about how NWA started and how they came up with their music that impacted America. More to come