Imitation 6 Home

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's "Home" ft. Phil Collins is rap from the 2002 and was written by the group after a long period of struggle following the deaths of Easy-E (the groups greatest supporter and backer) and member Wish Bone's uncle Charlie (who they all say acted as the best father figure they had). The song expresses feelings of sorrow for their loss but also appreciation how they have helper them all through hard times. The song is a confession of what the Bone Thugs have gone through. The song often speaks generally but going through troubles we all have and is easy to relate to because of this. The rhyme scheme is interesting as it is aa b c dd e fffff all at the end. I like this rhyme scheme as Layzie Bone is able to make it flow really well even though most of the words do not technically rhyme. He also uses repetition of the phrase "out here" emphasizing how he views his old neighborhood. This repetition also helps contribute to how smooth everything flows. Layzie also uses a lot of poetic language straying from the literal meaning of his sentences at times. The line, "But see brain so cloudy" is  an example as it refers to drug use and how it prevents many people from being functioning members of society; this isn't mentioned in the line explicitly however.
They say everything happin' for a reason
Can you tell me why these niggas bleedin'
Needin' general assistance?
Out here needin' public housing
Out here tryna make ends meet
Tryna get on their feet
But see brain so cloudy
And I know what you don't know
You better get on your mission and get down for your dough
See the real niggas ready out here taken control
See I'm screamin' out Mo'
With my pockets on swoll

Imitation 4: Express Yourself

N.W.A.'s Express Yourself is a rap about  freedom of expression and censorship. While the song more widely criticizes not speaking out and not expressing yourself it was specifically targeting an issue at the time. N.W.A. were upset that radio stations censored the music they worked hard to create or would outright refuse to play their songs because of what they sometimes rapped about. In protest they wrote the song encouraging other artists to rap and sing their true feelings. The rhyme scheme is not consistent and they often rhyme words that don't truly rhyme making it questionable. Despite this the scheme is often aa bb. Occasionally Dre makes use of in line rhyming, especially in the final verse. Aside from rhyming he uses other techniques to make the song poetic. Dre uses a lot of similes to describe both himself (such as comparing himself to a meditating Buddhist) and to describe rappers he's not a fan of (describing them as a "tortoise, full of rigor mortise"). The song is low on other poetic terms and as thus is quite straight forward having a very literal meaning that one should be honest in their creative works. The one criticism I have of this is how Dre sings out against recreational marijuana use. He said this about a year before creating The Chronic, an album almost exclusively about using marijuana for recreation and income. This makes Dre guilty of what he complains about in this song. I feel this is an important criticism but despite it I think the message N.W.A. wanted to send is still a good one. This is what makes me sad as I want to agree with Dre but it seems he may not agree with himself.   

Imitation 3: The Bottle

Gil Scott-Heron’s The Bottle is a powerful piece of spoken word that addresses the issue of alcohol abuse. Scott-Heron wrote this in a time when black ghettos (which had previously had a great deal of community) were slowly being destroyed without being replaced. As a result many African Americans found themselves facing even more trouble with finances and with just trying to find a place to live as their opportunities were limited. This sparked a rise in drug abuse as an escape from a system that didn’t want them. Scott-Heron addresses the issue of one of the oldest forms of drug abuse by telling stories of alcoholics he had known ranging from his father, to a girl he knew and eventually to him. There is an emphasis on “the bottle” which refers to a bottle of alcohol. He creates this emphasis using repetition at the end of many of his lines as opposed to rhymes. Despite this there is a good deal of both in line rhyming and end line rhyming. Still Scott-Heron relies heavily on the repetition however; he emphasizes how when you are “…livin in the bottle” all one care cares about is getting drunk. That’s why the poem has this feel that it’s all about the bottle. The poem is very narrative containing three different stories that help stress how many people with alcohol abuse issues Scott-Heron knew (even touching on his own abuse with it). He also makes use of metaphor such as referring to the US government as the “dollar eagle”. It is this sort of language that makes his poetry more dramatic and impactful. When his wording is so poetic it makes you take what he has to say more seriously even when he’s claiming to be an alcoholic in the poem.

Critique 1: Chapter 1 of The Hip Hop Wars

In chapter 1 of Tricia Rose's The Hip Hop Wars she discusses hip hop's relation to violence and how it stereotypes African Americans. Rose notes a fact in this chapter that is important since it is a fact I feel many critics and listeners of rap (those who did not grow up in a ghetto) fail to realize; rappers are frequently telling exaggerated tales in order to get a point across about social problems. It's a fact I myself was not aware of before reading and after also reading about how middle class white people (my demographic) where the primary consumers of rap I realized how important this point was. It shows how many people, critics who blame rap and consumers who enjoy, don't understand the point many gangsta rappers are trying to make and also explains why many of them stereotype black people they way they do. At times I found her views somewhat alarmist and she was often quick to pour all the blame on a broken system (and Ronald Reagan) , which can not be the only accountable factor for social problems. The community is partially to blame. Newer mainstream rappers who capitalize on violence instead of trying to send a message represent this. This chapter has caused me to gain concern over the direction rap has gone in and is going, now for a new reason. It has caused me to gain a higher awareness of the message certain rappers are trying to send about social problems and more awareness for how some rappers capitalize on it in a negative way. The chapter was insightful as it made me realize how better education about rap would mean better understanding of social problems in the black ghettos most gangsta rappers come from.

Imitation 2: Give Peace a Chance John Lennon

John Lennon's song Give Peace a Chance was a pro peace song originally written and played during Yoko Ono and Lennon's Bed-In honeymoon in 1969. A reporter asked Lennon the purpose of staying in bed and Lennon put it simply saying, "All we are saying is give peace a chance". He liked the phrase so much that he wrote a song around it, using it as the chorus. Lennon uses the repetition of the phrase to force a message he felt needed to be recognized. That war wasn't the answer, not Vietnam or anywhere else. There is internal rhyming in just about every line except the chorus and the final verse of the song. Despite this Lennon sends a clear message in the last verse. Lennon isn't singing the song alone but with his wife and many other pro peace protesters who he recognizes. This emphasizes the tone of the song which can only be described as togetherness. He's surrounded by people he loves and just wants everyone else to be as well. He uses lyrical poetry to try and get people to understand his message. The last way he does this is to have to the song repeat until the tape runs out. He wants the message to go out to just give peace chance.

Imitation 1: Mother to Son by Langston Hughes

Mother to Son is an interesting poem that Langston Hughes wrote from the perspective of a mother talking to her son. I find this poem interesting as I believe it reflects Hughes respect for his mother and the advice she gave. The poems stark and somewhat cynical description of life reflects the struggles Hughes most likely suffered during his life up to that point and may reflect how he realized that his mother's harsh advice at times was for his own good. He uses a great deal of repetition to emphasize key points the most important of which being this truth in his mother's advice shown by the line "And life for me ain't been no crystal stair. " For this reason I feel it is a confession. There is very little if any rhyming (although certain words could rhyme if pronounced in certain dialects) in the poem however Hughes heavy use of other devices such as metaphor, which he uses to compare a flight of crystal stairs to one that is broken and splintered. He also uses it again to compare a dark time in a persons' life to literal darkness. I like this poem because of it's metaphorical nature as well as how it's a narrative. What makes it most unique is how he frames it as a mother telling a story. The fact that Hughes is writing from another person's perspective (especially one so different than his own) and the fact that he goes so far as to copy her diction is what impresses me most about this poem.

Langston Hughes and the Racial Mountain

Langston Hughes piece "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain" is a strong piece about racial and cultural identity. Race played an important role in the creation of many important genres and fields of art. Jazz and Blues have deep roots to songs that were sung by impoverished second class citizens, people who were at one point held against their will. That kind of emotion is the kind that can only be found in music like the blues. It couldn't be felt exactly the same by anyone else. Likewise however race is not an impassable wall. The proof is in the number of talented white jazz musicians who would come along much later. It is not that blacks are the only people who can play such soulful music, however the cultural background that the pioneers of it came from made them the only ones who could truly create and define the genre. In that same vein even a white man could know suffering, he could still relate to the blues even if he didn't have the years of prejudice and suffering. Hughes is adamant about his fellow black people being proud of their arts but I think it is important to remember that it is not their race or skin tone that is important, it's their life. It's their past. It's everything about who people are not just the color of their skin. Hughes put it perfectly when he said "No great poet has ever been afraid of being himself."