Our art is a reflection of our reality…….
A
powerful statement stated by Ice Cube. Not only, is it powerful, but it’s true.
This group of “thugs” was the voice of a whole generation. For, them to have
the impact they did on a generation in turmoil, tells a lot about the hard
times our country was going for. Racial inequality and prejudice was running
rampant across the country and we were in an economic downfall of sorts. At the
center of all of this, was the city of Compton. It was notorious for gang
violence and poverty; drive by shootings were a common place. In fact, it
wasn’t unusual for the murder rate to exceed 50 a year. Drugs were rampant with
the rise of cocaine and crack heroin emerging in the 1980’s. Despite all these
problems, these 4 young men emerged speaking the truth. But, they weren’t just speaking they were rapping. Their words told what life was like. They told about the
drugs and the shootings. To many it was shocking; their words were so
straightforward and brutal that they had their music banned in many places
across the country. Was it because of the fact that we were offended by their
offensive lyrics? Or was it the fact that we were offended by the lyrics
because of the fact that they were telling a dark story of what happens every
day in these ghettos. As controversial as they were, we can’t deny the
influence they instilled on a younger generation of artists. N.W.A is the
grandfather of rap. They were the first super group of the Rap genre. They
influenced the likes of Tupac, Snoop Dogg, and even 50 cent.
It was the first time we heard the other side
to the stories about violence in the ghettos. That didn’t settle with a lot of
people. We deny the fact that we have
the white privilege. We wonder why we don’t have many white gangs and violence
in our neighborhoods. Then, we look at the ghettos that are home to minorities
and we can see why they are fighting for turf and drugs to keep their minds off
the conditions they are living in. We ignored them too long and they let us
hear about it through the power of rap.
Although,
this saying did hit home with many people. The people of Compton and ghettos
all around LA now had a voice to channel their anger and despairs. Through its
lyrics we discovered that we weren’t all that powerful. We found that people
are simply mistreated based on the color of their skin. White Privilege was
becoming a term we could relate to ourselves. Believe it or not, we are higher
up on this social scale. And all below a certain line are living in poverty and
in the threat of violence at all times.
This
brings up the point of the LA Riots. They were protesting the acquittal of 4
police officers in the beating case of Rodney King. To riot and break into
buildings is being hypocritical. If they were protesting police brutality, then
why would you kill multiple people on the streets? It makes no sense. If you
are going to protest brutality; then don’t do it by yourself being brutal. Do
it through a peaceful march or something along those lines. Don’t take a semi
driver out of a semi, beat him to near death, and celebrate as he is lying
dying in the streets. If the race card is being pulled, then represent your
race with some pride. Be the better person and don’t go shooting up a city and
stealing things to show, “we are being victimized’. Express yourself through
music or peaceful talks. Of course, NWA added fire to the flame as if it didn’t
already have it. With the song, “F the police”, it riled people up. It was a
deadly combination of anger and a willingness to break the law. Overall, these
riots were nothing more than hypocrisy. By protesting violence, they went
against themselves and did exactly what many people were trying to get them to
do. This all bleeds down (figuratively and quite literally) to the cities and
how their lives exist in them. The only way they know to solve problems is how
they have always been solved in those communities. It’s the fact that they were
being so long ignored to the fact that when they finally got the spotlight;
they were flustered and were so desperate for attention they did this. If you
look at it from this point of view, it is almost understandable, not excusable,
but understandable. Sadly, in this country we only found the negative in the
situation. We became scared of these places and instead of help we isolated
them more. Not in presence, but by laws. With all these laws, it just isolates
the group. In the end, it was an idea that could have had such a positive
impact but instead it was taking the wrong way because of the sheer chaos of
the situation.
NWA was
influential. There is no doubt about that. They expressed their voices through
rhymes and beats. Explicit language was the only way to reach the ears of a
whole country. They went against the grain and went into unnamed territory.
They brought hip hop to the world; and it took it by storm. The media loved to
hate them. To them, they were a bunch of thugs and murderers singing about
killing police and doing drugs. But, they weren’t just a thug group, they were
artists. They were painting a picture of their lives and the lives of millions
of people in the U.S. They appealed to
the younger audiences and said things that we have never heard. Stories were
told and it impacted our country in both positive and negative ways. N.W.A
truly did show the world what it was like in the streets of Compton. But more
importantly, they showed us that their art is a reflection of their reality.