Tuesday, September 10, 2013

What Maistream Musicians can learn from Liberian Street Rappers

Music has a great influence on people's lives especially on youngsters who listen to the most hours of music played each day. They see these musicians as role models and hence their songs have a profound impact on the views and actions of these young minds. So, lets take a look at what some of the most popular artists are singing about.

Here are the lyrics of a few songs by some popular artists - Lil Wayne, Taylor Swift, Akon.

I'm not a human being - Lil Wayne
I am not a human being Uhh,
p-ssy for lunch
pop all the balloons and spit in the punch, yeah,
kush in the blunts
I ride through your block see a foot in the trunk
I don't know why they keep playin
they better re-plan im giving them the blues Bobby "Blue" Bland (blues singer)
together we stand and fall on y'all
ballin' with my bloods, call it b-ball
these days aint sh-t Young Money is
I got mars bars three musketeers
come through coupe same colour as veneers
and you know I'm riding with the toast, cheers!
yeah, now I'm back on my grizz
and y'all's a bunch a squares like a muthaf-cking grid
sh-t f-ck with me and get hit
I finger f-ck the nina make the b-tch have kids
just do it my n-gga I just did
name a muthaf-cker deeper than me b-tch dig
ya dig, this here is big biz and I scream f-ck it whoever it is

22 - Taylor Swift
It feels like a perfect night to dress up like hipsters
And make fun of our ex's, uh uh, uh uh.
It feels like a perfect night for breakfast at midnight
To fall in love with strangers, uh uh, uh uh.
Yeah,
We're happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time
It's miserable and magical.
Oh, yeah
Tonight's the night when we forget about the deadlines
It's time
Uh oh!
I don't know about you
But I'm feeling 22
Everything will be alright
If you keep me next to you
You don't know about me
But I'll bet you want to
Everything will be alright
If we just keep dancing like we're
22, ooh-ooh
22, ooh-ooh

Sexy Bitch - Akon
Yes, I can see her
'Cause every girl in here wanna be her
Oh, she's a diva
I feel the same, and I wanna meet her
They say she low down
It's just a rumor, and I don't believe 'em
They say she needs to slow down
The baddest thing around town
She's nothing like a girl you've ever seen before
Nothing you can compare to your neighborhood hoe
I'm tryna find the words to describe this girl
Without being disrespectful
The way that booty movin', I can't take no more
Have to stop what I'm doin' so I can pull up close
I'm tryna find the words to describe this girl
Without being disrespectful
Damn, girl
Damn, you're a sexy bitch, a sexy bitch
Damn, you're a sexy bitch, damn, girl
Damn, you're a sexy bitch, a sexy bitch
Damn, you're a sexy bitch, damn, girl

Well, the themes of these songs are pretty clear - sex, profanity, relationships, violence, objectification and more of the same. These 3 songs are representative of a large section of music that is out there reaching millions of people each day.

Now, lets see what street rappers in Liberia are singing about. For those of you who are geographically challenged, Liberia is an African country marred by civil wars and violence ever since it came into being. Liberia has one of the most unstable and disorganized governments found anywhere in the world. You can find the following piece in the video VICE's guide to Liberia at 14:13. It will be good however if you could watch about half the documentary from the beginning to gain an understanding of Liberia.

AIDS getting busy
Drinkin' blood from the body
Same as the first, death is a lie,
believe it or not, AIDS is out to attack,
Every woman needs a man
Every hand is on the shoulder
Mothers did loving, whats the point Liberians
she never had money so she started ******* ****
A pretty young woman is another man's slave
Mother did loving and now the pharaoh got AIDS in her face
Which type of sickness killing boys? - AIDS!
Which type of sickness killing girls? - AIDS!
Which type of sickness killing neighbors? - AIDS!
Which type of sickness killing everybody? - AIDS!

Wow! They are writing songs about ACTUAL PROBLEMS plaguing their society and in doing so keep the fire alive in the people to fight them. Shouldn't mainstream musicians around the world write songs on similar lines - reflecting problems in their society. No country is perfect or completely without problems. In the US - a large part of the population can't make ends meet and has to rely on state funds for their livelihood. In India - there's poverty, education is a sham and corruption is omnipresent. So why aren't mainstream musicians paying attention to these issues? Do they underestimate their own reach and influence or do they simply not care about these issues or could it be that they themselves are trying to escape from these harsh realities by engulfing themselves in a cocoon of self-centered music?

This isn't saying that musicians have never tried this out. Artists like Michael Jackson, Tupac Shakur and Miley Cyrus(Oh God! I can't believe that I just used Miley Cyrus in the same sentence as Michael Jackson and Tupac Shakur, please forgive me) have delivered smash hits by going doing so but then why haven't many others follow suit? Clearly there is scope here, I hope pop sensations like Jennifer Lopez, Black Eyed Peas etc in the US and lyricists here in India and the rest of the world can at least come up with one song aimed at REAL SOCIAL PROBLEMS relevant in their respective contexts. I see a huge potential here, these musicians can be champions of change, real heroes that everyone can look up to and I hope to live to see that day.

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