Allusion in Hip Hop

Allusion has always been a big part of hip hop. We talked about this a little in class; you hear a lot of allusions and homages to other songs and pop culture, but very rarely, if ever, do you hear a cover song in hip hop. We discussed in class how there are a lot of songs that put their own spin on the line "once upon a time, not long ago" from "Children's Story" by Slick Rick. In fact, one of the songs that alludes to the line was "99 Problems," another song we discussed in class. In the same verse, Jay-Z interpolates a line from LL Cool J's "To Da Break of Dawn" when he says, "You know the type, loud as a motorbike, but wouldn't bust a grape in a fruit fight", to cleverly describe someone who's all bark and no bite. He also throws in a plug to one of his own songs at one point, saying, "Rap critics say he's 'Money, Cash, Hoes'", an offhand reference to the song of the same name, and bemoaning the fact that people don't take him seriously based on some of his songs.

"99 Problems" also has many lines that are referenced in other songs. At one point, Jay-Z takes on his critics, saying, "I'm like, fuck critics, you can kiss my whole asshole." A bit graphic, but it gets the point across. In "Power," Kanye West makes an homage to this line, saying, "Fuck SNL and the whole cast, tell 'em Yeezy said they can kiss my whole ass." This itself is a response to an episode of SNL in which they parodied Kanye's Taylor Swift debacle, and also made a joke about his deceased mother. In the same song, he makes a subtle reference to the sampled song in the beat, "21st Century Schizoid Man" by King Crimson, saying, "I'm living in that 21st century, doing something mean to it."

This is just one example of how rap songs make homages to each other and pop culture. I could go on about all the references to Nas songs off Illmatic, or all of Jay-Z's lyrics that quote "old school" hip hop, but I chose these as concise examples, two of which we've talked about in class. I hope that instead of dismissing a line you don't understand, that you look it up, there's an amazing world of allusions out there in the vast wealth of hip hop lyrics.

Illegality and Art in Hip Hop Culture

Illegality has always been a part of hip hop culture. As pointed out recently in class, some of the early gangs in Los Angeles were formed out of former dance crews. Graffiti, the visual art of hip hop, is almost by definition illegal. The first hip hop music as we know it came from parties thrown illegally by tapping power from street lights. Many of the first rap songs illegally sampled other artists to make new music. Illegality, to an extent, seems pretty ingrained in hip hop culture.

One of the questions I've been thinking a lot about lately is "Would hip hop have become so successful, and so popular if it were not for its illegal nature?" This is a tough question, because in my opinion, the answer is both yes and no. Graffiti would likely not have come as far as it has, to the point that many people consider it art, had it not been for the illegal nature of its origins. It seems like part of the beauty of the art comes from its rebellious nature. In Style Wars, while many of the pieces in the gallery were decent, it seemed like some of the passion was gone, it was too easy, and fake. I have to even wonder if graffiti would have made it into an art gallery had it not been for the creation of this art, rebelling against a society that oppresses these artists, on public transportation and buildings.

 On the other hand, I'm more inclined to believe that rap would still have been able to emerge despite its illegal history. Rap music emerged from party culture, and while the first parties were illegal, people probably would still have had the parties had they been legal. The competition for the best party, and the best music still would have emerged if they had had permission to throw them.

The sampling question is a more complicated issue. It is illegal, though not always enforced, to sample another song without permission, though this is often how beats are created in rap. But a greater question is, how much really is stealing? The argument that sampling is wrong is largely that when musicians create music, they should be original, and not copy another artist. However, it's hard to see how a five second sample of a rock song, used to sound totally different, is being unoriginal and copying the music. If you use a sample of a song, but in a totally different way, is it still stealing? What about cover songs? At concerts, it's completely legal to play a cover of a song without even crediting the original artist. What about one chord? Or an entire melody with different lyrics, on a different instrument? What I'm trying to get across is that rap doesn't seem to care about what the law says, but it also isn't dependent on breaking it. If all sampling were legal, people would probably keep right on making beats and songs with samples, and they wouldn't think a part of it was lost.

I'm really left with more questions than answers, but, while I don't know for sure how much of hip hop culture would have emerged without illegality, illegality certainly has been a large part of hip hop from the start.