"I make mistakes, but learn from everyone / And when it’s said and done / I bet this brother be a better one / If I upset you, don’t stress / Never forget, that God isn’t finished with me yet."
That is a lyric from the song "Ghetto Gospel", done by the late musician and actor Tupac Shakur (better known as 2Pac). Shakur has had a strong career both while he was alive and after his death, having sold over 75 million copies of his music across the globe. He also had a large influence on modern rap and African-American society, and today, I will peering into Shakur's legacy using cultural studies theory.
Let's start off with a crash course on the life of 2Pac. He was born Lesane Parish Crooks on June 6, 1971 in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem to Billy Garland and Afeni Shakur. His parents and many other people in his life were involved with a political party known as the Black Panthers. In fact, Shakur was born about a month after Afeni was freed from charges of conspiring against the American government by planning to blow up police stations and an education office in New York. Shakur's family moved to Baltimore in 1986. While he was enrolled at the Baltimore School for the Arts, he was identified as the greatest rapper at the school. Two years later, his family moved to the West Coast and settled in California. 2Pacalypse Now, the debut album of Shakur, was released in Nov. 1991 to a good deal of praise, though his breakout album is widely considered to be Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z...The peak of his career came with Me Against The World and was followed up by All Eyez On Me. His most famous song, "California Love" (which featured Dr. Dre) came off of this record.
Shakur also began an acting career around this time, appearing in films such as Juice, Poetic Justice, and Gang Related. His life came to an end on Sep. 7, 1996 when he was shot dead in Las Vegas by an unknown assailant. Many believe the perpetrator to be Orlando Anderson, a member of the Crips gang, though some 2Pac fans have questioned this. Now that we seemingly have a good understanding of 2Pac's life, career and death, we can apply the communication theory of cultural studies. If you do not know what this theory is, here's a simple definition: "a theoretical perspective that focuses on how culture is influenced by powerful, dominant groups". This is according to the textbook that I have cited throughout this blog, "Introducing Communication Theory", which was authored by Richard West and Lynn H. Turner. This textbook mentions that the theory was originally brought to us by Stuart Hall, a British sociologist and theorist. Hall figured that those who wallow in power use the media to bring their perspectives to those who have less power and social status. The communication theory textbook tells us that the theory of cultural studies is based on two certain assumptions: "culture pervades and invades all facets of human behavior" and that "people are part of a hierarchical structure of power".
Hegemony is one important concept in the theory of cultural studies. This is defined as the influence that a certain social group has over another social group in their shared society. We also have the "theatre of struggle", which happens in a society when differing systems of beliefs, values, and ideals compete. The message of 2Pac's music was very anti-hegemonic, similar to that of Bob Marley. Shakur also differed from the artists we've discussed since his image is incredibly hyper masculine, contrasting the Beatles' stance on hegemonic masculinity. In the paper "Hegemonic Resistance in Hip-Hop Music: A Gramscian Rhetorical Criticism of Tupac Shakur", Scott Mitchell, a professor at Illinois State University, discussed the factors of 2Pac's discography that argue against oppressive influence and encourage the audience to resist. He mentions that 2Pac's music not only helped audiences of all ethnicities understand the hardships of poor and persecuted African-Americans in the 1980s and 1990s, it was able to give them a voice, which they needed. Analyzing the records released when Shakur was alive, Mitchell noticed a recurring theme in his lyrics. Shakur held belief that release from ghetto life was not a valid option for many impoverished African-Americans. The lyrics cited by Mitchell are from the song "I Don't Give A Fuck", which came off of his debut album. “The way they see it, we was meant to be kept down / Just can't understand why we gettin’ respect now / Mama told me there’d be days like this / But I’m pissed 'cause it stays like this.” This lyric implies the oppression and marginalization of black Americans and that the culprit is a dominant "they", which falls into the concept of hegemony. Shakur's frustration with this concept is shown in the phrase "I'm pissed 'cause it stays like this". He's upset that hegemony exists in society and proposes that the hegemonic cloud is keeping African-Americans in a poverty-stricken state. His use of the word "they" to describe the influencing elite creeps up once again later in the song. "They act like they never seen a motherfucker wearing black / Following a nigga and shit / Ain't this a bitch / All I wanted was some chips / I wanna take my business elsewhere, but where? / 'Cause who in the hell cares / About a black man with a black need / They wanna jack me like some kind of crack fiend." Using examples of racial stereotyping and the racial demographic element, Shakur simplifies the implied identity of "they" and explains that they are of the elite Caucasian demographic by claiming that they do not care about "a black man with a black need". 2Pac comes off in an overtly aggressive tone and displays his hyper-masculine tendencies, as he has openly intimidated his rivals and others in his lyrics. This is very evident in his 1996 song "Hit 'Em Up", widely considered to be one of the greatest diss tracks ever created.
In it, he explicitly threatens East Coast hip-hop artists including the Notorious B.I.G, P. Diddy, and Biggie's record label, Bad Boy Records, by hurling expletives towards them and mentioning that they were going to be killed. Three months after the song's release, the feud between the East and West Coast rappers led to his demise. Shakur's estate has now released six posthumous albums in his name, the most recent being Pac's Life in 2006. The release year was meant to pay tribute to the tenth anniversary of his murder.
2Pac was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017. What is your opinion of Tupac Shakur's music? Do you have a favorite song from him? Do you have any strong feelings about the rivalry between East Coast and West Coast hip-hop artists? Feel free to comment down below!
"Yesterday", "Penny Lane", "Come Together", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Here Comes The Sun". All five of these songs vary greatly in style, but they all come from the same group: the Beatles. The British band, consisting of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, have the highest sales of any musical act, selling over 800 million records with twelve studio albums and one LP (a long-playing record).
As the best-selling band in history, the Beatles have had an enormous impact on society, including the ignition of the British Invasion here in America. Today, I will discuss the legacy of the Beatles through the lens of cultural studies theory. Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison began playing as a trio in 1958 and performed at clubs in the Liverpool and Hamburg areas. The three went through a series of drummers (including Pete Best) before settling on Starr. The first hit song from the Fab Four was "Love Me Do", which was recorded in June 1962 and released in Britain in October of that year. "Love Me Do" was later brought to America in April 1964.
Beatlemania quickly spread. Around this time, the Beatles earned their "Fab Four" nickname, and they began commanding the British Invasion of the mid-1960s. As the years went on, the band brought innovative and unconventional techniques and instruments to their albums. These included backmasking (including hidden messages on tracks that would be revealed when played in reverse), Artificial Double Tracking (ADT), and tuned feedback. Sadly, the band broke up in 1970 after the release of their final album, "Let It Be". Each member seemed to have a successful solo career after the group disbanded; however, Lennon was shot and killed in December 1980. McCartney and Starr are still playing music today; Harrison passed away from cancer in 2001.
The Beatles were indeed a legendary group. Since we now see the basics of what makes them so great, we can further use the theory of cultural studies to dissect their influence across society. The previously cited "Introducing Communication Theory" textbook mentions that the theory of cultural studies is defined as "a theoretical perspective that focuses on how culture is influenced by powerful, dominant groups". This theory originated in the Beatles' homeland of Britain and was initiated by sociologist Stuart Hall. Hall found that the elite use media as a tool to bring their viewpoints to the masses. "Introducing Communication Theory" explains that the theory is based on two certain assumptions. These assumptions are that "culture pervades and invades all facets of human behavior" and that "people are part of a hierarchical structure of power".
One of the central concepts in the theory of cultural studies is hegemony. This is defined as the influence that one group in society has over a different group in that society. When the British Invasion came to America with the Beatles as forefathers, the United Kingdom influenced popular music here in American. The Brits brought new ideas, new concepts, and new techniques to the Americans. The Beatles themselves also have influenced various artists that have emerged. Artists influenced by the Beatles include Dave Grohl, Joni Mitchell, Bruce Springsteen, and Billie Eilish. Each musician has mentioned that they had grown up with the Beatles and cited them as inspirations for their musical careers.
However, the Beatles themselves were quite against hegemony, especially when it came to masculinity. The concept of hegemonic masculinity is defined as the reason men have kept dominant roles over women in society. "It Was 50 Years Ago Today: Reading the Beatles
as a Challenge to Discourses of Hegemonic
Masculinity" is an academic paper by Martin King, principal lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom. King mentions in the paper that the notions of hegemonic masculinity "claim that dominant conceptualizations of masculinity are reproduced
through key institutions, e.g., the education system, the
mass media" and that "other 'versions' of masculinity,
including young, homosexual, or effeminate men
became subordinate to the dominant model." He also mentions that the dominant force behind the concept of hegemonic masculinity is heterosexual men. Hegemonic Masculinity: How the Dominant Man Subjugates Other Men, Women, and Society The band challenged various sex and gender roles that have appeared in society in their music. One important example is their refusal to revise the overall lyrics in their cover of The Shirelle's song "Boys". Although they changed certain pronouns that were used, the band wasn't worried about gay undertones. "Any one of us could hold the audience," McCartney stated in an October 2005 with the music magazine Rolling Stone. "Ringo would do 'Boys', which was a fan favorite with the crowd. And it was great — though if you think about it, here's us doing a song and it was really a girls' song. 'I talk about boys now!' Or it was a gay song. But we never even listened. It's just a great song. I think that's one of the things about youth — you just don't give a shit. I love the innocence of those days."
"Ringo always used to do a song in the show," he later mentioned in another interview. "Back then he had 'Boys'. It was a little embarrassing because it went, 'I'm talking about boys - yeah, yeah - boys'. It was a Shirelles hit and they were girls singing it, but we never thought we should call it 'Girls', just because Ringo was a boy. We just sang it the way they'd sung it and never considered any implications." Their group dynamic has also been described by author Steven Stark as more feminine than masculine, due to Lennon and McCartney's songwriting partnership and the lack of a tough, macho leader. The band conflicted with or are mixed with figures that represented the concept of hegemonic masculinity in each film project they starred in during the 1960s. These films are "A Hard Day's Night" (1964), "Help!" (1965), "Magical Mystery Tour" (1967), and "Let It Be" (1970). One way these films contrast the Beatles with these authoritarian figures is through their physical appearance. "Help!", a musical-comedy film, sees the four come in contact with a police inspector who embodies hegemonic masculinity with a hardy, gentlemanly appearance in his attire and hairstyle. The band contrasts him by dressing in subdued fabrics (as shown below).
Meanwhile, "Let It Be" has the Beatles dressed in feminine coats, pumps, and atypical suits and styled with longer hair, as opposed to the strait-laced, professional suits that belong to the businessmen they encounter.
Another way this contrast occurs is through their resistance to traditional gender roles in the films. A traditional role of men is doing all of the work for a household while the female stays home to take care of the children. During "A Hard Day's Night" and "Let It Be", the band is very burdened by the concept of work and actively resists it. "Help!" shows them evolving into a stage of pre-metrosexuality, while "Magical Mystery Tour" shows them at the height of a metrosexual phase. This phase is categorized by a left-leaning political ideology, a fascination with fashion, and a smoothed-out sense of culture and taste. "Magical Mystery Tour" also shows this contrast through hallucinogenic visuals as the band is, according to British music critic Ian MacDonald, "lost in
a childlike psychedelic world" free from the burden of work. MacDonald mentioned in his book "Revolution In The Head: The Beatles' Records And The Sixties" that “agreement on them is all but universal: they were
far and away the best ever pop group and their music
enriched the lives of millions”. Frankly, I agree with him. What is your personal opinion of the Beatles? Do you think they deserve as much praise as they currently receive? What is your favorite Beatles song? Feel free to leave a comment down below!
He was one of the most profound artists of the 20th century. His greatest hits album Legend is the highest selling reggae album of all time. He was also known by many names, including "Skipper", "Tuff Gong", "Nesta", and "The King Of Reggae". The man described here was known to the world as Bob Marley.
Jamaican Bob Marley was a cultural icon who helped popularize reggae music and inspired peace throughout the world. Today, I’ll discuss his impact on society through the lens of cultural studies theory. Born on Feb. 6, 1945 in the Jamaican village of Nine Mile, Marley’s career as a musician began with the Wailers, a band he joined with childhood friend Neville Livingston. Three members of the Wailers left by 1966, leaving the trio of Livingston, Marley, and Peter Tosh. Though he was raised as a Catholic, Marley became involved in the religion of Rastafarianism in the 1960s and began growing his signature dreadlocks.
Once the Wailers broke up in 1974, Marley embarked on a solo career and released a variety of songs including “Waiting In Vain”, “Redemption Song”, and “Jammin’". His health began deteriorating, though, and Marley passed away on May 11, 1981 in Miami, Florida. His cause of death? Skin cancer.
Now that we have an idea who Bob Marley was, we can apply the theory of cultural studies while looking at his impact on society. "Introducing Communication Theory: Analysis And Application", a textbook written by Richard West and Lynn H. Turner, states that cultural studies is "a theoretical perspective that focuses on how culture is influenced by powerful, dominant groups". Cultural studies theory comes to us from Britain, and was originally proposed by theorist Stuart Hall. Hall came to the conclusion that the powerful use media as an instrument to bring their ways of thinking to the masses. The textbook states that the theory works on two specific assumptions. These assumptions are that "culture pervades and invades all facets of human behavior" and that "people are part of a hierarchical structure of power".
An important concept in the theory is hegemony, which is defined as the dominance that a certain social group has over a different submissive social group. There is also a term known as the "theatre of struggle", which happens when differing sets of ideals compete in a society. Finally, there is a circuit of culture, an operation where researchers look over cultural artifacts. This "circuit" involves five stages: representation, identity, production, consumption, and regulation. Through his music, Marley brought a message that was anti-hegemonic. He did not believe that certain social groups should have dominance over others; instead, he promoted peace and equality and the idea that all social groups, regardless of beliefs or class, should unite to help each other.
Marley also rejected the style of life that Westerners adopted (which focuses mainly on materialism) and embraced Rastafarianism. The official Bob Marley website states that he "advocated for social change while simultaneously allowing listeners to forget their troubles and dance." In an article in the "New Yorker" entitled "Manufacturing Bob Marley" Hua Hsu explains that Marley "came to embody an alternative to orthodoxy." Hsu went on to state that "his lyrics lent themselves to a kind of universalist reading of exodus and liberation." According to the Rolling Stone article "The Life and Times of Bob Marley", young people in Jamaica had started to catch on to popular American music during the late 1940s. One of the biggest inspirations for them musically was, as the article puts, "the earthy and polyrhythmic dance and blues sounds of New Orleans". This is a prime example of cultural studies theory, because the dominant superpower America had an influence on Jamaica's music scene and, therefore, the songs written by Bob Marley. The United States, specifically New Orleans, held dominance over this portion of Jamaican culture by using hegemony. However, as Jamaicans began to develop a distinct musical personality, the hegemony that America held became more of a moving equilibrium. "Introducing Communication Theory" states that this moving equilibrium occurs "with the dominant ideologies (in this case, American music) struggling to maintain their own positions of power within an unpredictable population (the Jamaican people)." "Rolling Stone": The Life And Times Of Bob Marley Marley also grew up in a town riddled with gang violence and earned his nickname "Tuff Gong" from his time in Trench Town, a government tenant yard in the city of Kingston. However, he did not aspire to be a criminal and found a crude sort of beauty in the streets, wanting to describe a life of growing up this way and be a voice for those who didn't have it. Subject to ridicule from others, he didn't let the condemnation stop him and kept going, forming the Wailers. Jamaican music took on a R&B style in the 1960s as a result of this, creating a tight weave of pounding rhythms and vocals. This new style of music helped maintain unity among the black community in Jamaica in times of trouble.
The style of reggae began to come together in the late 1960s. It fused together ska and rock music to create a new entity, and Marley started taking on this new and intriguing format. The "Rolling Stone" article explains that "it gave him new vision and ambition: he wanted to make music that would satisfy and represent his homeland but that would also reach a larger world outside."
That is an important characteristic that helped Marley stand out and push his vision to the world around him. Back during the 1970s, Jamaica was in a state of political unrest as the conservative Jamaica Labor Party and the liberal People’s National Party engaged in a civil war. The tension was bitter and politicians from both sides hired Jamaican gangsters to assist them in staying in power. Right around this time, Bob Marley was performing in the One Love Peace Concert. The show climaxed on April 22, 1978 with a performance of Marley’s hit song “Jammin’”. Towards the end of the performance, Marley brought together the hands of Michael Manley, a liberal politician, and his rival, Edward Seaga, and the three brought their hands together in a display of unity.
"Watch, watch, watch, what you're doing, because I wanna send a message right out there," Marley said during the moment. "I mean, I'm not so good at talking but I hope you understand what I'm trying to say. Well, I'm trying to say, could we have, could we have, up here onstage here the presence of Mr. Michael Manley and Mr. Edward Seaga. I just want to shake hands and show the people that we're gonna make it right, we're gonna unite, we're gonna make it right, we've got to unite. The moon is right over my head, and I give my love instead. The moon was right above my head, and I give my love instead." However, that didn't last long, as both of the concert organizers ended up dead less than two years after the One Love show. Marley held a vision of resistance, to stand up for what is right and never take "no" for an answer. His more important contribution in this area was using spirit as a way to resist. It is true that plenty of other artists have created songs with similar intent; John Lennon is one figure that comes to mind. However, as the article in "Rolling Stone" mentions, Lennon and other artists, not including the late Tupac Shakur, "addressed injustice, intolerance, deprivation and oppression from outside the living heart of that experience." Marley put his life on the line to say what he believed in, and fought to gain a global audience. Bob Marley was a Jamaican icon, creating hit after hit in the national music scene and spreading his message of love and peace to the world. To quote the man himself: “live for yourself and you will live in vain; live for others, and you will live again.”
Do you enjoy the work of Bob Marley? What is your opinion on his legacy? Do you have a favorite quote from the King of Reggae? Feel free to leave a comment down below!
