Rap and the ghettocentric mentality
In the 1980’s and 90’s one of the biggest issues arising within the United States popular culture, Hip-Hop and specifically rap music was the mass marketing of the violence and pain of the black and ghetto life. The tragedies that some people had to endure were actually being mass produced and sold as television shows, films and music. Perhaps the most appalling trend is that of the black youth, they used these conditions and this ghettoness as a point of personal pride and honor.
The ethno-centric trends of the late 80’s of the rap scene started to change and move more towards a ghettocentric mentality in the early 1990’s. This is not to say that being African-American was no longer important but it was not necessary anymore whereas the ghettoness was.
The genre of rap that was previously restricted by the ethno-centric necessity of being black began to include certain Latino groups. These Latino groups that fit into the group of ethno-racial Others whose experiences and living conditions are very similar to the ghettocentric ones of the African-American people. It came to the point where these Latinos, specifically Caribbean Latinos such as Puerto Ricans are perceived as being closer to the lower class African-Americans than the more affluent and higher class members of the African-American community. This acceptance of the Caribbean Latinos by the African-American lower class is also linked to the African-American acceptance of them as a part of the African diaspora in the Americas.
In the 80s and early 90s the genre was described by the African-American participants as “a Black thing, you wouldn’t understand,” but starting at some point in the mid-90s there was this change in the conversation around rap as well as within academic forums in which the music was a “Black and Latino” phenomenon. This would not be possible were it not for the changing of the necessity of being black to participate in rap to the necessity of a ghetto experience (Rivera).
The ethno-centric trends of the late 80’s of the rap scene started to change and move more towards a ghettocentric mentality in the early 1990’s. This is not to say that being African-American was no longer important but it was not necessary anymore whereas the ghettoness was.
The genre of rap that was previously restricted by the ethno-centric necessity of being black began to include certain Latino groups. These Latino groups that fit into the group of ethno-racial Others whose experiences and living conditions are very similar to the ghettocentric ones of the African-American people. It came to the point where these Latinos, specifically Caribbean Latinos such as Puerto Ricans are perceived as being closer to the lower class African-Americans than the more affluent and higher class members of the African-American community. This acceptance of the Caribbean Latinos by the African-American lower class is also linked to the African-American acceptance of them as a part of the African diaspora in the Americas.
In the 80s and early 90s the genre was described by the African-American participants as “a Black thing, you wouldn’t understand,” but starting at some point in the mid-90s there was this change in the conversation around rap as well as within academic forums in which the music was a “Black and Latino” phenomenon. This would not be possible were it not for the changing of the necessity of being black to participate in rap to the necessity of a ghetto experience (Rivera).
"Nigga" Evolution of a Slur
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One of the more interesting phenomenon to come out of the aforementioned ghettocentric rap is the way that the word “Nigga” changed. “Nigga” within the context of rap music at the very least has evolved from a word that describes a skin color or the culture associated with that skin color to a more inclusive term that includes and identifies a class, a class of inner city people that are poor and often interracial. It gets to the point where “Nigga” shares a meaning or at least a connotation with “oppressed”. So in other words “Nigga” is no longer just another term for blacks but a word for all of the people that are affected by the ghetto lifestyle.
The figure to the right is the song "Twinz (Deep Cover '98)" by Big Pun and Fat Joe. In this 1998 classic, rappers Big Pun and Fat Joe alternate rapping. In both of their verses the two men use the word "Nigga". The album that this comes from is a platinum selling album so it is obvious that the word "Nigga" did not deter people from buying the album and it is regarded as one of the best rap albums of all time. So through this song we can see that the use of the word "Nigga" by Latinos in rap music has become an accepted phenomenon (Rivera 374). |
"Twinz (Deep Cover '98)", Capital Punishment, sound recording, Big Punisher featuring Fat Joe, Loud, April 28 1998.
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