Violence in de Music

Yeah people,
"Is Da Face back again with no mask so feel free take my stuff at 'face value'".

Ah know...I does be on some real sh*t.

Over the last week there has been much bickering and hollering about an old rap video that had been in the You Tube archives for a while now and emerged to rear its violent head. Honestly, with the exception of some dangerous 'props' being flaunted in the video, there isn't, in my opinion, anything really shocking to be found within the lyrics as most of the motifs and barbs expressed are standard in the gangsta rap genre. If anything, the target of the verbal whipping aka Babylon is the only real controversial point of this particular fiasco but it does raise questions about the influence, artistic virtue and ramifications of the music released by other bad men on wax (and sometimes off) like your Movados, Bounti Killas, Fiddy Cents etc.

The real question that I have been wanting to ask for a long time is whether one can always take what someone says over a beat as factual especially when it falls in the cartoonish, Quentin Tarantino-like exaggeration that you only hear from the hardest of the hardcore artistes. I mean, come on, do you really believe that 50 cent, who has recently topped Forbes richest rap artistes list, would jeopardize his riches that he got without 'dying trying' to 'buss a cap on a homie'? Or do you think that Jay Z, who now rubs shoulders with Steve Jobs and Gweneth Paltrow, would still be dealing 'weight' on some lonely corner and defending the piss-drenched area as if his life depended on it? Even so, I would admit that from the way they talk, their swagger and the malice that they put in their voice, even I let my mind escape sometimes and wander into this fantasy land where you kill but never be killed, where all women accept the worst punishment but still swoon on command and money follows you around like a bad ex. Yes, it can be very entertaining.

But despite my sometime enjoyment, one thing never falters for me; I know it's a story. It's just art...well sometimes it is. It's like watching the Godfather or playing Grand Theft Auto 4 in that you respect the plot and the characters, even get astounded by the nihilism and the realism of the violent situations but if you're sensible, you know it's make-believe. Sometimes it's exaggerated to the point that I don't know how it can be taken seriously, something like the traditional Trinidadian midnight robber boasts of conquering hell or being the son of Satan. Sometimes I wonder though, if the fans of this kinda music would like it so much if they realized that it doesn't represent reality like 95% of the time. I do and I still can occasionally enjoy it so maybe I'm unique.

And now here's my point. Music is an art form that is primarily meant to entertain. You can lecture all you want about responsibility and people needing to learn something from music but the bottom line is that people won't even give you a listen if they can't enjoy it. I mean, you learn lots of stuff in school but putting your teacher's voice over the beat to 'Jumbie' won't win you road march. At the end of the day, good music is good music and uninspiring lyrics and lame concepts occur in the 'best' and 'worst' of topics. I will listen to an engaging tale any day of a drug deal gone sour and the ensuing violence that occurs once it is accompanied by good lyricism, nuanced storytelling and a voice that emanates mood and atmosphere. And my ears will switch off if an inspirational and educational reality tune plays and it lacks feeling, a unique take on played-out subject matter or is lazily delivered. Whether the violent rap song was actually a good song seems to have mattered little within all the media commotion but whether violent or non-violent, I think all music should be measured by the same yard stick. Da Face out.