Black Star’s album mostly identifies with the hip hop/rap
genre. It strays from it a little by using a kind of indie, almost reggae beat.
The way they rap has a 90’s feel to it. The artists talk about the oppression
of black people in America. They also talk about the beginning of hip hop to
make money and working in the studio. They also talk down on rappers who steal
beats and rap lies. One song has an excerpt from the movie we watched in
class about how hip hop originated and it talks about the rebellion that went
on in the city and the graffiti to get the city’s attention. Black Star
criticizes lyrics that instigate fights and violence. They also mention Biggie
and Tupac’s death in the chorus of their song Definition. It says, “too much
violence in hip hop, they shot Biggie and Tupac”. They’re trying to call
attention to these events and make a point that the violence in hip hop was at
fault. They say “be a visionary, see your name in the column of the obituary”.
This implies that people who have original ideas about what the future could be
like are not wanted by society. He talks about how it is almost dangerous to be
an MC. Their album focuses on many societal and economical issues as well as
the issues of violence in hip hop.
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