Recently as I have been going through a break-up with my newest ex-girlfriend I began doing what many heartbroken people do which is turn to my favorite recording artists for comfort. This is when an epiphany hit me: "I am apart of the Hip-Hop Generation!!!" Although many rappers and R&B artist may create chart topping hits about heartbreak I must admit that typically the most listened to artist on my ipod are of the grittier style in the hip-hop genre.
However today after I turned on my itunes and began to listen to my new "heartbreak mix" I realized that the majority of the material that I was listening to was telling a similar story of the mind of young men of the hip hop generation. I realized at that moment the power that music has in the socialization of men and women. I have been going back and forth with my ex these past few days. Something that struck me was that she was not the one hurting (at least not externally) but I was. I began to hypothesize that maybe one of the reasons that I was taking the breakup so bad was because I had not been taught how to deal with the concept of having my heartbroken.
As I thought about this idea of hardcore hip hop having a heart I recalled a video clip I had seen of Tupac Shakur from when he was seventeen years old. In this video interview we find the future icon talking about how when he was dating a young lady and she stopped the relationship because he was "too nice". Tupac goes on to recount how this "nice guy" behavior got him a lot of friends but was not helping him in the romantic relationship department. Shakur then decided that he was going to "be like them" (other young men) because in his mind they seemed to get the girls by calling them the "B word". Then the video cuts to Tupac during his years on Death Row records saying "Bitches aint shit".
What is the psychology behind this behavior i wondered as I sat in my dorm room thinking of how young men view women in modern culture. I then thought of a more contemporary and in some aspects even more controversial artist then Tupac. The individual I speak of is Marshall Mathers aka Eminem. On his album Encore I listened to a song called "Spend Some Time". This song featured Eminem, Obie Trice, Stat Quo and 50 Cent. While listening to this track I was able to observe how these men handled heartbreak or "protected" themselves from it by degrading women with there language.
Whether it is the members of the Shady/Aftermath empire, a dead Hip Hop legend who keeps dropping albums every year or Kanye West and Jamie Foxx I kept on hearing the same things over and over again. Is this what we are dealing with? Is it possible that all of the bitches and hoes we have heard in rap lyrics over the years are the results of some of these men not knowing how to handle heartbreak? Could it be that the male recording artists have been trained to be (and are training) an army of drug dealing, gun slinging, bitch slapping young thugs who don't know how to deal with there emotions? In the next piece we shall delve into this matter a little deeper as we allow the female artists perspective to be heard and analyzed but for now take a second thought before turning to your favorite playlist of heartbreak songs. The time you take to think about it might save you some heartache.
To Be Continued.....
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