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Before I get into the DMX story, I would like readers to reconnect with a line of thinking that they might be overlooking. Let’s take a look at Lady Gaga and her song “Born This Way.” Some of the lyrics to the song goes a little something like this –
It doesn’t matter if you love him or capital H-I-M… ’cause you were Born This Way, Baby
…There’s nothing wrong with loving who you are
‘Cause he made you perfect, babe…’
[Chorus:]
I’m beautiful in my way
‘Cause God makes no mistakes
I’m on the right track, baby
I was born this way
Don’t hide yourself in regret
Just love yourself, and you’re set
I’m on the right track, baby
I was born this way
[Post-chorus:]
Oh there ain’t no other way
Baby, I was born this way
Baby, I was born this way
Oh there ain’t no other way
Baby, I was born-
I’m on the right track, baby
I was born this way” …
Now, correct me if I’m wrong. But this song is a justification of what some may see as Lady Gaga’s cultural deviance; right? Is Lady Gaga asking her audience to accept her the way she is? In this song she is urging us not to JUDGE her merely because of sexual preference or different appearances; why? Because she was ‘born this way.’ We are to accept her however she is regardless of our own morals.
Since GOD is perfect, therefore HE must not have made a mistake when He made her that way. That’s the message in this song. Can a rapper proclaim the same message with bling, 24-inch rims, big bottle popping in nightclubs, gambling and use of profanities? These are all deviant behaviors, are they not? Aren’t these the main reasons why rappers lose respect? People condemned the wrong attitudes that give rapper’s street credibility. From a player to a pimp, hood rich hustler that hailed from the ghetto, singing songs about sex, drugs, and weapons while condemning homosexuality.
That’s the message in this song. Can a rapper proclaim the same message with bling, 24 inch rims, loud bottle popping in nightclubs, gambling and use of profanities?”
Proclaiming a macho lifestyle dotted with street crime using the excuse that many are deprived of equal opportunities in this society. Or by expressing rebellious attitude against brainwash in conspiracy theories. That’s a rapper’s tale – it’s a prison song. And because we wear diamonds and pay rump-shakers to dance half-naked in music videos, we come to be seen as misogynistic criminals instead of the talented artists that we are. But most people love diamonds and envy rapper’s wealth.
However, Lady Gaga is just as deviant in her own right. For a rapper, (like myself) deciding to write these lengthy blogs attests merely to the extent to which our image is being tainted in the media. I don’t only have to be talented in my music I also have to defend my genre and my music from willful misinterpretations or bias misrepresentation of its lyrics to the public. When Osama Bin Laden was captured and killed in Pakistan, the White House said Pakistani authorities either knew he was hiding in their country or their intelligence agency was too incompetent with investigations of this magnitude.
Using the same We too can be accepted the way we are because we were also born the way we are. No need to change who we are if we are going to Lady Gaga’s theory. There is no reason why Hip Hop should be modified to meet the needs of a few inside outsiders. Yes, I’m crazy about Hip Hop! I’ve lived my whole life promoting not only rap music but the culture of Hip Hop itself. I have called out TV shows, radio programs, and music genres that rip elements from Hip Hop to promote their own scheme. Sorts are stealing slang, music formatting, fashion, and business techniques from rappers without the courtesy of giving rappers credit.
If you coupled that with negative press, the end result is a discouragement. This is why you see a lot of fakes artists out there. Artists who rap with Hip Hop trims African dance moves and have their own perfume line. People are afraid to identify within the real essence of Hip Hop merely because they want to be accepted by everyone. So they adopt a watered-down brand of the culture. If Lady Gaga and the likes are expected to be born that way then why not a rapper living out his Hip Hop dream? This is apparently not a question of right and wrong but rather, it is what one wishes to do regardless of what is demanded.
And they use the media is a tool to tarnish the rappers image. Why go through that length just to tear an artist away from his or her success.”
Ask yourself these questions, “why is it that whenever a rap artist achieves worldwide singularity, he or she is either killed or sent to prison? Was he or she not ‘Born That Way” just like Lady Gaga? What happened to rehab or all the usual forms of a slap on the wrist the other celebrities get? Most rappers are rich and famous like Hollywood celebrities, but their fame is never hailed the same way. Judicial systems have a bias that makes no delays in smacking a rap artist with heavy fines should he or she get suspected of anything questionable. And they use the media is a tool to tarnish the rapper’s image. Why go to that length just to tear an artist away from his or her success. There is even a Hip Hop task force called the Hip Hop police dedicated to tearing down any rap artist who grows too successful.
This task force goes undercover, tapping phones, bugging cars, trailing RAPPERS in nightclubs, obtaining employment within the rappers’ camp while acting as a spy. Some female cops even go as far as involving in a romantic relationship just to investigate the artist. Our grate-grand and grandparents inherited a world taught to fear GOD and his commandments; right? This is why people frown upon a street lifestyle. After all, besides the crime insinuations within the lifestyle, there is also a massive room for sin as well. Which is why it is seen as a deviant lifestyle in our circular culture. But now we see other forms of deviancy in circular culture. Younger kids are clubbing more, using harder drugs, having random babies, smoking and drinking heavily and partaking in mature activities that their elders didn’t experience until after they grew up.
There had to have been a social, political or religious mentality that frowned on fornication in favor of marriage, homosexuals in support of heterosexuals, moral discipline as opposed to corruption and so on. But what are good morals anymore? What’s the basis for the need of equality? Are there any saints? Why will someone be called a bastard? How did that word come to exist? A whore or a slut…a nigger… what line of thinking lead to the creation of these words? There had to have been a thought process deemed righteous that caused a distinction between good and evil. But over time generations have come to question its own reasoning. This new culture seeks to lift previous bans on taboos. Is this not what Lady Gaga wants when she says she was born this way? H-I-M had to be an inference to GOD or a Superior Being who makes the rules that her likes are opposed to; right?
DMX
Here is a credible rap artist. One who has earned the respect of Hip Hop but for some reason is always targeted for destruction through the justice system. Media deliberately airs negative news of his character, matched with distasteful mugshots intended to damage his image. Once DMX was arrested, before he arrived in court, media personals were already there. How did they find out that DMX had been arrested?
Why were they so urgent to air his arrest? Because he is a rap artist. They went on to film his arraignment against his wish, and the footage was broadcast on TMZ. The last two rappers with this amount of credibility were both killed in staged drive-by shootings. Everyone knows that Tupac and Biggie were assassinated to cripple the growth of Hip Hop. T.I, Lil Wayne, DMX, Shyne, Scarface, Beanie Sigel, not to mention Big Pun, Proof and Big L, etc. are all credible rappers who were targeted in some form by the media.
How did they find out that DMX had been arrested? Why were they so urgent to air his arrest?”
I know what you are going to say if you don’t get this. My thought process must be twisted if I expect convicted criminals to be prosperous. Your minds have been tuned in sync with the system you live in, and as far as you are concerned, life is like a cookie cutter – people are cut how they are. But these are artists. If someone is weak, it has to be their fault because they probably didn’t work hard enough but if they’re rich they automatically ought to have everyone’s respect regardless of how they made money…? That’s how most people look at life today! A happy person is supposed to be one who has a lot of money and material possessions along with affluent connections while poverty is only brought upon the unlucky? People can no longer separate the artist from the art and the art and is no longer used to gain better perceptions.
“Thou shalt not steal, but I will eat. As much as I respect the law, it also does not own me. I’m not property. I may call for help, but I do not need to be protected beyond the extent of my wish. This is the thought process of a free man or woman. The order is great to have, but no authority is never supreme in the eyes of a rap artist.” – Freddy Will.
Some people believe that SIN cannot be avoided. Many think that lawmakers and enforcers break laws too. But more punishment goes to ordinary citizens far more often than breaking the law exist. Therefore, every man is a target and every woman a potential mate. Some people respect authority figures in the name of order but are not swayed by their ideals since morality is a relative concept. To each its own.
Many believe that law makers and enforcers brake laws too. But more punishment goes to ordinary citizens far more often than breaking the law exist.”
Laws can be restrictions on the timid to enables the bold to thrive, and requirements can ensure that there is order in the society. One has to know the difference between the two. It brings us back to the subject of social, political and religious deviance. If there is a deviant lifestyle, then there has to be a higher expectation that considers unusual behavior deviance. Once that entity decides that the behavior is no longer abnormal then what happens? Who gets to say what is right and when that good becomes terrible or evil becomes good? Take marijuana for example. What happens when and if it gets legalized? Hip Hop is a culture based on psychological freedom from restrictions put in place by either politics, religion or moral hypocrisy which then enables some people to thrive while others are kept at bay. And that is what we put in our music/ who needs another man’s approval to determine if you succeed in life? We are who we are because we too were born this way and our fate is in our own hands.*
Good way to look at it DMX was a great artist.