im in hell, eden took me there

The idea that violence is inherent to hip-hop and rap is a reductive way at looking at art, and it completely obliterates stories about the African American experience. In discussing hip-hop, people rightfully clarify that songs about violence are just one part of a wide-ranging genre, and that the pearl-clutching that people feel over “violent” rap is never extended to depictions of violence in other genres. To this conversation, I also want to add that saying that hip-hop songs are “just violent” disrespects the work of Black hip-hop artists.

What does it mean for a song to be “about violence”? Self-proclaimed critics of hip-hop never clarify what this means, because that would mean having to expend effort in understanding the lyricism in these songs. Countless Black hip-hop artists and rappers have used music to express the various encounters they have had with violence, how these encounters affected them, how they try (or even fail) to cope. Events like losing loved ones to gang violence, losing loved ones to drugs, dealing with police violence, dealing with lacklustre educational systems and lacklustre healthcare, misogynoir, internalized racism… all of these and more are tackled through song, only to be completely ignored under the never-clarified label of “violence” - or worse, to be mislabelled endorsements of violence just because they approached the topic in a way that didn't appeal to the sensitivities of the masses. Why are we more surprised by the expression of grief and anger towards systemic violence and not by the systemic violence itself?

This is not something that works against hip-hop’s appeal, but is part of it. People around the world can relate to the experiences illustrated by hip-hop artists and rappers - gangs, drugs, shootings, internalized racism, structural barriers, being able to confront these things has brought people outside of the U.S into hip-hop’s orbit. Even those who cannot relate to it can appreciate the artistry. You shouldn’t be surprised to hear hip-hop artists outside of the U.S cite big names like Tupac and Biggie Smalls as their inspirations, nor should you be surprised that the Kendrick-Drake beef crossed international borders.

But this brings us to a problem that the hip-hop community has faced for years. These mentions of violence initially began from people in the same neighbourhoods, facing the same struggles, and as hip-hop expanded, you now see people from different (better) neighbourhoods who never had to deal with things like gangs or guns or anti-Blackness making the exact same songs. The culture and experiences of low-income African-American communities became aestheticized, and are treated as meaningless embellishments. What sort of imagery do you think lyrics like “Shoot ‘em up” in “CIVIL WAR” are supposed to evoke?

Some people may feel that the gang aesthetics are used as a metaphor/allusion for something else. But in that case, what is this “something else” supposed to be? What part of “CIVIL WAR” as we have seen in the MV, heard in the lyrics, or observed in Crazy:B and AKATSUKI generally shows us this other meaning? [The story was not released at the time that I write this. If the story explains why these aesthetics were chosen, so be it. But the fact that these arguments are made pre-story release, without supporting evidence at this point in time, is my main critique].

Additionally, I have seen some people argue that its only natural for there to be lyrics alluding to violent and sound effects like gunshots given that Megasphere Match is a competition. However, if that is the case, then where are these elements in the previews of the other competition songs? Admittedly, its early to judge because it will take time for us to hear the full releases, but the previews alone are wildly different.

I know some people don’t understand why you should spare consideration for a group from the current hegemonic power, but that completely misunderstands the status that Black Americans hold in the U.S (alongside the status of other marginalized groups).