Who is better, Kanye West or 50 cent? Explain your position.

I do not blog very often at all. My general reason is that it is hard to find the time to write while still maintaining my grades, not to mention eating and sleeping. One would think that this same argument would be applicable to an even greater extent now that I am in the midst of the last week of classes and have 3 pending finals of doom. Well, yes. One would be right. Perhaps I should be using my time more wisely right now… (That honest admission will probably make my mother nervous when she reads this.)

However, sometimes life just presents opportunities where I simply cannot resist giving my commentary. Even in the midst of my last week of classes and 3 pending finals of doom.

I just left Biology Lab, which was often a significant waste of time over the course of the semester, but I liked the group I worked with so it evens out. Anyways, we just took our lab final. The bonus question on my biology lab final was as follows: Who is better, Kanye West or 50 cent? Explain your position.

Well, such is my devotion to the “music” I am about to verbally attack, I felt that I should share my response.

In all honesty, I find the rapping community as a whole to be just annoying. Apparently, I am not as quite enamored by the slight lisps of overpaid marginally talented recording artists as the rest of my demographic.

Perhaps my disillusion from the rapping community stems from my disillusion with the idolized “gangsta” lifestyle. From my interpretation of various rapping songs, the important values to a gangsta are as follows; money, frequent sex with complete disregard for the partner apart from how she “looks in them jeans”, rebellion, and violence. While the rare rapper might have some artistic songs with significant meaning hidden deep within the last tracks of their CD, the songs that are popular and that they are known for are those revering the values just listed.

Money is idolized by every capitalistic culture, so that is excused.

Frequent sex with complete disregard for the partner is not only morally wrong but also plain stupid. According to the American Social Health Organization one in two sexually active people will contract an STD by the age of 25. It is estimated that as many as one in five Americans have genital herpes, a lifelong (but manageable) infection, yet up to 90 percent of those with herpes are unaware they have it. With more than 50 million adults in the US with genital herpes and up to 1.6 million new infections each year, some estimates suggest that by 2025 up to 40% of all men and half of all women could be infected. Avert.org estimates that 33 million people are living with AIDS in 2007. Still seem like such a good idea to have sex with everything in a miniskirt?

Rebellion is actually an acceptable value. Often, rebellion is necessary to spark much needed social and institutional change. Jesus was technically considered a rebel in his day. Oscar Wilde is quoted as saying “Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.” Rebellion can be a valuable tool, as long at it is used in a manner that is worthwhile. I am sure Oscar Wilde would agree with me when I say that rebelling against the authority by driving intoxicated serves no worthwhile end. [My original intent was to include the lyrics to “Ridin” by Chamillionaire here to illustrate my point, but the whole song is relevant, not just one quote. http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/chamillionaire/ridin.html]

A lot of comments that rap increases violence have been made and generally disregarded. I will simply say that rap tells its listeners that violence is a necessary tool to produce a desirable effect in the people around you. “Respect”. A better way to describe it is fear. When people fear you, no one questions you or dares to do anything besides your wishes. I could see how that end would be desirable, but not the fear that comes with it or the violence that precedes that.

The rapping community also promotes the objectification of women through their lifestyles, lyrics and music videos. I missed the memo where lyrics such as

“Smack that, all on the floor
Smack that, give me some more
Smack that, 'til you get sore
Smack that, oh ooh”

When sung about me are supposed to be flattering. For the record, I don’t like being referred to as your b****, Shorty, baby, Pussy, Hoe, etc. [Discussion of the exploitation of women in hip-hop culture http://www.mysistahs.org/features/hiphop.htm]

Also, the rapping community uses a disproportionate number of apostrophes. Despite looking through various sources on rules governing the use of apostrophes I have yet to find one that says an acceptable use is to end every word with them. [Pickin’, Stickin’, Ridin’, F***in’, Sayin’, Doin’, Wantin’, wit’, makin’, droolin’, kickin’, tryin’, pickin’, buggin’… all from only 3 songs.] I understand that in creative writing this use of the apostrophe is implemented to convey dialect and accent of the speaker. For the record though, they’re not real words. You may pronounce it as ridin’, but the word you should write down is still riding.

For that matter the overuse of “yo” and largely every swearword in exsistence in one song makes the song itself less enjoyable. I am impressed by the talent some people possess for rhyming on the spot but when every third word is “yo” the magic wears off.

Good songs are not quite as good once you talk through them. For instance Nas’s “I can” has a background of Beethoven’s Für Elise. Beethoven was one of the great composers and Für Elise is probably his most well known work, but I am sure that rapping over it really gave it the attention it deserved.

Gunshots don’t add anything either. We get that you are a gangsta who is tough and probably has a gun. In fact, you probably told us in your song. Repeatedly. The point has been adequately emphasized and gunshot sounds do not add anything to your music.

That said, if I had to pick between 50 cent and Kanye West, I would choose Kanye for this reason only. As far as I can tell (largely because I have not seen otherwise) he can spell the number fifty and understands the concept of plural words. Words that are plural (as in, representing a value of more than one) get an “s”. Fifty is spelled as shown. With two “f”’s. Clearly these are concepts beyond Fidy Cent.

Wait, is it just that Fidy Cent is a cool name? No, trust me, it is not.

My advice to aspiring rappers who want to make me dislike the industry less: you have the spotlight, say something worthwhile.