One rapper that I've really grown to appreciate is Lupe Fiasco. Please read the lyrics to his song "The Cool" via the following link before you keep reading:
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/lupefiasco/thecool.html
Now I don't know the artist personally, so I can't tell you all what the lines of the song mean or what his intentions were with them...but I can tell you the way I interpret them. I think the song is a critical analysis of what it can mean to try to be cool. Getting involved with violence and drugs and the so-called "street life" can eventually lead to your death. He seems to be challenging his fans by asking them if it's worth it. He's asking if being cool is worth it. Fiasco has another song called "Dumb it Down," in which he seems to be fighting against the idea that being smart isn't cool. He's taking the messages that especially young, black men are being sent by their other favorite rappers and trying to dispel them. At least that's what I think. And it just so happens that I think he's cool for doing that. Maybe he could help me write my blog and talk about how the media brainwashes us into thinking that whatever they tell us to be is what we should be but sometimes that's really bad for us. It's good to see people with influence trying to teach their audience to protect their minds from the ideas they're being pounded with.
I guess one criticism would be, though, that he's part of the media. And he's trying to get people to believe his message...it's just a different one. And I guess he could just be saying that stuff to sell records. And maybe I've got his whole message wrong.
Just something to think about.
That's all...
This reminds me of two other songs. Mike Posner's got one out about someone who "think's [she's] cooler than me." I think I've heard it nearly every day on the radio. Of course, on Posner's music video, he's walking around in hip sunglasses, so it's hard to tell who's trying to be the cool one. A better song might be Billy Joel's "Big Shot." Here, Joel takes issue with the elite, pseudo-intellectual crowd. I heart Billy Joel :)
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