Today’s post is a direct continuation of yesterday’s, so if you want to follow my train of thought from there, you can check out my Day 20 post to know exactly what I’ve been going on about up till now. So, what exactly is this negative music I speak of, this negative music that I have a hard time leaving behind because of the impact it had on me during a certain period of my life? Like I mentioned in a previous post, Eminem was my first big inspiration to start rapping, and if you’re the least bit familiar with his music, you know that most of it is far from what would generally be considered ‘positive.’ Whether it’s all jokes, or purely for shock value, is irrelevant; my point here is not that Eminem’s music is trash and that no one should listen to it because it’s evil, or anything like that. However, the fact is that his music is most likely not something you would allow your young children to listen to, and you know why that is as well as I do. That’s all I mean by ‘negative,’ simply that it has nothing to do with philosophical or spiritual growth, except for potentially hindering it in some way. The context doesn’t really matter when it comes to kids, simply because young kids can’t really pick up on that sort of thing, they just hear whatever is being said. Whatever the context might be, the fact is that the songs are filled with references to rape, murder, and things of that sort, and if you are going about your day trying to stay mindful, seeing the world in a positive light, these types of lyrics probably wouldn’t be the most likely to resonate with you.
Either way, there’s no denying Eminem’s insane rhyming abilities and wordplay, and those were the things that really got me into his music as a young kid who still hadn’t started exploring philosophical or spiritual ideas. The music I listened to in those days was all Shady/Aftermath Records, G-Unit, etc. 50 Cent’s ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’ became one of my favorite albums, along with classics like Jay-Z’s ‘Reasonable Doubt,’ or even extremely underrated albums like Young Buck’s ‘Buck the World.’ Now, if you’re not familiar with any of these artists or albums, just know that a lot of the lyrics have to do with exactly what I was condemning in my previous post, things like gang affiliation, violence, drug-dealing, and materialism. Now, even though I’ve grown and I’m pretty sure I won’t go sell drugs in the streets just because I listen to a 50 Cent song about it, doesn’t mean that listening to this kind of thing is one hundred percent harmless. Everything we consume is affecting us in a conscious way, but it is also influencing our subconscious mind, our judgments about what is right or wrong, what is acceptable behavior or not. So, if I am aware of that, and yet I still choose to hear it from time to time, are my actions then defending this music even though I am condemning it in what I write? If I still listen to it, why would I write all this stuff about how it’s detrimental to its listeners? Well, I’ve come to realize that we are all addicted and attached to all kinds of things, but just because we are doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be aware of that fact, or that we shouldn’t bring it to light. Just because I enjoy a lot of aspects of life in a capitalist society doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t criticize its numerous flaws, for example. If we never criticize things, even those that we enjoy, then there will never be any improvement in the world. This is my reason for diving deep into hip-hop music and its purpose within our world and society, a topic which I’ll continue tomorrow.
If you enjoy conscious lyrics over a good flow and a hard beat, and you have a few minutes to spare, please listen to my song ‘Everything Stay in the Past.’ It means a lot to me! I appreciate you, stay blessed.
rebel eye 