Stories can be told in various ways; but its takes a certain talent to create a hip hop song out of a story. Story telling in hip hop is one of the more impressive tasks to accomplish. Writing songs about getting 'fucked up' and 'bandz making her dance' are never short of entertaining, but other songs that tell a story never seem to make the top of the charts. Music videos can take the blame for that. The creation of music videos has taken the art of story telling out of lyricism because it doesn't give the listener/viewer a chance to comprehend the story on their own terms. Like when a book becomes a movie, it's a lot easier to understand something when you're watching it unfold in front of you; listening to a story and drawing your own conclusions calls for a much more creative process.
Many of the artists we've explored in class are notorious (no pun intended) for story telling in hip hop. Artists such as Big Daddy Kane, Notorious B.I.G., and Immortal Technique have been hailed for their art in story telling through their songs. It seems to me that newer artists don't create hip hop songs with stories within them as often. Instead of writing about the classic artists, I want to bring attention to a current artist who possesses the talent of story telling through rap.
Eminem is one of the most talented artists in the industry. His success was ground breaking and his work can be hauntingly beautiful. For those of you who haven't heard the song "When I'm Gone" by Eminem, you're missing out on one of the more finely-crafted songs he's created.
In this song, Eminem tries to convey to the listener the struggles of being such a success and raising a family simultaneously. His career calls for constant traveling - alone. In result, his family suffers from the lack of his presence. This song is really relatable - any kid that has a parent constantly traveling for work can understand the pain Eminem puts into the song. Any parent that travels constantly can equally relate. Eminem uses irony in his story to demonstrate the role his alter ego, Slim Shady, plays in his career and family life.
In the beginning of the story, Eminem starts out by trying to convey just how much he loves his daughter and how much he wants to be there for her. He adds in the dialogue, "daddy look what I made," "dads gotta go catch a plane," to show how his career gets in the way of his personal life. He adds, "Daddy's writing a song, this song ain't gon write itself," which is incredibly ironic. This could've been the exact exchange that went down between him and his daughter as he was writing this. The song itself took time to write, time he could've spent with his family...ironic, right? He says that 'Sim Shady,' his alter ego, is to blame. "Shady's crazy, but tonight Shady's rock-a-bye baby." Slim Shady may be the reason he's away so much, but he's also the reason Eminem can support his family. Shady's 'rock-a-bye baby' because he's the roof over his families head; the reason Eminem can sleep at night, knowing he's providing for his little girls. In the second part of the song, Eminem talks about this dream that he keeps having; but its not really a dream. Its Eminem's conscious playing tricks on him. The dream he explains is his moral choice between his fans and his family. In the dream, he explains how after playing a show in Sweden, his daughter, Haley, suddenly appears behind him. She explains that she just wanted him around but "...It's too late dad, you made your choice. Now go out there and show em that you love em more than us." Once his daughter starts to walk away he has an epiphany and realizes Slim Shady has to die so he can have more time with his family. The chorus of the song acts almost as a lullaby for Haley. The song is made to bring her comfort through the melody and the lyrics.
Eminem does an amazing job of telling a story through this song. He is one of the prime examples of how riveting story telling through hip hop can be.
I'm really glad you chose Eminem to discuss because, although I don't like him, he's definitely the first person I think of when it comes to a current artist telling a story. I'm sure most of America knows at least some aspect of his personal life because of all the stories in his songs.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Maggie. Eminem does really tell stories with his music. He uses diction to paint a vivid picture in someones mind
ReplyDeleteEminem is one of the all time greats when it comes to story telling. Other artists who excelled in this area are Jay-Z, Immortal Technique, Slick Rick, Outkast and many more. Story telling in hip-hop is interesting in the way it compels the listener who actually listen carefully to what the artist is saying. It brings you into the artists head and explore the different stories that are in hip-hop
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love the idea of story telling in hip hop because I feel like it definitely makes the music more authentic, since it is direct examples of the singers life. However, I think the problem with story telling in hip hop is that since so many people see hip hop as having a negative influence on youth it is almost like they are saying the person who is rapping, is influencing people negatively based off of their own life story, which is kind of messed up when you think about it.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed what you said about music videos effectively killing any opportunity a listener had to form their own opinion of the artist's intended meaning behind his or her lyrics. I believe that our generation lives in the age of the music video and that this unfortunate fact has done a lot to pollute the art a musician was trying to convey. Music videos, while entertaining and creatively compelling on their own, seem to have blurred the thin line between art and industry. On a different note, as the others mentioned, I like that you chose Slim Shady to illustrate the art of story telling in rap. Great choice!
ReplyDeleteI agree completely on what you said about music videos which is personally why i chose to rarely watch them. I love how you chose Eminem as your example for story telling because he is one of the few artists today that are known for their story telling. Great Song Choice!
ReplyDeleteI like to think that storytelling in hip hop is not a lost art, the songs selected for this section have some of the most poignant lyrics and pose deeper thoughts than "what's a goon to a goblin?" The example of Emimen perfectly exemplifies storytelling in modern day hiphop music, very well done!
ReplyDeleteI really love how you compared music videos in the Hip Hop world to movies for literature. One of my favorite parts of reading is how personal it can become when you imagine it how you think the author meant it to be and I think that the comparison can be translated very well to Hip Hop. The artist is sharing a story from their life with the listener and while the general outline may be the same each listener can find their own meaning. Music videos don't ruin the concept entirely, but they definitely guide the listener's interpretation.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your post and your perspective about music videos interpreting a story for you. When I hear a song I usually already have an image in my head of what the song is talking about. When I see the music videos, it usually gives me a whole new perspective. I think music videos can be special because it can give you a new perspective on the song and interpret the lyrics in a way that you might not have thought of.
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ReplyDeleteStory telling in hip hop is very important. The stories told by a talented lyricist can raise awareness about certain situations. Compton, California is known for continuing a cycle of poverty. Its residents often feel stuck in their situation. Kendrick Lamar is a very talented story teller, he hails for Compton and often tells stories uplifting about his rise to success. "Black Boy Fly" is a good example of this story telling. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWpGj4Ngllo
ReplyDeleteStory telling is a huge aspect of hip hop, and it is an awesome way to get a message across. Another Eminem song with a great story is "Stan", about that dude that kills himself and his family because Eminem wouldn't write him back. Storytelling is an awesome, imaginative way to put yourself some where else. Another really good storytelling song is by Big L, called "The Heist".
ReplyDeleteI feel as though the only appropriate response I can give is a list of music videos where the video is not taking away from/making up for the lyricism. Music videos allow the artists to further elaborate on a theme or narrative. I do not think that music videos in hip hop should be blamed for ruining lyricism; that is just an easy way to try to explain the lack of creativity in mainstream hip hop.
ReplyDeleteFreddie Gibbs, "Thuggin"
Snoop Dogg, "Gin and Juice"
The Pharcyde, "The Drop"
Chief Keef, "I Don't Like"
A$AP Rocky, "Peso"/"Purple Swag" (Normally I would shy away from trying to mentioning Chief Keef or A$AP Rocky in a hip hop debate; however, both of these music videos were the engines which allowed each artist to rise to notoriety within a single season. These videos illustrate that we are in a new era of hip-hop where an emerging artist can use a music video to establish a persona more concisely than they could via mixtape.)
In my opinion you couldn't have chosen a better artist to exemplify story telling. Eminem seems to do this in all of his songs which makes him stand out amongst other rappers. I agree with you that today storytelling is not present in most songs but it should be because that's what makes music creative.
ReplyDeleteAwesome post Ashley, I was a big Eminem fan up to a certain point (up until "Relapse", that was garbage) and he's the perfect example for story-telling. I feel like story-telling is such an important quality of hip-hop because, as I've mentioned in other posts, it allows an artist to reach an audience with information or stories that they otherwise would've never paid attention to. I'm so glad Liam named one of the founding fathers of hip-hop story telling, Slick Rick. He's my all time favorite. I don't necessarily agree with the idea that a music video kills the creativity of the listener, rather, it could illustrate ideas they would've never thought about perhaps because of lack of exposure. Like books that are turned into movies, it gives the listener an opportunity to choose to first listen to a song AND THEN watch the music video or watch and listen all at the same time.
ReplyDeleteSlick Rick's, "Children's Story" (http://youtu.be/HjNTu8jdukA), is a perfect example of a story within a story! His nieces/nephews are asking him for a bed time story and he sets up what could be his personal life story in an active story. The video not only shows his "nieces and nephew" tucked into bed and him pulling out a "story book" but it then goes on to show a video of the story he is rapping to them.
Although i was never an Eminem fan in my life for whatever reason, I do believe he is the perfect example for story telling. My room mate often has me listen to songs my Eminem and i can hear him telling stories about the struggles in his life. It seems like story telling is a great form of art in the hip hop culture. Its a great aspect of hip hop that should be brought back to the music.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very good post. You really have a good parallel of how we can lose sight of songs through videos the same way how we lose sight from books through movies. You definitely know your stuff, and mentioning Eminem was a perfect example of a story that is very relatable, not just the kind if getting wasted and having crazy nights.
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