Social Constructions and Hip Hop Music

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Methodology
Description of the performance and how it represents my experience
Authenticity
Why the research is an anti-positivist exercise
Post positivism and anti-positivism
References

Introduction

When music and verbal texts amalgamate, they serve to provide answers to a socially significant question. Lyrically centeredness is synonymous with rap music; consequently, it is an ideal platform for anti-positivist sociological research. In this genre, artists do not sing their words (sometimes this may occur); they talk them out. Furthermore, rap music is quite straight forward. Artists tend to avoid metaphors and other lyrical mazes in order to deliver their messages as clearly as possible.

These qualities may prompt an outsider to stereotype rap music as a shallow form of music. However, I discovered that such an assumption could not be further from the truth in the “Watch the Throne concert.”

The research question that drives this investigation is, “What social constructions perpetuate the existence and popularity of hip hop music?”. Rap music must have the capacity to resonate with others; otherwise, it would have faded off in the eighties when it began. It is imperative to analyze whether certain social and economic circumstances draw fans to the genre; Rap’s popularity could also stem from identity similarities between performers and audiences.

It should be noted that this research question came up as I attended the concert. Anti-positivist research obliges researchers to throw themselves into the situation under analysis rather than approach the research with a preset question or mindset. Deviance issues and profanity are all part of this mix. It is critical to acknowledge all the positive and controversial elements of hip hop music so as to establish accurate explanations. Personal experiences drove the research questions used in this analysis. I needed to reflect upon my expectations and then relate them to the concert. My goal was to understand rap music rather than explain rap music.

Methodology

Empirical phenomenological research is the methodology for this research. The method recognizes that one can study human experiences accurately through the use of qualitative approaches. Furthermore, this approach dwells on the wholeness of the experience rather than smaller parts. The most significant component of phenomenological research as a method is the centrality of first-person accounts of experiences. Experience is crucial to sociological analyses of human behavior. Human behavior and experience are inseparable in this analysis (Ashley & Orenstein, 2005).

This method requires certain approaches prior to the commencement of the investigation and during the actual investigation. First, a person needs to free himself or herself from other suppositions in a process called epoche. Before the concert attendance, I had minimal experiences with hip hop music and the general hip hop culture. Therefore, I did not assume that I already knew something about it.

I also made sure that all my findings would emanate from the meanings and internal reflections that came from the concert. I realized that all the other information I had heard about rap music was not from my personal experiences; consequently, I needed to shed off all that knowledge. It is my personal experience that would lead to the discovery of truth.

The second step in the research method was a phenomenological reduction. This process involved the description of the things that I saw at the concert. Some observations were internal, while others were external. I would look and describe the observations in my head. I wrote down these issues in my diary. For instance, I noticed the age, racial compositions, and general demographics of the attendants in the crowd. I also noticed the excitement and the immense energy that filled the entertainment venue. I observed the manner in which the artists presented themselves before the crowd and how they performed. I also observed the sound systems and props used by rap artists.

I also described the nature of lyrics used by the concerned performers, especially because this was the main issue under analysis. I described the tone, tempo, and style of music that they sang. The overriding goal in this step of the research methodology was to provide descriptions based on the background of my personal experiences. In this step, I transformed the concert into a phenomenon that eventually led back to me, hence the term reduction.

The next step in the research process was imaginative variation. In this phase, I altered some of my perspectives and references and used reversals. The process was imaginative rather than empirical. The main point behind this approach was to create structural themes. In the previous step (phenomenological reduction), I had observed that one of the performers – Jay Z – talked about exploitation by magazine companies in his song ‘99 Problems’. He said that “Rap mags try to use my black a** , so advertisers can give ‘em more cash for ads, I don’t know what you take me as Or understand the intelligence that Jay Z has” (Song meanings, 2011, par 2).

I thought that the rapper simply had a tussle with his sponsors. Therefore, I initially assumed that Jay Z was using his music to confront his enemies. Through imaginative variation, I analyzed this lyric in another way. I considered this line as a manifestation of capitalism in the music industry. Magazine owners may be understood as the ultimate controllers of resources, so they use less powerful individuals to advance their economic goals. My aim was to come up with structural themes through this process.

The next step in the analysis was meaning-synthesis. This was the last step because it involved the establishment of a final ‘truth’.

Description of the performance and how it represents my experience

The performance selected for this analysis is an image of a counterculture movement. The photo consists of a diverse array of individuals sitting on top of an attractively designed bus in the 1960s. The image is the epitome of rebellion and defiance as conventional rules of dressing and association do not bother the participants. Some of them have no shoes, and they have unconventional hairstyles. Instead of sitting on the bus, the subjects chose to sit on top of it.

Furthermore, these individuals represent have different racial backgrounds, yet that fact does not seem to bother them. It should be noted that racial equality was quite an illusive fact in the 1960s. Clearly, this image is an illustration of counterculture.

My experience at the concert mirrors this image because I realized that rap music was a representation of a counterculture. It is this quality that resonated with me. Several aspects of the concert contributed to this conclusion. First, I realized that, contrary to society’s affinity for complexity, rap music provided a rare quality of simplicity. I noticed that this genre of music had a minimalist quality attached to it. This was evident in its unadorned melodies. A number of Kanye West and Jay Z’s songs had single-note harmonics; this almost pushed me to listen to the words in the songs owing to this fact. I connected to something in their assertions because I appreciated the simplicity in the message.

Another aspect that led me to my decision on the counterculture image as a performance piece was the rap artist’s ability to connect with me, and the other attendants. Most of the songs in the concert were personal narratives by Kanye and Jay Z. They told stories about how the police mistreated them, how other competitors wanted them out or how they defied difficult circumstances in order to make it in the rap industry. All these aspects reflected a self referential feature in their music. Their ability to recount events in such a personal manner connected with me tremendously. It illustrated that the performers committed to their performances.

This quality also amplified the rapper’s struggles in their unfavorable circumstances. Their experiences became more real and more influential because of this fact. In a world that covers up massive indignities, these two male rappers were unafraid of pointing fingers. This was a breadth of fresh air, and I liked their level of boldness. The music became unconventional because I could connect to the performers on a different level. The genre of music represented a counterculture because its performers represented members of a minority group. I could not help but notice that Kanye and Jay Z were African American males.

I also realized that this quality resonated with many members of the audience because many of them understood African American/ Black English. This blackness was symptomatic of the concert’s opposition to the status quo. Lastly, although the artists were extremely wealthy, as stated in some of their songs, their wealth was self made. They used rap songs as their platform to fame and riches. I found that this was an unconventional quality; the rules of entrepreneurship were quite different in this industry. That component also contributed to its counterculture character.

Authenticity

Authenticity is a quality in research that denotes fidelity, rigor and trustworthiness. Scholars analyze authenticity through five main criteria: tactical authenticity, catalytic authenticity, educative authenticity, ontological authenticity and fairness and balance. Catalytic authenticity and tactical authenticity refer to a research’s ability to cause change among the actors in the research or teach them about a certain course of action if they desire.

The performance chosen is authentic (catalytically and tactically) because it may prompt the other attendants of the concert to learn about rap music using a different, sociological lens. Furthermore, they may be prompted to act on the racial, social and economic issues that I raised in my analysis.

Educative and ontological authenticity criteria denote the ability to demonstrate a raised awareness level of a person’s surrounding (Denzin & Lincoln, 2011). One must understand this surrounding in relation to how individuals interact with one another for a social purpose. This performance possessed those qualities because it analyzed how people come to understand and know one another during their interactions in a rap concert. It led to an awareness of rap music as an oppositional culture, even though I did not know about this movement before.

Fairness and balance as authenticity criteria refers to a research’s ability to accommodate differing perspectives, views and claims in the matter. I feel that the performance is authentic, in this regard, because it did not attempt to suppress one voice over the other. I started my analysis by mentioning some of the criticisms that people have made against rap music. Furthermore, I even highlighted the demerits in the concert. My conclusion on the counterculture is not symptomatic of any agenda because countercultures possess both desirable and undesirable traits. The performance incorporated the things that I observed from the other members of the crowd and the performers too. I created fairness and balance in the analysis through these perspectives.

Why the research is an anti-positivist exercise

This is an anti-positivist exercise because the research recognizes the importance of consciousness and places it at the centre of the investigation. This approach reveals that no objective truth exists since people understand all knowledge through the sociological lens of the participant. I did not select or establish causal relationships between variables. Instead, the study dwelt on a case study, that is, the music concert.

Since the research focused on the diary entry and experience as the main sources of data, then it can be stated that it took on an anti-realist stance. The latter approach supposes that all knowledge is subjective or constructed. Furthermore, the research focused on meaning making rather than the establishment of general laws. The investigation would be guided by the need to understand rather than to observe and record (Outhwaite, 2009).

Post positivism and anti-positivism

Post positivism and anti-positivism are fundamentally different because anti-positivists reject the idea of an objective truth. To them, all knowledge is subjective. However, post positivists believe that there is an objective truth, but it can never be reached. A researcher’s role is to come as close as possible to that truth through peer reviews, triangulation and collaboration with other peers.

Additionally, anti-positivism differs from post positivism because in anti-positivism one’s worldviews, experiences and cultures are crucial avenues for meeting research objectives. In fact, all these perspectives should be focal points in anti-positivist research. Conversely, post positivists think of cultures, world views and experiences as sources of bias. Researchers need to include as many perspectives as possible in order to minimize those biases.

References

Ashley, D. & Orenstein, D. (2005). Sociological theory: classical statements. Boston, MA: Pearson education.

Denzin, N. & Lincoln, Y. (2011). The SAGE handbook of qualitative research. NY: SAGE.

Outhwaite, W. (2009). Habermas: key contemporary thinkers. Melbourne: Polity press.

Song meanings. (2011). Jay Z’s 99 problems. Web.

Click Here To Order Now!