The Rhetoric of Violence in Rap

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Rap and country western (C&W) music is extremely popular genre and have gained mass popularity over the years. They depict the lifestyle of two diverse groups of people – the white southerners and the African Americans respectively. Violence and gender violence is rampant in rap music but country music too describes violence in them (Herd 395; Ryan, Calhoun and Wentworth 122). However, the rhetoric of violence is reflected in both rap and C&W music. Rebecca Thomas notes the presence of misogynistic rhetoric and themes of criminal affliction in both rap and C&W (Thomas 74). The presence of violence, crime, and prison is rampant in both music forms.

This paper discusses C&W and rap song and discusses the similarities and dissimilarities between their lyrical rhetoric. For this paper, we analyze Johnny Cash’s “Folsom prison blues” and Ice-T’s “the tower.” Both these songs are about prison life and narrated by convicted prisoners. I believe that the presence of violence and prison as an inevitable outcome of crime is presented in both rap and C&W music but they differ in their depiction of prison life and adjustment to it, which show the cultural differences underlying the two genres.

C&W and rap music have graphic description of violence and crime (Thomas 75; Armstrong 64). Songs by Johnny Cash and Ice-T are similar in the choice of narrator. The narrators of both the sings are prisoners, relating their experience from the jail. Both songs relate the stress and anxiety of prison life and the desperation and longing for freedom. The C&W version is a poetic narration of the train whistling that the narrator hears while in isolation in the Folsom Prison (Cash).

The desolation of the prisoner in isolation (since the narrator says that he has not seen the “sunshine” and “stuck in Folsom Prison”) reiterates his desire to be free, which the whistling train that moves to San Antone metaphorically represents. Similarly, the rap song by Ice-T also talks of a prisoner in shackles, sentenced for ten years. The desperation and fear are evident in the voice of the prisoner. The songs are similar in their choice of narrator – both being convicted criminals. Both the C&W and the rap song depict violence. Cash croons about how he took a gun and “shot a man in Reno” (Cash). On the other hand, Ice-T sings of the violence and power play that goes within the prison walls. The similarities between the songs are evident, as both describe the tough life within the prison walls.

Both genre talks of class distinction. Cash narrates the lifestyle difference between the rich and the poor white folk while Ice-T talks of the racial differences. The narrator in Cash’s song imagines the “rich folk” in the train “drinkin’ coffee and smokin’ big cigars” but this thought “tortures” him. Ice-T, on the other hand, talks of the power difference within the prison. Here the narrator is reminiscent of the power play that goes on within as well as outside the prison walls but the institution (depicted as the tower in the song) holds ultimate power.

The message in both the songs is similar – do not commit a crime and go to prison. They portray the bleakness, violence, and difficulties of prison life as an example for others to see that this is not a place to be. Ice-T directly says that “Just to hear the name [Rikers Island] it makes your spine tingle” (Ice-T). On the other hand, Cash describes the loneliness of prison life: “When I hear that whistle blowin’ / I hang my head and cry”. The remorse of the narrator trapped in prison is evident in both the songs. Ice-T on the other hand narrates the death of another inmate “because he was gay” and when others cheered “It kind of hurt” him “inside” (Ice-T). Thus, both the songs describe violence to create trepidation towards it.

Outlook of prison life depicted in the two songs is different. The song by Cash talks of the prison life and its isolation while Ice-T talks of power play and violence within prison walls. Prison for Cash is a place for contriteness over past mistakes and a place of repentance. He talks of his mistakes and dreams of a better life beyond the prison walls. The difference lies in the prisons described by the two genres. C&W describes the prison as a place of solitary confinement, repentance, and salvation while Ice-T describes the prison as another war zone and he, the warrior. Fighting is the only way one can survive within the prison and the narrator of the rap song wonders who is more powerful, “the whites, the blacks, or the gun tower” (Ice-T).

Both the rap and C&W songs have elements of violence in them. The description of murder, crime, violence, and prison shows that the life of a poor white man and that of a black man is no different. However, life described within the prison in rap music is a tough life, a constant struggle to create a niche within the power-mongering prison. The imagery is different in the two songs, which subtly show the difference in the two genres of music.

Works Cited

Armstrong, Edward G. “The Rhetoric of Violence in Rap and Country Music.” Sociological Inquiry 63.1 (2007): 64 – 78. Print.

Cash, Johnny. “Folsom Prison Blues.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 1968.

Herd, Denise. “Changing images of violence in Rap music lyrics: 1979–1997.” Journal of Public Health Policy 30.4 (2009): 395–406. Print.

Ice-T. “The Tower.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube,1991.

Ryan, John, Legare H. Calhoun and William M. Wentworth. “Gender or Genre? Emotion models in commercial rap and country music.” Popular Music and Society 20.2 (1996): 121-154. Print.

Thomas, Rebecca. “There’s a whole lot o’color in the “white man’s” blues: Country music’s selective memory and the challenge of identity.” The Midwest Quarterly 38.1 (1996): 73-89. Print.

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The Rhetoric of Violence in Rap

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