Hip Hop Satire

Hip Hop is the great American paradox. A culture encompasses art, politics, and all things intertwined with urban life, and gives a platform for the populace of American poverty. Hip Hop is a blurred culture in the sense that it distinctly represents a social and ethnic class, and also indistinctly perceives a negative stereotype of these classes to a detached or unconcerned bystanders, that brandish Hip Hop as a dysphemism; an expression so substituted and contemptuous of themselves and to the greater society. The music video I will be discussing is from a 1990’s Hip Hop group named De La Soul, and the song is titled “Stakes is High”. The music video for this song illustrates Elijah Anderson analysis of inner city deism and examines the micro and macro circumstances that entail the philosophy of “The Code of the Streets”. This code that Anderson describes are the unwritten laws of urban neighborhoods—the norms that reflect the extensive social and economic complexities of many of the nation's inner-city urban inhabitants.
Elijah Anderson’s“The Code of the Streets” is an article about that examines inner-city street rituals,violence and mentality and
how these “liturgy” doctrines are customary repertoire that is regulated through an informal but well known code—The Code of the Streets. Anderson’s article observes and articulate the defined codes that circumscribe urban inner city society, to prescribed norms that strife the community from within inside and outside factors that plays contributing roles. The article examines the code as a response to the lack of jobs, educational and recreational opportunities, drug trafficking/abuse, gun violence, poverty, “a cultural adaptation to a profound lack of faith in the police and the judicial system”, and an overall alienation from mainstream society. The analogy Anderson describes in this article is a zero sum mentality, and the context and background for this point of view. Despite the fact that Anderson doesn't mention music in his article at all, Hip Hop and inner-city ghetto communities are each other's doppelganger. The internalization of street codes and the external quotients of it, is the similarities Anderson article and Hip Hop both share.
De La Soul’s 1996 classic song, “Stakes Is High”, primarily shines light on the state of the Hip Hop industry,and how the content and context of its negative and positive portrayals of African Americans through Hip Hop, is diminishing and the neglecting the root issues plagued by both entities.The title of the song is a simple but powerful metaphor: major risks and actions actions have consequences.
Inner-city ghetto culture and Hip Hop culture, both focuses on short-term survival tactics despite the threat of long-term consequences. Anderson and De La Soul both share a concern about the portrayal of stereotypes and longevity of their cultures; Anderson is concerned about inner-city ghetto communities, and De La Soul is also concerned about the well being of African American poverty and the state of Hip Hop
culture.
The “Stakes Is High” music video demonstrates Anderson’s claim that “stakes” that inner-city individuals risk their lives for is a zero sum game that you gamble more away than what is rewarded. The “stakes” mentioned in the song is an axiom about the relentless attack on what De La Soul views as a decline of not only the musical aspect of Hip Hop, but the dual culture it represents; African Americans and the struggle of poverty. “Stakes is High” is a double meaning song; it is describing the decline of both the state of the people where the music originates from, and the state Hip Hop culture itself. The context of living in an impoverished neighborhood with limited resources and opportunities is a significant, common and repetitive characteristic of black identity, and because Hip Hop is an offspring of these circumstances, rappers are contributing to the trivializes of serious topics for fame and money.
The beginning of the music video shows all three members of De La Soul on an episode of The Maury Povich Show (with Povich appearing as himself), where they are discussing about hip-hop culture path and the influences it has globally and domestically. The whole music video shows various scenes of a ghetto neighborhood, with the rap group members rapping showing symbolism of poverty and fame. The first verse of the song is rapped by Posdnuos and in the third line of his verse he says “Gun control means using both hands in my land, where it's all about the cautious livin”. Posdnuos is describing the mentality of people living in ghetto neighborhoods with gun violence, and how the law of the land (zero sum) is high risk game where gun control means aiming and preparing oneself to fight for their life is a must practice. The second verse is from rapper Dave and adds onto what Posdnuos is saying but adds on the topic of misogyny and materialism, and how these things along with physical violence is contributing to the demise of African Americans. Anderson also talks about material wealth in his article being based a“juice” factor in gaining respect through outer appearance presentation of self .
Anderson’s explanation of how racial stereotypes is reinforced by the alienation that African Americans feel in contrast to mainstream culture, is a reinforced with rapper Posdnuos’ short verse. Posdnuos raps “Let me tell you what it's all about, a skin not considered equal, a meteor has more right than my people, who be wastin' time screaming who they've hated”. Posdnuos uses wordplay about African Americans having less rights than a meteor(rite) and how having pointless feuds with each other resolves nothing but keeps them an oppressed minority in the larger scope of society. The last verse of the song sums up both Anderson and De La Soul's whole analogy about inner-city ghettos being a reflection of social and economic difficulties, and how this repetitive cycle “on both sides will become increasingly entrenched, and the violence, which claims victims black and white, poor and affluent, will only escalate”(The Code of the Streets). In this verse Posdnuos is describing the struggled to find the balance of sanity and surviving the street.