Kodak Music Vs Rap Music

For this assignment, I am choosing to compare two different genres of music; Jam band music, and Rap. In my opinion, these two genre are on totally different ends of the musical spectrum. Bands like the Grateful Dead and Phish draw their inspirations from other genres like rock, folk, funk, jazz, and bluegrass and from the idea of improvising musically with each other on stage. On the other hand, most rap styles of music draws its message from popular culture, often drugs, and gang related activities. The following links go to two songs, one by the Grateful dead, the other by rapper Kodak Black. Just by listening to the two songs you can tell a significant difference in composition, and message.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCy9k_RWlvA
- the Grateful Dead “Eyes of the World” Jam Band music
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQkDEYq5DLo - Kodak Black “Like Dat” – Rap/Trap music
Audience and Purpose:
Although I do listen to some mainstream Rap music myself, I do not believe it helps to carry a positive message to its intended audience, youth culture. In this particular song by Kodak Black, he repeatedly references his regular recreational use of “lean” (a street name for codeine syrup), Molly (MDMA), and marijuana. The song’s entire theme is about how ‘under the influence’ Kodak Black is, others noticing, and asking why he moves “Like Dat.” Aside from the subject matter of the song, numerous profanities are used throughout the song, other phrases or references to drug dealing are used, and gang related activities are praised in the song. This song is meant to celebrate ‘the thug life’, and I believe can heavily influence the youth culture of today. Since most of this song’s contents are based on popular culture, most audience members will have an idea of what Kodak is communicating in his music. Depending on the audience member, they may constantly surround themselves with his music and ideas or they may not. Personally, I rarely listen to much of today’s rap because of the mostly toxic message it communicates to its listeners. The purpose behind Kodak’s music is to entertain overall, but in many cases it will be heavily influential on listeners. On the other hand, my other genre selection carries a much cleaner and positive message. The intended audience for many early jam bands, such as Big Brother, Jefferson Aeroplane, and the Grateful dead, was the youth counter culture of the 1960’s. Because of many political and global issues taking place during this time, these bands messages of peace, toleration, and love were widely accepted, supported, and rallied around by young idealists of the 1960’s. These band’s main purpose was to entertain, rarely was money a motivator. I truly believe that these artist’s passion for music was their motivation, they simply wanted to share their talents and spread joy, while being personally fulfilled by it as well.
Rhetorical Issues: Ethos, Pathos, Logos Kodak establishes his credibility through his life experiences which he raps about.
He gains inspiration from life experiences, and communicates them to his audience through his music. I feel as if Kodak Black, along with many other talented rap artists, do this quite effectively in most of their music. Rappers often discuss these topics in personal interviews, which establishes even more credibility to their genre and songs. I would describe most rap music as “hype music”, and is intended to energize the audience and to get them dancing and involved. One way Kodak Black gives credibility to the claims about his own life he makes in his music is by producing videos to go with his music as well. In these music videos he includes imagery like money, woman, and cars to further the image of his personal
success. The Grateful Dead’s popularity and credibility as a musical group stems from their extensive touring of the U.S. and other countries throughout their 30-year career as a musical act. During their 30 years together, the released only one hit single and not many studio albums until later on in their career. The band’s popularity came from their energy filled live shows that encouraged musical improvising, exploring musical boundaries, and promoting a sense of love and togetherness. The band’s aim was to establish an emotional connection with the audience, and to provide them audience with the same feeling the band gets from playing their music for the audience. Their fans, often referred to as Deadheads, are evidence to their wide following, popularity, legacy, and give support to the message the band tried to communicate.
Structure:
Kodak Black structures each of his songs differently, but every song possesses the basic elements of rap. “Like Dat” has a catchy beat which Kodak raps his lyrics over in rhythmic patterns. He uses a lot of slang terms in his music, which can make it difficult to discern the message or meaning sometimes if you are unfamiliar with the term. This is very common among rap artists, as it emphasizes the lifestyle they are promoting through their songs. More often than not, most people will agree that there are really no limitations in rap music, or most music for that matter, so that you can express yourself freely. The lyrics and structure of rap music is designed directly for the attraction of the genre’s main audience, teenagers and youth culture. Jam Band music emphasizes musical improve and exploration is a much different way than rap. This genre fuses together elements of other genres such as jazz, folk, bluegrass, and rock. There are no limitations to where the music could go, which is what attracts such a diverse group of people to their shows. The Grateful dead was known for playing a different set list every night. Every one of their shows was different than the last, and unique in its own way. Their songs are structured in such a way to allow for endless possibilities for improve in the music. The idea of flexibility and freedom in creating their music helps to also emphasize the band’s ideals and purpose they tried to communicate to their audience.
Style/language:
Most unbiased listeners would agree that Kodak Black uses extremely informal language in his music.
He uses profanity often, slang words, and words in improper contexts. Really no specialized vocabulary is used in his lyrics. One talent Kodak shows through his music is his ability to rhyme words and phrases in a way to express his ideas and feelings. He is able to paint scenes or memories with words.
The Grateful Dead uses both formal and informal language in their music. Since their unique sound is a blend of many other genres of music, it takes on aspects of each type. Just as much as their music is musically unique, it is also lyrically astounding in many ways as well. Their songs have a flow that makes it easy to listen to, which is aided by the bands amazing musical talents and synergy when playing together.
Conclusion/Synthesis:
The Jam Band genre, and the Grateful Dead specifically, does a better job of conveying its core ideas and messages than the Rap genre. This genre tends to use much clearer language in their music, and promotes more positive ideas and values than most Rap music does. Although both artists and genres have the ability to connect with their audience members on an emotional and ideological level, I think that the Jam Band genre does a much more effective job of relaying its ideals to their
audience.