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Why So Many Rap Artists Die ?young

Для ежедневного чтения тем кто говорится к IELTS

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13 views4 pages

Why So Many Rap Artists Die ?young

Для ежедневного чтения тем кто говорится к IELTS

Uploaded by

missellkan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Hip-hop and health – why so many rap artists die

young

The song “Be Healthy” from the 2000 album by hip-hop duo dead prez,
“Let’s Get Free,” is a rare rap anthem dedicated to diet, exercise and
temperance:
“They say you are what you eat, so I strive to eat healthy / My goal in
life is not to be rich or wealthy / ‘Cause true wealth come from good
health and wise ways / We got to start taking better care of ourselves”
In what’s widely recognized as hip-hop’s 50th anniversary, an
unfortunate reality is that several of its pioneering artists aren’t here to
celebrate. The number of rappers who never live to see much more
than 50 years themselves is astounding.
Rappers and rap fans can’t help but take notice that their peers and
favorite rappers are dying young. Trugoy the Dove of De La Soul, 53,
passed away in February 2023 after a battle with congestive heart
failure. Gangsta Boo, hailed as the “Queen of Memphis” and known for
her work with Three 6 Mafia, died at the age of 43 of a drug overdose in
January 2023. Takeoff, a member of the Atlanta trio Migos, was killed
in November 2022. He was 28 years old.
Rapper Jim Jones has claimed that rap is the most dangerous
profession due to rappers being violently killed so frequently. Similarly,
rapper Fat Joe believes rappers are an endangered species. In the
2022 song “On Faux Nem,” Lupe Fiasco put it more succinctly:
“Rappers die too much.”
As a rapper, a fan of hip-hop’s art and artists, and a professor of hip-
hop, I agree with Lupe Fiasco: Rappers die too much. Whether it’s from
gun violence, heart disease, cancer, self-harm or drugs, the number of
rappers whose lives have ended prematurely is alarming.

The (un)exceptional spectacle of American gun violence


Stories of rappers who die violently are well known. News media are
quick to report on violence in hip-hop to support their view that the
music and the people who make it are exceptionally violent. Violence,
death and conflict attract attention. Pair any of those with racial
stereotyping and scapegoating and it’s easy to see why the murders
of hip-hop stars such as Nipsey Hussle, the Notorious B.I.G., Tupac
Shakur and countless other artists garner so much attention.
Though they were all taken by the very American plague of gun
violence, news and historical accounts often amplify the spectacle of
violent Black death, even when they claim to honor those who are
killed.
I’ve written extensively about the trend of scapegoating rappers. It is
also the topic addressed in the song “ANKH” from my forthcoming
mixtap/e/ssay, “V: ILLICIT”:
“He died by the gun but they blamed the music. / They said, ‘What he
said was evidence.’ And used it. …/ No compassion for the life torn
apart when the bullets hit him, / cause he talked about the block in his
art, so he’s not a victim. / Cameraman said, ‘They don’t value life too
much.’ / He reported here before. Even twice some months. /
Somewhere in his mid-twenties was his deadline (dying). / ‘Another N—
Killed Here’ was the headline (crying).”
An awful byproduct of this culture of consuming carnage is that the
kinds of violent gun tragedies people are experiencing all across the
U.S. are being spotlighted in hip-hop and used as excuses to
criminalize and pathologize certain people and the music they enjoy,
the art they create, the neighborhoods they live in or the places they
grew up.
Another heartbreaking consequence is that some rappers only gain
wide popularity and realize financial success after they’ve died.
Deceased rappers are an unfortunately abundant commodity. Juice
WRLD and Pop Smoke are prime examples: They both sold four to five
times as much music after their deaths than when they were alive.
Along with being alarmed by these tragedies, it’s important to examine
the conditions that affect mortality and attempt to get to the actual
causes rather than scapegoating a musical form.

Deadly diseases
While violence brings about headlines, guns are not the only cause for
concern. Diseases – many of them preventable – are also a factor.
Heart disease, lung disease, cancer, diabetes, strokes and renal
disease are among the top 10 causes of death among Black men and
Hispanic men, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. It makes sense that these causes also prominently figure in
the deaths of hip-hop artists.

Gone before retirement


Rapper and producer J-Dilla (32), rappers Big Moe (33), Black the
Ripper (32) from the U.K., Lord Infamous (40), KMG the Illustrator (43
from Above the Law, DMX (50), Big T (52), Tweedy Bird Loc (52),
Black Rob (52) and Big Pun (28) all died from heart attacks. Heavy D
(44) experienced a pulmonary embolism that led to his death. Prince
Markie Dee (52) of the Fat Boys passed away from congestive heart
failure. Craig Mack (47) died from heart failure. And Brax (21) died from
cardiac arrhythmia and so on.

A renewed focus on health


Unfortunately, this list of tragic lives halted from ages 21 to 57 is not a
comprehensive account of all the rappers who have passed away well
before the age of retirement.
The occasion of celebrating 50 years of hip-hop provides a moment to
reflect and honor some of the artists who contributed to the culture and
are not here to celebrate this golden anniversary. It’s also, perhaps, an
opportunity to consider some of the outcomes of systemic barriers to
health and wellness, such as access to affordable health care, varied
dietary options and mental wellness resources.
Given the number of rappers and other prominent hip-hop artists who
have died young, ultimately it may come down to seriously taking heed
to dead prez’s instructions from “Be Healthy”: “We got to start taking
better care of ourselves.”
Essential words for speaking and writing
1.Hip–hop – a type of popular music with spoken words and a steady
beat, originally played by young African Americans.
Hip-hop is one of the world’s most prominent musical genres and
cultural influences.

2.Strive – to try very hard to achieve something.


Newspaper editors all strive to be first with a story.

3.Astounding – so surprising that it is difficult to believe.


There was an astounding 20 per cent increase in sales.

4.Succinctly – using only a few words that state something clearly.


You put that very succinctly.

5.Scapegoat – to blame somebody/something for a failure or for


something bad that another person has done.
The community chose to ignore its own failings and to scapegoat her
instead.

6.Amplify – to add details to a story, statement, etc.


She refused to amplify further.

7.Deceased – dead.
Her deceased children.

8.Commodity – a thing that is useful or has a useful quality.


Water is a precious commodity that is often taken for granted in the
West.

9.Heed – to pay careful attention to somebody’s advice or warning.


They failed to heed the lessons of history.

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