Rap & Hegemony

Watching those rap music videos in class yesterday really helped me understand the whole idea behind ideology and cultural hegemony.  The one that stood out most to me was Common’s “Corners” video.  In the video, he begins by showing the nicer areas in Chicago then goes to the rougher areas where he grew up.  He raps what life was like for him before he became successful and famous.  He says how it was unsafe on the streets and that it was hard to make a living.  At one point in the song he states that people from there are underrated and educated.  I found this to be contradictory to ideology and society’s expectations because people typically think that if someone does not receive a formal education they are uneducated.  People usually expect these people who come from the ghetto to play a role as a criminal or drug dealer not someone who is successful.  In this video, Common proves this to be untrue because he is from the ghetto and is successful.  By analyzing this video and having a discussion in class, I realized the importance of questioning things and to not always accept the ideologies society has to offer.