Rap: Not Always About Money, Fame, and Women

Ask a group of people to tell you what the rap music is all about and chances are they will say it's all about money, women, and drugs. Now, this is true for the majority of "mainstream rap," the usual stuff you hear invading your radio waves and television programs, but if you dig just a little under the surface, you will find there are dozens of rap songs that include none of the usual rap stereotypes mentioned above and actually have a good message behind them.

I know many people that absolutely hate rap music because of the lyrical content mentioned above. Being a huge fan of the genre, I try to defend it the best I can. Whenever arguments about rap come up, my friends always end up saying there is no such thing as a rap song with a positive message and challenge me to name one. Instantly, a few songs come to mind.

The first song that enters my mind whenever this challenge is made is "Keep Ya Head Up" by Tupac. Normally known for his more violent raps popularized towards the end of his life when gangsta rap was all the rave, most people forget that Tupac's earlier work had a much more positive message. The song mentioned above is a song (to quote the song) "for all the ladies raisin' babies on their own." The song talks about how single mothers should keep their head up even when things are tough and they're all alone.

Perhaps the biggest message in the song is for all the rappers out there who rap about women as objects and show little to no respect for them at all. Tupac says that if we don't start treating women better, "we'll have a race of babies that will hate the ladies that make the babies."

In the second verse, Tupac pays homage to his own mother. He recognizes how tough it was for her to raise her children in the ghetto. Although she didn't do a perfect job, she kept her head up and did the best that she could. Pac would go on to write another song dedicated to his mother called "Dear Mama,"

It was not a fluke for Tupac to have a song like this. There are dozens more of his songs like this ("Dear Mama", "Ghetto Gospel", and "Changes" just to name a few.) I just find it odd that Tupac broke away from his socially-conscious raps of his earlier years when he joined Death Row records. Perhaps it was the reputation of the label, personal changes, or just a way to cash in on the gangsta rap craze of the time, but no one can deny that Tupac is one of the greatest rappers to ever live.

"Keep Ya Head Up"