Kanye West and the Introduction of Emo Hip-Hop

Arguably one of the best in the mainstream game of hip-hop, Kanye West never fails to entertainingly inform. His newest record, 808s & Heartbreak (Roc-A-Fella Records) is the epitome of a new genre that definitely needs more artists: emo hip-hop. The ‘emo’ in the name is an important adjective; the genre I’m describing is definitely not your Gym Class Heroes mixture of rhymes over slow guitar rifts.

If this album did not hit you in some way, you have a heart of stone. West’s life was definitely filled with heartbreak: the loss of his manager mother and a broken engagement all within a nine-month span. He told MTV the album was“ a little bit of autotune and a whole lot of f*cked up life.”

One song in particular hits me: “Paranoid.” It is perhaps the happiest tune on the album and a favorite among my friends. The song is about a paranoid girlfriend who worries her boyfriend is cheating and annoys her man with her behavior. The words describe every single thing my ex-boyfriend told me about his relations with girls and my paranoia. Specifically these lyrics:

All of the time you wanna complain about the nights alone
So now you’re here with me show some gratitude leave the attitude way back at home

describe perfectly what my ex and I would go through. There were past rumors about his supposed infidelity and he was dishonest when it came to his whereabouts involving girls (probably a defense mechanism to combat my suffocating paranoia). Just like Kanye’s girl in the song, I checked through Mr. Ex’s phone and whatnot to find evidence of his dishonesty. Recently we had a big fight due to my paranoia of him cheating on me.

Obviously, the song is pretty personal. I am the girl Kanye is describing.

Another example is “RoboCop.”

Checking everything like I'm on parole
Up late night like she on patrol
I told her there’s some things she don't need to know
She never let it go (ooo ohh)

The lyric, “There’s some things she don’t need to know” is exactly a line my ex told me. It wasn’t very comforting at all.

The CD is technically pretty good although it received mixed reviews (Rolling Stone only gave it 3.5 stars; Huffington Post called it depressing). It is just way too heavy for me. I’m into conscious hip-hop as much as the next red, black and green flag wearer but listening to this album makes me want to cuddle with good ole Mr. Daniels.

Beyond my feelings, I think West is going to make emo hip-hop cool. This is great—we need more records that let the world know brown skin men have actual feelings.

Middle School Blues

Remember middle school? Hormones ran amuck as breast buds became B cups and all of your short male friends became taller than you.

But beyond the acne developments, crushed crushes and awkward conversations, middle school was a pretty important time for educational and social development. Middle school predicted who would succeed in high school (and beyond) and who would get out of the running. Remember that extremely smart yet socially awkward guy in your fourth grade class? Think about what happened to him in middle school. Where is he now?

So it is no surprise that a recent study revealed the huge impact of middle school on college preparedness. Fewer than two in ten eighth graders are ready for college level work by the time they graduate high school, according to the ACT, Inc., the organization responsible for the ACT college entrance exams (the alternative to SATs). The organization performed a study that analyzed about 216,000 high school graduates for the 2005 and 2006 school year. The study examined students’ performances in college preparatory ACT assessments (the EXPLORE in eighth grade, the PLAN for tenth grade, and the regular ACT for college admissions). Based on the study students who scored well on the eighth grade test scored well on the ACTs and were considered better able to handle a basic college curriculum. The study goes on to say that eighth grade achievement is even more important than class and racial characteristics in determining college readiness.

Hey Jersey residents, remember the GEPA (Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment) or the HSPA (High School Proficiency Assessment)? I am unable to find the 2001 GEPA scores for my middle school (when I graduated eighth grade) but the school’s scores were consistently lower than the rest of the state for the years 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. For instance, in 2007 only 40 percent of graduating eighth graders were proficient in language arts literacy, compared to the state average of 74 percent. Only 27 percent of students in 2007 passed the math section, compared to 68 percent in the state.

The eleventh grade HSPA scores in 2007 were just as bad. In 2007 only 62 percent of students were proficient in Language Arts Literacy compared to the state average of 85 percent. In math students were 20 percent proficient compared to the state average of 73 percent.

And don’t forget SAT scores. In 2005, back in the days when the highest SAT score was 1600, my high school’s average math score was 310. The average verbal score was 315.

While these statistics do not follow a specific group of students from middle school to high school (as the ACT study did), the scores still show that middle and high school scores are mirroring each other in awfulness. Obviously there is a vicious cycle going on. Middle school success depends on elementary school success; high school success depends on middle school success; college success depends on high school success. So if one of the links in this chain is broken or damaged, students are doomed to fail.

Although I did attend a state-failing school district, my grades in middle school were spectacular. And in high school I continued such academic success, becoming number 3 in my high school, scoring an above average score on the SATs and not flunking out of Syracuse University. But! I’m just one technical success story. Think of your pre-teen brothers and sisters who could easily fall into this trap!

So what to do? Encourage them to take the hardest classes their high schools have to offer. Turn off the television and make them focus on improving weak skills. Put them in academic boot camp! Just try to make them competitive for the real world—you name me a lucrative job besides drugs, basketball or rap that doesn’t require a college degree.