Rap music as protest: A rhetorical analysis of Public Enemy's lyrics

Rap music has been one of the most popular and controversial forms of entertainment in the 1990s. Rap music serves as a form of social protest used by Blacks who feel oppressed. This study defines rap music as protest rhetoric, provides a history of rap music as an extension of Black African and American oral traditions, and analyzes the lyrics of Public Enemy, one of the most powerful protest rap artists. Although Public Enemy's music does not function in a social movement as previous protest songs, a comparison of Public Enemy's lyrics to conclusions drawn by previous researchers will show that Public Enemy's discourse is a form of social protest without serving as part of a social movement.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Communication Studies

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Year

1995

Author dc:creator

• Eiswerth, Joseph Paul

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/583

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:oasis.library.unlv.edu:rtds-1582