Introduction:

“What makes rappers influential?” What allows people to look at a rapper, formulate an opinion about them, and become polarized in that idea? With these questions in mind, my capstone, The Black and White will include 4 portraits of 2 prominent rappers Tupac Shakur (2pac) and Kendrick Lamar. The final piece of the project will present Kendrick in a white background, and 2pac in a black background, both representing an idealistic good and bad, and how people see them.
I chose Kendrick Lamar to represent the ‘white’ because of the general positive opinion that surrounds his music and reputation. Especially after his win against Drake, he is seen as a winner, and with his Spotify monthly listening count going from an average of 55 million to reaching a whopping 110 million, it's clear many others became fans as well.

The reason I chose 2pac to represent the ‘black’ is because of the negative way he ended his legacy. Seen as the rapper who made the mega-hit diss track song Hit 'em Up, who then got murdered a few months later. His legacy to the average person could be seen as the cause and effect of being a ‘gangster.’ I chose 2pac because of the many parallels Kendrick Lamar creates with 2pac and his legacy in his music albums.

Additionally, I plan to display an extra piece to the black and white pieces. Two pieces colored in gray will display each of the rappers in more ‘color,’ therefore displaying them how they should be seen.

Literature Review:

The photographer Alan Schaller comes to mind when it comes to specific artists who influenced my work. The idea of creating two black-and-white pieces also comes from my personal love of highly contrasted black-and-white photography. The main thing I love about it is its lack of specific detail, and its ability to make the viewer look more closely to put the full image together. 

The scholarly influences which I was influenced by speak on the importance of hip-hop integration in popular culture, and the idea of having a ‘polarized mind.’ Firstly, polarization comes from the notion of closing yourself off from anything opposing what you think. My main takeaway from this source is the idea of creating a space where you could healthily understand both sides of the matter, allowing yourself not only to become more open-minded, but also more ‘gray’ in the matter.

The other source speaks on the importance of hip-hop, and how it helped “mutate” other aspects of popular culture. One article states: “its enormous success, with the domain of the musical market and other assimilation processes such as clothing.”(Benvenga 2). Not only is hip-hop musically important for Afro-culture, but it is very prominent in promoting what we see in today's world.

Methods:

I completed both scholarly and artistic research to educate myself on rap's impact on society. Additionally, the mediums I used for my work were: permanent marker, pencil, 24x18 paper, and colored marker. I used many techniques like the high contrast photography style mentioned earlier, but I also used a comic-like inspired hatching style.

Audience & Impact:

My audience is anyone with feelings for one or both artists. This capstone will cause audience members to reflect on their opinions of the two artists/rappers in general. 

This capstone has had a huge impact on me, and I want to truly thank the art scholars for allowing me to take part in its creation. As an artist, I've never given myself the chance to work on such big paper, along with using the black-and-white idea of coloring that I've always wanted to use. So I've been able to grow in those regards.

Acknowledgments:

I want to thank Heather, Harold, and my class of CPSA250 for always giving me the critique I needed to hear.

References:

• Balietti, Stefano, et al. “Reducing Opinion Polarization: Effects of Exposure to Similar People With Differing Political Views.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 118, no. 52, Dec. 2021, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2112552118.

  • (Balietti et al.)

• Benvenga, Luca. “Hip-hop, Identity, and Conflict: Practices and Transformations of a Metropolitan Culture.” Frontiers in Sociology, vol. 7, Sept. 2022, https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2022.993574.

  • (Benvenga)