american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang

CONTESTATORY URBAN AGENCY 157
“Throw Your Fists Up”: Hip-Hop’s
Contestatory Urban Agency—Lyrical
J-Live’s “Are You Satisfied?” foregrounds several hip-hop tropes in
examining post-9/11 America. In doing so, his criticism vacillates
between the general and specific: the brutality and inequality of freemarket
capitalism, President Bush’s policies, and what he perceives as
the disturbing quietude of the African American and hip-hop communities
on these issues. The chorus of “Are You Satisfied?” positions
the song as a general critique of American capitalism and imperialism,
especially under Bush: “The rich get richer, / the world gets worse, /
do you get the picture? / Whoever told you that it was all good lied, /
so throw your fists up if you’re not satisfied.” The chorus decries policies
that increase economic inequality, but more importantly it
directly questions the hip-hop community and issues a collective call
for action with the “fists up” rhetoric of the black power movement
and much political-minded hip-hop. Further, “It’s all good” is a hiphop
expression—used for more than a decade—usually uttered as a
dismissal of problems or as a celebratory declaration. (This phrase is
hip-hop’s equivalent of Bobby McFerrin’s famous song “Don’t
Worry, Be Happy.”) In using this phrase, J-Live not only denounces
MCs and listeners who do nothing but say “punchlines and puns”
while ignoring urgent sociopolitical problems, especially those stemming
from 9/11, he also signifies on and engages the received cultural
tradition of hip-hop culture. He frames his reproach in
terminology that his audience will respond to with heightened awareness
and sensitivity. He also questions the courage of those who have
been oppositional critics in the past, when he implies that the president’s
calls for unity and patriotism have made MCs “scared to
debate” with the “same devils” they “used to love to hate.” Times
such as the present, he suggest, require more courage and persistence
in fighting inequality and oppression. Hip-hop’s originary voices, he
also implies, must be engaged by tackling urgent problems.
When J-Live specifically denounces Bush, he does so via one of hiphop’s
primary conceits—time. Potter explains the question
“What time is it?” in hip-hop vernacular: “With this question, rappers
situate themselves within a black diasporic timezone, outside the
‘official’ time of calendars” (7–8). Further, Richard Shusterman
discusses rap’s “frequent time tags” as a “metaphysical position