An Analysis of Political Issues and Poetic Devices in Tupac’s “Trapped” (eBook)

Seminar paper from the year 2021 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, University of Koblenz-Landau (Landau), course: Literature, language: English, abstract: Conventionally, rap music is not associated with poetry at all. Over the years, rap music has received fierce criticism because it usually contains colloquial and vulgar expressions and is therefore negatively connotated. Brent Wood adds that “[the] reasons for this lack of attention include cultural differences between Euro-American and African-American sensibilities, the reluctance of academic poets and critics to embrace popular culture, and the inability of print-based analysis to deal adequately with oral artistry” (129). However, a closer look will reveal that the use of poetic devices and the questioning of political issues makes rap music poetically valuable. The objective of this paper is to show rap music as poetry and not only as popular culture.
Tupac Shakur’s song “Trapped” was published in 1991 and deals with the inequality and oppression of black people living in urban areas (see Prier 89). Tupac Shakur is considered one of the most popular and successful rappers in the 1990s. He is famous for the political and social issues in his songs, as in “Changes”, “Keep Your Head Up” and in “Trapped”. In these songs, themes such as racism, police brutality, poverty, the struggle of being a single mother, hopelessness, and the constant fear of getting imprisoned are portrayed.

Since my first focus is on poetry, poetic devices will be examined that prove rap music can be poetry. But I am also going to look for political issues represented in the song that are still relevant today. The Black-Lives-Matter movement against the ongoing police brutality and systematic racism against members of the black community has a strong social impact in the United States. The only thing that has changed regarding the US prison system is the drastic increase of prisoners in the last decades.

The second focus of this term paper will pursue the question, How are 1990s political issues in the US in the represented in “Trapped”? In order to get a better understanding of what “Trapped” is about, I will do research on police brutality and systematic racism as well as the prison system in the United States.