Rap reacts to Virginia Tech
Popular culture can sometimes be sluggish about responding to national tragedy; it took several years for the first movies and books directly dealing with 9/11 to be released. But in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech massacre Monday, it only took about 48 hours for pop music’s early responders to make their emotional reaction to the shootings known.
On Wednesday, Jin, a New York rapper of Chinese American descent, posted “Rain Rain Go Away (Virginia Tech Tribute)” at the XXL magazine website, www.xxlmag.com/online/p9306. The song serves as a real-time response to Monday’s events, with the MC rhyming about his disbelief and sadness as he watched the tragedy unfold on CNN. On Friday morning, Houston rapper Lil’ Flip released “Time After Time (Virginia Tech Tribute)” on XXL.com and his MySpace.com page, www.myspace.com/lilflip. Over a sample of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time,” the rapper critiques the events and characters, including “that brave man who escaped the Holocaust.”
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