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Why The Bridge Is Over A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Most Influential Diss Song

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The Bridge Is Over?: A Rhetorical Analysis of the Most Influential Diss Record The debut album of Boogie Down Productions, Criminal Minded exposed the world to MC KRS-One and company. The Bridge is Over made its mark in Hip-Hop history as a classic diss song not only for the lyrics and content, but the style in which the song was presented. It combined the genres of Rock and Reggae to provide a clear yet creative message, and also serve as a testament to the mixture of genres and sounds of which created Hip-Hop. It is the standout track of one of the earliest “beefs” in Hip-Hop, and would serve as precedent for those to come. KRS-One’s ability to serve as the MC for this song can be attributed to the culture of the South Bronx. New York …show more content…

This diss record was the follow-up of the series, serving as BDP’s second response. While South Bronx was released first, it served as a more matter-of-fact record to combat the release of The Bridge. Alternatively, The Bridge Is Over took a more emotional and aggressive approach both in the content and tone. South Bronx served as a sense of pride for the constituents and Hip-Hop heads of the borough, but The Bridge Is Over served to deconstruct MC Shan and the Juice Crew. It was sent to be a message to the Juice Crew and Queensland natives, and did successfully so. In fact, it warranted responses from several artists hailing from Queens that weren’t directly mentioned in the song. While more tracks would be released by other parties, this is said to be the end of the beef and the end of MC Shan’s …show more content…

KRS-One refutes the theory that MC Shan was not saying the origin of Hip-Hop belonged to Queens. He provides his interpretation while leaving no room for others. He states his credibility by notifying the audience of his crew’s sound, and telling them that in order to get down with the crew they must “see him”. In addition to verifying his credibility, he sought to discredit that of his opponent: What’s the matter with your MC, Marley Marl? Don’t you know that he’s out of touch? What’s the matter with your DJ, MC Shan? On the wheels of steel, Marlon sucks! The appeal to the emotion of the audience seems comes through the personal attacks on the Juice Crew and other Queens natives. Being that is a diss song, KRS-One chooses to take attack the sexuality of the Juice Crew and their female member, Roxanne Shantae. In his attacks, he claims that the members of the Juice Crew are homosexual. The intersection of homosexuality and Hip-Hop has been a controversial construct since the beginning. Claims of homosexuality as attacks on masculinity have been a tactic used by diss rappers for ages. The most acclaimed diss songs contain this (see Ice Cube’s No Vaseline, Jay-Z’s Takeover, and Nas’s Ether for reference). The Bridge Is Over was one of the first records to take this

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