Alter Egos in Hip-Hop

What do Nicki Minaj, Hank Williams, Robert Schumann, J.K. Rowling, and Bruce Wayne all have in common? Given that we’re dealing with a list of two musicians of different genres, one of which died in 1953, a nineteenth-century composer, a contemporary author, and a fictional billionaire who dons a kickass bat suit in his spare time, not much. But they all make use of alter egos, each in different ways and for a variety of purposes.
Today we’re going to study the appearances and uses of alter egos throughout literal generations of art, with an emphasis on the remarkable prevalence of alter egos in hip-hop, and why that’s the case. We’re then going to use these findings in attempt to understand why audiences are drawn to, and fascinated by, alter egos. But first…
What is an alter-ego, and where do they come from? Well, it depends on who you ask.
Ask a psychologist, and you’ll get a diagnosis in response, something along the lines of:
Someone who has been deprived of his aspirations in life may develop what’s known as an alter ego. This manifestation often lives in the dreams of the individual and lives the life that the person afflicted by this condition has always wanted. Ideally, he is able to use the help of an alter ego to reach his goals, as most often the interests of the individual are synonymous with those of the alter ego. If the alter ego is objectively better than the individual in terms of personhood, this can result in low self-esteem. Furthermore, the alter ego becoming dominant over the individual can restrain him from leading a normal, productive life.
Ask a philosopher, and you’ll have to first decide what an ego is. We’re going to take a French existentialist approach, because this is a philosophical system that seems to be engrained in hip-hop culture, specifically in Eminem, who we’re going to talk about at length later on.
Beata Stawarska has written an incredibly insightful paper on the very subject of defining an ego, in which she critically examines the first work of Jean-Paul Sartre, a powerful proponent of French existentialism in the early-to-mid 1900’s, titled The Transcendence of the Ego.
The ego is transcendent with regards to my immanent life.
What is the ego then? The ego is a solidified self. Why such a solidification? It is due to the fact that primo: the pure subject actively engages in the world and becomes a subject of action — a labourer, a piano player, a philosopher….I am defined by…the tools and materials I use…things whose sort of being is different from the being of the pure consciousness that I am. I am defined by…things which extend beyond the mere appearance, which are more than what they appear to be.
From https://www.bu.edu/wcp/Papers/Anth/AnthStaw.htm
Wherein does this otherness lie with regards to the pure subject? It lies in the difference between the sort of being of the subject or the pure consciousness and the being of the ego. The difference can therefore be qualified as an ontological difference. The ego is other than the consciousness and that is why it is other to the consciousness. Let us make that point more precise. The ego is transcendent to the consciousness — which means that it falls under the general category of the transcendent object. The ego — as we already noted above — is more than what it appears, it hides behind the appearance, it is not entirely given to view, it is opaque. As such the ego must…be classified together with material things which are inert and passive. The ego is not essentially different from physical things like trees or chairs…
And yet…I identify it as mine, I take it to stand for the totality of my life, my personal style, my way of living. How is it possible to take this transcendent object — so much like a chair or a tree — to stand for my personality, my self? This has to do with a fundamental illusion — says Sartre. I trick myself into thinking that I have a personality, an identity and so on, so as to forget that I am no more than an impersonal subject, a mute and undefinable stream of consciousness… The ego is made of a different “stuff” than the consciousness is, the ego is an inert object akin to material things whereas the consciousness can best be defined as a sheer unhindered spontaneity. And yet the ego appears to me as not simply inert and passive — it appears as endowed with its own dynamism, as having spontaneity of its own. The ego appears as an object that has “subjective” qualities. Yet the appearance of spontaneity, of activity etc. is only an illusion. It is an illusion that allows me to cover over the fact that, strictly speaking, I am nothingness and that nothing can define me.
From https://www.bu.edu/wcp/Papers/Anth/AnthStaw.htm
We’re getting very existential here. Hang on tight, and rewind if you need to.
The ego is transcendent to the consciousness insofar as it is different from the consciousness, its otherness to the consciousness consists in being other than the consciousness. Now that means: the ego is not another subject (in the way in which I am a subject), the ego is not another consciousness (in the way in which I am a consciousness). For the consciousness itself is not divided, it is not split between different consciousnesses.
[Microsoft Word seems to agree with this claim, refusing to even recognize consciousnesses as a word.]
The consciousness is one, it is not other to itself — and the ego is an otherness that comes from outside and that does not affect the perfect immanence of the non-divided consciousness. Now, the impact of these remarks will quickly let itself be felt when we recall that Sartre takes the relation between the immanence of the consciousness and the transcendence…of the ego to function as a blueprint for the relation between the immanence of the consciousness and the transcendence…of the other. The other is simply another ego, she is so to speak, my alter ego.
From https://www.bu.edu/wcp/Papers/Anth/AnthStaw.htm
Stawarska then goes on to explain that, in Sartre’s line of thought, interactions between people, and objects, because we can’t really prove what does and does not possess consciousness and/or an ego, are merely egos communicating with each other, not consciousnesses (again, Microsoft Word agrees) understanding each other.
So, if the ego is an object that changes form based on outside forces and our perception of what it ought to be, and is at the same time a representation of self in terms of communication, it is easy to see where alter egos come into play, even if you’re like me and have to review this kind of stuff over and over again before you even kind of get it.
Don’t forget the primary question at hand here; “What is an alter ego?”
We’ve hypothetically asked a psychologist and a philosopher, and now let’s see what kind of response you would get if you asked an expert on literature.
According to literaryterms.net, an alter ego is defined as a secondary self. Wow, that was easy.
The term was coined by Cicero, an ancient Roman statesman, orator, and writer, who described it as “a second self, a trusted friend.”
In literature, characters are usually aware of and in control of their alter egos, but this isn’t always the case. In certain cases, a character in a story might be the author’s alter ego, or the author may use an alter ego in the publishing of his/her work. This means that both fictional characters and citizens of the real world can have alter egos, which shouldn’t come as a surprise after the psychological and philosophical insights.
Though the first two schools of thought will certainly be important going forward with this study, I think it’s clear that understanding the use of alter egos as a literary device will be the most fundamental to relating this subject to its current prevalence in hip-hop, especially if we want to delve into the reasons for these alter egos, because we have various authors, artists, and characters of the past to use as reference points. For example,
· J.K. Rowling has been known to describe the character Hermione as a representation of herself in the Harry Potterseries
From https://literaryterms.net/alter-ego/
This is fascinating, because J.K. Rowling
also published the book The Cuckoo’s Calling under the alter ego Robert Galbraith, who the publishers claimed to be a former cop. Already being famous for Harry Potter, she wanted to publish something that wasn’t associated with her former work.
From https://literaryterms.net/alter-ego/
So we see the same author making use of alter egos for two completely different reasons. Similarly to Rowling’s feat with The Cuckoo’s Calling, and inarguably of greater importance,
· Author Mary Ann Evans, who you know as George Eliot, developed a male alter ego for her writing because she feared the work of a woman wouldn’t be taken seriously
From https://literaryterms.net/alter-ego/
As was the case for a number of female and minority authors for quite some time.
Characters with alter egos, existing within stories, is the format we’re most familiar with and find the most intriguing, by far. These can serve various purposes, from the likes of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to the heroic adventures of Clark Kent and Superman. Because so many musicians have a performance persona separate from their true selves, especially in hip-hop, this is the kind of alter ago situation most comparable with where we are taking this issue. For clarity, it’s as if Marshall Mathers is Peter Parker, Eminem is Spider-Man, and Slim Shady is Spider-Man in the infamous, symbiotic black suit, which alters his personality in favor of rage.
Notice that I said musicians, and not just hip-hop artists. It’s important to discuss the occurrence of alter egos throughout the history of music, and when, why, and how it worked, in order to understand why it’s used the way it is today in hip-hop, and the impact it can have on the artist in question. If you don’t believe me, watch an episode of Hannah Montana. My favorite is the one with cheese jerky. That shit’s lowkey delicious, man.
Nineteenth-century composer Robert Schumann, in his early 20s, created two characters for his inner dialogue: Florestan was impassioned, rebellious, fiery and wildly energetic; and Eusebius was orderly, quiet, reflective and introspective. He often wrote pieces on how these characters inspired different parts of his music in different ways. Remind you of anybody?
In 1950, Hank Williams began recording as Luke the Drifter, a moral character who sang about the gospel and good deeds. This allowed Hank Williams to go about his business singing songs about drinking, cheating and chasing women.
From https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2010/08/15/129219435/music-s-surprising-alter-egos
Remind you of anybody?
Of Course, alter egos aren’t always used by artists a means of release, and are sometimes used for storytelling purposes, or just for fun (or for reasons we don’t yet understand).
An example of the former: David Bowie is known well for the outlandish alter egos he introduced early on in his music career, both in recordings and on stage, in order to tell a variety of stories from different perspectives and with different emotions.
An example of the latter: Prince introduced his female alter ego, Camille, in the 80’s. Though Camille’s album was never officially released, recordings still exist, and Prince apparently made this persona work by speeding his voice up on tape.
Perhaps a better barrage of questions to introduce this episode with would have been: What does Robert Schumann have in common with Eminem? How might Hank Williams be the inverse to Lil Yachty? What makes David Bowie and Tyler, The Creator comparable? And, for the love of God, what the hell does Prince have to do with Humpty Hump?
You see it now though, right? Let’s elaborate.
Eminem introduced the world to Slim Shady on 1997’s Slim Shady EP, completely changing things up in comparison to the style of his previous LP. Eminem claims that Slim exists to say things that he cannot under his own name, which makes sense when you consider the subject matter that Slim seems to thrive on: drug abuse, violence, rape, insanity, and vulgarity in general. This makes Eminem comparable to Robert Schumann in a musical sense, because just as Robert can attribute certain parts of his music to each alter ego, Em can attribute certain verses to himself or to Slim, but the relationship here is unique in another way. It can just as easily be compared to the relationship between Jekyll and Hyde, or even between Bruce Banner and The Hulk, because Em seems not to have much control over this persona at times, and uses Slim as a scapegoat whenever his own rage begins to manifest. When each persona gets its own tracklist, it’s easy enough to see them as two entirely different beings. However, when they go toe-to-toe with each other in the same song it’s clearer than ever that they’re duking it out inside Marshall’s mind, and we’re right there with them.
Early on in her career, Nicki Minaj did something strikingly similar with a character she called Roman Zolanski, who, in the words of HighSnobiety,
permits the baby-voiced rap vixen to tap into a fire-breathing, cheekily nihilistic spirit that’s garnered countless guest appearances and performance cameos.
From https://www.highsnobiety.com/2015/07/29/alter-egos-hip-hop/
Minaj has since retired Roman, much to her fans’ dismay.
As we discussed in last week’s episode, Lil Yachty’s alter ego, Lil Boat, is pure angst and frustration, daring to say all the things that Yachty’s brand-conscious A&R’s would’ve torn him down for earlier on in his career. Williams and Yachty both created their alter egos in a place of frustration, and with a burning desire to just make what they wanted to make.
Really, I think this puts Lil Yachty, Hank Williams, Eminem, Nicki Minaj, Robert Schumann, and countless other artists in a similar boat; and it’s not a very lil boat.
One of the primary reasons for prevalence of alter egos in music, and in hip-hop specifically, is the desire to be able to make statements and explore topics foreign to the persona presented to the public thus far. This is important, as it’s inarguably the most common motivation for artists to pursue such a thing. But, of course, other reasons persist as well, and some of them I find much more interesting than this.
As mentioned earlier, David Bowie took on numerous personas early on in his career to tell many different stories, the most famous of these characters being Ziggy Stardust. According to a 2014 PBS interview Bowie described Ziggy as
half out of sci-fi rock and half out of the Japanese theater,”
From http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/inside-david-bowies-colorful-personas/story?id=36216413
And described his use of personas in general as such:
“They are one shot, they are cartoons and the Ziggy thing was worth about one or two albums before I couldn’t really write anything else about him or the world that I sort of put together for him,”
From http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/inside-david-bowies-colorful-personas/story?id=36216413
He would later go on to present himself as Halloween Jack, a persona he described as a “real cool cat,” and Thin White Duke, a neo-cabaret character inspired by Bowie’s first major film role, alien Thomas Jerome Newton in Nicolas Roeg’s “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” released in 1976.
The first of Bowie’s alter egos, who came to be in 1969 on the track Space Oddity and returned in 1980 for the song Ashes to Ashes, is Major Tom, whom Bowie described as “a junkie, strung out in heaven’s high, hitting an all time low.”
MF DOOM and Tyler, The Creator both take different approaches to concepts similar to Bowie’s.
Rapper Daniel Dumile, MF DOOM, formed his entire rap career around his self-proclaimed “super villain” persona. The alter ego has its own backstory, with sci-fi elements and comic book references scattered throughout, and Dumile himself described him as such in an interview with The Wire in 2005:
“The MF DOOM character is really a combination of all villains throughout time…It’s an icon of American culture. I kinda made it a mish-mash of all the villains together, and my last name is Dumile, so everyone used to call me ‘Doom’ anyway. It’s a parody of all the villains.”
From https://www.highsnobiety.com/2015/07/29/alter-egos-hip-hop/
Dumile only utilizes one persona, even though he presents this persona in a number of different forms throughout his discography. The character has his own backstory, his own get-up (a metal mask), and his own narrative that can be followed throughout the entirety of Dumile’s musical career post-1998. Dumile creates a story out of, and for his alter ego. Bowie essentially does the same thing, but with multiple personas at different times.
Tyler, however, seems to use alter egos out of necessity, in order to tell a full-fledged story with multiple characters, all differing from each other in significant ways. The characters he portrays himself as interact with each other, and have distinct opinions about one another and about the world they inhabit. He does this for three consecutive albums, and I highly recommend checking them out if you haven’t, because it’s a remarkable experience as a listener. Tyler’s use of alter egos is essentially a more complex, less centralized, less identity-driven version of Bowie’s method, and stands in complete opposition to Dumile’s handling of the MF DOOM persona.
Of course, some alter egos exist purely for entertainment value, and to shake things up a little. Such is the case for Humpty Hump, a persona crafted by Shock G, leader of the Digital Underground. Humpty Hump’s being is merely to get a laugh out of listeners, and to make lighthearted, goofy songs that one can’t help but dance around to in hilarity.
So, what does the existence, the prevalence, of alter egos say about us, and about American society at large? The answers to these questions are within the reasons artists choose to use alter egos in the first place, which is why we had to discuss that first. The most popular reason for the use of an alter ego in literature, music, and especially in hip-hop, is the desire of the artist to say something, or do something, he normally can’t, or feels that he can’t. Sometimes, particularly in the case of fictional characters, this is because the alter ego (or perhaps the true individual) is capable of things far greater, or far more menacing, than its counterpart.
However, we live in the real world, and no matter how many times you’ve seen Split, one’s physical capabilities do not change based on identity. Indeed, we live in the real world, and it’s one of seemingly infinite social contracts. Laws we fantasize about breaking. Manners we dream of throwing out the window in favor of being ourselves. Gender constructs we wish we could stray from comfortably. Real-world artists often use alter egos as a manifestation of this frustration that we can all relate to. Slim Shady can, in his own words, say the things you joke about with your friends inside your living room, without needing to be false or sugar-coated at all.
What about David Bowie, Tyler The Creator, and MF DOOM, who use their alter egos to tell stories? Why are we fascinated by this, and drawn to it? Well, let me ask you this: have you ever seen a one-man-band? It’s just one dude, playing a hulking collection of instruments all at once, hopefully well. If he does a good job, this is astronomically impressive to us. The ability of one person to do so many things, to be so many things. In a way, it’s what we dream of, isn’t it? Our eyes dance around the one-man-bands presented ensemble, but they keep darting back to the man himself: the one making it all happen. Artists who use alter egos to tell a story do something similar. People love a good narrative, with intriguing characters and compelling dialogue, and to listen to a project that has these things, like Wolf by Tyler, and to continuously be able to take a step back and exclaim, “Wow, this is one dude. And this is his world,” can be a surreal, breath-taking experience. It’s what makes these artists seem so much larger than their craft, and perhaps larger than life itself. Frankly, it’s how legends are born.
Thank you for reading Rattling Hi-Hats, and remember; just because you’re you, doesn’t mean you have to be all the time.