Quote:
Originally Posted by MzDoctaKay
A product of New York's early hip hop days, my first impulse was to be offended by CNN's coverage of hip hop, since they represent a population that did not take us seriously (in the beginning), with assertions that hip hop would not last. However, if I had to be honest, I'd say that the rapping aspect certainly isn't what it used to be. In fact, I find myself purposely avoiding most of the frequently-played rap songs on the radio. My feelings have to do with being called out of my name, constant references to sex, alcohol, and other spirtually-conflictive messages.....BUT....be that as it may, I am not sure I'd call hip hop "POISON". While I personally do not agree with a lot of the lyrics, I won't condemn all of rap music or hip hop's culture.
Furthermore, there's the fact that the older I become, the more I embrace other genres, such as Jazz, Classical, Gospel, NeoSoul, and Old School R&B. So it could be that I'm a bit outdated and am not in a '"fair position" to judge.......
What are your feelings. Is Hip Hop POISON or ART?
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I couldn't help but notice that a such a thought prokoking thread as this was sittin' by, collectin' a lil' dust!
*pops open a cold Heineken...prepares to write*
Although I'm not sure where to began, I can remember movin' my head to the sounds of The Rappin' Duke, or being up in Foot Locker trying to convince momz to get me a pair of shell-top Addidas b/c of some Run DMC lyrics..and I told her, "black and white, or white with black stripes"...I had to have a pair!! DAMMIT! (well, I didn't say dammit...LOL...but you get my point)
Just the other day, I was listening to some old M.C. Shy D, "I gott be tough"...and the brotha said, "I'm cold gettin' paid...I gotta credit card". LOL!
It's sad, but kinda funny now when I look back at it. Back then, to those yourng artist, those were major accomplishments...you know, being a able to sample from a life that the majority of Americans have had (and didn't want to share) for many years.
For those artist, being able to surround themselves with some of the new "things" that money, and what a newfound "entertainer" status could afford them...and not having a mentor to guide them...well, they were bound to lose focus, and move from rappin' about social issues, encouraging those in challenging situations to make better lives for themselves, or just the simple things like, "A teenage love"....
All b/c they didn't have a base by which to define their identity...and we as Blacks are still in search of who we are today!! Modern day rap/hip-hop (if wish to call it that), is a direct reflection of our state of being...how some of us see ourselves.
This new wave of music has become an "eyebrow raiser"...or...*clears throat*....an "item of interest" in the white community, only b/c a large number of their children purchase it, and listen to it - religiously. It's almost like the epidemic of drugs or AIDs...these two "poisons" only became a problem once they landed on the front porches and doorsteps of surbania!
So, let's delete white America and CNN from the equation....
Is this music a direct reflection of how we see ourselves...?
Music that perpuates the stereotypes of: 1) the thuggish, intellectually inept black male who is supposedly defined by the number of gold teeth in his mouth, his car/rims and chains, or the number of baby mammas he may have 2) the promiscuous young black woman (many of whom are mothers), who think that her image is supposedly defined by size (and elasticity) of her ass...or how much their vagina they can get to hang out of their shorts or dresses.
I know that as a people, we are moved by the beat of the drum...but if you listen to the lyrics, how can we still wiggle and shake when our mothers, daughters, and sisters are being called bitches, hoes...names that so disrespectful and degrading. Names that they almost reduce their existence to a level total insignificance.
There was a time when white slave owners would treat our women in this same manner...name calling...raping them....beating them...even murder. But then, we had no choice but to sit by silently...now, we do it voluntarily....
We have no base by which to define our identity...and we're still blindly in search of who we are today b/c we do not know our history!!
We still wiggle and shake when our young men, some whom can't even spell their names...add, subtract or multiply...rap about a life of drugs...thuggin'...ballin'...smokin'...disrepectfu lly asking the ladies..."can I hit it?"...all with not even an ounce of sense in their heads. We sit by silently as they glorify this buffoonery...
Again...
We have no base by which to define our identity...and we're still blindly in search of who we are today b/c we do not know our history!!
And it's sad to say, but most of us embrace this foolishnes as our "new" black image, and we seem to care less that this is the measuring rod by which America and the rest of the world seems to want to judge us. Yet, we get upset, and we call it "keepin' it real"!!
- What's real if you don't know that Clarence Thomas is a fake...and there once was a true black man named Justice Thurgood Marshall?
- What's real if you believe that a life of selling dope, or playing basketball or football is the only way to make it, and you don't know about that there once was a black physician by the name of Charles Drew...or world-renowned black educator by the name of Dr. W.E.B. Dubois?
- What's real when we as Colored folk do not see about each other the way we used to...we have ceased to show love and respect for one another - as if there is another race of people who are so concerned for our well-being? LOL!
We need to wake up, and realize that we need to GO BACK to the days when we were keepin' it...and we all could probably spell it!
Personally, I think that some forms of rap and hip-hop are a new poison that has entered our veins...and a good majority of us have yet to awaken...still unaware...perhaps unconcerned...