Too much to copy and paste.... http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/colum...itle.who-the-hell-am-i-hip-hop-the-new-n-word
Depends on where you work. The old N-word is prevalent. The writer brings up a lot of good points, but he is missing the forest for the trees. I was and still am big fan of Rap music. (Sorry, I don't use "Hip-Hop" either) But the problem, IMO, is the glorification of the Gangsta lifestyle that began in the late 80's and has just about enveloped the entire genre of music. Not the best image to throw around willy-nilly. So while this guy makes some valid points, Bill Cosby and Jason Whitlock did, also.
I've skimmed over this thread and the Cassidy thread and both seem to be about the same thing. How Hip Hop is now mostly associated with crime. I have to admit I haven't followed Hip Hop much at all since the early 90's but I remember for awhile there were rappers like PE and KRS-1 that while militant also spoke about self improvement and self respect while rappers like De La Soul and US3 were pushing the artistic boundaries. Most of the stuff I hear today seems more about street cred and self agrandizement but I'm sure there are Hip Hop artist out there who are pushing the musical envelope and also infusing their music with something more than sex and violence. Any recommendations?
Hip-Hop is more like a culture and it includes a lot of things, not just music. Rap is just a category under hip-hop. I agree with the glorification of the gangsta lifestyle but then again it is ultimately up to the listener which path they choose.
Sure there are those types of artists but they do not get that radio play. There are even those that may sing about a life of crime but still put out songs with a positive message (Ex. Tupac). Rap artists now have to make something that has a nice beat, catchy hook, etc. These artist cannot talk about their pain, struggles, successes in a way that would be positive. They have to take it and flaunt it to be accepted by the media and by the listeners, most of the time.
I just don't care for most of the music, with all due respect for those who do. As for the lifestyle? I'm not very jazzed by a sub-culture that treats women like some in this sub-culture do. My own sub-culture, in the '60's and '70's, empowered women. I don't see that in Hip-Hop. Quite the opposite. Impeach Bush.
The writer overstretched his metaphor too much to make a convincing argument. If true, it's a sad fact to learn important history from the cultural equivalent of Hamas. A lot of the mainstream hiphop you see is full blown misogyny, sex, drug abuse, and/or violence upon your enemies. I don't hate hip hop, but I'm not in denial about it. I see a strong shift of blame from this writer. The context from which he lists those names comes from the implication that our education system is either inadequate or biased. Before he listed about the good qualities of hiphop being underground. Well it's underground because it's good, and if he's saying that hip hop's audience is savvy with the underground (because he's noting its positive qualities upon hip hop as the whole), then the same audience are also savvy enough to go to a local library or pull up a google to get some extensive education of Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, etc... This is the his flaw in his logic. He attempts to shoehorn hip hop as a culture into a demographic that's more diverse and greater than he can imagine. Judging from his tone, he is personalizing the issue far more than hip hop's various critics. Hip hop has become a commercialized property. Hollywood media moguls stole it. The sooner everyone gets over it, the sooner everyone can recover.
Calling Whitlock an Uncle Tom is bush league. The guy just speaks the truth, and sometimes the truth hurts.
I used to like it, but the neverending stream of stupidity in the lyrics eventually drove me to detest it. Mysoginistic pseudo-gangsters talking solely about guns and sex is not only boring, sad, and played-out, but its just plain disgusting. And most of them cannot even rhyme anymore. Total trash. I'll go out on a limb here too and say that such music has done a lot to hurt black culture and society. My humble opinion.
i agree with what the dude is sayin witlock says a lot bs that people eat up because they give him the authoriraian perspective of all black people, here in houston after katrina people subsitituted katrina poeple for the "n" word hip hop artists if you haven't heard there stuff before check it out aceyalone del talib kweli lupe fiasco chino xl cunninlynguists
"Hip-Hop" is lazy and it is crap. Bring back the real bands, real music, real poets. <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qJRNtBqHCyc&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qJRNtBqHCyc&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
hmmmmmm <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QR9lmQrgoJc&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QR9lmQrgoJc&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> vs. <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BJk9ZLjsl3U&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BJk9ZLjsl3U&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> Hip-Hop loses every time.
Do you think the opposite? That hip-hop is improving the situation for black americans? If so, please explain how... (not meant as an insult - i'm seriously interested)
