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PrintableOttensen said: namepeace said: OF3RF13ND: Your uncle is a fine writer.
Hip-hop is the most revolutionary form of American music since jazz and early rock and roll. It has dominated the landscape for about 20 years. Its language is now used by presidents. It is the music of happiness, rage, rebellion and reality. But it is lampooning itself to make a buck. Hip-hop now gladly embraces the very stereotypes that it fought. Those of the black man as a gleefully ignorant sexual predator who exploits women, romanticizes a life of crime, threatens everyone who crosses him, and confuses materialism with status. And guess who's been eating this up? The suburban white teens and young adults. Don't get me wrong, the Ice Cubes, the Tupacs, the Scarfaces, the KRS-ONE's often rapped about crime but also about the consequences. These new cats revel in their own ignorance. The cultural zeitgeist now looks as these guys as exotic creatures, not human beings. These so-called MCs can buy whatever want, society still looks on them as dumb niggers, and the fact that they know that and love to be seen as that is a shame. But this culture is affecting our kids, more than movies, more than other music, because hip-hop MCs sell themselves as real people, and thus real role models. Why do you think kids take to hip-hop? Problem is, these kids have a hard time with perspective, so they think the purpose of life is to pick up a mic or a MAC, but not a book. Don't get me wrong. Much of hip-hop today is underappreciated and overlooked. Acts like De La Soul, MF Doom, Common, and yes, Kanye will be around for a while doing their thing. But hip-hop as a whole has lost its diversity and its purpose. Even most of the East Coast rappers are garbage these days. Hopefully, like disco, the public will turn on hip-hop, the neo-minstrel MCs will vanish, and it will return to the underground. 
You really hit it on so many points. Particularly the neo-minstrel reference. When I see videos for songs such as "Candy Shop" and Yin Yang Twins' "Wait" I am just absolutely floored by the fact that as many strides blacks have made in the entertainment industry, we've gone 1,000 steps backward where rap music is concerned. These young men and women are being paid oogles of money to essentially what is in my opinion do the 21st Century version of "Shuck & Jive". They are becoming millionares in the process, yes, but at what cost to the rest of the black community? Make no mistake, that they are indeed reinforcing age old stereotypes of the black woman as wanton and sexually insatiable, the black man as only being concerned with the power that lies in his penis (thus making him a threat to any self-respecting person), and the list goes on. What makes this even more dangerous to us on a social and cultural level, is that where the minstrels of old were restricted to a limited audience within the U.S., with the advent of 21st century technology people like 50 and the Yin Yangs have reached a worlwide audience. I live in Europe now and the only things you see of black performers on any given MTV affiliate here are the vilest and most misogyist of what we have to offer at home. Add that to the fact that the videos are completely unscensored, and you basically have what amounts to a worldwide export of cultural trash. If I keep my televsion on MTv, I'm forced to listen to these fools whispering "ay bitch, wait'll you see my dick, i'ma tear that pusy up" every hour on the hour, but then they won't show a kanye west or john legend video until they see them on an american awards show a year after they've already dropped.... ...that irks the hell out of me....  What most of these rappers doing nowadays is the same thing Steve Matin did in that movie The Jerk. "O Lordy, pick a bale of cotton now....O Lordy, SUNSHINE!!!"   "It's not what they call you, it's what you respond to." - Mabel "Madea" Simmons | |
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jus711 said: You all are truly taking these artists too seriously. Why is it okay for Robert DeNiro or Al Pacino to perpetuate stereotypes and kill people in movies while 50 cent can't do the same on wax? How many people has the Governor of California killed on film? Rappers in all their bravado and bombast are actors and showmen. Violence and sex are themes that sell and let's face it they're interesting. Our beloved Prince, it could be argued, objectified women in his heyday, Was he promoting the oversexed stereotype of black males? Rappers may claim their "keeping it real" but most of them are far removed from their ghetto origins as any episode of "cribs" will attest. And, most of them decry the violence and drug use they rap about when interviewed. The so-called feud between 50 cent and The Game was probably a publicity stunt, and I loved it. Hip-hop has always been about feuds Roxanne, ll vs kool moe dee, dre vs eazy, etc. Its great drama and theater. Black people have got to stop waiting for entertainers to be leaders of the "movement" those days are gone. Yes, their notoriety affords them great influence but that does not mean they have a meaningful message.
Hip-hop has been the dominant American music form for at least the last decade. And, for that black people should be proud. It has been creative, informative, and revolutionary. For every 50 cent there's a Chuck D, and I enjoy them both. My only problem with today's hip-hop is that its become a bit stagnant, musically and lyrically. I have no problem with gangsterism and club beats, but we've heard it all now. I am eagerly waiting for the next great hip-hop breakthrough, but I'm not looking for it to change society. Because most of us here are speaking from a Black angle. If Pacino and De Niro want to shoot up people, then that's a concern for Italians. I think the people here are concerned with the Black issue here. And for every 50 Cent there is NOT a Chuck D and THAT'S the problem. The oversaturation of these fake ass thugs bangin' on wax and the underhyping of a Common or Mos Def or Talib. Silent shouts, I hope you hear
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jus711 said: You all are truly taking these artists too seriously. Why is it okay for Robert DeNiro or Al Pacino to perpetuate stereotypes and kill people in movies while 50 cent can't do the same on wax? How many people has the Governor of California killed on film? Rappers in all their bravado and bombast are actors and showmen.
Simple. Al Pacino doesn't pretend he's Michael Corleone when he walks off the set. De Niro doesn't threaten people or beat folk up Travis Bickle-like when the cameras aren't rolling. Rappers try to live up to the hype of their records and you know that. Violence and sex are themes that sell and let's face it they're interesting. Our beloved Prince, it could be argued, objectified women in his heyday, Was he promoting the oversexed stereotype of black males? Rappers may claim their "keeping it real" but most of them are far removed from their ghetto origins as any episode of "cribs" will attest. And, most of them decry the violence and drug use they rap about when interviewed.
The comparisons are inaccurate. Prince spoke of love as well as sex. He may have objectified women, and even abused them, but his music was more multifaceted than that. You are correct on the duplicity of rappers on wax and rappers in real life, but the fact remains that they still perpetuate the image in real life. And often hurt people in the process. The kind of pressure on rappers to live up to their records is, IMHO, what ultimately killed Tupac. When you brag about the cats you killed, the dope you deal, and the women you smack, people are gonna believe you. Don't believe me? Ask Irv Gotti. Ask the cities who have set up surveillance teams to monitor rappers. And ask Tupac's mama. The so-called feud between 50 cent and The Game was probably a publicity stunt, and I loved it. Hip-hop has always been about feuds Roxanne, ll vs kool moe dee, dre vs eazy, etc. Its great drama and theater. Black people have got to stop waiting for entertainers to be leaders of the "movement" those days are gone. Yes, their notoriety affords them great influence but that does not mean they have a meaningful message.
I've heard this apology before and it just makes matters worse. See, intelligent, discerning people like you can sniff this kinda stuff out. But the media and the artists perpetuate these feuds as if they are real-life. It may be meant as "theater," but it becomes real, whether it leads to fights backstage or attempted shootings. For the love of Jesus Christ, we have lost too many talented hip-hop artists to this kind of violence. And the kids are paying attention. Can't you see how this mockery of real hip-hop is infecting the impressionable minds of black youth? I used to think the same way that you do. That impressionable audiences can distinguish truth from fiction. But when the artists continue to blur the lines, it's easy to see how people get confused. Hip-hop has been the dominant American music form for at least the last decade. And, for that black people should be proud. It has been creative, informative, and revolutionary. For every 50 cent there's a Chuck D, and I enjoy them both.
I don't disagree with that at all. But those like you and me who love hip-hop to rationalize away serious problems ain't love. It's enabling. My only problem with today's hip-hop is that its become a bit stagnant, musically and lyrically. I have no problem with gangsterism and club beats, but we've heard it all now. I am eagerly waiting for the next great hip-hop breakthrough, but I'm not looking for it to change society.
My friend, in ways big and small, contemporary hip-hop HAS changed society, often for the worse than for the better. I'm not worried about you taking this stuff seriously, but others who aspire to be like the poseurs they see on TV and in magazines. And, interestingly, much of hip-hop is as vibrant as ever. Sadly, it doesn't get played. Good night, sweet Prince | 7 June 1958 - 21 April 2016
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