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PrintableWas it just me or was Russell Simmons backed into a corner when he was interviewed about objectifying women? | |
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ABeautifulOne said: Was it just me or was Russell Simmons backed into a corner when he was interviewed about objectifying women?
Stephen Hill, a BET executive in charge of programming music videos for the channel, basically ignored the question right in front of the documentarian's microphone. ... [Edited 2/21/07 17:01pm] | |
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Mara said: Watched the special last night and, wow, was Busta Rhymes closeted or what? C'mon. As soon as the filmmaker questioned him on the issue of male sexuality in hip hop you could see him starting to get intensely nervous to the point that he basically got up and exited the interview. Wow. And Mos Def and Talib were right there beside him, yet, miraculously had nothing to say...?
I was amazed at the amount of denial the women at BET's Spring Bling had when men were basically calling them bitches and molesting them while walking the street. Also, at the transgendered women in booty shorts who walked right by these bravado-filled men and got looked at like grotesque freaks, but it was wild how they didn't care and said that the guys were frontin' in front of their boys but would holla once they duck behind a bush. And it was interesting hearing what they had to say about homophobic rap lyrics: "shii... it turn me on." The white guy from Columbus, OH who was bumpin' 50 Cent in his "dad's SUV" at Spring Bling, whose skin got redder and redder in the Florida heat, casually said he can come down and have a good time with the "colored" -- WOW. In 2006, WOW. WOW. Who's Zoomin' Who?! Even still, I felt that this split-shot portrayal of whites in relation to rap music and the group scene that followed was a bit sweeping and self-serving to the filmmaker, though, and it came off as too cut and dry. LOL @ the aspiring emcee who stood outside of the Hip Hop Power Summit and told the filmmaker "they think we sell drugs and what not, but I sold water last summer -- HOLLA!" _____! Nice to hear from Michael Eric Dyson (whom I met after a lecture a few years back), emcee Tim'm West from Oakland (who I chatted with in '04) and Kevin Powell (the only MTV reality star really WORTH A DAMN). I think the homo-hop, gay hip hop movement could've been fleshed out more, though. And they could have spoke to more women in hip hop as opposed to just pedagogy. A mini-discussion got sparked afterwards with my roommate and we had some stuff to say about what we saw in relation to our experiences, so that was cool. ... [Edited 2/21/07 15:50pm] I wonder if Boy George will still consider himself a fan of Busta after this documentary?  [Edited 2/21/07 17:48pm] | |
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I think Busta Rhymes definitely has some issues he needs to address.
I missed this special but Michael Eric Dyson is breaking. it. down. over on CNN http://www.prince.org/msg/8/218593 with some other guests. Even if you don't agree with some of the things being said, I don't see how it cant make one think that something might be amiss. Been gone for a minute, now I'm back with the jump off | |
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ABeautifulOne said: I think he was talking about the instrumenal track to Nas' Made You Look...
YES!.THAT'S THE ONE!  
thanks a lot. 
that beat is OWNING me. i first heard it on a source mixtape.some cat (forgot who) was dissing eminem in a freestyle and that beat was used. | |
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JackieBlue said: I think Busta Rhymes definitely has some issues he needs to address.
I missed this special but Michael Eric Dyson is breaking. it. down. over on CNN http://www.prince.org/msg/8/218593 with some other guests. Even if you don't agree with some of the things being said, I don't see how it cant make one think that something might be amiss. Ah, I missed it. Don't you hate it when ya miss worthwhile programming? | |
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Mara said: JackieBlue said: I think Busta Rhymes definitely has some issues he needs to address.
I missed this special but Michael Eric Dyson is breaking. it. down. over on CNN http://www.prince.org/msg/8/218593 with some other guests. Even if you don't agree with some of the things being said, I don't see how it cant make one think that something might be amiss. Ah, I missed it. Don't you hate it when ya miss worthwhile programming? Yeah, I'm hoping the PBS show will be re-aired. Been gone for a minute, now I'm back with the jump off | |
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Some of the best quotes came from Chuck D...
The dominant image of Black masculinity in Hip-Hop is the fact that someone can be confrontational, but confrontational with the wrong cat. Like they're not ever confrontational with the cats that will claim, you know, i'll wipe your whole neighborhood out. Because they're almost like they're trained not to even see them. It's like my beef is with this cat right here that looks just like me. The rise of the culture of Black animosity is something that adds to the street credibility factor. It's like almost to the point where Tupac and Biggie were used as martyrs for this new endorsement of Black animosity. The national story is Black death. Whether it's through film, whether it's through recordings, whether it's just through news is the bottom line and the Black, no pun intended, moneymaker. Black death is the pimp by corporations and young people think that the street credibility is, you know, is the thing that is gonna ride them to some kind of profitability in life. The only thing that can turn the tide is Black men. Before anybody says i'm a rapper I tell 'em first of all yo, i'm a man. A man tells his business situation like, "We can't do that. We won't go there. We can't." It's a slap in the face to me and my constituency, my family where I come from and all. That's a man. And that what's been lacking in the music business and the film business is that we haven't had men represent Black people. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The fact that 70% of this thug-rap is purchased by young white males means that none of this will change in the marketplace until this demographic decides they've had enough of it. Then we'll see if these thug-rappers adjust to the economics or continue to "keep it real". tA  Tribal Disorder
http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431 "Ya see, we're not interested in what you know...but what you are willing to learn. C'mon y'all." | |
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I hope it examines American culture at large, considering thats where they got the shit from. It amazes me that people are so up in arms about the attitudes displayed in hip hop. When one considers how men, women, gays, lesbians etc. are shaped by the American lens overall, the focus should be how are there people that are not caught up on machismo/hyper-masculinity and homophobia in this society. This is a culture that celebrates ignorance, forces heterosexuality on society, is misogynistic on all levels and elects presidents based on their John Wayne like qualities--give me a break. [Edited 2/22/07 13:13pm] | |
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DorothyParkerWasCool said: I hope it examines American culture at large, considering thats where they got the shit from. It amazes me that people are so up in arms about the attitudes displayed in hip hop. When one considers how men, women, gays, lesbians etc. are shaped by the American lens overall, the focus should be how are there people that are not caught up on machismo/hyper-masculinity and homophobia in this society. This is a culture that celebrates ignorance, forces heterosexuality on society, is misogynistic on all levels and elects presidents based on their John Wayne like qualities--give me a break.
Oh the documentary definitely does. However I found it funny when the thug-rappers threw that up as their excuse. I still wonder how many of these thug-rappers would change their tune (used loosely) if the music economics dictated that positive-rap was the cash cow. tA Tribal Disorder
http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431 "Ya see, we're not interested in what you know...but what you are willing to learn. C'mon y'all." | |
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theAudience said: Some of the best quotes came from Chuck D...
The dominant image of Black masculinity in Hip-Hop is the fact that someone can be confrontational, but confrontational with the wrong cat. Like they're not ever confrontational with the cats that will claim, you know, i'll wipe your whole neighborhood out. Because they're almost like they're trained not to even see them. It's like my beef is with this cat right here that looks just like me. That was a powerful quote for me, too. It permeates throughout many marginalized peoples experiences. It's just easier. The rise of the culture of Black animosity is something that adds to the street credibility factor. It's like almost to the point where Tupac and Biggie were used as martyrs for this new endorsement of Black animosity[/color].
Thankfully, I was alive and aware at the time Public Enemy, Kwame, Special Ed, and the like were on Yo! MTV Raps and BET. I'm not so young that I don't remember when these shows actually aired. It scares me that kids today have never even seen these videos or heard these songs when they were first out. People under 21 don't even have a memory of "Self Destruction." I'm young, but I went to the "We're All In The Same Gang"/Nelson Mandela prison release concert as a very young child at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and I still remember the experience. I never saw hip hop as being just HOES and BLING because I have these memories to fall back on. I saw the L.A. Riots first hand, I saw the African Medallions myself when I was a kid on people around the neighborhood. I saw Queen Latifah and Monie Love talking about Ladies First and U.N.I.T.Y. it wasn't some far-away thing. Kids today who are growing up on rap can now only rely on hearsay and their biggest hip hop moments are when Tupac and Biggie were gunned down. It really says a lot when you think about how events can shape and frame your perceptions of the genre and your relation to it. And what you associate with it. The national story is Black death. Whether it's through film, whether it's through recordings, whether it's just through news is the bottom line and the Black, no pun intended, moneymaker. Black death is the pimp by corporations and young people think that the street credibility is, you know, is the thing that is gonna ride them to some kind of profitability in life.
When I saw this segment it was scary how much Black Death was a part of the international imagination. It just freaked me out when I saw Biggie's Ready To Die and 2Pac's Only God Can Judge Me juxtaposed against people dancing and throwing their hands in the air. The only thing that can turn the tide is Black men. Before anybody says i'm a rapper I tell 'em first of all yo, i'm a man. A man tells his
business situation like, "We can't do that. We won't go there. We can't." It's a slap in the face to me and my constituency, my family where I come from and all. That's a man. And that what's been lacking in the music business and the film business is that we haven't had men represent Black people. Basically, I just don't buy the music. If I'm not feeling it I don't support it. I'm very vocal about what I like and what I don't like. Plus, I've never really been one to be all up on what everyone else is doing. Also, I never really heard of an emcee calling themselves a "rapper." For me, a rapper sounds like a caricature. It doesn't come off as legitimate. An "emcee" is fuller to me. And as far as what Chuck D said, there are men representing. Will Smith is HIP HOP. He's married, he has kids, he got accepted to MIT. But Will Smith isn't what we first go to when we see hip hop. What he has accomplished is not played up. Just like Bill Cosby and the Huxtables aren't what we go to when we think of the black family. There's a lot to be said about the "popular imagination" of not only hip hop but of blackness and black masculinity. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The fact that 70% of this thug-rap is purchased by young white males means that none of this will change in the marketplace until this demographic decides they've had enough of it. Then we'll see if these thug-rappers adjust to the economics or continue to "keep it real". I remember a friend in college said when people think of black women they don't think of Claire Huxtable, they think of Lil Kim. You can train people to see you in a certain way by the images you put out in the media. It reminds me of what the creator of Good Times said when he was talking about the Media. Media is the greatest propaganda tool on the face of this planet. Nazi Germany used media, propaganda and paranoia to rise to power and to kill 6 million jews, ethnic whites, the disabled and homosexuals. It's scary the amount of power Image has when you take into account the popular image of people. It strips you of your "individual" status and I think that's what a lot of people don't understand when they play within the realm of the media. They think, "oh, it's just entertainment." No, it's more than that. | |
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Hope this re-airs, I totally missed it    I never met you, but I LOVE you & I will forever!! Thank you for being YOU - my little Princey, the best to EVER do it | |
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