So the other day as i was driving i was trying to determine whether or not I really just see everything as racial. Or have i just experienced a lot of things that cause me to be triggered quickly. Also I asked myself why we (or more specifically myself) are so protective of hiphop. I mean in reality... Much of the lyrics on the radio can be mysoginistic (spell check) innane, possibly violent, or just overtly sexual. What is so great about all that?
The quick answer is that somewhere along the line, the word hip hop became to embody everything that is black culture. When i hear that word i think of all the positivity and blackness of it. There really isn't any thoughts of "gettin some head" (i save those thoughts for other times).
So... do i have a quick racial trigger? Honestly...i don't think so. I think I just notice things quicker and may be more apt to point them out. This may be due to past experiences, or things i've picked up along the way. A great example of an "incident" is this http:// http:// http://www.diamondbackonline.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/04/11/443b887596b9bhttp://www.diamondbackonline.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/04/11/443b887596b9b
A brief rundown is essentially a extremely dumb article about Common who performed at UMCP's art attack this yr. This article itself is not racist.... Now the comments.....That's a WHOLE nother matter.
The highlites:
What a fine choice as the university struggles with ever-increasing campus crime. I'm sure this rapper's non-student fans who will descend on the campus like locusts will greatly enjoy casing the dorms and parking lots after the show
Thanks for alienating the significant portion of campus that hates rap
(And this is my favorite)
All this guy talks about is black power which is ridiculous for our school to have when they always talk about racial equality. I think we need to cancel this and get a new performer. Not to mention i do not know one common fan.
These are all direct quotes cut and pasted. Am i surprised? I admit i was slightly taken aback by a couple. Cuz honestly.... I hang around Eric too much.... But this is a CLASSIC case of people who are used to having their lives catered to them. Something that as a Black person we never get. Believe it or not I've heard all 3 of these arguments a TON of times before both on tv and in person. To be fair there were plenty of comments quickly chastising those who made these obvoiusely racist remarks. But the fact of the matter is for every one racist comment that is said i can assure you there are 10 more out there who think the same way. I think the biggest piece of irony for me is who people think actually buys rap cd's? WHITE PEOPLE. There ain't enough black people in America to make one artist go platinum. If there were then we'd been have a black president named Jerome and mixtapes would outsell every artist. Its actually this simple, basic argument that makes every black person have that uneasy feeling of possible racism as soon as they hear someone discussing hip hop. Because essentially your critisizing what we make...but you buy and we essentially cater it to you so to be monetarily successful. Plus due to the music being that of ALL of us black folk that music does become part of us to a certain degree. Go to a black club and see how many people are leanin and rockin wit it. Or how a person raised in Bethesda sounds like they were raised in the hood. Having said that...what the music says isn't us.... But the music itself is. So yes... attacking hiphop just off the basis of seeing someone shaking their laffy taffy is inherently racist because its making a sweeping generalization of a youth (and now youngadult) culture that actually now...is not just black.
The quick answer is that somewhere along the line, the word hip hop became to embody everything that is black culture. When i hear that word i think of all the positivity and blackness of it. There really isn't any thoughts of "gettin some head" (i save those thoughts for other times).
So... do i have a quick racial trigger? Honestly...i don't think so. I think I just notice things quicker and may be more apt to point them out. This may be due to past experiences, or things i've picked up along the way. A great example of an "incident" is this http:// http:// http://www.diamondbackonline.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/04/11/443b887596b9bhttp://www.diamondbackonline.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/04/11/443b887596b9b
A brief rundown is essentially a extremely dumb article about Common who performed at UMCP's art attack this yr. This article itself is not racist.... Now the comments.....That's a WHOLE nother matter.
The highlites:
What a fine choice as the university struggles with ever-increasing campus crime. I'm sure this rapper's non-student fans who will descend on the campus like locusts will greatly enjoy casing the dorms and parking lots after the show
Thanks for alienating the significant portion of campus that hates rap
(And this is my favorite)
All this guy talks about is black power which is ridiculous for our school to have when they always talk about racial equality. I think we need to cancel this and get a new performer. Not to mention i do not know one common fan.
These are all direct quotes cut and pasted. Am i surprised? I admit i was slightly taken aback by a couple. Cuz honestly.... I hang around Eric too much.... But this is a CLASSIC case of people who are used to having their lives catered to them. Something that as a Black person we never get. Believe it or not I've heard all 3 of these arguments a TON of times before both on tv and in person. To be fair there were plenty of comments quickly chastising those who made these obvoiusely racist remarks. But the fact of the matter is for every one racist comment that is said i can assure you there are 10 more out there who think the same way. I think the biggest piece of irony for me is who people think actually buys rap cd's? WHITE PEOPLE. There ain't enough black people in America to make one artist go platinum. If there were then we'd been have a black president named Jerome and mixtapes would outsell every artist. Its actually this simple, basic argument that makes every black person have that uneasy feeling of possible racism as soon as they hear someone discussing hip hop. Because essentially your critisizing what we make...but you buy and we essentially cater it to you so to be monetarily successful. Plus due to the music being that of ALL of us black folk that music does become part of us to a certain degree. Go to a black club and see how many people are leanin and rockin wit it. Or how a person raised in Bethesda sounds like they were raised in the hood. Having said that...what the music says isn't us.... But the music itself is. So yes... attacking hiphop just off the basis of seeing someone shaking their laffy taffy is inherently racist because its making a sweeping generalization of a youth (and now youngadult) culture that actually now...is not just black.
posted by yo daddy at 1:52 AM
2 Comments:
Ughh my people....
Anyways while i do appriciate your ability to pick out quite possibly some of the most demeaning quotes from (im guessing) white people in the diamondback, ive learned that college park is WAY too big of a campus to let three shmucks influence the way I think.
Associating hip hop with black people is a tricky subject simply becuase of the fact that hip hop itself is very very diverse. You have dudes like 50 cent, who simply cater to the those who buy their cd's and try to ruin normal peoples lives by screaming ggggg unit every 5 seconds. Then you have your commons of the world, who by defintion of thier music could never be as "popular" as the 50 cents of the world. So in essence, whenever I listen to the "hip hop" stations, i try not to think that im listening to a "black" station.
I think during the rise of hip hop (early 90's) is when i would have said, "man i really associate hip hop with black people." Thats because alot of the artists back then would talk about the stuggles of the ghetto(primarly black) communities. In addition, hip hop was more rebelious, and for some reason i could associate it with black people during that time (race being brought to national attention with issues like the race riots in LA maybe?)
Anyways, I hope 50 cent doesnt take over the world and tupac comes back to life, becuase white people need a better black rapper to idolize.
Like i said in the blog for every person who feels that way i bet there are 50 more who feel that exact same way. I mean you can't tell me you haven't heard similar arguments from various people yourself. Its just when its in print it sounds much different.
Now in regards to hip hop being black. Of course its black. Sure white, asians, hispanics all listen to it. But EVERY black person listens and has grown up with it. Alot of the idiocentracies of the music comes straight from black culture and things you learn as you grow up. There is a reason why hip hop is unique to all other music. Sure "fidy" is gay and his sole purpose in life is to make a ton of money by making faux-gangsta (aka catering to white people) music. But just because he's not being afrocentric or caring the least bit about social subjects doesn't mean its not hip hop. Its just an extremely simple form. Lets not forget that in the late 80's the Fat Boyz were all the rage. Or one of the most "famous"(to white people) rap songs ever was Walk this Way. Just cuz its not deep doesn't mean its not rap.
Your right that Common (despite being a platinum selling artist) could never be as popular as the 50's of the world. But that's only because one, as we both know a large portion of America isn't into any sort of thought. Its just enjoying music for the sheer sound of it hitting your ear drums.
Having said that I call it a "black station" because that's what it is. "Black stations" if you listen to them long enough even from time to time talk about news that mainly interests black people. And honestly i see nothing wrong with it being thought of as "black". Just because you might think of it that way doesn't mean your excluded. It just means "not catered to white people" like EVERYTHING else. You can still listen to it just like there's no rule against white people watching BET.
There is still a lot of socially conscious hip hop...Its just not on radio like that anymore. Because hip hop is now a billion dollar industry things to our American majority.
Sooner or later 50 will simmer out (like he is now)and the only way things will change from a popish rap to something more by being creative while still being catchy like Kanye.
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