"Yes, our rhymes can contain violence and hatred. Yes, our songs can detail the drug business and our choruses can bounce with lustful intent. However, those things did not spring from inferior imaginations or deficient morals; these things came from our lives. They came from America. The folks from the suburbs and the private schools so concerned with putting warning labels on my records missed the point. They never stopped to worry about the realities in this country that spread poverty and racism and gun violence and hatred of women and drug use and unemployment. People can act like rappers spread these things, but that is not true. Our lives are not rotten or worthless just because that’s what people say about the real estate that we were raised on. In fact, our lives may be even more worthy of study because we succeeded despite the promises of failure seeping out from behind the peeling paint on the walls of every apartment in every project."
(Jay-Z's comments in the Intro of Michael Eric Dyson's new book, "Know What I Mean, - Reflections on Hip Hop")
...And Now For Another Point of View....
"Au contraire, mon frere!" (On the contrary, my brother!) He's rationalizing throughout this entire diatribe: I don't buy it...this is deflecting the negativity, violence, misogyny, etc. is the "fault" of America as an entity. Just because you came from "squat" doesn't mean you have to glorify and deify "squat" . No. Not having it. Not today, not tomorrow. Our ancestors had zip and educated themselves and rose up to elevate themselves and our lot. Hip hop is a music form....period...and on so many levels in my opinion, denigrates the community it comes from (how did Jay-Z put it, "young working-class men and women of color"...rrrriiggghhhttt).
And the white, male record executives who promote and push this crap out big time...and the minstrels (rappers, so-called singers) who perform a lot of that crap....play to the white suburban kids who love this sheet...even though most have never met nor conversed with a person of color in their life. Then when they take over the keys to the executive washroom from daddy, uncle, whoever...and they see a face of color...they pre-suppose that person is from the thug life (yah, think?). I'd argue because Jay-Z and his ilk rap, sing and glorify about "jacking us and our families", "dissing our women", "drug-dealing and drug-abusing", "skipping school," etc. that they contribute to the morass of our communities. Instead of educating themselves and being productive members of society and their communities (I'd like to see the educational bios on most of these hip hop artists...I'll even lower the bar and give GED candidates a pass!) they choose to glorify the negative, which in fact perpetuates it to the young and impressionable, and thus they serve as negative role-models IMHO. They can make their millions out of their modern day minstrelsy and negativity but I ain't buying it and certainly not elevating it!
This is America and the hip hop crowd is entitled and has the right to perform what they want to perform (I'm a big First Amendment kind of guy)...but I'm not buying the product nor the excuses, rationalizations and so-called justifications for the bile and violence that is spewed. Dyson has found his ship to sail on...and cha-ching...he's taking his doubloons all the way to the bank!
The hip hop crowd is free to do what it wants to do as long as its legal..but it should be no surprise that violence (NBA weekend in Vegas?? concerts??), misogyny (how many got kids by multiple women?) and the "low life" is glorified and REAL working-class folks who stay on the right side of the law, who go to school, who take care of their families, who practice responsible family planning, etc. are relegated to the back row (if not, kicked to the curb out the door!). Nah, we gonna shout about bling, babes, booty and Bentleys....puh-leez!
Sure, the anthropologists and sociologists can study and pimp the lifestyle in their books (Dyson??) all they want...I'm not impressed...I'm not buying what they're selling. No. Not today, not tomorrow. Rising up by your bootstraps, as it were, on negativity and irresponsibility gets no free pass from me...in fact, I say "Don't pass Go!" to collect another $200! I'd rather see something worthy of study by those from the same peeling painted walls of the apartments who are positive, responsible and have made a life for themselves that seeks to elevate and role-model a head held high...and not with a doo-rag on in the daytime either! "
(Reflections and rants of Nezet, Prophet of the Surreal)
2 comments:
Well said and on point. When will people like Jay-Z and Russell Simmons stop making excuses for an industry and pattern of behavior that it's so obvious that they support because of the major paper and lifestyle that it's afforded them. You can rest assured that they're not exposing their precious daughters to the de-based and defiled environments and attitudes(schools, neighborhoods, etc.) that the under belly of hip hop has created.
Below are email comments that I made somewhat related to this whole issue. The comment is responding to an email that I received with a website linked that promoted "nigga jeans" as the in thing...to take control of what the word means to us. (yeah right):
This isn't for real is it? If so, this is worse than Imus...another instance of us doing it to ourselves. I just had this conversation with my teenaged cousin. I get the idea of us changing the meaning, to claim and define the meaning for ourselves. Bull! It is too late for that. Look at the state of our communities. We are calling each other bitches and hoes and niggas. And the majority of our young people don't have the high mentality to separate the difference and keep it straight so that "we know what we mean" all the time. Get a grip! As the saying that the old folks use goes, "You can't make sugar out of shit." And that's what we're doing. We're taking shit and saying that we're sooo used to the smell and taste of it that we now think that it tastes and smells good. So we'll smear it on our own selves and eat it too. And even say, I'm redefining this shit to say that it tastes good and smells good. Ain't I the smarter one? Wrooong. Do we not have any standards? Can we not define ourselves another way? We have become so far removed from who we are as a people, our culture, our traditions, our heritage, our self-respect...that we basically have none. And we think that shit tastes and smells like sugar. We call ourselves nigga and say that that's now cool...That means "my brother." Wrong. Too many of our ancestors have died refusing to be force fed (shit) and while being tarred and feathered and lynched, while being spit on and called nigga in their dying moments. And we're just going to voluntarily take a mouthful and say that this (shit) tastes good now. What's wrong with us???
(please excuse the language, but I hope the intent of the point is received)
Kim, great points - particularly your insight on the 'nigga jeans'email you received. Life is often a series of 'yings' and 'yangs'. We have to be sure to 'yang' everytime they 'ying'!
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