Have you ever read something so potent that you had to stop
put it down, and read something else just to get a sense of what you
were doing?
Thats what happened to me when I started writing a piece
on gender and hip hop.
It stated out as a post on Gender, Hip Hop and Patriarchy
and it has turned into a post on how my insistence on listening
to Mobb Deep is indicative of my willingness to put my interest
in the music above the fact that I know that it harms young people.
Its as if the post is so egregious that I am blogging about it
BEFORE I post it.
I was reminded of the post when I watched the two videos above
by AP and Busta Rhymes respectively.
When I first clicked on it, I hadn't heard of him. That was a plus.
Of course I liked the stakes is high beat. And it was black and white,
you know, low budget guerrilla style. AP started rapping I was
like word, we on some bragging collar popping type 'ish.
Then the screen panned to the cats hustling in the video.
Swanging bottles.
Next, I saw that they were gonna bring the
baby into the shot. I was like WORD? The baby is gonna shoot
dice too?
Like that. I was taken back to Boyz in the Hood.
I couldn't help but think about how this video is
working to NORMALIZE the crazy 'ish that happens
in the hood.
Let me ask you this.
Do we need that sh-t to be normal?
Now compare this to the Busta Rhymes piece.
Busta sounds like he is on some "it's only five years left level".
Classic 1996 "Ya yaaaa yaaa ya yaaaah" Busta.
He's having fun, changing costumes and being his
normal amped self.
This COMPLETELY contrasts with AP's video.
I was left thinking. Man. After doing this Patriarchy piece,
I don't think I will be able to see hip hop the same again.
When was the last time you were listening to Ghost,
Jay or Lil Wayne and just had to turn it off because of
how they were talking about Black people, Black women
or just crazy sh-t in general?
12 comments:
My bad M. Dot, I didn't even see that was you left that comment.
Shoulda known by the blood. I just saw the comment & shot back.
when will they become men
Shoulda known by the blood.
Es bueno.
I HAVE THE BENEFIT of cats NOT hacking my ish up.
I like how you DIDN't answer the question re turning it off tho.
I'm at the point where I think I'm totally desenthysized now, because not much of anything makes me go whoa. To me it's entertainment. I know everyone doesn't see it that way though.
Maybe the heart street skit on Fishscale.
I got editing power too, cuz I had to change something else after it went up, but the Brother Pharohe thing didn't really catch my eye.
It's gone though.
i dont have to turn it off much anymore since i don't listen to the radio regularly. Sometimes I find it amazing that people who have seen the world could write or freestyle such weak lyrics.
To me it's entertainment. I know everyone doesn't see it that way though.
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Thats the POINT. The to me its entertainment p.o.v. is myopic and is a thin shield against the charge that WE need to BE ANALYTICAL about the WHAT PASSES **AS** Black masculinity in the AMERICA and the WORLD AT large.
OH the heart street skit...is that the one where he is talking about streets....blvds...I am so egregious...I JUST GO MY HAND on my book of CD'S...first time since AUGUST 07. FIRST THING I POP IN? SUPREME CLIENTELE.
I agree that it's just entertainment and I just focus on the beat and move my body to it but slowly, for surely it happens. I start listening to the words and usually I'm just blown away. That this is what goes for lyrical these days, even Lil Wayne and all his gauze-in-the-mouth foolishness.
I think showing what goes on in the hood and wanting to learn from it is good. Celebrating the foolery of it isn't something I'm particularly fond of.
Your blog seems cool by the way, this is my first post!
That's why I don't listen to Wayne and most of the others.
M.dot, I will by the cd of an concious artist or R&B artists who don't fit the mold just because I want there to be an alternative. Speaking of which, I gotta go cop Santagold. Have you listened to her CD? What do you think?
M.dot, I got a video to help you with that upcoming post. The video is an old one by Boys To Men. I think its the "oh au" song. I will go through the videos on youtube to find it for you. In that video there are 20-30 very light skinned black women and the one dark skinned black woman had on a maid's uniform.
I would also ask that you use Bilal's soul sister to highlight how you can show black women, even nude, in a way that they are not being degreaded.
Yeah that's the skit.
The to me its entertainment p.o.v. is myopic and is a thin shield against the charge that WE need to BE ANALYTICAL about the WHAT PASSES **AS** Black masculinity in the AMERICA and the WORLD AT large.
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Eveerything I've heard in song, I've heard on the street(even before I listened to rap). So to say that music is the cause is a little much. It's carrying on the culture & introducing it to people who would be otherwise unaware, but it's not introducing it to the world. So in that sense it is just entertainment. It doesn't affect my thought process on how I interact with black people, black women, or just cray sh*t in general.
NEVER SAID IT WAS THE CAUSE.
NEVER SAID IT WAS THE CAUSE.
NEVER SAID IT WAS THE CAUSE.
GEEZ LAWEESE.
Can we please agree that it is a contributing factor? Is that possible? I swear blood, my next piece is gonna be about how we defend hip hop like its our daddy, for certain.
I've already told you that it was a contributing factor in chat.
So yeah we can agree.
As an emcee myself its tough to bring myself to listen to anything these days from a secular and mainstream perspective esp when I have the convictions I have already about ppl esp of color. That's the way the cookie crumbles I guess *shrug*
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