I'm not a hater of Hip-Hop. The majority of CD's I brought from my teenage years through my mid twenties were Rap. Although, many of those CD's would probably fit into the "Conscience Rap" category, Hip - Hop in general was the music I enjoyed listening to more often than not.
With that said, since I've past age twenty-five it has become more and more difficult for me to listen to top forty rap music. I admit being a bit of a hypocrite and occasionally enjoying a rap song that is ignorant, but the rapper has some talent. But for the most part, I don't like the vast majority of rap music today.
So when I came across this little article, I had to stop and think about the question it presented.
Has Hip - Hop improved Race Relations?
There may be in under current of truth to Jay-z's belief that Hip - Hop has played a part in improving Race Relations an America. But the first question that comes to my mind is has Hip - Hop improved how Black Americans relate to themselves? What I mean is, does Hip - Hop instill pride in Black folks? Does it give a balanced look at the lives of Africans Americans, particularly African American males?
I think many of you can see where I'm going with this. So - called rap music of the last twenty years, has gotten more and more negative each year. The lyrics and images of the average Rap song/video today glorifies materialism, criminal behavior and being misogynistic. If anything, it gives a very limited view of what it is to be Black and male an America.
In fact, the self hate that permeates modern day Rap music has probably brought about more harm than good for the Black community. Many songs give criminals a soundtrack to commit despicable acts against their fellow man or woman. Also, the average song serves as a guide on how to hate women and worship the almighty dollar.
It seems like many a so called Hip - Hop artist wants to talk about the good their art form has contributed to this country. That's fine, but Hip - Hop artist's must be more willing to look at the bad as well. They must be willing to take responsibility for their part in reinforcing the destructive violent atmosphere that exists within our inner cities today. It's called taking accountability for one's actions, the good AND BAD!
Tell me what you think, Has Hip - Hop improved Race Relations? Has Hip - Hop reinforced self hatred an Black American Men?
16 comments:
Truth, I have to say today's rap hasn't improved race relations, and, if anything, it has decreased positive relations among Africans.
I remember how much I used to love the old skool hi-hop and bought every album or CD of Public Enemy (my favorite) and the many Hip-hop artists, women and men, whom I viewed as not just hip hoppers but educators, helping me and all of us to understand what it means to grow up confined in the inner-city-- to grow as oppressed youth in a Eurocentric culture that, frankly, didn't give a damn about black folk.
I still listen to that hip hop today, but I view much of the hip hop I hear on radio as self indulgent bragging and sexist to the bone. I see it as saying about black women, "You're nothing but a ho!" Not only do I see this as detrimental to black folk; it's detrimental to everyone, especially youth.
Blessings.
To answer both your questions, I would say yes. I would say that hip hop has definitely improved race relations because we have had a full generation of White kids that have been mass marketed Black culture through hip hop. Not like in the day of The Platters where they would put a picture of a White group on the cover of an album by a Black group, but full Marketing. Department stores in all White areas have carried clothes from Karl Kani to Rocawear. Cars, soda, beer, ovens, etc. will have commercials on TV, and the music is the same, just the faces change from show to show. MTV at the Beach looks just like BET at the Beach. For many White kids, hip hop culture is not something they copy, it is literally all they know. It's the children of that generation that were manning the phones in Obama's campaign offices around the country too.
Rap has also reinforced everything negative... and added some new stuff. How many thousands of women were sprayed with beer after G-Thang showed that was the way to handle a B----. How many brothers decided to get on the road so they could have h--- in every area code. Even the White kids have taken things down a notch in their communities by copying what they see and hear about. The X-clan couldn't get more than ten minutes of radioplay today. Public Enemy's One Million Bottlebags being played would be a threat to malt liquor commercial time being sold. The whole bigger-better-more-now-at-any-cost mentality of the most highly marketed hip hop goes against the mentality of sharing-caring-focusing-on-future-generations that drove the continued successful movement of Blacks through slavery until now.
Too much of hip hop is corporate marketing, and not enough is art. Jacob the Jewler has had one of the most successful careers in hip hop, and he ain't made not one record. And now that he has prison cred, he'll be even more popular. Meanwhile Junior and the boys keep dropping of school and freestylin' in hopes of getting a record deal... I need to go listen to C.L. Smooth to cheer myself up.
I'll have to piggyback Dwane T on this because I think it popularized the ghetto more than it was a beneficial thing. I think there are more white people feeling they are Wiggas. Nothing in rap since probably the mid 80's has been uplifting. Since Dope got into the game it has spiraled downhill.
Race relations could've gotten better because more people understand the worse part of the black community but then again why would we want them to understand that?
I agree with everyone here.
This is a good post.
In my opinion Hip Hop has not improved anything, but the rappers pockets. Hip Hop in the past 20 years has not done anything but let White Kids think it is cool to call each other Niggers. Hip Hop of the past 20 years has done nothing but bring the state of mind of today's youth to close to kindergarden level. Most of the music out now is nothing more than catchy hooks and bass heavy beats. There is no substance.
Old School Hip Hop had substance. It had style and originality. It told stories and made you laugh, cry and sometimes it could get you laid. Today's Hip Hop, not so much.
"It has changed America immensely... Hip-hop has done more than any leader, politician, or anyone to improve race relations"
First let's be clear about Jay-Z contention or his extremely LIMITED observation. Hip Hop has not done anything comparably close to the works of Martin Luther King Jr., Stokely Carmichael, Angela Davis, Shirley Chisholm.
If in fact it did, Jay-Z or anybody else, please explain. Oh, I'm waiting.
Next.
"and it's very hard to teach racism to a teenager who idolises, say, Snoop Dogg. ... That's why this generation is the least racist generation ever. You see it all the time. Go to any club. People are intermingling, hanging out, enjoying the same music."
Snoop's view is very limited. Throughout American history black celebrities were always afforded special treatment. NBA legend Bill Russell was well aware of how he was recieved on basketball courts and the extreme difference in how blacks were perceived and treated in the city of Boston. Yes, times have changed, Massachusetts can now boast a black governor but let's keep this Hip Hop as a catalyst theory in perspective.
Another serious point, NOT TOO long ago a study out of NYU demonstrated something we all are aware of. A convicted white felon can possibly has a better chance securing employment than a black college graduate.
My point is, perched up next to $300 million dollars, EVERYTHING will look rosy and wonderful. I'm sure judging from recent photos of Michael Jordan in the club, race relations are going great!!
So Truth, unless any of the aforemention artist or anybody else can really articulate WTF they're saying, the answer is an emphatic no. Not anymore than rock & roll, disco, or reggae music.
As for your 2nd question, hip hop falls perfectly in line with a male-dominated society and culture, just like many popular films but there also balance throughout hip hop so the argument can go either way. So I can not point to hip hop as sole, let alone main cause for the social ills of the black community.
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I feel the need to point something out concerning the Golden Era of Hip Hop. The foundation laid down did sow the seeds for the hip hop currently on the radio.
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Public Enemy:
- Sophisticated Bitch
That song is not extremely different from Ice Cube's
- A Bitch is a Bitch
Big Daddy Kane
- Anything goes when it comes to hoes, because Pimpin ain't easy.
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Please do note, it was not odd for fans to see P.E., N.W.A, and 2 Live Crew all in the same venue.
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End Note:
Please read Hip Hop Wars by Tricia Rose. You guys sound like fans, it is probably one of the most important books on hip hop and pop culture in general. Or check out Byron Hurt's Beyond Beats and Rhymes.
MacDaddy,
I agree with you brotha, the music has been detrimental to youth. Old skool hip — hop did have far more balance than today's so called Rap music. The images/lyrics are destructive too both black boys and girls in this country.
Peace
Dwane T.
You make an interesting point about how hip hop is marketed today versus R&B in 50's and 60's. Like anything else in life, I believe some white youth fall into the bracket you're speaking of and others look at hip hop as a joke or a direct reflection of what black male youth are in this country.
It's sad because rap had more potential than to become the voice box for the criminal element within our community.
Peace
Freeman,
I agree with you whole hardly, when gangsta rap became the best selling form of rap, it all went downhill.
Peace
Dirty Red,
I agree with you, rap has dumbed down to the point that it's ridiculous. It's not only white kids in this country but folks around the world have this limited perception of what is to be Black and male an America. This has a lot to do with Rap's contributions of the last twenty years.
Peace
Vee,
Thanks for the interesting info and comment! I'll have to check out those books!
Your last point is interesting and accurate. We all like to remember old skool Rap as being "pure," but your examples prove that was not always the case. Ice Cube in particular, had some pretty sexist lyrics. Let's not even talk about 2 live crew, whom were worst the majority of Today's rappers.
Your right, sexism is nothing new in all forms male dominated music, Hip-Hop is no different.
Peace
"when gangsta rap became the best selling form of rap, it all went downhill"
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When discussing the downfall of the genre Davey-D, the aforementioned Tricia Rose, and a number of other people realize one of the most critical factors that is usually never discussed is the consolidation of the radio airwaves through the Telecommunication Act of 1996. That one piece of legislature helped created the current landscape of hip hop.
Check it out.
It is really hard to continue to claim that hip hop has gotten progressively negative when the highest consistently selling artist since 2006 are T.I., Little Wayne and Kanye West. Although 50-Cent is a still a largely visible artist, his record sales is not on par with his popularity. There are more examples, but the thing is without any kind of evidence there's nothing to really show that hip hop reinforces self-hatred in black men other than our opinions and feelings about the current state of hip hop and our community.
And I have yet to read a report that demonstrates a direct impact on something like school grades and performance.
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Byron Hurt's Beyond Beats and Rhymes is a documentary which should be available on Amazon.com among other retailers. It is just as important as any classic CD, easy to digest and process. If you do have a young sister, nephew, brother, cousin, son or daughter, you should really have them sit down and watch this important film.
You make excellent points Vee. I even emailed Tricia Rose a few weeks ago to thank her for her contributions to a critical thinking of Hip Hop. I have to say to P.E.'s defense that they went out of their way in Fear of a Black Planet to make up for what they said on their first album. They saw the mess they made, and tried to clean it up.
I know there has been been no report on the effect of hip hop on educational attainment, but I have almost 20 years worth of anecdotal insights. I saw the effect that Special Ed. and Biggie had on kids who decided they no longer needed to write lyrics. Not everyone has that gift, and confusing the gift with a style to mask their laziness became the rule. Also, kids have always dropped out of school to chase a dream, but the number of kids that have continually dropped out to "focus on their music", and never even cut a demo is frightening. Hip Hop is not "the problem", or the worst aspect of the problem, but it has done its damage on many level.
As far as the top selling artists, they are still in the tradition of selling 70-80% of their music to White kids. While Black kids don't always buy music monetarily, they often buy the video and lyrical images psychologically. Of course White kids do too, but more of them have an environmental bailout plan. Too many Black kids are looking for music for validation of what they do rather than inspiration for what they should do. 79% of the minority students at my school drop out before their second year... and I work at a college. Hip hop is not "the reason" they drop out, but when they give you their reasons for dropping out they can always kick some lyrics that validate their decision.
Hip hop could and should be part of "the solution", and there has always been great music and lyricists with that goal in mind, but legislation and economics have kept them low profile. The way the music has been filtered to keep the negative messages at the forefront reminds me of Nazi propaganda. And yes, I believe the uniformity of message on the airwaves is that intentional.
^Dwayne T.
Yeah, I remember Chuck D. checking himself for that track. I'm definitely not getting at P.E. because their track record is self-evident. My point was just to demonstrate how prevalent these negative aspects were in the classical era when ideas were more balanced. I definitely recognize how hip hop does not help, contribute or promote the love for knowledge and academia compared to when artist like KRS-1 recorded "You Must Learn." Currently you have some artist like Dead President recording "F*ck They Schools" and the great song, but seriously-misguided-or not so strategic "Hell Yeah."
From what I understand the general non-academic attitude in many of our communities predates the advent of hip-hop by more than a decade. Some scholars claim the negative cycle of social ills started in the mid 60's. Many allude to a cultural problem, but I’m not convinced about that argument.
Another note, there have been many recent statistical data that demonstrates advances of young black folks graduating in 4 years, joining the ranks of the middle class, and becoming millionaires . . . And I'm not talking about athletes or entertainers. I'm talking about the positive affirming stories that are not often heard, not widely reported or celebrated. I must add that I rarely heard a clearly articulated reason why some folks held Condolezza Rice in contempt. I'm just saying.
Getting back to the idea of hip-hop reinforcing self-hatred in African-American males, I don't know, I don't see it. Kids idolized, Jay-Z, Puff, 50, Common, Kanye and Snoop. Those brothers are millionaires, they reached the "American Dream" on many levels. And let's not forget Master-P, who I have a great amount of respect for.
While I agree that hip hop could be part of "the solution," I can not say that it should be a part of the solution. I feel that when we suggest hip hop should participate, then we might as well place the same level of expectations on R&B artists or any other prominent entertainer, and ask them to sing about societal problems and in turn come up with viable solutions. And maybe we should hold a microphone in front of Allen Iverson and ask him to explain to young children why they should study and practice. Joke. It is just entertainment and we have to realize that everybody can not be as courageous as Paul Robeson.
Oh yeah, thanks for replying. I remember cats who would talk about getting signed, didn’t finished their demo, were too concerned about a logo and never performed in front of a crowd. Working a demo tape (or disc) is another story altogether.
Last note: Jay-Z, Puff, 50, Common, Kanye and Snoop, and particularly Master-P, all have my utmost respect... even if I am only really a fan of Snoop as an artist and Kanye as a producer. They all had vision. They made money on music, but they made millions in business... marketing themselves the way that others would have if they allowed it. The same way those brothers that are graduating from college are. But it's the divide between what the vision is that is causing the divide between the growing number of millionaires and the growing number of workers in the prison industrial complex.
Schools have been failing for decades before hip hop became prevalent, but the attitude that "I don't have a choice" but to take a negative road wasn't there. I remember a time when drug dealing was primarily part of a vision... a means to an end and not an end in itself. You would sell a little for a month, six months, two years, to earn enough money to ____________ (fill in the blank). You always knew there was a choice, and you made it for better or worse. Now the concept that there is no choice has been mass marketed very well through hip hop. It isn't the only way it's marketed, but it's effectiveness is definitely there. My father always said that its not the choices in life that decide what you do, it's the lack of choice; you got know choice, you know what you are going to do. The deterioration of the public schools was hastened by the fact that the kids believed the system wasn't preparing them for their "choices". Even last weekend I had a conversation about the schools not preparing him for what he wants to do in life with my 13 year old... and he's in Jr. National Honor Society.
Hip Hop shouldn't have to play a role, but just like R&B and sports, it is whether it likes it or not. I don't want to blame the victims, 'cause they are also victimized by the corporate marketeers scheme. But creating a market is just as important as supplying the market, and as long as negativity sells, marketeers will keep pushing a negative vision to it's customers.
Well, to say that hiphop has had a negative influence in late days might be wrong. Rappers have been selfproclaiming themselves as "truth-sayers" for a long time. What if the truth today is that we live in a sexist and unequal society, and hiphop is used, maybe on a subconsious level, to point out the truth that is the sexist relations between man/woman and other groups. We might need modern hiphop that is sexist and bound to the "truth" to keep the debate alive. /greetings from a hiphop-lover from the cold depths of Sweden. Peace!
Vee & Dwane T
I enjoyed reading the dialog between you two! Your comments are always welcome here!
Peace
Anonymous (Sweden)
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
That's an interesting hypothesis that you gave for hip — hop's sexist content. I don't buy it, but I think it's certainly a different way of looking at the argument.
Stop by and comment again!
Peace
:) I might have been a little over the top saying that we "need" sexist hiphop. What I meant was, even if I'm quite sure you got me right, that 'modern day sexist hiphop' just might be a product of a 'modern day sexist society'.
And to the answer the question whether hiphop has reinforced self hatred an Black American Men? - Well, I daresay no. Come on, do you really believe that people (all over the world) is so dependent on music that it becomes that much of ones personality? I'd rather say, again, that the self-hatred, if there is any, is a product of the society and hiphop (some, not all), much like other musicgenres, is a response. To say that music can actually change things by just "being" music, is somewhat far-fetched in my opinion. Music might definitely be a part of a "revolution" or a change in society, but a "revolution" might not occur if it isn't needed. I do agree with many of you saying that hiphop has changed for worse. But many ideals in society has done so aswell. Today, more then ever, sex sells. We have a society that is more and more aiming to maximize the freedom of the individual, and along with that, tabus just doesn't fit. I repeat myself again; Society (product of people, ideals, etc. > music (product of society). Having said that, I'll end my thoughts by noting that society is a product of people, aswell as people are products of the society. Along with that comes all culture. By understanding this connection, things change because we want them to become something else. One man (one producer that might be) can't do anything alone, unless we want him or her to do so. Peace from Sweden! (sorry for repeating myself and for blending the answers and for possible spelling/grammatical-failures)
Anonymous (Sweden)
Thanks for the well written response! I enjoy the dialog!
I agree with you that the self hate that is present in hip hop today existed long before the beginning of the genre. It's origins probably date back to the first Africans touching down in North America as slaves. The hate that early americans had for Africans and a complete disregard for their culture, is definitely something many of the Africans obviously learned themselves. It's something that has been passed down from generation to generation and rears it's ugly head in some of today's hip — hop music.
Your statement is accurate, the music is usually a response not a precursor to issues that affect the population.
Although, for some people who are more vulnerable than other parts of the population, I do believe music can reinforce negative behaviors. Such as, young men who live in houses on the lower end of the socioeconomic scale and who don't have a positive male role model within their home. I think young men like these may use negative role models, whether in their neighborhoods or on TV to fill in the blanks for their own lives. This is where the imagery that many Rap acts perpetrate can legitimize self hate and sexism.
I would like to pose a question to you since you live outside the united states. In general, how do you think the majority of your countrymen feel about African American men? If negative, how much did hip hop play a part in them coming to that conclusion?
Peace
Sadly I can't speak for most of my countryman, but I for once don't see an "african american" as you call it. I see a guy or a girl, and I believe that is the common view on people, at least in the larger cities where we have a high degree of diverse ethnical heritages. Also, Sweden has for a very long time been exposed to american culture (in which hiphop is very much included) via television, marketing etc. making swedes, in general, very known to hiphop-culture aswell, you might say that it's grown quite a few of us. Still, we have segregation in cities but you cant blame hiphop for that neither. You might come across to someone who says a thing or two in a negative way (especially on weekends when, well, you know) but that is most often traceable to a traditional negative view on foreigner that runs in this persons family. But I believe theese negative views on hiphop-culture, foreigners or whatever is soon to be a thing in the past. "Back in the days" (late 1980's) when I grew up it was much more common with a hostile view upon hiphop. It was common, in small cities, that people accused hiphop of rapes and other crimes happening in Sweden at that time (hiphop was a new phenomenan and older people were afraid), but that has changed dramatically. Sweden, aswell as every other country, is a part of a global network that is expanding exponentially finally creating a global population, and not a population divided by nationality, ethnicity or linguistic heritages. So in conclusion; No I do not believe hiphop is responsible for a possible negative view on african-americans. Instead, this possible view has deeper roots in traditional nationalist families, more common in small cities which are not exposed to immigration of the same rate as in larger cities. But nowadays theese views are pretty much extinct over here, atleast in the open. Im sure there might be quite a few with negative thoughts about african-americans, but I won't agree on the fact that hiphop might have had much to do with it. But in a globalised world that is only getting smaller, people won't have room for negative thoughts about one and another since that would probably drive everyone insane, therefor more and more people embrace other cultures etc. instead of not doing so. Atleast here in Sweden that is.. /Peace!
Man, I totally agree with you on that.
There's way too many fools out there that can't grasp.
In fact, I was arguing with my best friend demetrius yesterday about this, and
they wouldn't believe me that he was wrong. Now I can just show them this blog :)
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