It didn’t start with Imus, Al or Jesse.
It didn’t start with Snoop or Ludacris.
It didn’t start with “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp”.
Truth be told, I can’t even tell you when it did start. It’s possible that it was before my time. This fight isn’t even a new fight. Al Sharpton is not saying something that hasn’t already been said. He’s not making a point that has never been made before. Before him there was C. Deloris Tucker. Before her there was Tipper Gore. The fight is not a new one. And I’m willing to bet that the fire will die down now just like it did then. I’m not sure what side of the fence I fall on in this one or if there is a large gray area that most of us are mingling in at the moment while we discern how we actually feel about the topic and what stand we’re willing to take. In the meanwhile I have had some very interesting conversations and heard some even more interesting comments that I wanted to share.
First let’s take a look back. Remember NWA? I have actually been avoiding the r&b/rap station (besides the fact that it is extreme garbage) while I decide which side of the battlefield I am on. This past weekend I turned it on and immediately started bobbing my head to the intro of the song playing. It was one of those songs that you know as soon as the first beat drops.
Cruising down the street in my 6-4…
Classic Eazy E. Of course I was sorely disappointed to find that instead of NWA I was hearing a remake of the classic by Mike Jones (pissed me off). So I’ll say it again…..it didn’t start with Snoop or Ludacris. NWA called people bitches and hoes before I was even old enough to buy a tape and it upset people then. A girlfriend of mine made the statement that we don’t have the right to object to Snoop and 50 cent calling women hoes and bitches because we were old school NWA fans and they called women hoes long before this younger generation was even around. My way of thinking may be slightly warped but my first thought was that there are definitive differences between NWA’s muisc and current songs. There weren’t naked women running rampant in every video and influencing little girls. When Ice Cube did a video for Today Was a Good Day…..the video was actually about a day in his life and not him pouring champagne over some naked women in a hot tub. But at the end of the day none of that matters does it.
Remember 2 Live Crew? I know you do. Luke said more inappropriate stuff than today’s rappers can even think of. They were the leading motivation behind the “Explicit Lyrics” stickers on music. Not a new fight.
I have heard a lot of people say that turning the Imus situation back around on the black community and attacking hip hop is ridiculous and using it as an example of how we let “others” always turn issues into black issues. But since this isn’t a new issue that we’re having we can’t possibly say that. It was a public battle then too, just as it is now. Either we don’t remember that or it seems more poignant because Rev. Al is the one screaming now (and we all know that when he tackles an issue he gets all the press available). There was no Imus around when C. Deloris Tucker took her battle to Tupac. Not a new fight.
The one thing I am certain of is that I don’t support censoring artists. Rappers should be able to record and sell anything they feel is appropriate because I don’t have to buy it. I don’t have to subject myself to it. I can change the radio station. I can download my music from iTunes. Some people question the younger generation listening to it. Stop buying it for them. My family has a strict policy that an adult has to hear any music before they give up money to go buy new cd’s or download new songs. True I may not be able to control what they’re exposed to outside of the house but if I’m giving them a strong foundation and they KNOW that it’s inappropriate to walk around calling women outside of their names unnecessarily then I’m doing my job.
There used to be a time when music imitated life and now life is attempting to imitate music.
*Personal Point of Privilege: I read a blog demeaning Oprah for her selection of representation on behalf of the rap industry. The author said that it was clearly one sided and she should have had more “hardcore” rappers. I think they missed the point. Russell Simmons is not a rapper. Those there to represent were there for the industry…not necessarily the artists.
So now we’re looking at a huge internal race issue. Who can use the “n” word? Why do we listen to music cussing us? Do we own our own denigrations?
Hassan shared this link with me yesterday. It’s an interview with Charles S. Dutton. Listen to it and then come back.
Interview
Interesting wasn’t it? My favorite part was when he said “the most ignorant phenomenon placed on black people since uncle tom”. Wow.
That led to a discussion about our generation (Generation X) and those who follow us. Hassan said that we are a weaker, distracted more ignorant version of black america. ome of us are too busy doing other things. Our parents and grand parents had children and jobs too. But no one complains for fear of losing their big homes and cars.
I honestly think that we have developed a “I’ve arrived” attitude and feel as though we don’t have to fight like our parents and grandparents did before us. We’re equals in the world now and the ongoing fight of racism doesn’t involve us. It doesn’t bother us that banks give blacks interest rates triple that of normal rates because WE feel like WE can get a good rate and that’s all that matters. That fight is not ours. Whereas, in our parents time it was the fight of the entire race.
It’s like in the interview where Dutton said that they had Ali and we had Tyson. During the Martin/Malcolm era there was one fight……the difference lay in the approach to it. Peace vs. Force. Today we as a people do not agree that 1) there even is a fight 2) what the fight is and 3) whether it even involves us or not.
What do you think?
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Lil sis, first understand that perception is everything and our so-called great country and it’s corporate minds once again have found a way to control hip hop and who and what you hear and see. Simple formula: control the media and you will control the messenger right?
One thing that is destined to always happen is that history has proven time and time again the “what you see is what you get” philosophy. Hip hop images are now carefully managed, packaged, produced and marketed.
If you look at television, news, film, radio and video dictate similar themes; perception is everything. Music has ALWAYS played a key role in shaping minds and shaping attitudes. And black America’s obsession with song started unifying minds during slavery. Couldn’t we see that the slave owners took heed to the musical talent of their so-called herds and featured a select few to entertain them with song and dance???
NOW, fast forward some few hundred years and ask yourself, how much has changed in the way of music or media in America since then? The record industry is the NEW MASTER. It’s the new vehicle being that of rap awarding recording deals to these teenage one hit wonders. You already know that they are destined for one hit. On and gone in a few months riding the popularity of one hot track littered with nonsense.
Over and over again it’ll hit you. Until it simply becomes perpetuated into the next generation. That generation simply accepts it as the way it is and don’t stop the bleeding.. because…
Every form of entertainment, whether its multi-media radio, film, or television STILL answer ultimatedly to white owners. Say what you want about the land of free boasts of the great American dream, which is simply a carefully controlled concoction of government and wealthy controlled mediia.
Oh, most definitely.. We are content now. The fight is gone. We’re getting fat off of the insults and degradation of our own race and some of us simply don’t care. How can some of us solve the problem when they don’t even realize that a problem exists? That’s the true tragedy there luv… The walls are closing in and we don’t even care!
To me it doesn’t matter when it started, what matters is the end result. I remember when the Spelman women voice their concern about Nelly coming to their campus. Lots of people were saying, “why say something now”. Why not now? It doesn’t matter when you take a stand against something as long as you take a stand.
I’m upset at some of these rappers who don’t understand their history. Like Young Buck, why name yourself that. Or the kid who had the song “Do your chain hang low”. Does he not know that the slaveowners actually sung that song with demeaning lyrics.
I’m with Hassan, we are a weaker generation. Black people have more now than the previous generations, but do less. We should be a lot further than we are. The generation that struggled and fought during the Civil Rights movement did not have fax machines, e-mail, cell phones, and computers. Yet, they made so much progress.
Oh, it’s alllll toooo muchhhh! Can I just switch it up and trade in my blackness and become a Chinese woman? lol Dang! You’re right, this isn’t a new battle, but you also stated best, there used to be a time when music imitated life, but now life is imitating music and it’s not a good thing. At all!!!
I haven’t read this post in its entirety (’cause it’s after midnight and i need to have my old behind in bed), BUT…I have henceforth and forever more blamed Dr. Dre and ‘nem’s “The Chronic” (1992) for the demise of the hip hop generation. Musical genious…socially irresponsible. I’m not playing. That album got ALL of my classmates hooked on weed and gangsta-isms.
I agree with “I’ve arrived mentality” as I’ve argued that as long as people can drive a Benz and own a big house they don’t think there is struggle. As far as the music: when you turn on the radio (and not an oldies or jazz station), if you listen for an hour you hear 90% of what will be played that day. The question isn’t why do people say these things in their music. The question is why is that all that get’s played. Most white kids dis those emo-rock groups, but those cats still have an audience and still get play. How come I don’t hear Mos Def on the radio (BTW where was Oprah and Al Sharpton when he got locked up for doing “Katrina Klap” in front of the VMA’s)? How come no one puts pressure on the labels that release this music to encourage them to diversify? As a Hip-Hop fan I can’t even listen to most of what’s “out” now. Not even cause of the lyrics, but the lack of actual content or even lyricism and style. I have to dig to find quality. Why should I have to dig is the question. We did like NWA and Cypress Hill, we also could hear Queen Latifah, Kid n’ Play, KRS-One and Digital Underground via the same means that presented NWA…how come now all we get is poor NWA knock offs? That’s the real issue.
I also want to point out, that back in the day EVERYTHING was played. It was a good mix of R&B, slow jams, good SINGERS, hip hop artists who talked about a variety of things (getting OUT of the life, out of the GHETTO, being positive, looking out for each other, having fun, Just sex, what they have, who they are better than, why they love the ghetto, or even the drug selling ie. the trap like these folks are doing now. That is the real problem. We became the caricature and don’t know how to be real people any more. I remember when “I Wish” by Twista came out. E’rybody loved that song. How about Kanye and “Jesus Walks”, loved it. Now what is playing- “Buy you a drink” – T-Pain. WTF? It is cute, but all these songs talk about the same thing in a round from radio station to radio station.
Have & have not has become a battle in the black community now. The have nots are pissed off because they feel disrespected, and they kinda are. How and when did this crap happen when your granny and great grandma washed clothes and sacrificed, and your grandpa and great grandpa bust their backs so that you can get where you are but so many of us look down on those same folks doing those same jobs today I have no idea. Mutual respect is missing. We ARE weaker because of that. Our older generation thought that money would be the race equalizer and pushed at us to obtain it, but it is not. Real Respect is always the REAL equalizer. Money is a tool to use to get what you want, but it does not necessarily make your life better, or create harmony. Our music sets our mood, tells our story and reminds us to do better and to hold on to hope & lifted our spirits – or at least it used to. Now it is simple bs. I hope we make it back to what it was someday.
I think that a lot of these issues, from the seemingly endless adolescence of generation x to the sexual conflict and materialism associated with hip hop, are just the compound interest on the behavior taking place in the black community over the past three or so generations. I agree with charles s dutton that there is a lack of independent thought and proactivity in the current generation, but I also agree with ed and nem that this generation has been coddled and enabled, too.
I understand your assessment… but dont totally agree with how Oprah went about it. If she wants to have an unbiased forum on the state of hip hop then she shouldn’t have only had guests on her show that make her feel secure and wouldnt take her out of her comfort zone. I would have had a lot more respect for her if she had someone like 50 cent on the show… Or if she did only want to have industry professionals then why not Shug Knight. The industry professionals are the ones that are controlling the final product and what the consumers here and not the artists, so to turn on the talented like C. Delores Tucker did with 2pac and so many others is like arguing with someone who isnt even part of the fight.