Hip-hop/rap culture.

Kizzume · Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 5:32 pm Post subject: Hip-hop/rap culture.

I hate what hip-hop culture has done to America.

It brought back the word "gay" as meaning anything that is bad.

It brought back the aspect to women having to be submissive to guys.

It has made men cover up their shapes by wearing as baggy and almost styleless clothing as possible while women have to dress like prostitutes in order to be "pretty".

It has destroyed high standards in music--it's the absolute lowest common denominator.

I HATE hip-hop and especially the culture it has created. I hope with all my heart that something happens that shows it as as pathetic as it really is, some incident that attaches hip-hop to terrible things. It's sexist, it's anti-gay, and it's the misogynistic to extremes.

I look forward to men being able to feel like men without having to prove it through poorly treating women and without having to constantly make sure one is in check to be sure they look like a "badass".

Can anyone think of a redeeming quality about hip-hop culture? Any at all? I'm so biased that I can't think of any--maybe someone can clue me in as to what's good about it.

jq · Joined: 02 Dec 2007 Posts: 1088

M.I.A. is a woman from Sri Lanka who first became accustomed to the English language through hip hop. She liked the beats and samples even though she didn't know what they were talking about. She moved to the UK and she began to learn the english more fluently and soon after recorded her first hip hop album which spoke of issues in her own country as well as worldly politics. Her second album was even more pointed and specific because she had since traveled to the United States, understood the english language better, started following American politics (as well as Sri Lanka) and experienced a lot of racism. She sometimes had to cancel shows because the US wouldn't renew her visa. Also, even though Sri Lanka is not in the middle east, it is apparently is close enough because people have often acted very panicked about her presence on airplanes and what not (inspiring a parody on racism called "paper planes," great hip hop song.)

What made her second album-- which came out in 2007-- so remarkable is that it merged multiple cultures and brought an understanding and voice to the Sri Lankan people who are hardly EVER mentioned, if EVER.

White kids, black kids, etc, in the UK and US who dug her beats were getting educated on worldly issues they never even heard of before.

"20 dollar" is a song which addresses the fact that in parts of Africa that she lived in for a time, AK-47s are in such abundance that they cost $20 a piece. But there's no food. So you have a bunch of people starving to death who are armed to the teeth. (They were armed by us by the way.) This is the sort of thing that just wasn't being talked about by idiots like Britney Spears and 50 Cent.

M.I.A. helped educate its listeners on a culture that has pretty much no existed in the UK and US before. Nobody knows shit about Sri Lanka, UNLESS they are fans of M.I.A. Then they might.

Not all hip hop and rap is bad. I find some of it to be really inspiring.

jq · Joined: 02 Dec 2007 Posts: 1088

I think the bigger problem is the mainstream of music in general, which is all about bottom line and nothing else.

jq · Joined: 02 Dec 2007 Posts: 1088

ANd I hate the grammys. I refuse to watch that bullshit. I saw who won awards. It makes me sick.

Kizzume · Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 10:06 pm Post subject:

jq · Joined: 02 Dec 2007 Posts: 1088

Considering they were the complete antithesis to music in general, and that they inspired cash cow's like Backstreet Boys and NSYNC to ruin music , yeah, I can't say I am happy they are performing.

jq · Joined: 02 Dec 2007 Posts: 1088

Of course, Stevie Ray Vaughn's helicopter crashes. John Lennon gets shot by some nut job. But the people who ought to be killed, like the NKOTB stay alive and well.

Kizzume · Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 10:55 pm Post subject:

It's all about the lowest common denominator. Sad

Hackfest · Joined: 04 Dec 2007 Posts: 396

The Beastie Boys are reason enough for hip-hop to be redeemed in some areas. Then again, I don't know of other hip-hop artists who have 2 exceptional instrumental albums, or where each member plays at least 3 instruments. But the B-Boys practically preach positive messages in their hip-hop stuff. It's too bad their politics are so out of whack. I bet a lot of people here would agree with their politics. Generally speaking though, actors and musicians political beliefs lack substance and reality.

Here are two off the new instrumental record:

Link

Kizzume · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 2:09 pm Post subject:

That first one is great Smile

The second one---eh, could take it or leave it. Generally their instrumentals are really really good.

Kizzume · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:15 pm Post subject:

Here's a quote from some of the garbage I've been talking about:

Kizzume · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:37 pm Post subject:

Here we go--let's look at the news stories that revolve around this:

[url="http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=I'm-so-hood&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wn"]http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=I&...sa=N&tab=wn[/url]

Whaddaya know? Nothing is being talked about how horrible it is for society.

Kizzume · Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 5:35 am Post subject:

One of the things that really scares me about the hip-hop scene is the potential for the culture to reverse the last 40 years of progress that gay people have made to be at least somewhat accepted in society.

I had quite the rant on OTL about this, especially in THIS post: http://www.ontheleft.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=10070&view=findpost&p=63979

But now it has been brought to my attention that there could be some changes coming up in the scene, that maybe the future of hip-hop and rap may not hold such homophobia:

http://www.techno.de/mixmag/98.06/GayHipHop/GayHipHop.1.html
http://www.io.com/~larrybob/hiphop.html

I find this to be interesting. I'm really glad that maybe I won't have to live quite as much in fear as I have in recent years where I can't seem to get away from having to hear people from that culture making anti-gay comments on a regular basis. Luckily they haven't been talking about me, as I work VERY hard to make sure I don't appear GAY for that very reason.

Hackfest · Joined: 04 Dec 2007 Posts: 396

It sets back the entire black movement towards equality as well. Is John Q. Public going to determine on his own the difference between a "hard nigga" and a regular black guy? Maybe not. And maybe he should, but if he doesn't, the hip-hop culture didn't help him become less bigoted. Just another thought.

Kizzume · Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 3:55 pm Post subject:

Absolutely correct.