Criticisms of Hip Hop

“Hip Hop Beyond Beats and Rhymes,” the documentary that we started watching in class on Monday, was very thought provoking. Men have always dominated the hip-hop industry, but I never thought of hip-hop as being described as a masculine performance. Rappers tend to fill their lyrics with issues related to violence, homophobia and sexism, and they do this to assert their masculinity and power. As the movie describes it, hip-hop is ego driven. Artists have come to the understanding that they have to prove how “hard” they are by dropping a beat and rapping about the amount of guns, girls, and money they have. Due to the frequency of these topics being mentioned in lyrics and seen in music videos, this method of entertainment has been greatly criticized.

            Some people assume that rappers are violent and sexist, and therefore dangerous because of the lyrics in their songs. The movie points out though that many forms of entertainment feature the same topics that hip-hop does. So what really amazes me is the amount of scrutiny and decree that this music receives, because if you look at any other form of entertainment today you can see the same masculine performance with just as much sex, drugs, and violence that’s seen in hip-hop lyrics and music videos.

            Hollywood movies are one of the major forms of entertainment mentioned in the documentary that are full of sex and violence. Jesse James was one of the examples. The idea of masculine performance dates back to James and the film based on his life. This movie divulges James’ experience of being a gang leader and professional criminal known for robbing and murdering. It is through movies like this that men claim the idea that violence and power is what makes them masculine.

Jesse James though was not seen as dangerous, instead he was a celebrity while he was alive and became a legend after his death. But what was he famous for, owning a gun and using it to steal and kill? So how does he not get the reputation of being dangerous but rappers do?

            It’s amazing that these types of movies that clearly play a major role in influencing men rarely get any criticism, but hip-hop lyrics that display similar behavior are labeled as inappropriate. Yes, hip-hop lyrics and music videos tend to exaggerate gunplay, objectify women, and overuse violence but so do other forms of entertainment, like movies, television, and video games. Maybe the way in which men masculinize themselves needs to be reevaluated. However, this evaluation not only needs to be on hip-hop lyrics but on every other form of entertainment as well. 

Racializing American Politics

In an article published in the Wall Street Journal, title The Radicalizing of American Politics, the author makes the claim that politics has too often been reduced to racial categories while ignoring real debates and analysis. He points to the recent example of the post presidential election analysis that claimed the Republican Party lost because it was “too white”. Here the author believes that Republicans lost not because of this nebulas phrase of being too white, but rather because the party failed to effectively tell the story of a failed President and the benefits of their ideas. Here the author really misses the point of what pundits and critiques of the Republican Party might mean by suggesting it is “too white”. While this may be an over simplification of why Mitt Romney lost, the fact that Republicans consistently fail to win a majority of the minority vote in any election, even considering the great success President George Bush had with Latinos in 2004, suggests a real cleavage in American political thought.

The fact that Republicans have failed to capture any of the African-American vote does point to an interesting and possibly troubling reality of the two party systems. While Republican supporters, similar to the suggestion made by the author of the WSJ article, claim the Democrats are just playing racial politics and avoiding the actual issues. Somehow the people the party that cannot win the minority vote is somehow post racial, while the party that won 98% of the African American vote in the 2012 Presidential election is somehow stuck in a by gone era of racial politics. What is really the case here is that in fact a lack of understanding that race is still very relevant in American politics and society. As we read in Not Even Past, race not only matters, but is still an extremely influential and impactful factor. Obama still struggles and wrestles with race and speaking out about it and at other times showing restraint. This is not even to say that it is even racism exactly that is the factor, it is just to understand, that while some may want to live in a color blind world the fact is that the United States is not color blind. The failure than of the Republican Party may then be instead due to the fact that it is unwilling to really confront this reality because it is more convenient for the argument that the country is post racial. Does this seeming unwillingness to address race and instead use realization as a critique of the Democratic Party suggest something about the Republican audience? Who they are trying to target? Isn't race still a political factor and reality?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324205404578147360260072602.html 

Defining Blackness Lecture

I found Deirdre Cooper Owens’ lecture very interesting. It was titled, “Defining Blackness: Examining Slavery, Race, and Immigration in the Antebellum Era.” A lot of her work focused on Dr. James Marion Sims. Dr. Sims was a gynecologist in the 1800s. In the 1840s, he primarily experimented on slave women. He acquired about a half dozen female slaves to experiment on in hopes of “fixing” them to make them worth more in the future.

What interested me the most about Dr. Sims’ experiments, was his work with a white woman. Mary Smith was a young white immigrant from Ireland whom Dr. Sims performed many experiments on throughout the course of six years. In 1851, Dr. Sims published an article on his work with slaves and blacks. However, the majority of this article was about Mary Smith. Dr. Sims treated slaves and poor white immigrants the same and wrote about them solely as black in his works. This caught my attention because Dr. Sims seems to be making the claim that blacks and whites have the same “interworking” and are the same on the inside. This goes against what 19^th century doctors believed.

Most 19^th century doctors believed that black women were “over-sexed.” Black slaves were being forced to produce more and more slaves for their owners to raise and sell. To justify the over-sexing of female slaves, doctors came up with the idea that black women had less pain with labor and pregnancy because, due to natural selection, they had tougher bodies than white women. Therefore, they were meant to be slaves and breed slaves. They also believed that because a black woman’s body was tougher, it was acceptable for them to go right back to work after giving birth. The truth is, slaves couldn’t talk to a doctor about what was wrong with them or how much pain they were having during pregnancy. White doctors of the time just assumed they were capable of being used for breeding purposes.

I just can’t seem to get over the fact that Dr. Sims agreed with other doctors of his time that blacks had tougher and different bodies than whites, yet still counted white immigrants and black slaves as the same for his research. Dr. Sims is separating “different” bodies by social class instead of by the color of their skin. I am not saying that either is right, but how could blacks and whites be thought of as different both internally and externally if they were counted as the same for research purposes? 

“Where Do You Stand on the Jovan Belcher Murder/Suicide?”: Essence Magazine Wants to Know

“ESSENCE is more than a magazine. Black women look to us to help them enhance and transform their lives. The information that ESSENCE provides is life-changing: Black women are empowered and, in the process, they advance not only their individual lives but also the quality of life for others. For all these reasons, ESSENCE has evolved into an institution that embodies the hopes and aspirations of Black women.”
                                                                                            -Essence Magazine Website

As a person who is not too computer savvy, I have a select group of websites that I look at every day. During this weekend as I perused through my Yahoo stroll, I saw the story of the NFL player who killed his girlfriend and later himself. The story has since then been everywhere, yet seeing it on the Essence Magazine website has really struck a nerve with me. Essence magazine, which is a magazine targeted at African Americans, offers a variety of things in their issues. Topics and advertisements range from African American hair, fashion, love and relationships to current events and heated editorials that challenge the opinions of what are perceived to be the collective view of its African American readers. However, with the topic being that of a tragedy in which no one benefits, Essence presented a poll on its website asking its readers, “Where Do You Stand on the Jovan Belcher Murder/Suicide?”

The response options are as follows:

1) I sympathize with Javon Belcher. We don't know what was going on in their lives and why he made that        decision.

2) This is a tragedy. My heart goes out to Kasandra Perkins' family and their 3-month-old daughter.

 3) I'm terribly saddened for everyone involved in this tragedy.

 As a magazine that tends to pride itself on the image it presents of African Americans to pose such a question in the wake of such tragedy is irresponsible and insensitive to members of the families of the victims. This magazine has had countless interviews of the President of the United States and many other African Americans of esteem yet they find it appropriate to associate themselves with such an ill-timed, controversial poll question.  Not only is the poll inappropriate, but for the most part a majority of the poll takers responded without challenging why Essence even presented this question. As I read through the comments looking for at least one person with some form of dignity, I came across roughly four commenters who expressed similar sentiments as mine. One commenter stated, “ Essence, you should be ASHAMED of yourself. How crass, insensitive and inappropriate. Really, a poll to see where people's sympathy lies? You have sunk to a true new low....I am so happy I have let my subscription expire.”

As a reader of Essence Magazine and a frequent viewer of the website, I simply find it unsettling and inappropriate that such a poll exists on their website. I just do not understand how a magazine that prides itself on catering to an African American audience and being “more than a magazine,” can provide its readers with such filth, and insensitivity concerning the deaths of two individuals.

Is a poll of this nature appropriate/inappropriate? Does Essence Magazine have a responsibility to its readers or does freedom of the press overrule here?

I'll Always Be Childish, Call Me Maggie Simpson

This response was too long to be a comment so I’ve adjusted it a little. Peter’s post about Kendrick Lamar inspired me to look at rap artists that I admire. I wanted to write about Childish Gambino or Donald Glover if you will. Honestly, he’s not a very good rapper but his lyrics really struck a nerve for me. Don’t get me wrong, he writes about bitches and hoes and his own penis very frequently but he also raps about so much more than that. He has worked so hard to achieve the status he has now. He attended NYU’s School of the Arts, performed in a sketch comedy group named Derrick Comedy, wrote for 30 Rock starring Tina Fey, and stars in NBC’s hit show Community. On top of all of that, he has released 5 albums and many mixtapes in the past 4 years. What impresses me most about his rapping is that he addresses many of the biases and prejudices that young rappers receive from their peers. In his song “Fuck It All” he says “I used to be a sweet dude, now Im so angry, look at what these girls and these fake niggas made me.” In context he’s talking about the HipHop culture and what it does to people. Earlier in the song he says “Cry when I'm writing, I don't really know why, I think its cause I can't really see myself an old guy, And that scares me, I wanna be around a while, But I feel my purpose goes beyond having raised a child, Bright lights, they tend to burn out fast, So I shine bright, But I'm scared that it won't last.” This reminded me of the video we watched in class today that said black men between the ages of 15-25 are more likely to die of a homicide than anything else. I respect Childish Gambino because he’s honest; he never owned a gun, he wasn’t part of a gang, and everyone said he was too “white” to make it as a rapper. But they’re wrong, he’ll be famous because he’s different; he’s worked hard and made an honest living. We need hiphop role models that are willing to change the perception of the music. While I don’t believe Childish Gambino is that role model, I appreciate that he is willing to acknowledge his fortunate up-bringing and the backlash he experienced from the hiphop community for not being “black enough” (whatever that means). Now if only he would stop talking about lady-folk in such a derogatory manner….

Powerful Hip-Hop (Kendrick Lamar- HiiPower)

I HIGHLY encourage you all to watch this music video.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep0hay4Qw54


Besides being a great song recorded by a very talented artist, this song grapples with many of the tough race issues in America and cites many ethnically relevant historical characters, places, and movements. I have bolded some parts of the lyrics that I feel are particularly relevant to our survey of African American history. First off, Kendrick cites Martin Luther (King-presumably), Malcolm X, Huey Newton, and Marcus Garvey in this song. I find the way in which he does this to be extremely provocative.  Through their individual movements, these are all players in the development of African American culture and the development of the black cultural identity.

I get a very different vibe from Kendrick’s music.  Although he references misogyny and violence saying things like, “I got my finger on the muthafucking pistol
aiming it at a pig” and occasionally talks down to women, he also references intellectual African American leaders, suggests his belief in the power of words (“Grown man should never bite they tongue”), and recognizes how his own background, a “Product of the late 80s,” has contributed to his development as an individual.  Whether you believe him to be influential or not, he has the power and the audience to insert his own opinions on race and “blackness.”

Kendrick’s lyrics also capture the essence of struggle in African American history:

“Every day we fight the system just to make our way. We've been down for too long, but that's all right. We was built to be strong, cause it's our life.”
AND
"I'm falling victim to a revolutionary song" (Cult of vicitimization reference?)

I think that no matter what your final opinion of Kendrick Lamar is, this song will at least stimulate some pretty interesting musings about what it means to be African American and to be a part of a rich, conflict filled race history in the United States today- from the perspective of a rapper, of course.

"Visions of Martin Luther staring at me
Malcolm X put a hex on my future someone catch me
I'm falling victim to a revolutionary song
The Serengeti's cloned
Back to put you backstabbers back on your spinal bone
You slipped your disc when I slipped you my disc
You wanted to diss but jumped on my dick
Grown man should never bite they tongue
Unless you eating p-ssy that smell like it's a stale plum
I got my finger on the muthafucking pistol
Aiming it at a pig, Charlottes Web is gonna miss you
My issue wasn't televised and you ain't gotta tell the wise
How to stay on beat cause our lives an instrumental
This is physical and mental
I wouldn't sugar coat it
You'll die from Diabetes if these other niggas wrote it
And everything on TV just a figment of imagination
I don't want no plastic nation
Dread that like a Haitian
While you muthafuckers waiting
I be off the slave ship, building pyramids writing my own hieroglyphs
[Chorus]
Just call this shit hi power
Nigga nothing less than hi power
Five star dishes, food for thought bitches
I mean this shit is Huey Newton going stupid
You can't resist his Hi Power
Throw your hands up for Hi Power

Visions of Martin Luther staring at me
If I seen it how he seen it that would make my parents happy
Sorry momma I can't turn the other cheek
They wanna knock me off the edge like a fucking widows peak, ugh
She always told me pray for the weak, ugh
Them demons got me, I ain't prayed in some weeks, ugh

Dear Lord, come and save me, the Devils working hard
He probably clocking double shifts on all of his jobs
Frightening, so fucking frightening
Enough to drive a man insane
I need a license to kill
I'm standing on a field full of landmines
Doing the moonwalk hoping I blow up in time
'Cause 2012 might not be a fucking legend
Try and be a fucking legend
The man of mankind
Who said a black man in the Illuminati
Last time I checked, that was the biggest racist party
So get up off that slave ship
Build your own pyramids, write your own hieroglyphs

[Chorus]

Everyday we fight the system just to make our way
We've been down for too long, but that's all right
We was built to be strong, cause it's our life
Na-na-nah
Everyday we fight the system, (fight the system)
(Never liked the system)
We've been down for too long, but that's all right
Na-na-nah

Who said a black man in the Illuminati
Last time I checked, that was the biggest racist party
Last time I checked we was racing with Marcus Garvey
On the freeway to Africa til I broke my Audi
And I want everybody to view my autopsy
So you can see exactly where the government had shot me
No conspiracy my fate is inevitable
They played musical chairs, once I'm on that pedestal
Frightening, so fucking frightening
Enough to drive a man insane, a woman insane
The reason Lauren Hill don't sing or Kurt Cobain
Loaded that clip and then said bang!
The drama it bring is crazy
Product of the late 80s
Tryna stay above water, that's why we shun the navy
Pull your guns and play me
Let's set it off, cause a riot, throw off Molotov's
Somebody told me them pirates ain't got lost
'Cause we've been off slave ships
Got our own pyramids, write our own hieroglyphs

[Chorus]

Thug life, thug life!!!"

Paula Giddings' Lecture on Ida B. Wells

At the beginning of Paula Giddings' lecture, she blatantly and passionately declared Ida B. Wells to be the most deserving and impressive Memphian in the history of city. Giddings supported her declaration by sharing Ida B. Wells’s remarkable history, as well as a vast list of her accomplishments with audience members. Giddings talked about how Wells had to take charge of her brothers and sisters at a very young age after both of her parents died—displaying the responsibility and drive that Wells had to cultivate at a young age in order for her and her siblings to survive. At eighteen, Wells moved to Memphis where she began teaching and quickly became an integral part of the Memphis community. But it wasn’t until Wells began writing and speaking out against lynching that she went from being locally known to nationally known. It was after the lynching of her friend Thomas Moss that she began to see the undoubted racism, hatred, and prejudice that was taking place in every lynching—thus she decided to take a stand. At this time most African American men were lynched on the justification that they were “raping” white women. Wells was not convinced of these “rape” allegations; so, she began to investigate. Ultimately she found that a large percentage of the males being lynched for “rape” were actually in consensual relationships with white women. Wells wrote about the falsity of the charges forced onto black males and ultimately instructed African Americans to buy a gun for purposes of their own self-defense. Wells also instructed people to leave the south and move to the north or the west in hopes of obtaining actual freedom. After Wells’s instructions, twenty percent of the African American population left Memphis—displaying her influence and importance within the African American community. Giddings also discussed the lawsuit Wells filed against a train company who continued to implement segregation after it was ruled illegal, in addition to touching on many of Wells’s other accomplishments.

 Ultimately what stood out to me the most was one of Wells’s quotes in which she said, “race is more sinned against than sinning.” Well’s quote embodies the African American’s struggle throughout history to be considered an equal part of society. During Wells’s time there were scientific and social studies supporting the idea that African Americans were an inferior race.  In addition to racist scientific and social studies, African Americans were charged with crimes they did not commit, they were terrorized by racist members of society, and threatened by the white shadow of the KKK. Racism spread like wild fire and Memphis, as well as the country as a whole, needed leaders like Ida B. Wells to bring some type of sense to the incredulous acts taking place across the country. Wells had a huge impact during her time, and even more so now. She brought as much justice to the African American population as she could. Wells prompted a form of justice by writing about the atrocious events taking place all across the country. Ultimately Wells wrote to notify people then, and to remind people now of the horrors of lynching and of racial violence.