An interesting read for sure, and connected to my long-ago post lamenting the problems to do with cultural ghettoization - a phenomena I argued wasn't restricted to violent and mysogynistic forms of hip hop culture, but other sub-cultures as well. See the article on the cbc arts page.
From the article:
"Q: Public Enemy’s Chuck D once called rap music “the black CNN.” In Beyond Beats and Rhymes, he says that BET – a channel that airs hip-hop programming around the clock – is “the cancer of black manhood in the world.” Did he get it right twice?
A: I don’t want to misquote him, but I remember reading a statement where Chuck said that hip hop used to be like the black CNN, but has now become the black Cartoon Network. I’ve shown this film and had people – I mean mainly black audiences – give his statement [about BET] a standing ovation."
I think there is a growing consciousness of certain forms of hip hop as the "black CNN," something that assists the already significant marginalization of minorities in the US. Although many don't agree with stands taken by black celebrities, such as Oprah - going so far as to ban hip-hop from her show entirely - there is a basis for her anger at the sub-culture and its malevolent effects: feeding comfortably into racist perceptions of the hypermasculine, violent black male.
Out of all this though, the message that hip hop is not necessarily a pernicious influence, can't be lost either. Groups like Company Flow, Dilated Peoples, Jurassic 5 and many others are part of a growing group of hip hop acts that are self-aware of hip-hop's dark-side in a way 50-cent isn't. Even groups like Black Eyed Peas combine mainstream appeal with a progressive, stylistic appeal that doesn't involve g-strings, gun-talk and homophobia.
Comments