I just want to start this week’s blog off by saying how much I liked this book. Usually I find myself getting bored when I read the more academic literature, but I devoured this book. It might be the fact that it’s written as a series of interviews, but I may have actually liked this more than the Toure book, and I’ve actually had several of my friends read that. I’m hopefully going to do this same with this.
It shouldn’t be surprising that I’m the most interested in the chapters/sections where Dyson discusses the more criminal aspects of hip-hop, specifically when discussing hip-hop’s role in the justice system. I also enjoyed the chapter about misogyny in hip-hop. It helps that that is something I’m interested in. I don’t really have a lot to add to what Dyson said about the prisons and how it affects hip-hop. However, he did have some very insightful points. I really liked how he pointed out that, just like the stars of hip-hop, many of big name civil rights leaders, like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, went to prison. And while a lot of our culture idolizes civil rights leaders while it condemns hip-hop artists, a lot of them meet the same violent end (being shot/murdered). I guess Biggie and MLK have more in common than I thought!
The only other thing I found particularly interesting in regards to prison was how he referred to prison as “natural” to black people. Due to the fact that 1/3 (if I am correctly recalling my statistics) of all black people are in prison at some point in their lives, his joke (?) that most of them are either on their way, in, or coming out of prison it especially poignant.
Of all the chapters, the one about sexism in hip-hop was probably my favorite. And as I find myself running out of words for this blog post, I’ll try to rush some of my favorite moments out. In my opinion, the best part of the section was when he compared the similarities between hip-hop stars and the conservative right. While both believe (at least in practice, if not openly) in the subjugation of women and both hate homosexuals, they also revile each other. While there have been groups brought together and united with less, these two can still be very similar and yet very antagonistic. I also now realize that my two favorite segments of the book are both Dyson relating two groups that appear to be vastly different but share many qualities. I guess I just find stuff like that amusing, even if it might not be the most important.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Politics in Hip-Hop
In our hip-hop class we have finished up the sections of the course titled “Hip-Hop History/Culture” and begun delving into the concepts of hip-hop politics. For our class tomorrow we were asked to define hip-hop and describe how hip-hop can be political. To me, the simplest definition is usually the best, so I define politics as the process by which groups make collective decisions. This is usually seen at the international, national, state, and city level. However, almost everything can be related to politics if it involves more than one person making a choice.
At first glance it seems like it would be hard for hip-hop to be political. After all, what does music have to do with decision making? And this is the belief I’ve held in the past, as I’ve already mentioned how little I knew/know about hip-hop outside of the music. But the readings for this week describe the politics of hip-hop in much depth. In my opinion, the best example comes out of the reading “The Challenge of Rap Music from Cultural Movement to Political Power.” Near the end it describes many of the informal connections between grassroots and commercial hip-hop. Examples of this include the many social charity organizations set up by hip-hop artists such as the Wu Charitable Foundation, Daddy’s House, and the Christopher Wallace Foundation. Many of these grew out of the limelight of hip-hop and, for that reason, may seem superficial. However, when we look at these stars and see how much work they put into their organizations we see that they truly care about the good they do.
The author goes on to make suggestions that could make the grassroots/commercial hip-hop connections more formal. These ideas include having hip-hop challenge their white listeners to work on race relations and having hip-hop artists pool their resources in order to take care of serious social issues. To me, these seem like fantastic ideas. We’ve already seen that working alone these artists can make a difference for a small number of people. However, if hip-hop were to become more political then it could affect a huge number of people. Too many people, hip-hop is currently a trend; however, hip-hop can be a social movement if the parties involved let it.
At first glance it seems like it would be hard for hip-hop to be political. After all, what does music have to do with decision making? And this is the belief I’ve held in the past, as I’ve already mentioned how little I knew/know about hip-hop outside of the music. But the readings for this week describe the politics of hip-hop in much depth. In my opinion, the best example comes out of the reading “The Challenge of Rap Music from Cultural Movement to Political Power.” Near the end it describes many of the informal connections between grassroots and commercial hip-hop. Examples of this include the many social charity organizations set up by hip-hop artists such as the Wu Charitable Foundation, Daddy’s House, and the Christopher Wallace Foundation. Many of these grew out of the limelight of hip-hop and, for that reason, may seem superficial. However, when we look at these stars and see how much work they put into their organizations we see that they truly care about the good they do.
The author goes on to make suggestions that could make the grassroots/commercial hip-hop connections more formal. These ideas include having hip-hop challenge their white listeners to work on race relations and having hip-hop artists pool their resources in order to take care of serious social issues. To me, these seem like fantastic ideas. We’ve already seen that working alone these artists can make a difference for a small number of people. However, if hip-hop were to become more political then it could affect a huge number of people. Too many people, hip-hop is currently a trend; however, hip-hop can be a social movement if the parties involved let it.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Jay-Z Has Got Guts
My choice from this week’s reading to blog about was easy; it had to be over the Jay-Z chapter. Jay-Z has always been one of my favorite rappers (although the list of rappers I’m particularly familiar with is admittedly fairly short). While reading this selection I tried to pay particular attention to something we discussed last week in class. I was trying to keep in mind the fact that Toure is writing this article for popular magazines and is therefore writing them to be marketable rather than writing them to be particularly probing or critical.
In my opinion, the article succeeds greatly if we look at it for its enjoyment. So far I am loving this book as a whole, and I have actually suggested it to a number of my friends. This chapter was especially interesting to me as I enjoyed the transitions from describing the game of cards that Toure, Jay-Z, and his crew were playing to discussing Jay-Z’s history (the interview itself) to talking about his music. To me the most interesting parts were discussing the card game, because that is what really made me feel like I “knew” Jay-Z. Anyone can read about his history or listen to his music, but this told me something about Jay-Z the man rather than Jay-Z the rapper.
When I tried looking at this from a more critical viewpoint I couldn’t really find much. While in some of the earlier articles it seems likely that Toure didn’t ask some of the more probing questions that he could have (50 Cent) or didn’t talk about some of the more negative things that the rappers did while he was around (DMX) this article was mostly just talking about playing a card game with Jay-Z. I did particularly enjoy how Jay-Z always comes off as a calm and collected guy during the game, and that he is usually thought of as not being a wild hip-hopper like many are. But then when we go and look at some of his songs, or when Toure mentions that no one really teases Jay-Z because he is too harsh, or how after the last game he explodes in emotion we see that Jay-Z is just like the rest of us. He is not a cold and emotionless music robot, and he is also not a flamboyant attention hog like some rappers seem to be. To me Jay-Z is the most “real” rapper we’ve seen so far in the book.
In my opinion, the article succeeds greatly if we look at it for its enjoyment. So far I am loving this book as a whole, and I have actually suggested it to a number of my friends. This chapter was especially interesting to me as I enjoyed the transitions from describing the game of cards that Toure, Jay-Z, and his crew were playing to discussing Jay-Z’s history (the interview itself) to talking about his music. To me the most interesting parts were discussing the card game, because that is what really made me feel like I “knew” Jay-Z. Anyone can read about his history or listen to his music, but this told me something about Jay-Z the man rather than Jay-Z the rapper.
When I tried looking at this from a more critical viewpoint I couldn’t really find much. While in some of the earlier articles it seems likely that Toure didn’t ask some of the more probing questions that he could have (50 Cent) or didn’t talk about some of the more negative things that the rappers did while he was around (DMX) this article was mostly just talking about playing a card game with Jay-Z. I did particularly enjoy how Jay-Z always comes off as a calm and collected guy during the game, and that he is usually thought of as not being a wild hip-hopper like many are. But then when we go and look at some of his songs, or when Toure mentions that no one really teases Jay-Z because he is too harsh, or how after the last game he explodes in emotion we see that Jay-Z is just like the rest of us. He is not a cold and emotionless music robot, and he is also not a flamboyant attention hog like some rappers seem to be. To me Jay-Z is the most “real” rapper we’ve seen so far in the book.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
It Was A Wonderful World
This week I chose to blog about Toure’s tribute to Biggie’s death. If I had just read this piece I would have believed that he was sincere about being done with hip-hop. However, in the introduction he tells the reader that the piece wasn’t actually about that at all; instead it is just Toure trying to demonstrate the pain he felt at having Biggie and Tupac killed so soon after another. It is a testament to his writing that he was able to do this in such a way that he could make himself sound serious about being done with hip-hop.
One of the first things that I noticed was how Toure referred to the Hip-Hop Nation. I don’t know if I’m just being forgetful or not, but did we discuss the popularization of this term and why some people choose to or choose not to use it? All I seem to recall is a conversation about the concepts behind the idea of the hip-hop nation and why the class was called such. But when was it first used? And who was the first person to use it? I apologize if we already went over this, but I cannot recall.
Also in his piece Toure describes the evolution of hip-hop as it became less about yourself and how you feel empowered and more about making money/hatred. He brings up the point that for a while all of the hip-hop icons were still alive. But at a point they began dying, and none of them died of natural causes. In this era (is it a coincidence that it was at the end/just after the Golden Age of Hip-Hop) rappers and cultural celebrities began being shot and murdered. It was also in this time that the East/West coast feud began.
To me, this is important as I am very interested in the criminality of the hip-hop culture, and how/why early hip-hop culture was more about partying and having fun while as time progresses we see more violent and criminal hip-hop music while also being more and more related to gang activity. What caused this paradigm shift? Why, with the death of Tupac (was this a turning point? I could use some help with dates/chronology), did hip-hop begin to become more and more criminal in its nature? These are all questions that I obviously don’t have the answers to, and I would love to hear the ideas of others that are more knowledgeable than myself.
One of the first things that I noticed was how Toure referred to the Hip-Hop Nation. I don’t know if I’m just being forgetful or not, but did we discuss the popularization of this term and why some people choose to or choose not to use it? All I seem to recall is a conversation about the concepts behind the idea of the hip-hop nation and why the class was called such. But when was it first used? And who was the first person to use it? I apologize if we already went over this, but I cannot recall.
Also in his piece Toure describes the evolution of hip-hop as it became less about yourself and how you feel empowered and more about making money/hatred. He brings up the point that for a while all of the hip-hop icons were still alive. But at a point they began dying, and none of them died of natural causes. In this era (is it a coincidence that it was at the end/just after the Golden Age of Hip-Hop) rappers and cultural celebrities began being shot and murdered. It was also in this time that the East/West coast feud began.
To me, this is important as I am very interested in the criminality of the hip-hop culture, and how/why early hip-hop culture was more about partying and having fun while as time progresses we see more violent and criminal hip-hop music while also being more and more related to gang activity. What caused this paradigm shift? Why, with the death of Tupac (was this a turning point? I could use some help with dates/chronology), did hip-hop begin to become more and more criminal in its nature? These are all questions that I obviously don’t have the answers to, and I would love to hear the ideas of others that are more knowledgeable than myself.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)