02 March 2007

Roll Over Beethoven...


Hip-Hop...a "negative" force in American society? So says at least FIFTY PERCENT of black Americans. And declining sales of (c)rap music would seem to bear this out.

Could it have been the "over-the-top" prancing about, reminiscent of Stepin Fetchit? Maybe it's all the coke-dealing anthems or the soft-core porn video? Or perhaps it was a combination of all the aforementioned? Whatever the case, sales are apparently falling as fast as gravity will allow. I for one couldn't be happier. Sale slipped 21% from 2005 to 2006, and for the FIRST time in 12 years, NO (c)rap album was among the TOP TEN sellers of the year (imagine that).

Studies have linked hip-hop to everything from teen drug use to increased sexual activity among young girls. It's small wonder this music(?) has been increasingly blamed for many of society's ills. Cripes, the NBA "All-Star" game mayhem last week was blamed on hip-hoppers. Jason Whitlock (a damn good columnist...take the time to read him) said: "the NBA commissioner ought to consider moving the event OUT of the country for the next few years in the hopes that young, hip-hop hoodlums would find another event to terrorize".
Wow...strong words (and so aptly stated).

Hip-Hoppers...TERRORISTS? Wow, and I've been saying that for YEARS with that thump-thumping emanating from gag-a-maggot paint jobbed, spinner-rimmed POS boomcars. Seems these people finally are catching up with ME...who'da thunk? Then again, I NEVER heard of ANYONE that listened to Mozart...or Haydn, or Brahms, and then go out and knock over a convienience store or two...have you? And when was the LAST time you were awakened at 3AM by some moron thumping BARRY MANILOW at 140 decibels? I can say with conviction that listening to TED NUGENT never, I repeat NEVER made me want to go out and "busta cap" for some street cred.

Black activist C. Delores Tucker had few allies when she started her crusde against hip-hop back in the '90s, and she was vilified within the (c)rap circles (not to be confused with CROP circles). People who dismissed her once are now admitting to the truth she spoke, as is chronicled in a book written by Tracy Denean Sharpley-Whiting called: "Pimp's Up, Ho's Down: Hip-Hop's Hold On Young Black Women". Same can be said for a book by John McWhorter: "Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music" (only he, like myself, was WAY ahead of the curve regarding (c)rap music..must be that Pennsy connection...lol).

Bill Cosby has been a staunch advocate against hip-hop for all these years, citing the negative influence on yiuth today....gee, 'ya think he's been onto something all this time too? Bryan Hunt, who made a documentary (which debuted on PBS this month) entitled: Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, addresses the criticisms of (c)rap, from the treatment of women to the glorification of the "gangsta" lifestyle. He wants (black) men to get a look at themselves.

Baltimore Sun critic Rashod D. Ollison said: "The music, dances and images in the videos are reminiscent of an era when pop culture reduced blacks to caricatures, lazy 'coons', grinning 'pickaninnies', and sexually super-charged 'bucks' ". Finally, we have the CRIMINAL aspect that has LONG been a apart of (c)rap music. In decades past, (c)rappers might have merely (c)rapped about drugs, gangs, violence and the like, but were not the embodiment of criminals themselves. Today, the MOST successful (c)rappers are those that have murdered more "foes" and rhyme about dealing drugs as non-chalantly as other (real) artists sing about love! "America loves violence and sex", says (c)rapper David Banner (not the HULK). He wishes America would just be "honest".

Well, Dave...looks like you JUST MIGHT get your wish! America IS (finally) speaking out....
...And I might be able to get some sleep in the near future....a "win-win" all around, I'd say!

2 comments:

Jana said...

"Hip-Hoppers...TERRORISTS? Wow, and I've been saying that for YEARS with that thump-thumping emanating from gag-a-maggot paint jobbed, spinner-rimmed POS boomcars."

Couldn't have said it better myself!

That Rashod D. Ollison guy said it correctly too. Sadly, I won't be surprised when the NAACP comes crying for his head on a platter for making his "racist" remarks...

*sigh*

Bob G. said...

Yeah, we all KNOW that these people of color (and substance) will be called the new OREOS soon enough.
"Dey done sold out to whitey"...bull$hit!

These knowledgeable people clamoring for unity within their race have a right to be POed at this detestable "art" form.

Jason Whitlock has gone as far as to call black athletes the "New Black KKK"...!

I thought...this guy knows his $hit!

I'm just surprised it's taken 30 damn years to figure out hip-hop is not a good thing...hell, the very first time I heard it, I was WTF is that crap?

I hated it from day one...and always will. It's not REAL "black" music....history bears that much out.

B.G.