Culture = Identity? by Eric

I went to a recital of a studio that my friend Red teaches at. Was pretty dope. Its kinda interesting watching the difference between certain studios as far as what styles they want to instill in their students. One of the parents said,

"Are you one of Red's friends? I'm so glad Red makes his own music because I really don't want my children to dance to any of that "black crap" whether its new or old."

Wow. Hello Ignorance, its nice to see you're alive and well. But I digress...Its interesting how certain places are more open minded than others as far as what qualifies as a true art form. Lots of studios still don't consider hip hop as a valid dance form. They still think its a fad style and will pass eventually. That's funny because its gained nothing but momentum since its inception. Its also one of the few styles that persist throughout many genres of media (although usually portrayed incorrectly).

Hip Hop retains its long life because Hip hop is a culture. Its a way of life. It was originally the way of life of a people that were considered "less fortunate" than the well to do people of society. Culture = beliefs and interpretation of life....which is something that today's American culture severely lacks. That's why the government can brainwash the majority of the country so easily. When popular culture is based on media the government can easily manipulate it.

I love the Hip Hop culture, but not that garbage you see on tv or the crap rap you hear on the radio. That garbage people see and hear is actually the rape of a culture in front of their eyes. But they don't notice it, nor realize what's happening is wrong. This happens throughout history to many cultures.... While the American Indians (and other like raped cultures) were treated entirely more severe with the killing of tribes and taking of land, in this day and age that simply cannot be repeated. Today, in this psuedo-political correct world, you can't just send an army through the ghetto to cull the "different people." Hip Hop's rape is more subtle and its damaging in a different way.

Hip hop was originally the artforms of an oppressed urban people that was searching for something positive in an environment of poverty and racism. Hip hop was their escape and self expression through verbal poetry, dance, art, and music. Opposed to getting into trouble with the law or fall victim to the pitfalls of the ghetto, they would turn to Hip Hop and its artforms for a more positive form of recreation. Government saw it as a way to control these seemingly "wild" people and integrated it into popular media. They were successful.

The media formed a tempting way for these Hip Hop cats to make money and rise above the poverty they were so used to by forming recording companies. Through these companies they were much easier to control. The media guided them to rapping about negative and violent content which of course pigeonholes them as gangsters, drug dealers, players, and undesirables...when the original hip hop wasn't about those things at all. When the people of the ghetto would see one of their own rise above the poverty, they saw a way out of the confines of the ghetto...and if rapping about gangsters, drug dealers, players and other undesirables was a possible way out of poverty then its easy to see how easily this happened.

Its ironic how the media put a spin on what Hip Hop is now...drug dealers, gangsters, pimps, and killers...when Hip Hop was what kids turned to originally to stay away from those things. Now the constant messages of hate through a lot of music boomerangs back into the ghetto making their plight even more anti-progressive. Hip Hop used to be very political and a way to unify a people...but now we have "Shake it like a salt shaker!" as lyrics.

The media has made it so people who don't understand the plight of Hip Hop usually stay ignorant of the situation because they don't want to be associated with, don't care to try to understand, or easy buy into the stereotypes. Also the ghetto gets angrier and more violent due to the negative messages that were once positive in the music.

So congrats, Mrs. "I hate black crap new or old" you're another link in the ignorance fence that keeps your children from being more open minded. Oh and nice boomerang effect Mr. Media/Government. Assimilation of yet another culture: Check.

Eric