There is just nothing that is black and white anymore,
everything is shades of grey with extreme opinions and beliefs usually just
leading to ignorance. Of course, what follows ignorance is usually pain,
suffering and disaster. Hip hop is currently surrounded by ignorance, both from
people outside of it and from people within it. In the wake of this Don Imus situation there has been a
firestorm of controversy, as his comments have somehow become a debate when
they should have never been more than a discussion. But that is fucking racist
people for you. As usual, hip hop was blamed for his comments. While the blame
was well founded in good old fashioned ignorance and bigotry, we certainly are
to blame in a lot of ways.
Unfortunately, hip hop has largely lost its edge and this
kind of shit continues to slide without anyone pulling the appropriate cards or
accepting any responsibility. Didn’t anyone else think it was funny to see Snoop on TV talking shit about Imus? Doesn’t anyone remember Snoop showing up at the MTV Awards in 2003 with two black women
collared and leashed? Does that give Don
Imus the right to call black women nappy headed hoes? No. Is it Snoop’s fault that Don Imus is racist
fucking redneck? No. Does Snoop have
to accept some responsibility for what happened? Most definitely. If a black
man shows show such utter disrespect for black woman on national TV, what kind
of message does that send to the rest of the world? Can we really be surprised
when a white person does it? No, this isn’t the same as the classic racist
question “they call themselves niggers so
why can’t we?” Taking that term was a matter of empowerment, leading women
around like dogs is nothing but human degradation. I just don’t understand how
you can demand the respect of other cultures when you show them you don’t even
respect your own. Listen, I’ve been a fan of Snoop since I was 11 years old,
even through his shitty albums. That doesn’t mean I can’t dislike something he
does and say what I feel needs to be said. But where was everyone else, why
didn’t his peers pull his card for that one?
There are hoes out there, that is a fact, and there is
nothing wrong with rapping about them. But there was a time when every song
about a gold diggin’ tramp was offset by a song about the queens out there. How
often do you hear that anymore though? In terms of the mainstream media, this
doesn’t even matter because these exact same events would have transpired. They
are always just going to focus on the negative no matter how much positive is there.
That doesn’t mean we have to turn a blind eye to it.
Russell Simmons
is out there looking like a fucking jackass babbling on about poetic licenses
and rappers just rhyming about what they see. On some level he is right but we
all know that is fucking bullshit these days. The days when hip hop was the CNN of the streets is long extinct save
a handful of artists, even fewer of which are in the limelight. Hip hop now
isn’t documenting, its glamorizing and sensationalizing. Can we really be
surprised when hip hop gets blamed when the same violence and crime it
glorifies is imitated? Sure, it is complete bullshit that Hollywood gets a pass
99% of the time while we remain the scapegoat. More than likely, the mainstream
media’s perception and blame game wouldn’t change even if we did, but fuck
them. It should be a matter of self respect and being able to make that
argument with a straight face. Russell
can preach all he wants that we need balance and positivity (which we obviously
do), but he has never done shit but talk about it despite being one of the few
people with the power and means to make a change. What conscious artist did he
ever sign to Def Jam? Shit, even Public Enemy was Rick Rubin’s choice. He has never put his money where his mouth is,
I’ve been saying this for so long. Russell
has played a big role in building hip hop and we’ll always owe him gratitude
for that, but that doesn’t mean he is immune to criticism.
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It is sad that there even need to be scapegoats for all the
terrible shit that happens in this world. When some kid goes and shoots someone
in his school everyone looks to blame hip hop, movies, video games, TV or
whatever. No doubt, there are plenty of negative influences out there, but the
vast majority of the blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the parents
(usually the first ones to blame something else). What happened to raising your
fucking child so that he or she knows better than to mimic some drug dealing
rapper or a gun-toting actor turned governor. I was knee deep into gangsta rap
by the time I was 8 or 9 years old and throughout my easily influenced teenage
years. I’ve never dealt drugs, I’ve never shot someone, I’ve never been in
prison. I’m 26 year old university graduate and own two houses. I can only
thank my parents that I knew well enough to listen to them instead of Eazy E. The fact of the matter is, too
many kids aren’t lucky enough to have parents as great as mine and end up with 50 Cent as a role model. Whether or not
it is right that rappers have become role models, they have. Whether or not
they want the responsibility, they have it…and it is time to be men and accept
it.
50 Cent wields so
much power with the youth and he could make such a positive impact if he chose
to. Sure, he won’t sell as many albums if he isn’t sensationalizing being
sprayed by 9 bullets, but does the man really need any more money? Like him or
not, the man is a brilliant entrepreneur. Why isn’t he teaching these kids what
he knows? Is that really too much to ask? Shit, even if it’s one song on his
album. 50 has had a fucked up life
and his story is most definitely one that needs to be told (and he’s told it
enough times), but its back to that old black and white stuff. There is a fine
line between telling your story and glorifying it, and 50 has done a fuck of a lot of glorifying. Resorting to dealing
drugs isn’t something that should be made cool, it is an act of desperation
born out of poverty and systematic racism. Have you ever seen a real live crack
head? There ain’t shit cool about facilitating that habit. The life of a drug
dealer is one that often ends with prison or death, it is a life of severe
consequences. How many rappers are actually communicating that? The world needs
to hear about crime, drug dealing, gang violence and death, we need the voices
of the voiceless. What we don’t need is these clowns making it sound like a
desirable lifestyle, especially when most of them never even lived it and are
straight lying their asses off.
Look at Busta Rhymes,
35 years old and 15 plus years into his career in which he’s been largely a
happy go-lucky emcee, suddenly became a former crack dealer and criminal. Why?
Label pressure? A desperate attempt to appeal to the youth and sell a few more
records? Regardless of why he did it, it is nothing short of fucking sad and
pathetic. Once a proud 5 percenter who rapped alongside Brand Nubian, KMD and A
Tribe Called Quest has lowered himself to the most common, tired and
destructive denominator. To keep up his new image he has racked up a nice list
of misdemeanors in the past couple years, culminating with allowing his loyal
bodyguards murderer to go unpunished to uphold the “stop snitching” credo.
Are people still buying into that shit? Refusing to
cooperate with police was born during the COINTELPRO era, it is barely even
relevant today in most the circumstances when people claim it. These days it is
nothing more than a marketing gimmick. You all heard Cam’ron on 60 Minutes, the first thing out of his mouth when asked
why he wouldn’t “snitch” was to protect his credibility so he could sell
records. Then he quickly adding in that he won’t snitch because that is what he
believes. Again, this isn’t a black and white issue…it’s all grey. There are
plenty of instances when dropping dimes should be prohibited, especially in
neighborhoods when the drug dealers are far more philanthropic then the
government will ever be. But if there is some dude raping little girls in your
neighborhood you ain’t gonna talk to the police, you’re gonna move and let
innocent girls get torn up? You’ll let a deranged lunatic free to rape somebody’s
daughter rather than risk your credibility? Does Cam have the slightest bit of human decency? Seriously, that dude
deserves a severe fucking beating for even suggesting that nonsense. Now wait
for the hater accusations thrown at me followed by DIPSET ALL DAY BITCH! If you
defend that man after those comments then you are just as fucking stupid as he
is, I don’t give a shit how much you like his music.
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I feel myself going off on multiple tangents here (if I
haven’t already), so lemme (w)rap this up. This culture and the people who lead
it need to grow the fuck up and act like responsible adults for once. All the
people mentioned are grown fucking men, 30 plus years old. There are no excuses
for any of this, they aren’t 20, young and stupid. Just because they’re making
music for 15 year olds doesn’t mean they need to act like them too. Time to
grow up people, be accountable for your actions and accept some responsibility
for your role and influence in society.
