This week, we are discussing Hip-hop's historical relationship to Blackness and African American culture. Our key word BLACKNESS and HIP-HOP guide our readings, audio selections and discussion.
How can we understand these terms in relationship to the social, cultural and economic conditions that produced Hip-hop in its early stages?
How do shifting ideas of race shape how we understand Hip-hop and Blackness? As you define these key terms, think about the ways that
Hip-hop music and culture pushes racial, ethnic and national boundaries. How does Blackness,in relationship to U.S. Hip-hop,
challenge social inequality?
Before I started studying hip-hop, I just thought it was a genre of music. I knew about Kanye, Jay-Z, Wiz, and all of the popular artists. I always understood they used vulgar language and were trying to act all powerful. It just seemed like an act to me. But after learning about the term blackness in class on Monday, hip-hop wasn’t just a music genre to me anymore. These artists had struggles in their lives and grew up in not so great parts of the country. Their ancestors taught them how to act and how to show themselves to society. It’s all in the key term blackness. It all makes sense now.
ReplyDeleteBlackness is a frame of mind and a way of life for African Americans. Well, as I learned Monday, it’s not only African Americans that live by this term. Blackness can be displayed by people of color from all around the world. Latin Americans from Chile or Argentina can be considered black because of the color of their skin.
Blackness is the way of displaying one’s characteristics in the black community. They grew up in poor living conditions and were treated poorly by the white people all the way up until the mid 1960’s, which was the end of the Civil Rights movement. Everyone knows that the concept of racism is not even close to being retired. Blackness is the way blacks dress, how they act, social characteristics they possess. Wearing extra large t-shirts and baggy pants is something everyone can recognize. It’s the “bling bling” chains around their necks and wrists and on their ears. It’s their way of living. There have been many different eras to the hip-hop culture, dating all the way back to slavery. There’s the concept of ragtime music and then there’s jazz music. Before World War II, any music produced or sung by a black person was called “race music.” After World War II, the term was labeled as offensive, although the term remained in tact.
In the 1940’s and 50’s the term R&B was coined. It was developed in hopes of replacing race music. After years and years, people believed that the whole genre of R&B was going to go extinct. To this day, the term is still used. Much of the music on my iPod is under the genre of R&B. Whoever thought the term was going to go out of fashion, was clearly wrong.
In hip-hop history there are two types of black. Black, like back in the 70’s when hip-hop was first coming out and black as in mainstream black. Both are very different forms.
ReplyDeleteBlackness back in the early 70’s were blacks, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Latinos, basically anyone who had colored skin. Blackness was a brother/sisterhood in the Bronx were they would relate with each other. (1/30 Lecture) This blackness in early rap is mostly focused on social issues like socio-economic problems, gang violence, drug abuse, police brutality, material deprivation and lack of political voice. In the article by Nelson George, the source asked both Bam and Herc whether or not “all the people who came out to the shows were black”. Bam replied with “Record companies, yeah they were still Black.” (Hip-Hop’s Founding Fathers Speak the Truth)
Later on in the article George asked “Who owns hip-hop now?” Both Bam and Herc replied…”Whites”. (Hip-Hop’s Founding Fathers Speak the Truth) This brings me to the current day definition of blackness in hip-hop. The white producers now control what blackness is. In the documentary the film producer asked an aspiring rapper why he rapped about violence and gunplay. The rapper said, “we rap like that because that’s what is going to get us a deal.” (Hip-hop beyond Beats and Rhymes) Meaning the white producers are restricting what rap artist say so they can make money because old school lyrics aren’t what mainstream listeners want to listen to and redefining blackness in hip-hop.
The music genre known as hip hop revolves around terms such as “blackness” and “manhood”. For class this week, we watched the documentary “Hip-hop beyond Beats and Rhymes”. According to the documentary, manhood means be strong, violent, have a lot of girls, be a player/pimp, dominate and control others, etc. If you do not possess those characteristics, you are seen as weak and a pussy. Your physical appearance must be masculine and you show people that you have power. You cannot show your emotions by crying in front of others. Females are objectified by black men as sex objects. The video describes Nelly’s music video to “Pimp Juice” as being a reflection to how black women are viewed. Black men don’t view sexism and misogyny towards women as important issues. Instead they focus more on racism, police brutality and black male incarceration. A few statistics from the video include “1 in 4 black women are raped after the age of 18” and “Black women are 35% more likely to be physically assaulted than white women.” Moving on from the documentary video to the readings, hip hop is one significant variable that changed African Americans’ roles in society. Up until the early 1960’s, African Americans were still degraded by society. Then came the artists Sly Stone, with songs like “Sing a Simple Song” and “Stand” (George 49). Soon after, Motown began changing and the Temptations had a growing popularity.
ReplyDeleteBlackness equals Power. In the past rappers like NWA or Ghetto Boys wrote lyrics pertaining to police brutality, drug addiction, and lack of political and social voice or gang violence. Now and days I feel like Blackness equal Power but in the way of which is only known when rapper flash and throw money or by degrading women by making them dancing around . In lecture we talked about W.E.B. Dubois and his thoughts on “double consciousness” which is how African Americans view themselves, individually and as groups through the eyes of the society they live. I, myself did not know much about the Black culture but I learned to define the Culture through hip hop music. Before lecture my portrayal of hip hop was fun club music with absolute no meaning but a catchy beat, and as a way of showing male dominance by degrading women and flashing money. Because of my lack of knowledge I portrayed Blacks as only that. I did so because like W.E.B Dubois said “double consciousness” is the way African Americans view themselves and judging from artists like Soulija boy, Pitbull, and Big Sean fortune and Women is all society should care about. In the past it seemed like rappers preached about the problems that they were faced. The music told stories and gave history. Because of lecture I know have a better understanding and appreciation for the history behind hip hop music and Blackness is power and talent.
ReplyDeleteHip-hop’s culture is based on Blackness, which is defined as the “sonic, oral ,visual ,stylistic, artistic, social, political embodied and/or theatrical expression of the life experiences of people of African Decent in Africa and the Africa Diaspora.” However, according to Byron Hurt in his documentary “Hip-hop Beyond Beats and Rhymes” the Blackness in Hip-hop is strongly based on the black male, and the stereotypes based around him. Hurt notes that the strong themes around Hip-hop have introduced stereotypes such as: the braggadocio, the objectifying of women, and the homophobic nature. According to Hurt, these themes have a destroyed Hip-hop and have completely changed what Hip-hop is about. At one point, Hurt questions an amateur rapper why he refuses to rap about more “real” issues. The rapper retorts that if he did, he would never get a deal. He believes that nobody wants to hear that message in Hip-hop. This ultimately poses the question : is there any hope for Hip-hop to break free the chains of these specific themes? The popular rapper and member of Public Enemy, Chuck D answers this question. He feels that the power for Hip-hop to change lies within the black man.
ReplyDeleteFrom the beginning of hip-hop in the South Bronx, it has been associated racially with having the component described as blackness. An outsider may see that term and automatically assume African American, but it is much more than that. As described by Africa Bambaataa in the conversation from the George article, he says, “that when we say Black we mean all our Puerto Rican or Dominican brothers. Wherever the hip-hop was and the Blacks was, the Latinos and Puerto Ricans was, too.” (George 49). Even though there was more ethnic background included with blackness, the majority of blackness came from Africa and African Diaspora. (Lecture 1/30). For example African Diaspora played an enormous role of Africa Bambaataa’s venture into the world of hip-hop. He describes how the movie Zulu created inspiration for him by seeing black people coming together to fight for their land, which is evident in his connection to the Zulu Nation. (George 49) Blackness is a sense of community between many different people, whether it is identified in hip-hop as language, with slang, styles of self-adornment such as baggy clothes, “bling”, and gaudy jewelry, or gestures like breaking moves, and giving the pound. (Lecture 1/30). Blackness is also known as a brotherhood, or sisterhood, of oneness and just as Mos Def, of Black Star, closes out the song “Astronomy” by saying “Now black people unite, and let’s all get down.”
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ReplyDeleteDylan Woodard
ReplyDeleteThe term that we discussed in lecture, “Blackness” in Hip Hop, has a different meaning than what most people would first believe. From the lecture, I learned blackness is not just simply referring to African Americans. Blackness covers a wide range of people that can be of any race that grew up in the poor conditions and looked down upon from the white people that had more money and higher lifestyle. Blackness was everywhere in their life, it was the way they held themselves, viewed others, dressed and just an overall life style. After watching “Hip-Hop beyond Beats and Rhymes”, I get the picture that most of what MC’s are rapping about is to show how much power they have. The video explained how having “status”, women and being strong (physically and emotionally) was showing how much power these rappers had. The video by Kanye West, “Power” ties the lecture about blackness into the Beyond Beats and Rhymes video. In this video, Kanye is standing between pillars that symbolize a gate to new and powerful things. The message I get from this video is that the power in our world is not based on elected officials, but the people who see themselves as between the pillars. An important line in the song that backs that up is “In this white man’s world, we the ones chosen”. So the way people like Kanye see and express themselves is a large part of what blackness is. From the reading, Bam tells about how he would fight racism in the club by saying “If you don’t let my Blacks or Puerto Ricans in, I’m going to leave.” He said they started getting power in the clubs from this. Since they had large crews, more clubs allowed the hip hop scene to emerge.
Blackness in hip-hop does not just represent how black people feel about each other but how white people view them too. WEB Dubois proposed the idea of a double consciousness, but it did not cease when segregation was abolished. If there were one group who accentuated blackness in hip-hop more than any group, it would have been Public Enemy. In 1991 they released a song titled "By the Time I Get to Arizona." This song was about Arizona Governor Evan Mecham, and the people of Arizona voting down a proposal to make Martin Luther King Day a national holiday by 17,000 votes. "I guess King did a lot for the colored people, but I don't think he deserves a national holiday," said Mecham before the vote. In the song chuck D says: "Yeah, he appear to be fair/The cracker over there/He try to keep it yesteryear/The good ol' days/The same ol' ways/That kept us dyin'..." Chuck is explaining how even though it is only a holiday; there is undoubtedly racism still prevalent in the United States. In Chuck's eyes, if we were equal, then they would accept MLK day as a holiday, like every other state in America (other than New Hampshire). In "Fight the Power," Chuck D talks about how so-called "American Heroes" were very racist, and today, are still idolized. Public Enemy and many other artists were notorious for critiquing the social constructs in America and how segregation was not entirety dead.
ReplyDeleteMany know hip-hop as a genre of music, but it is far more complex than that. Hip-hop has a history and a story that can only be learned if one looks back at the beginning. The term “Blackness” is often used when referring to hip-hop culture but it does not refer to the color of one’s skin. Blackness is the idea of power, or knowledge within the hip-hop world. This style of music began because the youth in the Bronx and other rough areas of New York wanted to voice their unhappiness and stand for something. However, they weren’t just African Americans. Impoverished Puerto Ricans, Latinos, Dominicans, and even Caucasians were speaking out. Blackness refers to the people who chose music and art as a way to speak out against the inequalities placed upon them. As Afrika Bambaataa said in an interview by George Nelson, “Hip-hop has also had a force to unite people together. You have all people of color trying to understand what’s happening with the Black problem” (52). Now the hip-hop culture involves far more than just music. It is made up of codes that can only be understood by those involved. There are styles to follow, languages to be spoken, and beliefs to be had. One cannot fully understand the music if they do not research and try to understand these codes. Blackness helps make up hip-hop and it forms an identity for many. It signifies strength and being in control and after a lifetime of being mistreated, those who relate to this blackness want to display it for the world to see and hip-hop offers this opportunity for many.
ReplyDeleteBlackness in Hip-Hop is sonic, visual, stylistic, artistic social, political embodied and/or theatrical expression of life experiences of people of African descent in Africa and the African Diaspora. It is usually shaped by class and gender status. Hip-Hop's blackness is often conflicted with African-American culture. Ways that African-Americans express blackness in Hip-Hop is through language, style of self-adornment, and gestures.
ReplyDeleteHip-Hop is a genre of musical expression that has its own culture and language. It started in the South Bronx in the African and Hispanic communities in the 70's. They used Hip-Hop to express their daily life and brought up topics like poverty and the lack of social Opportunities. Hip-Hop is sonic, visual, oral, aural, and embodies codes.
The term blackness has had a major impact on what hip-hop is today. The term arises from the expression of a sonic, oral, visual, stylistic, artistic, social, political or theoretical, origination from people of African descent. It is shaped and influenced by class and gender status (1/30 Lecture), but is not limited to just African Americans, but also includes Puerto Ricans, Latino’s and Dominicans (Founding Fathers). Due to the influence of social commentary, it is the expressions of social, economic and political factors that shape racial identifications. These factors include, reactions to depressed living conditions, lack of political and social voice, social inequality, police brutality and drug addictions (1/30 Lecture). “The cops actually had a secret organization that would roll on gang members,” (Bam, Founding Fathers). These influential factors are what have shaped the racial identifications for blackness. Without the influence of blackness, the early stages of hip-hop wouldn’t have begun. For example, using blackness as a musical expression helped to create Blues Music in 1890, with its diverse expressions of blackness shaped by different regions, Ragtime, Rock n’ Roll and Soul Music during the Civil Rights Era, The Disco Era starting in the early 70’s, and many other types of musical expressions. The relationship of blackness and hip-hop soon became a brotherhood/sisterhood based on shared racial, ethnic, socio-economic and cultural traditions. It became a space for young people to seek and earn respect when they were being ignored. It also became a performance of power and masculinity, with verbal ability, reacting to social alienation and suggesting violence (1/30 Lecture).
ReplyDeleteBlackness in hip hop is the most powerful historical value that the hip-hop genre has. Blackness is extremely important to the genre of hip hop for many reasons. The first reason is rebellion. In my opinion the blacks who perform hip-hop are getting there opinions and views out to the world. For example look at groups like public enemy. In one of Public Enemies biggest hits fight the power they have a line that says “Cause I’m black and I’m proud I’m ready and hyped plus I’m amped most of my heroes don’t appear on no stamps.” This line from fight the power is a perfect example of how blackness is represented and used in hip-hop. Another example why blackness is so important to hip-hop is because it shares stories. Before hip-hop it was hard for a Blackman from the Bronx to get his story out to the world. A perfect example of this is Grandmaster Flash’s the message. He says in this song “Rats in the front room roaches in the back Junkies in the alley with a baseball hat.” This line explains how hard it was growing up in the hood. The final reason why blackness is so important to hip-hop is because of how it was founded. Hip-hop was founded and based on the Blackman, starting all the way back with artists like Kool DJ Herc and Afrikaa Bambaataa. “ The camaraderie of these rivals-tuned-griots, the good humor in there remembrances and the vivid descriptions of epic park parties are a powerful contrast to the Black-on-Black crime that scars much contemporary hip-hop.” (George, 45) This is a perfect example of how blackness was supposed to be represented through hip-hop when it was founded, and where the current state of hip-hop is today.
ReplyDeleteHip-Hop has changed. Its history is now a mystery. The initial reason hip-hop started was to create a way to express the struggles of the black community. Where we went wrong first was on trying to define blackness. Then we threw away “The Message” and went with what got us paid. All in all the education of and within hip-hop ceased. Starting with the ideal of blackness in hip-hop and its definition. Being black is not just a skin color or an ethnic background. It is that plus a feeling of material deprivation, lack of political voice, social inequality, and lack of opportunity. African Americans are not the only group that goes through these oppressive states. Therefore black is a state of being not a color line as W.E.B Dubois describes. Next when we threw out “The Message” we committed the crime of executing the purpose for hip-hop. Hip-hop is a tool on how to gain power. However that form of power has shifted from political and social power to primarily economic wealth. Just like the fading of black history month, the roots of hip-hop are dwindling. Ask any youth what hip-hop is about, and I bet they don’t say knowledge as KRS-One refers to it. In order to be black we must know what that means. And to understand blackness we must find our roots and our roots are in the drums.
ReplyDeleteThe very first word that comes into my mind when I think about Hip-Hop culture is Blackness. You may ask me why I think like that. I will say it is not only because our key word for this week is “Blackness and Hip-Hop”, but also because when I get in touch with Hip-Hop culture, all the frames in the music video gives me a direct impression like a big black man with “bling-bling” jewelry around their necks and wrists and rapping in that music video. First of all, I just think this is only part of American culture. Due to there is different culture, racial, ethnic and national boundaries in this big country. But as time went by, I found that most of the Hip-Hop stars are blackness. This reminds me to think about the relationship between Hip-Hop and the blackness in American.
ReplyDeleteHip-Hop is original starts at South Bronx in the Big Apple. At that time, the African Americans were not having a good social status. Most of them were living and growing in lower social status. But this cannot stop genius were born from the African Americans. The four keys in Hip-Hop culture provide enough evidence for the African Americans in the fine arts fields. They have talents in singing, dancing and drawing.
Why all the big black man likes to wear jewelry and their theme of their song is all about cash money, power, and crime? It is a kind of tell other people that African Americans can make money and improve their social status through their Mic.
All of the issues gathered together and become the unique Hip-Hop culture and make Hip-Hop become a pop culture not only in American but also in world famous. It is a very important way that helps blackness to improve their social status and makes the variety culture in American more and more colorful.
When discussing “blackness” in hip hop, it is “often conflated with African-American culture” (Lecture). The problem is, blackness is not just a part of African-American culture. Blackness, by definition, is the “sonic, oral, visual, stylistic, artistic, social, political embodied and theatrical expression of life experiences of people of African descent in Africa AND African diaspora” (Lecture). A great example of this is when Afrika Bambaataa said “Now one thing people must know, that when we say Black we mean all our Puerto Rican or Dominican brothers” (George 49). But, African-American’s express their blackness in hip hop by the way they speak (with the use of a lot of slang), dress (diamond chains and baggy pants), and with embodied gestures (special handshakes, crotch grabbing). W.E.B. DuBois also coined the term “double consciousness” (Lecture), which means a “sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others.” This can cause much stress for African-American’s because they are often having to make social decisions based on not only what they think is right, but what they think society expects them to do. A song that is great at expressing state of mind of early hip hop is “Fight The Power” by Public Enemy. The songs third verse is so powerful to me. It brings up black pride and their distaste for old white power. Flavor Flav steals the show for me. He says “Mother fuck him and John Wayne” on a record (him referring to Chuck D’s previous reference to Elvis). Talk about a statement. That right there is a perfect example of social commentary, which blackness in early in early hip hop was all about.
ReplyDeleteThe problematic social construction called “Blackness” is the result of America’s binary color-sorting system. The category of “Blackness” lumps together a culturally diverse group of people simply because they “aren’t White”. The sweeping social generalizations made by the term “Black” share the homogenizing language that made “Black” and “hip-hop” almost synonymous. Hip-hop culture and “Blackness” both generally refer to urban communities, which, as mentioned in the documentary “Hip-hop beyond Beats and Rhymes”, caused “Black culture” to become entangled with harsh urban slang, depressed living conditions, violence, and subjugation of women. As mentioned in Persley’s lecture, aspects such as language, self adornment, and embodied gestures became ways to express “Blackness” and “hip-hop culture”. Yet hip-hop is not inherently “Black”; it is a product of its urban environment, just as the racial category of “Black” is a product of its socioeconomic context. The idea that “Blackness” is a created concept is proven by the way that Puerto Ricans are typically considered part of “Black culture” despite the fact that they share minimal physical resemblance or cultural traditions with other Black Americans. As immigrants, Puerto Ricans generally faced the same racial discrimination and inhabited the same urban communities as Black Americans. Therefore, they developed close ties and a similar “culture” to both hip-hop and “Blackness” as mentioned by Bam when he talks about standing up for “my Blacks and Puerto Ricans” when “fighting racism down in the club scene” (53).
ReplyDelete“The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line,” Du Bois wrote in 1903, as if to install the notion that the shade of one’s skin is so profound that it would ultimately decide one’s destiny. Needless to say, the validity of his statement has been evident in our past and is visible in our future. Blackness in America is a dynamic term for which we try and define by categorization, but its hard to define a "black America" without including the numerous cultural hearths contributing to its evolution and stature in our society. One example in light of hip-hop music was the innovative contributions of dominican, puerto-rican, and jamaican cultures. Although not from Africa, these cultures identified with black normative values by things like vernacular, self-adornment, breaking, and pursuance of innovation-amidst an array of social odds. Greg Tate would state that "hip-hop was not born in a vacuum." In that, it has many influences driving the history and the evolution of the music which was established by the likes of Kool DJ Herc and Afrika Bambaataa. Bambaataa (credits to Zulu nation) would go on to say in an interview with Nelson George: "that when we say Black we mean all our Puerto Rican or Dominican brothers." Blackness in America, it seems, is a dichotomous dynamic construct with a web of notions expanding to the individual, the community, and the nation as a whole. If we take the example hip-hop music and appreciate both its roots and its progression, maybe we can apply it to other sections of American substance for the betterment of our society.
ReplyDeleteHip-hop is … the constancy of their lives. (Nelson George) Early hip-hop was a big stepping stone for young minorities to have a voice. Socially this gave them “power” to speak out against inequalities even though economically wasn’t making a dent. Later hip-hop, present hip-hop, socially has changed since their lyrical messages have been altered to focus on sex, money, and manhood. (Hip-hop beyond Beats and Rhymes documentary) This is a result of the fact that having bitches and money sells. Economically, they are universal in the fact that they are selling massive amounts of albums and can go to France or England and see Hip-hip groups “doing they thang.” (Afrika Bambaataa) The first big stereotype associated with Hip-hop is that its “black music.” When you really understand what “black music” or blackness consists of, you realize it’s NOT just African Americans. Blackness should be used in context to refer to any dark skinned person who lived, or is living with inequalities, and therefore can relate to the issues spoken in Hip-hop’s lyrics/culture. However, many make the mistake in linking blackness and African Americans. “Now one thing people must know, that when we say Black we mean all our Puerto Rican and Dominican brothers.” (Afrika Bambaataa) Blackness was and still is a brotherhood/sisterhood. (1/30 Lecture) This easily turns into a power play. Now you have all these young rappers trying “to make it.” Who has the most money, and who has more is a direct reflection of power. The irony is that Hip-hop is said to be owed by the “white industry” because in the end, they are the ones putting out the albums and signing pay checks. (Documentry) Sadly, “black” rappers can have as much money as Donald Trump, but will still be referred to as “black.”
ReplyDeleteThe term “blackness” and its association with hip-hop has played the role of, almost subliminally, continuing a long standing tradition of story-telling to a mass audience. I only say subliminally because, for example, if you first listen to a song like “Changes” by Tupac Shakur and you might only notice the catchy chorus or the the beat. In reality, this song depicts struggles of the black population in poverty stricken communities. The term “blackness”, meaning sharing of expressions of African Americans in the population of the United States, has seemed to change meanings over the past few decades (Hodges Persley). During hip-hop’s 1970’s inception in Brooklyn, the genre met “blackness” when DJ’s around the city took a page from traditional African American cultural practices by vocally calling for the crowd’s attention. Hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa took “blackness” to a whole new level when he created the hip-hop culture group known as the Zulu Nation, basing the name off of the Zulu people in Africa (Nelson 45). The idea that “blackness” element in hip-hop meant was the sharing of stories of ethnic and cultural traditions soon shifted into more stories about socioeconomic conditions and racial tensions throughout America. Hip-hop artists soon started to glamorize the violence that occurred during their upbringing in gang-infested communities, creating a trend of violent and gang related lyrics in hip-hop songs (“Hip-hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes”). From going from African cultural traditions in hip-hop to focusing on violence, the meaning of “blackness” has evolved right with hip-hop itself.
ReplyDeleteDouble Consciousness. “…two-ness,—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body” (Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk). We discussed W.E.B. Du Bois’ concept of double consciousness in lecture on Monday, and a question was posed about how it affects black mobility in society, politics, and culture. If an individual cannot openly express himself without having to appeal to both his culture and another’s and he must constantly censor the things he says in the media, when is his voice truly heard?
ReplyDeleteIndividuality, expression, and power in black culture have all suffered due to double consciousness, and the complexity of black culture is being conflated because of it. Blackness has become an all-encompassing definition of any individual—Dominican, Jamaican, African American, and Puerto Rican—of non-Caucasian ethnicity. Certain styles of self-adornment, language, and embodied gestures are singularly linked to black culture (Lecture 1/30), and it is not to say that these characteristics of hip-hop and blackness are innately bad. But mainstream media has taken these labeled characteristics only to utilize them for diluting the heart and soul of historical hip-hop.
“Hip Hop: Beyond the Beats and Rhymes” addresses the issue of mainstream media themes in hip-hop. These themes reinforce stereotypes and misdirect viewers from the underlying social commentary of police brutality, drug addiction, material deprivation, and depressed living conditions. People want to ignore the problems of existing social relations, (Lecture 1/30) and mainstream media’s themes in hip-hop only further progress the ability of American society to do so.
As described in the documentary “Hip-Hop beyond Beats and Rhymes”, America is a very hyper masculine country, not only in music but in movies and television as well. This masculinity that is portrayed causes the males and females of our society to want to be like those characters in the movies and T.V. What rappers do to show their masculinity is to either rap about being tough or in their music videos they throw money at the camera and have a bunch of nearly naked women dancing around them to show that they are the men that you want to be because they have all the money and women you could ever want. According to Dr. Jelani Cobb from Spelman College these actions are just men “denying their own frailty”. By hiding their frailty they are putting on a façade of blackness. This “blackness” is very ego driven and all rappers are guilty of this. There are many different ways to portray your blackness, some people as mentioned before like to show it in their music videos, some like to portray it with their language, styles of self-adornment, and their embodied gestures (1/30 Lecture). They feel that the only way to be a “man” is to be hard and degrade men and women alike.
ReplyDeleteWhen people think of hip-hop some may automatically think of blackness. Hip-hop isn’t entirely all about being black. There is a larger idea behind hip-hop that not many know or understand. Also, blackness is not just a race or ethnicity, but it can be defined as a culture. Those who have experienced poverty or class struggles can define themselves as being “black,” like Vanilla Ice did. Blackness can also be defined by expressing political and social differences. To me, hip-hop isn’t just for African Americans. You see Jewish people rapping like Matisyahu incorporating a reggae rap and he is still considered hip-hop. Artists like Matisyahu have changed America’s idea of blackness in relation to hip-hop. I have noticed though that “blackness” may still be present. The rapper MGK doesn’t have his own style of rap, he sounds like an aggressive rapper like many of the African American rappers. Hip-hop has changed social inequality and you can see that through what’s popular now days and in the media. For example, to get viewers interested I have some rappers in commercials, or people even rapping. In my personal opinion, hip-hop does effect our culture, some ways it can be bad, some can be good.
ReplyDeleteWhen one says, “hip-hop” most people assume it has to do with blackness; however, there is no color line in hip-hop. The color line gets drawn by society. According to the founding fathers of hip-hop Latinos and Puerto Ricans were with the hip-hop movement just as much as blacks were (George 49). Blackness is really a sonic, oral, visual, stylistic, artistic, social, political embodied and/or theatrical expression of life experiences (Lecture 1/30). Early hip-hop culture played a major role in pushing the racial boundary. MCs would rap about life experiences such as material deprivation, lack of political and social value, social inequality, etc. to bring it to everyone’s attention. They were using music to make a stand and send a message. Some might say that hip-hop from today doesn’t fit this blackness definition. They might associate “blackness” to wearing baggy clothes, having golden chains, money, and women all around you (Hip-hop beyond Beats and Rhymes). Heck the founding fathers feel this way, “Today it gets sickening with the disrespecting of self…. and women,” (George 53). For the most part they are right it’s all about the “bling”; however, I believe there are big name rappers today that use their voice for social commentary. But we as a society don’t listen to it; we listen for the head bangers or club hits. Lil Wayne in “Georgia Bush” calls out President Bush for not saving the black people during Hurricane Katrina. Another example is Lupe Fiasco in “Words I Never Said” where he talks about political value and social inequality. The title of this song defines our society today from that of the early 70s. Today we are scared to stand up and say something against the wrong, we just care about ourselves. So we shouldn’t be surprised that hip hop is that way, after all music helps define generations.
ReplyDeleteBlackness is a huge part of hip-hop culture. It’s the expression of experiences from people of African and Latino descent. Its connection to hip-hop music originates from the desire to express power, and blackness equates power. Today, this power is expressed both sonically and visually through lyrics and music videos. The documentary Hip-Hop Beyond Beats and Rhymes examines the concept of masculinity that permeates hip-hop culture today. In order to prove one’s masculinity and power, a rapper will insult others in his lyrics, rap about violence and portray himself as a sexual god in his music videos. It’s interesting to compare this competitive and confrontational aspect of hip-hop to the hip-hop culture that Flash, Bambaataa and Herc talk about in George Nelson’s article. The founding fathers discuss the roots of hip-hop in parks and block parties. Throughout the interview, they credit and compliment each other on their accomplishments and talent. There is clearly mutual respect among these men. However, today’s hip-hop is generally more competitive, with artists bashing each other and claiming that they’re better than the rest. Blackness in hip-hop has transformed over time from the expression of power over circumstance to power over peers. This is not the case for all rappers of today, but as the documentary points out, obvious displays of masculinity are prevalent in current mainstream hip-hop music.
ReplyDelete“You got people who are opening the door that are out there now who ain’t paying no mind where the history came from (George 54)” Afrika Bambaataa along with many of the early hip hop artists fear that the ways that they came to hip hop through the history and the appreciation of their societies and cultures is changing as time goes on. People are forgetting the fact that hip hop came from a long historical continuum of responses to the environment, specifically during times of struggle. For instance, during the time of segregation between whites and minorities in America, Dubois introduced this idea of the color line and double consciousness. He began to realize that because of this vivid line and the obvious view of minorities as inferior to whites caused African Americans specifically to view themselves through societies eyes and begin to see themselves in a similar light. Hip Hop created a sense of power in African American’s, it gave the youth an escape from this segregation and their poverty, drug, crime filled lives in later years. Many people in the United States have clearly associated hip hop to the African American community, simply that if you’re black, you either like hip hop or are a part of it in some way. This created the assumption that hip-hop and blackness were together, mutual, and that they go hand in hand. Yet, as we can see through the understanding of the historical aspects of hip hop, we find it wasn’t just African Americans, “where the hip hop was and the blacks was the Latinos and the Puerto Ricans was too (George 49).” Blackness is the sonic, oral, visual, stylistic, artistic, social, political and theatrical expression of life in different societal and cultural backgrounds relating back to African descent (Persley). This “blackness” includes expressions of African American culture as well as the other numerous cultures that influenced much of what hip hop has evolved to today and it seems that gets lossed in the assumption of hip hop merely being a “black thing.”
ReplyDeleteBlackness and DuBois’s term double-consciousness can be used interchangeably in hip-hop. Blackness is what white people see when they see hip-hop because all they saw were rappers of color until very recently, but also rappers live up to the term through how they carry themselves and what they rap about, which intrigues the record-signers, again usually white people. The thing that I wonder about though is who called it Blackness in the first place. Was it white people or people of color?
ReplyDeleteI see Blackness in hip-hop the way Byron Hurt sees it with his documentary, Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes. It is a reputation to be strong both physically and verbally, tough, and a player or a pimp in heteronormative relationship. Today, it is all about having a lot of money and a lot of power (Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes). We also discussed other characteristics in lecture like having “street edge” and “the capacity to invoke or suggest violence” (Lecture 1/30). Otherwise, you will be called “Pussy,” “Soft,” or “Weak.” On the other hand, I found out in lecture that Blackness is way more than what it just looks like on the surface. “Blackness is a sonic, oral, visual, stylistic, artistic, social, embodied and/or theatrical expression of life experiences..” (Lecture 1/30). The reason I left out the rest of the definition of Blackness mentioned in lecture is because we also said that it does not only apply to people of African descent but also Latinos and Puerto Ricans.
“Blackness” (lecture 1-30) plays a huge role in the music scene and is now inner weaved with many lifestyles, whether from suburbia or the ghetto. It has grabbed an audience that is so wide spread that most people didn’t see it ever happening. As a matter of fact the mainstream even tried to keep this music and trend from getting as big by putting limitations on music but it obviously didn’t work. Blackness is defined as, “the sonic, oral, visual, stylistic, artistic, social, political embodied and theatrical expression of life experiences of people of African descent in Africa and African diaspora” (lecture 1-30). But in today’s world not all African Americans have that “blackness,” like Colin Powell for example. People like the Beastie Boys, Eminem, and Yelawolf are all white and all have their own swag, whether you consider this swag as “blackness” or not, it still played a huge limiting factor with the outcome of their “self-adornment” (lecture 1-30). Hip Hop has changed drastically from its past in every aspect of the game. Hip Hop use to be all about people struggle and is now more about money and girls. What was once considered “race music” (before world war two) (lecture 1-30) has now become one of the most popular forms of music today among people as a whole, not judging by the color of their skin.
ReplyDeleteBlackness and Hip-hop are both monumental terms when thinking about the social, cultural and economic conditions that produced Hip-hop in its early stages. Through the lectures and readings, it is clear that Hip-hop has always been viewed as a “black” or African American genre of music. Blackness is meant to represent and express power and Hip-hop artists today signify and boast of that power consistently through the music they make. Hip-hop artists also express their power through the music videos they make for their songs, the clothes they wear… actually anything a Hip-hop artist does, is a representation of their power as an artist of the genre. Kanye West even has a song entitled, “Power”, with the lyrics in the chorus being “No one man should have all that power.” Hip-hop can be compared to sports in the way that rappers are very competitive with each other and always want to outdo each other. I understand blackness as a way of how someone in the genre expresses himself or herself. Though blackness represents power, artists in the genre I feel are very aware of society’s negative view on Hip-hop and embrace the power they have and want to boast not just to other rappers, but to society as a whole. For example, in the song “So Appalled” (Kanye West, Jay-Z, CyHi The Prynce, Pusha T, Swizz Beats, RZA), in Pusha T’s verse he says “CNN said I’d be dead by 21.” A lot of rappers have had lyrics similar to Pusha T, and I feel like that is a good example of blackness and Hip-hop and how they are interrelated.
ReplyDeleteThe historical influences of hip-hop and the origins of this music are obvious on a surface level, though somewhat vague. Most people are aware of the reasoning behind the formation of this music, as we discussed in class it became a space for young people to find and earn the respect they desired when they were being ignored. If one were to take a survey however, hip-hop would almost unanimously be equated with the African American population. Even in something as little as telling my roommates that I was taking a hip-hop class got a few confused looks for laughs, as in, “why is this white, suburban, sorority girl taking that class?” Predominantly, hip-hop as a whole is associated with being black. This does however lump a larger group of people together than perhaps it should, the idea of ‘blackness’ and what most American today would consider African Americans completely neglects the Latin side of the music and culture. In the interview with Kool DJ Herc, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash they even point to the fact that it isn’t just those black people of Africa descent, “when we say Black we mean all our Puerto Rican or Dominican brothers. Wherever the hip-hop was and the Blacks was, the Latinos and the Puerto Ricans was, too.” Over time, however, things have seemed to stray farther away from the origins of being a shared place to express what was going on in the lives of the Black culture, Bambaataa even says later that the white industry is now running and controlling hip-hop because they are the top executives determining what music is played and produced. While some artists still make music about what they know and stick to the ‘traditional’ sense of what hip-hop is supposed to be, and while others have strayed a great deal from that, the general consensus remains that this is definitely music for the “Blacks,” however that word is meant.
ReplyDeleteBlackness is an essential part of hip-hop that has strict ties to the social, cultural and economic conditions on almost every level. The term can be defined as a “sonic, oral, visual, stylistic, artistic, social, political embodied and/or theatrical expression of life experiences of people of African descent in Africa and the African Diaspora” (Lecture 1-30). This idea is definitely a cornerstone to hip-hop culture but there are many misconceptions that are attributed to this idea. One of the main one being that it is strictly assigned to African American racial and cultural identity. This is not true because the way that a black person from Haitian descent expresses blackness could be radically different than that of an African American.
ReplyDeleteAlthough blackness in hip-hop has significantly affected black culture, that does not mean that it hasn’t affected other races and cultures as well. For example, if you are white and you were raised in a primarily dominant black community, you are more likely to adapt to those cultural characteristics and embodied gestures rather than what most people would consider “normal white behavior”. As we discussed in lecture on Monday, these expressions are always shaped by class and gender statuses. These same statuses have negatively affected blackness in many ways though. As Byron Hurt explained in “Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhyme”, a majority of rappers feel this need to exert a powerful presence through lyrical content that often times deals with murder, intimidation, homophobia among several other characteristics.
From the get go, hip-hop has been linked to the term “blackness.” Blackness doesn’t only refer to African Americans because many Latinos, Puerto Ricans and Dominicans are also thought to be included and associated with this term (George, 49). Blackness is thought to be oral, visual, stylistic, artistic, social, and political style shaped by class and gender status (Lecture 01/30). “Blackness” can be expressed by ways of language, such as slang, styles, such as baggy clothes and “bling”, and also gestures, such as giving the pound or giving the hand (Lecture 01/30). African Americans had to start viewing themselves in the dominant cultures view as well as their own. This practice coined the term “double consciousness,” in which African Americans had to work to meet the social standards of society when making decisions. Many African American artists grew up in the slums, and in poverty, in bad neighborhoods. Many people ignored the problems and weren’t willing to help the conditions better in the inner cities. That’s why many African American artists rap about how they made it somewhere in life. The white cultures, or the dominant cultures always thought they had the power, and in Kanye’s song “Power”, he talks about how he made it in life and he holds that power to himself. He says, “In this white man world, we the one’s chosen,” because it’s the African Americans, and the Puerto Ricans, and the Dominicans singing about their poverty. They grew up in the slums, but look where they are today. No one person ca hold power over them, because they have their own power.
ReplyDeleteWhen studying hip-hop, the average person probably sees exactly what is there. Hip-hop to the normal eye is just a bunch of people, who are rapping about certain content. If you look at it that way, it doesn't have much substance or deepness to it. However, after learning about the term "blackness" and other aspects of African American rap in the culture, I think hip-hop is much different. People obviously know the mainstream rappers of people like Kanye, Jay-Z, Rick Ross, etc. However, if people don't choose to be aware and knowledgable of the roots of these people, then they are simply just MC's. I understand that blackness is a way of life for these rappers. Blackness is almost like the representation of your roots and upbringing. It defines the power and masculinity that these rappers have and they almost take pride in their different styles and levels of "blackness". I think that this has really challenged social equality because not so long ago blacks were considered unequal to whites. Now, people take pride in their blackness and it's literally a lifestyle for these rappers. I think it's very interesting and unique how something that at one point may have been deemed bad, is something that people take pride in. Hip-hop as a whole has really helped break down this racial barrier that our society has faced for as long as I can remember.
ReplyDeleteBlackness has continued to maintain its importance in the music and culture and hip-hop. It has been used as a tool of motivation and drive for hip-hop artists to express their views in their music and announce to the world that blackness isn’t something to be ashamed of. As the genre of hip-hop has become arguably the most dominant and popular genre of music in today’s society, the concept of expressing and praising blackness has become second nature to the various artists of the genre. A line in Black Star’s song “Astronomy” tells the importance of blackness and black people uniting together as one to maintain sense of camaraderie: “Black people unite and let’s all get down. We got to have what? We got to have that love” (lyricsfreak.com). This is a perfect example of hip-hop artists announcing to the world that they are proud to be black and shouldn’t be ashamed of expressing it. Blackness is also part of hip-hop artists telling the world about their stories of hardship. Lauryn Hill’s song “I Used To Love Him” discusses how she was able to overcome difficult obstacles in her life: “Torn and confused, wasted and used. Reached the crossroad which path would I choose” (lyricsfreak.com). This song by Lauryn Hill displays the other side of blackness in hip-hop that promotes a sense of hope and that if she can overcome these obstacles; it’s possible for any one else. Blackness in hip-hop gives artists the opportunity to express various sentiments of hope, unity and pride.
ReplyDeleteThe genre of hip hop has a strong historical and cultural relationship to blackness. One way that black people express their culture is through their lyrics. They rap about their culture and their experiences that they have had, and their struggles they have endured in their environment. They are proud of their blackness and use the music to help them tell their story. In Kanye West’s song ‘Power,’ he says, “In this white man world we the ones chosen. So goodnight cruel world, I’ll see you in the morning.” In saying this he is referring to white people and how they have been the traditionally favored race, but Kanye wants to raise the respect level for black people. Why shouldn’t black people have the same power as white people? He is showing his respect and how proud he is of being black. Another song that expresses pride and blackness is Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power.” In one line they say, “Elvis was a hero to most, but he never meant shit to me you see. Straight up racist that sucker was, simple and plain…Cause I’m black and I’m proud.” They are expressing their dislike for white people and their pride for their own race. They say “Cause I’m black and I’m Proud” which is referring to the James Brown song ‘Say it Loud—I’m Black and I’m proud’. They are basically saying while some think Elvis was a hero, their hero is James Brown.
ReplyDelete“Double Consciousness”, a term coined by W.E.B. Dubois, is defined as “African Americans viewing themselves, individually and as a group, through the eyes of the society they live in” (lecture 1/30). This really stuck out to me, because it shows that color is not always seen through family backgrounds, but also determined by the current community people live.
ReplyDeleteAnother term created by W.E.B. Dubois is “twoness”, and I think this is really an important word to examine when thinking about the keyword “blackness”. “Twoness” is “an American, a negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body…” (lecture 1/30). These are two conflicting ideals that need to come together to form ‘one’. We should be able to look at people as Americans that are black, as opposed to African Americans, which only relates people to being from Africa. So many black people were not born in Africa, but in the United States, as well as many other countries, and this should be recognized, and not all clumped into one category, African American.
In class on Monday (1/30), we learned about different ways that Blackness is expressed in hip-hop. It is expressed in the language of the verses, through slang and linguistic codes, as well as in the style of the artists, expressed though the external way they dress themselves. This could be in clothing and hairstyles, but also though symbols that show their racial and ethnic pride, such as jewelry or images related to Africa. Blackness in hip-hop can also be expressed in the embodied gestures, such as crotch grabbing and ‘pounding’ fists.
‘Blackness’ in hip-hop creates a brother or sister hood based on the shared traditions people can encounter. The artists are looking to relate and share a mutual respect with people who understand them, and this is something that was accomplished with the come up, and remaining popularity of hip-hop today.
d.cohen
ReplyDeleteIt is crazy to see how much hip-hop has changed when you look at the historical examples to today’s hip-hop. When focusing on this issue of blackness, one issue that was brought up in class to describe blackness was how hip-hop became a space for young people to seek and earn respect when they were being ignored by the state (Lecture notes, 30th). This was an example in the old hip-hop because a lot of the first rap videos were just of the rapper of him rapping about problems he was facing. One example is the Grandmaster Flash, the message video. It is basically just him in the screen and clips of the surrounding area. The video is of him expressing his problems about society and what is going on. This is how most rap videos were back then. The term blackness could also be described as the performance of blackness also came to be equated with a performance of power (Lecture notes, 30th). This can be seen in almost every video that is out today. These videos will have the rappers surrounded by girls and they will be flashing money and cars. The lyrics also have them saying how rich they are and how they run their towns. It is kind of mind-blowing to see the transformation of hip-hop and blackness throughout time.
Hip-hop, in its very definition, is strongly tied to blackness. As presented in lecture, Hip-hop is defined as “a set of sonic, visual, aural, and embodied codes of self-expression linked to African American culture. “ However, it must be made clear that blackness does not solely refer to African Americans. The Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Jamaicans and other ethnic groups all contributed greatly in the founding of Hip-hop and are included in this term “blackness.” The blackness in Hip-hop refers to the language, style of adornment, and embodied gestures, all of which are ideas presented in lecture, found in Hip-hop. For many closed minded individuals, anyone who speaks a certain way or carries themselves in a certain manner, a manner inspired or derived from Hip-hop, are said to be acting “black.” Black refers to someone’s racial identity, not how they act or carry themselves. Hip-hop became an outlet for individuals to “form a brother/sisterhood based on shared racial, ethnic, socio-economic, and cultural traditions (1/30 lecture.)” Hip-hop was a way for the otherwise unheard, to speak up and give life to their everyday struggles. Unfortunately, many feel that “brotherhood” Hip-hop created has all but fallen by the wayside. Afrika Bambaataa, a founder of Hip-hop, says “Today it gets sickening with the disrespecting of self. To me a lot of brothers and sisters lost knowledge of self. They’re losing respect of the “us syndrome” and getting into the “I syndrome” (George pg. 53.) The idea of unity and blackness within Hip-hop created a powerful stage for social and political commentary during Hip-hop’s early years. Sadly, that same unity is no longer present and black on black crime has become a more trendier topic than coming together to actually make a difference.
ReplyDeleteWhen describing the term Blackness, there are many different points that can be made. The term comes from the expression of a sonic, oral, visual, stylistic, artistic, social, political or theoretical, origination from people of African descent. It is crazy to look at how things are compared to back in the day. An interest shared between today and back in the day rappers, is that certain rappers rep their hoods, use rapping as a way of sharing news, or talk about political and social issues in their music. But at the same time, things have changed and done a complete 360 in some aspects. I believe that we still kind of stick to the roots of hip hop and rap, but as life goes on, and times change, technology advances, new people influence rap and hip hop in a new way, and change the game. Some people would say that it is for the better, and a lot of people think that they are ruining the industry, and aren't mentioning serious issues in their songs as much as they are just talking about women, money, and drugs. But if you look at the aspects of blackness such as the oral, visual, or artistic part of the game. I feel that the "now" generation is way improved in every way you look at it. That is mainly due to the fact that technology has changed so much, and people have had the past rappers and big named artists that have impacted the game, so the rappers had the chance to learn from some of them.
ReplyDeleteBlackness in Hip-hop may be a difficult term to define. It stems out of a certain cultural context, yet, as with most universal terms, it is sometimes difficult to state what each particular instance of blackness should look like. Yet, we can trace instances back to the beginning. We can ask those that consider themselves to have “blackness” who inspired them. In the George interview we see several innovative “founding fathers” that influenced generations of hip-hoppers. Each of these individuals didn’t necessarily start off with the bigger questions of a music they wanted to define, but worked with what they had in order to express themselves and appease crowds (George article). Who they were and their vision of the world naturally engrained themselves in their music. This may be why some rappers like Busta Rhymes or Jadakiss do not quickly condemn the hardcore rap that has been so popular across America (Hip-hop beyond Beats and Rhymes). Most of these rappers are just taking the reality of their lives and expressing them in music. However, in American culture some people are given a bigger megaphone to their voice, as it were, for an extensional purpose or voice. As Byron Hurt statistically demonstrates a majority of violent hip-hop content is sold to people outside of the roots of hip-hop culture, “whites.” What I have been trying to show is that there is a “blackness” that comes out of hip-hop, the stories of those who live that life, yet sometimes the whole picture is not as publicly demonstrated.
ReplyDeleteAs we discussed in lecture on 1/30, the concept of “blackness” has been present in hip-hop culture and music since its inception in the 1970s. The expression of blackness through hip-hop music has its roots in the Black Power and protest rhetoric of the 60s: a tradition of rejecting the oppressive culture of the dominant socio-economic class (“the Man”) which created the “double consciousness” described by WEB DuBois. However, as hip-hop survived and thrived, its commercial success has transformed what was intended to educate and shock (songs about urban blight, violence, etc.) into what is intended to sell well to suburban teenagers. Blackness can be commoditized, bought, sold and shared, and often the vehicle for this is the same hip-hop music and culture that encouraged its expression. While this has made hip-hop a “universal” phenomenon (lecture: 1/23, 1/30), it has also had negative consequences. In the essay “Hip Hop Turn 30: Watcha Celebratin’ For,” the threat of this rampant commercialism was described as nothing less than the “destruction of a people’s folkways,” a loss of the expression of Blackness. This kind of watering-down has happened to other forms of music and cultural expression, notably Heavy Metal, which can also boast a lineage of 1960s protest music (for example, Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs”) and has, with time and money, become easily accessible to the mainstream. Though hip-hop is more popular than ever, issues like these raise questions about its future as a vehicle for the expression of Blackness.
ReplyDeleteOver the years it is really has been interesting to see how much hip-hop has changed. When you think about hip-hop from years ago I think of guys like Dre and Tupac. Since then the hip-hop world has changed enormously. The word “blackness” to me is the way African Americans show the way they feel through their words. Blackness has changed over the past thirty years and will keep changing. Du Bois writes about how the problem with the twentieth century is the problem of the “color line.” Everything to this day is about race and ethnicity. The term "blackness" also deals with power. Today in hip-hop it is all about having the power. Showing you have the power by the way you dress, act, and masculinity are various ways to prove what you have done has been successful. "Blackness" gives people the chances to prove what they have done.
ReplyDeleteThis week’s readings and video were extremely interesting and both tied together extremely well. It is crazy how times have changed so much in just the Hip-Hop world. Started out as rappers rapping about their life and trying to earn respect; to now it is all about competing with each other. Herc, Flash, and Bam talked about how when they rapped they rapped because they loved it and they could tell their story. Now they said all its about is who has the most money or the most expensive cars. To me that was really interesting, but going back and listening to older songs compared to the newer ones it's so true.
ReplyDeleteAlso one thing that really interested me was the view they have one woman. In the past women didn't have a status or the opportunities the men had, and yet they were never degraded in rapper's songs. Where now that woman has a status they are degraded. In the interview they said if it wasn't for the woman, drug busts and shoot outs wouldn't have stopped. Woman now are just called "bitches, hoes, or whores" and are portrayed as promiscuous. Nelly's video "Tip Drill" brought on a lot of heat amongst the women population and how they are nothing but a piece of "ass", which is not okay, but at the same time some women have excepted that role and made it okay to be portrayed that way. I do blame the men for giving women that sense its okay, but at the same time it's going to take women to realize it's not okay for it to ever stop.
“Hip-hop” is more than just a form of artistic musical expression and representation of African-American culture; it is educational and historical tool. Hip-hop educates us about the shifting ideas of race during their different time periods. Racism surrounds us everywhere and Hip-hop artists use Hip-hop to express their frustrations through lyrics. There are artists out there that don’t say absolutely anything and are pretty much in it for the money but those select few that actually have something educational to say, do so by pushing racial, ethnic and nation boundaries to get their points across. “Blackness” plays a huge role in hip-hop because it is essentially what birthed hip-hop. The social experiences and political frustrations endured by people of African descent are expressed through lyrics created by those artists that actually went through it. Blackness in relationship to U.S. Hip-hop challenged social inequality by speaking to the public about the problem and constantly continuing to confront it.
ReplyDeleteThe term blackness in hip hop originates from many sources. Blackness is a social, sonic, oral, visual stylistic, artistic and political way of expression for the people of African descent in Africa and the African diaspora (1/30). Blackness can be expressed in the way people speak, dress and gesture. Baggy shirts and pants, and chains are considered to be “black”. Many rappers and MCs rep their hood and are proud to be from the city they are from. When hip hop first began to rise, the civil war had very recently ended, and rapping, dancing and making music was just a way to express a lot of anger, stress, and frustration. Rappers would rap about economic issues, such as their reactions to depressed living conditions and material deprivation. Historically, colored people did not have a political or social voice. It can be said that without all of the inequality and hardships from the past, hip hop would not be the same as it was today. Hip hop made people come together and form brotherhoods and sisterhoods. It became a gateway for expression and growth. The shifting idea of race is always happening, but it does not mean that racism is dead. Hip Hop culture has influenced my generation, and it allows people to learn to respect hip hop not only as a genre of music, but as an entire culture. Hip Hop challenges social inequality because many raps are about racism, injustice and coming from broken homes. Many rappers directly rap about the social and political issues that they are faced with everyday.
ReplyDeleteBlackness was something I associated with people of African descent in Africa and the African Diaspora but I never thought more broadly of this term. Especially relating to hip-hop, I didn’t consider how blackness is actually a “sonic, oral, visual, stylistic, artistic, social, political embodied and/or political expression” of these people’s life experiences (Persley Lecture). Kool DJ Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, and Grandmaster Flash are considered the “founding fathers of hip-hop music”(George). These founding fathers are associated with hip-hop and connected with certain language, styles of self-adornment and embodied gestures(Persley lecture). But for these artists, hip-hop is more than that, hip-hop “defines their past and affects their view of the future”(George.) After listening to Kanye West’s song, “Power,” and watching the music video, there are evident symbols in him standing at the entrance to the cruel and corrupt world, revealing the true power of those who stand behind these pillars. His video is a statement about how society idealizes certain images. Blackness is something that is expressed through lived and borrowed experiences; also in lecture we related the words “Blackness” and “power” to be synonymous with responding to social alienation, the idea of being a strong black man, the power to overcome environment and circumstances among other challenges. However, blackness is more complex than simply the representation of a troubled community. It can be mistaken and it can be ridiculed. But blackness is part of hip-hop and of what became an outlet for many talented individuals.
ReplyDeleteWhen looking at the origin of hip-hop and more so the genre in its entirety, blackness is a very prevalent part of the genre. Blackness is a social, sonic, oral, visual stylistic, artistic and political way of expression for the people of African descent in Africa and the African diaspora (1/30). As hip-hop took its roots in the northeast during the late 60’s to early 70’s predominantly amongst African-Americans and Latinos giving hip-hop its strong foundation in blackness. So, “blackness” and the cultures of the people who fall into the category, including people of African decent to Dominicans and other Latinos, are considered to be responsible for the initial shaping of the genre. So inevitably with this basis “blackness” would have a very strong tie into the culture of hip-hop. It was an artistic form of expression for these often times oppressed minorities to speak out to the daily struggles they experienced in a predominantly “white” powered America. Hip-hop has greatly affected my generation, as it becomes an increasingly popular genre of music in America. Even as the plane changes for what the norm is in hip-hop and more diverse cultures are practicing hip-hop as an art form, the genre is changing drastically in many different aspects. The idea of “blackness” correlating with hip-hop will remain ever prevalent, even as the landscape of the genre continues to change.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the “Founding Fathers” of hip-hop, hip-hop can only be defined if you know the culture behind it. In Hip-Hop’s Founding Fathers Speak the Truth by Nelson George, their commentary reflects a belief that hip-hop is a powerful movement that has the potential to fight oppression. In the early days of hip-hop these men hoped hip-hop would be a place that any person from any background could come together, have fun and battle out their differences in an artistic and safe way. In class, Africa Bambaataa was quoted saying, “Hip-hop is the voice of this generation. Even if you didn’t grow up in the Bronx in the ’70s, hip-hop is there for you. It has become a powerful force. Hip-hop binds all of these people, all of these nationalities, all over the world together.”
ReplyDeleteThe term “Black” is a word that is mostly refers to those who are descendants of Africa or the African Diaspora. This group of people typically gets generalized into the category of “Black” or “African American” regardless of their background or origin. Many characteristics and situations have been ascribed to the understanding of what it means to be “Black.” This is portrayed in the song Astronomy by Black Star. One example is, “Black like the perception of who, on welfare.” Society views “blackness” as being the degree to which one possesses these characteristics. The understanding of the Black/White binary leads to many different issues on generalization and acceptance within different parts of society.