RAP GETTING A BAD RAP?
i'm not a role model
The L.A. Times featured a provocative editorial yesterday morning from Barnard College professor, Thaddeus Russell. Russell discusses the rise in criticism against hip-hop coming from within the African American community, for example, citing recent denouncements of Lil Kim by columnist DeWayne Wickham who called Kim, "a diva of smut." This follows on other notable critiques emerging from both the Black intelligensia and celebrity ranks: Jesse Jackson, Bill Cosby, Al Sharpton and others have publicly denounced the cultural values of hip-hop. Sharpton, for example, has argued that current rap lyrics and videos, "make it easy for black culture to be dismissed by the majority," and that white consumers are learning to, "identify black male culture with a culture of violence." While one cannot dismiss these concerns outright as merely the result of a generation gap, Prof. Russell points out that this is just the latest in a cycle of Black music styles to come under attack by community elders. He writes,
- "In fact, blues, jazz, rock 'n' roll and rhythm and blues were all denounced by advocates for racial integration, and for the same reasons rap is now under attack. In the 1920s, several civil rights leaders were so concerned about the sexual and violent content of popular blues and jazz songs that they established a record company to "undertake the job of elevating the musical taste of the race."
- "Many scholars argue that the creators of jazz, blues, rock and R&B were great because of their willingness and ability to work outside European cultural forms and to speak about elements of the human condition that white artists would not, such as sex and violence. Those who attack the latest form of black popular music for the sake of racial unity and "respectability" might stop to consider which side, in the history that will be written of this time, they wish to be on."
<< Home