Honestly.
Outside of the culture. Outside of those "In it for the long haul".
Who cares?
Hip-Hop as expansive as it is has only genuinely "touched" a small audience in the grander scheme of things.
Those ignorant to it's depth, those unable to separate the culture from it's art, only have the shallow impressions it leaves upon the media from which to draw their conclusions.
And it's in that ignorance, barraged with the misogyny and glamorization of material accolades, that they conclude "Hip-Hop is dead". And who can blame them when the art of the culture remains in a constant state of self-mockery?
What's there to "hook" the mis-informed when the masses award their support to the "Booty Dew"s and "Stanky Leg"s of the artistry?
Why should they care when it appears as if we, those invested in the culture, don't?
December 8, 2009
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Seperating an art from its culture. I think that's it exactly. Hip hop is heavily associated with black culture, which if we're being completely honest still carries a negative stigma. Therefore Hip Hop carries a similar stigma.
ReplyDeleteThis issue carries to other things associated with black culture as well. I mean you can probably count the number of black author's you studied in high school on one hand! Black artistry is rarely considered to have any artistic merit within its respective community mostly due to its association with black culture.
I think we miss the mark when we say that A: hip hop is a culture, since an art can only be an expression of a culture and B: that hip hop belongs to black culture. It's the "black thing" that keeps us from studying black authors (though I try to do my part in the English classroom) and from believing that black history is a series of moments and experiences in American culture.
ReplyDeleteHip hop is only as big and important as the consumers make it; the same fate that any art of any culture faces. Art is a consumable first. Those who care can only be those who consume it for whatever reason. Any more than that, we are admitting that the breadth and depth of our cultural intellect, whether its black culture or american culture, can only be expressed through one sub-genre of one genre of one form of cultural expression.
A valid point. Hip-Hop isn't dead, its just that those people who emphasize marketering propaganda and the thuggish lifestyle catch the medias spotlight. In my opinion, whach rappers and their songs are relentlessly played on the radio because the beats are freakin sick. And a bangin beat means that people are gonna be jamin out their radios. If ... See Morelyrical hip-hop, the "real" hip-hop was on radio and television, who exactly do you think would actually take the time to listen to poetry with a suttle beat while they cruise down I-95?
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