EAST COAST CRITICS ARE BIASED: A THOROUGH TAKE ON HIP-HOP, POLITICS, AND POPULAR CULTURE
Monday, August 01, 2005
Why Are African-American Kids From The Suburbs Confused?
What's good everybody? We're going to dedicate today's post to Hip-Hop. Now take a look at the pictures of the interior of my car and my trunk. To make these pictures equal a thousand words, some ignorant ass fools broke in my car this weekend and stole both of my CD players, my amplifier, my two ten inch speakers plus the box, and my book of 200+ CD's.
The comedians you see on Comicview always get a good laugh out of the crowd by talking about the different crimes that black and white people commit. For instance, if you read in the newspaper about a man who walks in the office and shoots his boss, all his coworkers, and the water cooler, you pretty much know it is a white dude. Well, when I walked out my house and saw my trunk open, both of the passenger side doors open, all my shit missing, and a smoked Newport cigarette next to the car, I knew for a FACT this was the work of niggas.
I had to laugh a little bit because they left all of my LSAT study books in the car which were worth more than the CD players. They really could have gone on Amazon.Com and made more money than the chump change they will make selling my audio equipment to their buddies. Ok, so I'm venting a little bit. I do apologize, but all the people who have had their car broken into know why I'm so upset. The rest of y'all are like Phil... What does any of this have to do with Hip-Hop?
As stated in my "Why I Hate East Coast Hip-Hop Critics" post, Hip-Hop originated out of the frustrations of our brothers and sisters in the inner cities. Hip-Hop gave voice to these frustrations that so many well-to-do people were turning a deaf ear to. All the MC's involved in early Hip-hHop WERE NOT trying to glamorize their situation as much as they were using Hip-Hop to vent and mentally escape it. Some out there look at people from the black middle class and wonder why we listen to Hip-Hop or feel we partly identify with the culture. Well as Malcolm X said, a black man with a Ph.D. is still another nigga in this country.
No matter how well some black people may do, if we all don't come up, we all stay down in the eyes of this nation. It is my belief that middle to upper middle class blacks should help those below us move up. Hip-Hop is serving as one of the mediums to let us know the problems going on with our less fortunate brothers and sisters. Therefore it is up to us middle class folk to get the most out of a good education. Higher education will help us think and act more profoundly in order to help this nation reach it's full potential when dealing with our less fortunate brothers and sisters in areas such as healthcare, the criminal justice system, and poverty.
Unfortunately, middle class black kids (our future) listening to hip-hop are getting the wrong message. Instead of listening to Outkast, Cee-Lo, Talib Kweli, Nas, Mos Def, Common, etc. consciously talk about how poverty has it's evil grip on the hood, these confused middle class black kids actually think it's crunk to live that lifestyle...
All of us middle class black kids that did well in middle school/high school have been accused of "acting white" at some point in our lives because of that very concept. It's crazy because the blacks that used to accuse me of "acting white" usually had parents that had way more money than mine! I'm sure that many people reading this had the wealthy black dude at their school whose parents could afford to buy him Alaska but he still had to sell weed on the side to fulfill his "thug" persona.
I have a pretty good suspicion the culprits of my car break-in were some confused ass kids that live in the neighborhood behind mine. The area where I live is far (geographically, financially, and every other meaning of the word) from poverty. Our less fortunate brothers and sisters rob, steal, and sell dope in order to make money to try and get out of their frustrating situation.
Our middle class black kids, who have the nerve to be "ashamed" because their parents have put them in excellent school systems and neighborhoods, are trying their best to move down the social ladder to that frustrating situation aforementioned. They are wasting valuable opportunities trying to be accepted in a culture that will never take them seriously anyway. (I feel like I'm giving the Bill Cosby speech to the black middle class)
I have an acquaintance that I played football with who resided in one of the wealthiest sub-divisions in this county (Fayette County), which is the wealthiest in the state of Georgia. This acquaintance decided it would be cool to rob Captain D's (a fish restaurant) with a knife. He is now doing 11 years without the possibility of parole for armed robbery. To all my young readers, please understand that your twenties are the years you will develop mentally and financially into who you will be for the rest of your life. My acquaintance is going to miss these crucial years because he didn't want to pay the $5.99 for a 3-piece fish dinner and decided it would be better to rob the store for the same amount of money his parents keep in the change tray of their Benz.
These fools that broke into my car Friday night easily could have asked their parents for the audio equipment and probably could have gotten a better system than the one I bought at a factory outlet store. Instead, today they will either be in school or sitting at home smoking all day trying to hustle my audio equipment.
Another crucial component in this "I'm an upper middle class thug" syndrome is black females. It is well known that girls sometimes have a thing for the "bad boy." When white guys try to fulfill this "bad boy" role, they get a tattoo or an earring. Black middle class dudes take it to the extreme and fulfill the role by failing classes that they easily could have gotten A's in, robbing people, and talking like they grew up in your city's worst hood when they wouldn't know how to find it if Jesus was operating their parent's GPS system.
Young middle class black girls will think these dudes who stole my stuff are pretty crunk now. But what's crazy is that this "bad boy" phase the girls are going through only lasts until they are about 21 (give or take a couple years). Around that age they start wanting a dude that's on his shit like I am (law school, business major, medical school, etc.).
By then, these confused middle class dudes who had all the tight girls when they were ages 15-21 can't get a girl from their own economic class anymore because they didn't take advantage of their opportunities and actually have to climb down the social ladder to get a girl (or drive around high schools at age 27 trying to "pick up ho's").
Anyway, I wish more youth would start listening to the true meaning of Hip-Hop, which conveys the frustrations of the poverty lifestyle. Why are most of these rappers so flashy? Because many of them come from a culture where money is hard to come by. All middle to upper middle class black people have to do is ask their parents for the world and it's theirs. Instead these middle class black kids ignore the true meaning and motivation for Hip-Hop and decide to move down to a culture they will never quite fit in. They could be doing much more by taking advantage of their blessed situation and helping our less fortunate brothers and sisters move up the social ladder as I plan to do.
I hope you fools that took my equipment are happy even though your lives are sad. Karma comes around like a bitch so be wary. Many white people Down South don't take too kind to black people trespassing on their property. You idiots might wander into the wrong driveway looking for audio equipment with your last thought as you look into that high powered deer rifle being Biggie's words, "Who shot cha?" Assholes...
Great article Phil! You've raised some very good points. The socio-economic monopoly and it's role in maintaining the status quo is suttle, but effective. I am not one to "blame whitey"...but it is obvious those in power would prefer young black America continue to see hip-hop as "thug glamour" than to see and hear the true message these artist are trying to spread. In fact, it is so effective, that at times, even the artists are rendered powerless to get this message thru. How many times have you witnessed an artist ridiculed my the media when, after realizing young america is just not getting the message, decides to make it more clear by changing his "delivery". The media (those in power) are quick to snuff such artists, labeling them "soft" or "untrue to the hood" or "fake", etc...
Young America needs to look thru the smoke and mirrors and realize they are being played (no punn intended) and they are a tool to ensure the status-quo remains in place.
Being a middle class black woman and listening and loving hip hop i think i am the polar oppisit of the black people you are talking about, because i listen to the lyrics of how bad it is in the ghetto and it makes me get up everyday and sit thru 2 hours of Advanced Organic Chemistry so i can join the 1% of black orthodontists in this country. I do give back to the community ive never been a part of but rock to its anthems in my car. I am a big sister and a mentor.
You have rasised valid points, not enough of the black middle class gives back, and its a shame that we are so determined to make it to the top that we will leave everyone behind, thinking "if i can do it so can you." but forgetting that we are born into this class thru the hard work of of parents and not by anything we have done.
I wish just more black people in general would care about one another, the 60s and 70s may have been rough on us due to Jim Crow and all that but those were the best years for the black community, standing together as a whole, back then it took a community to raise a child, now its welfare and HUD housing
If you take a study break one day, you might want to check out our podcast as it relates to that in Det. We're a little older than u, but we share many of the same sentiments.
F'Sho-Ya Daily Dose of Sardonic Rillness. http://sobo.podomatic.com
Awesome stuff. I'm a 23 year old white guy from a poor background attending Law School with a mixture of 4.0 driven scholarships and subsidized student loans.
My 13 year old brother and all his white friends listen to hip-hop songs and try to act the part all day and it sickens me. I remember admiring rap lyrics when I was much younger, back when rap seemed to be much more of an art form.
Nowadays, well... why people like to listen to an "artist" who basically finds rhymes to convey the message "I have more money than you, have sex constantly, smoke a lot of weed, and kill the occasional person with high-powered weaponry for no apparent reason" is beyond my comprehension.
I have not until recently thought about this issue from the perspective of a self-respecting black individual. I suppose the people I feel for the most are the now late thirties and beyond black women of America who grew up with decent rap and now have to turn their radios to a white station so their daughters won't hear songs that reference them as "hoes" and "bitches".
Man this made me laugh... mainly because it made me think of the Cosby rerun that was on the other night. It was the one where Vanessa was getting bullied on by the kids at school because her family was "rich." Clearly she was ashamed of the fact that her mom was a lawyer and her pops was a Dr.
I'm straight from the gutter... nothing to be proud of at all... Northside of Flint, Michigan. You better believe that I aint there still though... I hit the books and shook the spot. Did the whole college thing and the graduate school thing... and I'm trying to get these little Thundercats to understand the benefits of doing the same thing.
I also feel you on the audio theft. I lived in Ann Arbor, MI when I was in college and I had my stuff jacked. CD player, 2 12s, amp, tweeters, car cleaning supplies, fishing pole, and tackle box. I was heated. At least they could have left me my fishing stuff... but oh well.
First off, Phil, I have got to say that you are one impressive individual. Second of all, I agree totally with everything you have said above.
I am only 16 years old. I live in La Crosse,WI. Oh yea, you might need to get the map out for that one. That being said, I am not even CLOSE to as experienced and refined as most of you probably are. But, I have thought about this topic many, many times. Although I am white, I see very similar things in my own ethnic group. I would consider myself middle class, however, my family has been stricken with alcoholism (which is a totally different subject, but may be relevant as to describe my situation). The people that are around me, mostly white, resemble the kids you talk about in your blog. They're parents are rich, white, and very proud of it. They would fit the description of "acting like thugs". They have they're 50 cent, their three six mafia, and their young buck, g-unit. They smoke weed, they purposely fail classes to simulate living the hard life. It's absolutely ridiculous!
I throughly believe young people, who are interested in hip hop, need to take a step back and understand what they are listening to! Shit that's talking about shooting people if they "talk shit". Selling cocaine, and "getting brain". Sure, that's those artists way of expressing themselves.. It really represents how much is going on up there in their heads; doesn't it?
I want to see the day, again, where hip hop is about peace, love, and unity. Hip Hop was supposed to be expressing of one's feelings. It's been mutated into something far from that.
My musical selection consists of Brother Ali, Murs, Atmosphere, Living Legends, Nas, Common, Cee-lo, more peaceful tupac, and krs-one. I can say that I love the hip-hop music that is true, pure, realistic, and certainly meaningful.
You may say this was more of a frustrated confession, rather then a solution to the problems involving modern hip-hop. But damn, doesn't it feel good to know that other people are just as frustrated as you?
Name: Phil Hamilton E-Mail: Philh826@aol.com Location: New York, New York About Me: My roots in Detroit, MI, I possess a dual degree in Criminal Justice/Sociology from Georgia State University in Atlanta, and will be adding a law degree to those credentials this upcoming May in an attempt to help our young brothers and sisters who continue to get caught up in the bullshit of our criminal justice system. I just so happen to detest 99% of all New York Hip-Hop critics; you know, the ones who start shit by generalizing YOUR particular cultural situation knowing good and damn well that most of these fools haven't set foot in all five boroughs, let alone your locality. Nevertheless, through their ethnocentrism, they somehow corral the arrogance to tell you why their lives, regional culture, and musical tastes are superior to yours. Shiiiit. Born in L.A., I've lived in Detroit, ATL, NYC, (a temporary stint) in DC, and have managed to step foot on four continents. There is no way in hell that I could take one more "intellectual" NYC Hip-Hop critic trying to stunt on me with their baseless "sophisticated and cosmopolitan" views. In recognition of my irritations, I bestowed upon the world this blog. Peace...
Great article Phil!
You've raised some very good points.
The socio-economic monopoly and it's role in maintaining the status quo is suttle, but effective. I am not one to "blame whitey"...but it is obvious those in power would prefer young black America continue to see hip-hop as "thug glamour" than to see and hear the true message these artist are trying to spread. In fact, it is so effective, that at times, even the artists are rendered powerless to get this message thru. How many times have you witnessed an artist ridiculed my the media when, after realizing young america is just not getting the message, decides to make it more clear by changing his "delivery". The media (those in power) are quick to snuff such artists, labeling them "soft" or "untrue to the hood" or "fake", etc...
Young America needs to look thru the smoke and mirrors and realize they are being played (no punn intended) and they are a tool to ensure the status-quo remains in place.
keep up the good work.
peace~xVariable