Sunday, January 18, 2015
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Beyond Beats and Rhymes
"What are some of the factors that influences the ideas, values, and models of life of young inner-city African-American men today? There are the everyday conditions of life in the neighborhoods of segregated American cities, which Elijah Anderson considers in Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City (link). But there is also the increasingly violent and misogynist output of hip hop music and video. It is apparent that the images, values, and modes of behavior presented in hip hop music and videos find their way back onto the street and into the lives of young black men and women. Hip hop doesn't simply mirror the street -- it helps to create the street. So the content and identities portrayed in the music makes a difference.
Byron Hurt's very interesting 2006 PBS documentary on violence and sexism in hip hop music and videos, Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, addresses these issues. (The video is posted at the top.) Hurt does a great job of reading the role that violence and misogyny play in hip hop lyrics and videos. "Why are so many rappers preoccupied with violence and gunplay" (6:30). The basic idea that he puts forward is that this major aspect of hip hop culture is a commercial exploitation of a cartoonish version of masculinity—hard, tough, unafraid, ready to kill, ready to exploit and sexualize women. (Hurt calls it “hyper-masculinity”.) The representation of women in much of this music is hyper-sexualized and brutalizing. And there is a recurring theme of homophobia and homophobic slurs."
Read the rest here
'Black Dynamite' - Musical on Police Brutality
"Titled "The Wizard of Watts," the episode will follow Black Dynamite
as he attempts to take a vacation, when the police start patrolling the
streets, and a riot breaks out. Black Dynamite is then hit in the head
with a brick, which causes him to hallucinate, taking him into the
"Magical Land of Oz-Watts," where he is called on to defend the
community, against the police.
It'll be an hour long (episodes are typically 30 minutes), and will feature guest appearances by Erykah Badu, Tyler, The Creator, Tim Blake Nelson and J.B. Smoove."
read more about it here
It'll be an hour long (episodes are typically 30 minutes), and will feature guest appearances by Erykah Badu, Tyler, The Creator, Tim Blake Nelson and J.B. Smoove."
read more about it here
Friday, January 9, 2015
Professional Twerker...
She makes 6 figures a year as a "professional twerker"...
I wonder if there's a black or latino women with the same deal somewhere...
Monday, January 5, 2015
Saturday, January 3, 2015
Friday, January 2, 2015
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Macklemore interview
"Macklemore, speaking for over an hour, touched on the issue of cultural appropriation in rap and the role his success plays: “Just because there’s been more successful white rappers, you cannot disregard where this culture came from and our place in it as white people,” he said. “This is not a culture that white people started. I do believe that as much as I have honed my craft and put in years of dedication into the music that I love, I need to know my place.”
source
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