The New Minstrel Show or How I Came to Despise the Doggy-Doggs

[catelin]

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Space ain't man's final frontier. Man's final frontier is the soul,
guided by someone more powerful than any human being
Someone felt but never seen.
You will be surprised of what resides in your insides...

Had one of those long conversations today about the state of music with my intern, a young man who's in his early twenties. He brings up rap, which nowadays generally triggers an audible gag reflex on my part. It's not that I don't like rap as a genre, but I hate what it became. I don't know who's to blame for that, really. After all, it's no big surprise that in a racist society, the stereotypes generally win out over the small glimmers of truth that can be found in street poetry--even of the hardest and ugliest type. What bothers me is the pimping of the stereotyped black man (and woman) to the white public...theatre of the grotesque, a pastiche of everything that white America fears made palatable because it feeds the notion that we are justified in our separation from African American culture. I don't think that the misogynistic, racist drivel found in much of the modern day rap represents that culture any more than monster truck rallies, neo-Nazi wife beaters, and beer bellies represent most of the people who reside in the south. Now there may be some people who think that a nice pinkish-beige redhead from Texas is not qualified to even voice an opinion about this, but I claim my membership in a larger group--the human race-- as my right. It makes me sad to see the Steppin Fetchit routine being played out still after so many years...even when it's done with a bad-ass back beat bass in the background. Eminem is the new Al Jolsen...trotting around without the greasepaint on his face, but still singing "Mammy." There were some wonderful things going on in rap a few years ago. Anyone remember Arrested Development? Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprasy? Inclusive, beautiful and biting lyrics that represented the best that we could ALL be...that we ALL had voices built for harmony---not discord. Proof positive that women of all colors, shapes, and sizes were queens; that the strength and measure of a man came from somewhere other than the size of his dick/gun/stable. I miss that. I miss the hope of it, and the sheer joy I felt at the slight possibility that maybe things were getting better instead of worse. Shame on the music industry for perpetuating and profiteering from the myth of the evil black gangsta...and shame on us for letting them get away with it. Oh, and Snoop...if you wanna whip my white ass for taking you to task on this, brother....I'll be here. ; )

Comments

Rap has become a joke.

[talkshowhost.livejournal.com]

Any industry that lauds an inbred ignorant moron like Eminem deserves nothing but scorn and derision on my part. Yet another reason I feel no shame in saying I PIRATE MP3S YOU BASTARDS.

Ahem. Anyway.

To add to your list of good rap acts, I would have to include Boogie Down Productions and Kool Moe Dee, who always had messages about positive personal growth and stressed the importance of education. Public Enemy was about social and racial consciousness. Even LL Cool J was more of a balladeer then. And you know, even some of the gangsta rap in the late 80's still had an air of truth to it. It was less about glorifying the image then it was about saying "Here. This is our life. This is the way it is. You don't like it, fuck you." But all of this recent rap is just getting worse and worse. I am horrified about a society that looks at someone like Eminem and says "yeah, he's talking it like it is! He's preaching the word!" Because I would not now, nor would I ever, want to be associated with Eminem, or as part of a society that finds his type of rap acceptable. There was maybe a novelty factor in his stuff to begin with, but that has quickly worn off into horror and sadness. How utterly depressing that they gave this choad an Emmy.

The thing I find even more depressing, however, is that there are other artists who have come out in support of Eminem. I mean, Hello? Elton John? Have you LISTENED to those lyrics? Why is it that only people like Tori Amos and Moby are willing to come out and say how horrifying someone like Eminem is? Disgusting.

Anyway, I'm done for now; I need to go bludgeon my wife to death with a frozen salmon and then beat my daughter for getting baby oil all over my ratty old jeans.

Okay, bad joke.

Re: Rap has become a joke.

[catelin.livejournal.com]

Ha! Love the lyrics! You know, I just thought last night after I posted this about a movie called CB4. I think I'll have to rent it again just to have a look at it in retrospect...it's probably more timely now than ever.