| 5/31/2000
Background:
I have been a devout hip-hop follower ever since my mom bought me Run-DMC's
King of Rock back around 1984. I have witnessed the emergence of hip-hop
as an accepted musical format in the mainstream, the development of
west-coast style, the ensuing east-coast backlash/renaissance, further
commercialization of rap into the mainstream, counter-pop movements, all
the way up to the musical and geographical expansion that hip-hop is
involved in currently. The music and politics of rap music have always
been interrelated, and I have always tried to look at the music from an
open-minded sociological standpoint.
The Artist vs. The Masses
The underground vs. pop culture conflict is not a new ideological
argument. There is always the notion of the starving artist who believes
expressing themselves through a medium for the love of art form and
nothing more. On the other hand, you have those who believe in practical
business aspects and delivering the goods in the highest demand. For a
very long time, I sided with the "romantic" artists. I
believed that rap created with sole intention of making money could
never be a good thing. I believed that intentionally catering to a
largely young, white audience would compromise the integrity of the
music. And sadly, I believed that somehow my reluctance to support what
was widely popular meant that I knew more about rap. I hate to admit it
now, but there's no question part of my motivation was to be
"down" and distinguish myself form those other goofy white
kids along for the ride on the hip-hop bandwagon. I mean, what type of
cool person follows the status quo, right? Well, after taking a long
hard look at rap, society, and my own personal ethics, I have stumbled
upon a few intellectual discoveries that have completely changed my
outlook.
Definition of Underground Rap:
In order for you, the reader, to understand my thought process, I must
first define my understanding of underground hip-hop and what moves
people to follow this sub-genre with such passion. As nearly as I can
tell, there a few principals that drive underground rap: a true love for
the musical art form and a premium on lyrical creativity, an emphasis on
originality, stubbornness when it comes to compromising the music,
lyrical intelligence, as well as the ability rhyme spontaneously. There
are also a few unspoken rules of the game that seem to be equally
important. There is an implied dislike for commercialism and rap acts
that put making money as a high priority, "selling out" is a
sacrilegious offense (see Puffy, Hammer, Will Smith). Rappers that
portray themselves as violent, drug sellers, gangsters, etc. are not
generally condoned either (Master P, Juvenile, Spice 1). Given the
intellectual nature of underground rap, it makes sense that more
opulent, book-smart people will be drawn to the music. For the same
reason, it is not a stretch to say that a larger percentage of
underground fans come from better educated, more affluent well to do
families, and are generally entitled to a greater degree of social
privilege during their lifetime than the average hip-hop fan.
Socio-economics:
So here are some of the problems I have, intellectually speaking, with
the mission of hip-hop heads and some of the reasons I have become so
frustrated with the underground movement. Clearly rap is a black music.
Like Jazz and Rock & Roll before it, Rap is an original 20th century
musical development created by African-Americans. It is not exactly a
mystery that Black people have been socially and economically exploited
in America throughout its history. Although somewhat less obvious in
today's climate, racist systems are alive and well, continuing to
perpetuate the economic disparity between people of color and white
folk. The point is this: it is extremely Eurocentric and insensitive to
look down on a young black man for wanting to use rap as a vehicle for
making money. Unlike the majority of middle-upper class white kids
(myself included), not everybody can take money for granted and make
everything an ethical issue or a matter of being righteous or not. Of
course you're gonna do it for the "love of hip-hop" when
you're a philosophically curious college-boy with open doors at every
turn who has nothing to lose by his ideological associations. Unless you
happen to live below the poverty line yourself, I can't justify
criticizing a sell out regardless of the musical decisions they make.
Furthermore, it is similarity narrow-minded to resent a black
businessman who has earned some degree of success and celebrates it in
his music (i.e. Puff Daddy, Master P) for the same reasons. There are so
few upper-echelon corporate management positions filled by people of
color that frankly I don't really care how they got the power, just the
fact that there is representation in this demographic at all is a
positive. A true student of the hip-hop culture cannot ignore the
obvious connections between American economics and racial attitudes.
Violence, Cause and Effect:
Secondly, I have a problem with anyone that denounces and disregards
music from the "gangster" genre. There is a very strong
historical context of black men being dehumanized in America. It makes
sense that, in order to counteract being treated sub-human, black men
might assume an aggressive posture to try to regain some of the
masculinity that has been stripped away. I mean, if you had to deal with
being treated like a subordinate for 400 years you might be a little
pissed too. So how do most enlightened individuals, members of high
society, and consciousness-preaching hip-hop fans respond to this
anger/expression? They try to extinguish it. Out of sight, out of mind.
"It's not real rap". I'll never understand this way of
thinking. The second that you are a little frightened by the actions of
another or don't quite understand somebody's behavior it automatically
becomes evil? Well, that's the same fear-based phychological tool that
C. Deloris Tucker and anti-rap advocates use when they argue how rap
music is ruining America and corrupting values. People really need to
develope techniques for identifying their prejudices and dealing with
them. One of the most heinous patterns self-descried liberals have
fallen into in the last twenty years is confusing bigotry with racism.
Every one has pre-conceived notions. Period. You are taught certain
things by media and by parents and it is inevitable that racial
stereotyping will occur. Everyone is racist, which is not necessarily a
terrible thing. Admitting you have these feelings is the most pro-active
way to start mending race relations and partaking in positive dialogue.
The true crime is the people who convince themselves that they are 100%
objective, which is not even possible, and suppress the stereotypes they
do carry. This is cowardice. This is pompous. Trying to sell yourself as
perfect is a terrible way to go through life.
In looking at the connections between music, economics, and violence,
you can't look simply at the effect without understanding the cause. For
the most part, music is an expression. Is a lot of rap is violent? Is a
lot of rap misogynistic? Does a lot of rap talk about crime? Yes,
absolutely yes. However, the educated music listeners should be the
first people to ask why rap is the way it is, not just become another
mindless critic who piles on an easy target. If something offends your
sensibilities, it is useless to cast it to the side without examining
why you object to the principle. It is truly ironic that underground
hip-hop cats who pride themselves on being open-minded and progressive
could have such narrow, and let's face it, white standards by which to
judge music and culture.
Attitudes:
Perhaps where I'm most disappointed from my encounters with the
underground culture is the attitudes of the individuals. When I've
crossed paths with several self-proclaimed "heads" and
underground rap organizations I have been meet with mostly a bunch of
pretentious, uppity, exclusionary punks who are "really down"
with hip-hop (as opposed to the empty and confused way I've been
following rap the last 16 years). Apparently, they don't seem to want to
let me into their country club because I put Hot Boys and Da Brat on my
mix tapes. Interesting. Making pop-psychological evaluations of people
is not really my strong suite, but it strikes me as fairly obvious that
young hip-hop heads are often times more of in search of an identity
than an ideology. The needs to find acceptance, to find a group, to find
peers are universal anxieties we all have. And eventually we all have to
decide what types of people we want to associate ourselves with. Once we
select a lifestyle, the desire to be down and prove allegiance to our
peers is very strong. So strong, in fact, that we will denounce the
intelligence and the importance of those outside the clique to validate
our own decisions (sound like high school?). I simply cannot condone
that behavior; it is more or less a sign of insecurity and immaturity.
The negative resentment of pop-culture that I see in underground hip-hop
are just those childish tendencies manifesting themselves through
jealously.
Conclusion:
Overall, there must be balance. There must be a rap avant guard
developing the music creatively along with business minded individuals
bringing the music to the masses. One cannot exist without the other,
and it makes no sense for the different groups to build walls around
themselves and not communicate. If underground cats want to live in a
bubble there's not much I can do about it. Honestly, I've tried to reach
out, but every time I do someone tries to bite my hand. If adhering to
the "mission" of underground music means I have to follow the
hypocritical practices I mentioned before, then I want no part of it
anyway. Sour grapes? Bitter? A little. I'd always prefer allies to
enemies. But it frustrates me that there are people who have no interest
in my trade. I know I'll never ever get through to these people on any
level and it kills me. In conclusion, I'm secure about my place in the
rap game. I know how I feel about certain important ethical race/music
issues, and frankly I'm getting a little too old to prove myself to a
bunch of elitist children that don't even really know what they stand
for themselves. If being affiliated with "real hip-hop" means
I have to play God and decide which parts of Black culture are more
valid than others - please count me out. |