Society's Ills
I was listening to the KQRS Morning Show on my way to work one morning, and I noticed that the radio personalities like to blame poor parenting and poor schooling on why society is becoming less amiable. Tom Bernard, as I've heard him do a few times before, likes to blame hip-hop culture. I have this to say:
I agree that poor parenting and poor schooling are major contributors to society's ills - "A mind is a terrible thing to waste". I don't agree with the statement that a culture based on a music genre is to blame or is even a realistic argument nor should it be blamed for the ways people behave because of their ties with it. Tom Bernard, I'm sure, doesn't listen to any sort of hip hop/rap related music, so he has pigeonholed the subgenre of gangsta rap that resides within the genre as the entire genre, and this is probably the behavior inspired music he disagrees with. Hip hop is a form of rebellion - just like punk and rock are. It is a way to identify oneself and to find oneself. Sure, hip hop, like rock, is not all good music nor does it always portray a good lifestyle. Think of the widely accepted "rock star lifestyle", where men are just as chauvinistic as some top 40 hip hop artists. Not to mention the way some rock stars destroy themselves with drugs and alcohol. And this is no longer realized as a factor affecting the youth of the world?
I sound like one of those ultra-conservative people. Really, I think people should have a mind of their own and if they so happened to be easily brainwashed and choose a mindless path because their favorite musician does it, than that's the way it is.
Hip-hop culture is all how you define it. It's not simply a culture based on one or a few contributions or things, it's based on the entirety of all things defined hip hop. Just because most popular hip-hop culture is shoved in our faces on MTV and BET as a bunch of über-successful individuals who "know how" to spend money and are usually spending it at the red light district, doesn't mean that is the whole culture. This is akin to defining all Americans as war hungry anti-other people. Many people in America have strong ties to their homelands and visit them many times across a given year. Imagine how you would feel if you were hip hop and all the other music genres were all, "Hey, there's hip hop! We'd better stay away, don't wanna fall into that crowd!" I'm sure if they didn't understand you, you'd feel quite upset and alone.
Defining hip hop is dependent upon who's the definer as well. What hip hop means to me, may mean something entirely different to someone else. It's the close minded, "other" perspective, such as that on KQRS, that can sway many a person to dislike hip hop culture. What if you were undecided on what you thought about hip hop? Say you are open minded enough to want to experience a hip hop album, but someone you trust turns the other cheek and spouts off about how bad the music is. You are going to closely consider what they say, because your
trusted source's opinion is deafeningly loud against your open mindedness (maybe). Now I know people aren't going to trust the KQ personalities, right...or would they?
If you listen regularly enough, you may come to warm up to their opinions on other areas. If you find their beliefs on a particular subject to be true after a little real-life research, you may realize that you have much in common. Let's say they bad mouth hip hop because of the misogyny involved in many of the popular songs; you turn on BET and it's right in front of your face. Trust is established and now you may not be so open minded about it.
I read something about Nas's "Hip Hop is Dead", his most recent LP, which has created controversy over what he exactly means by hip hop is dead. Even the artists are telling you not to listen (well, not really, I realize it's more of a statement about the current affairs of rap and hip hop). But this is coming from someone within the industry and he's even telling you that it's bad.
I don't think many people that listen to KQ, listen to hip hop or rap, unlike myself. They probably don't have any interest in it. But maybe subconsciously, a listener never considers it, because the radio personalities are brain washing them with statements that claim hip hop culture is the root of society's ills. But think of what rock n' roll did when it first came into pop culture - it was devil music during a time of conservatism. I think hip hop is the new rock when you consider it in that fashion.
Word.
I agree that poor parenting and poor schooling are major contributors to society's ills - "A mind is a terrible thing to waste". I don't agree with the statement that a culture based on a music genre is to blame or is even a realistic argument nor should it be blamed for the ways people behave because of their ties with it. Tom Bernard, I'm sure, doesn't listen to any sort of hip hop/rap related music, so he has pigeonholed the subgenre of gangsta rap that resides within the genre as the entire genre, and this is probably the behavior inspired music he disagrees with. Hip hop is a form of rebellion - just like punk and rock are. It is a way to identify oneself and to find oneself. Sure, hip hop, like rock, is not all good music nor does it always portray a good lifestyle. Think of the widely accepted "rock star lifestyle", where men are just as chauvinistic as some top 40 hip hop artists. Not to mention the way some rock stars destroy themselves with drugs and alcohol. And this is no longer realized as a factor affecting the youth of the world?
I sound like one of those ultra-conservative people. Really, I think people should have a mind of their own and if they so happened to be easily brainwashed and choose a mindless path because their favorite musician does it, than that's the way it is.
Hip-hop culture is all how you define it. It's not simply a culture based on one or a few contributions or things, it's based on the entirety of all things defined hip hop. Just because most popular hip-hop culture is shoved in our faces on MTV and BET as a bunch of über-successful individuals who "know how" to spend money and are usually spending it at the red light district, doesn't mean that is the whole culture. This is akin to defining all Americans as war hungry anti-other people. Many people in America have strong ties to their homelands and visit them many times across a given year. Imagine how you would feel if you were hip hop and all the other music genres were all, "Hey, there's hip hop! We'd better stay away, don't wanna fall into that crowd!" I'm sure if they didn't understand you, you'd feel quite upset and alone.
Defining hip hop is dependent upon who's the definer as well. What hip hop means to me, may mean something entirely different to someone else. It's the close minded, "other" perspective, such as that on KQRS, that can sway many a person to dislike hip hop culture. What if you were undecided on what you thought about hip hop? Say you are open minded enough to want to experience a hip hop album, but someone you trust turns the other cheek and spouts off about how bad the music is. You are going to closely consider what they say, because your
trusted source's opinion is deafeningly loud against your open mindedness (maybe). Now I know people aren't going to trust the KQ personalities, right...or would they?
If you listen regularly enough, you may come to warm up to their opinions on other areas. If you find their beliefs on a particular subject to be true after a little real-life research, you may realize that you have much in common. Let's say they bad mouth hip hop because of the misogyny involved in many of the popular songs; you turn on BET and it's right in front of your face. Trust is established and now you may not be so open minded about it.
I read something about Nas's "Hip Hop is Dead", his most recent LP, which has created controversy over what he exactly means by hip hop is dead. Even the artists are telling you not to listen (well, not really, I realize it's more of a statement about the current affairs of rap and hip hop). But this is coming from someone within the industry and he's even telling you that it's bad.
I don't think many people that listen to KQ, listen to hip hop or rap, unlike myself. They probably don't have any interest in it. But maybe subconsciously, a listener never considers it, because the radio personalities are brain washing them with statements that claim hip hop culture is the root of society's ills. But think of what rock n' roll did when it first came into pop culture - it was devil music during a time of conservatism. I think hip hop is the new rock when you consider it in that fashion.
Word.
posted by P-Wagz at 7:52 AM
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