Watching this video is sad for a number of reasons. One of which is the way that the Black music industry has in a sense deteriorated. There aren't a lot of successful Black artists, and this is for a number of reasons. Black artists have limited success mainly because of the content of their music, and the content determines how much success you acquire. With that said, some of the most successful Black artists right now are artists who's lyrics contribute to the degrading of the Black community. More specifically, artists like Soulja Boy, Gucci Mane, Waka Floka Flame, Wiz Khalifa, etc. The extent of these artists' actual talent and potential will remain a mystery because the ideology being sold through these artists have nothing to do with progress or knowledge (and I do not mean academia). Rappers like Nas, Lupe Fiasco, Wale, etc. aren't as popular because of the thinking that is required of their music. I'm not saying that all artists whose lyrics have substance are unsuccessful because Drake, Kanye West, and Jay-Z are very successful and have substance in their work. This clip represents what has become the norm, and the norm is to "sell out." The original purpose of hip-hop is becoming lost in all the materialism that comes with the false success that many artist have. Modern hip-hop/rap is a form of entertainment in the same way that Black-face was entertainment for Whites.~JF
Joanna - You need to make sure that you tag your posts with your name too. Watch clarity. You have some good points, but it could be a little clearer.
ReplyDeleteYou say that the rappers' potential and talent will never be known because of the ideology behind their music. Couple questions, (1) do you see a function for such music and (2) does the the type of music they're producing affect how we can see their "talent?"