"Saying rap isn't real music isn't racist"
We're still getting replies like this a week later, so this deserves a thread. Sit back, this one's gonna be a lot./
-B
We're still getting replies like this a week later, so this deserves a thread. Sit back, this one's gonna be a lot./
-B
Rap music has always been a historically black genre. With the rise of gangsta rap in the 90s, it was demonized, treated as something dangerous to the public eye because of the lyrics that seemed to "glorify violence.
What these critics don't understand is that rap in that time was a reflection of the lives these people lived. Gangsta rap rose from communities affected by the war on drugs, the rise of gangs, and the crack epidemic. They're not gonna rap about unicorns and painting fruit.
As rapper Yo-Yo, said in a congressional hearing in 1994, “Attack the world rappers live in, not the words they use to describe it. Being from the ‘hood, I can tell you that violence didn’t start from a cassette tape that might have been popped into a home or car stereo system."
That was from the first congressional hearing primarily on rap. There was one in 1985, but it was primarily aimed at censoring rock music, not rap. That situation was ridiculous too, but it set up a precedent that would be elevated when gangsta rap took over.
The main difference between the 1985 and 1994 hearings was the racial component that hovered over the situation. Some black Congress members and record executives criticized rap for its misogynistic lyrics and seeming promotion of violence, but understood the context for them.
It was a contentious topic in the black community, and still is. In the 2000s, BET aired documentaries about whether or not rap music is good or bad for the black community. Should we ban the misogyny? Is this too sexual? Too violent? What should be done?
Then in 2007, there was another congressional hearing on rap lyrics. This time, Master P and David Banner spoke about the lyrics. Master P understood the offense taken over the lyrics and said he would make more appropriate music in the future.
David Banner was not as nice. "Gang violence was here before rap music. I can admit that there are some problems in hip hop, but it is only a reflection of what is taking place in our society. Hip hop is so because America is sick."
Damn.
Twista also had quite a bit to say:
Damn.
Twista also had quite a bit to say:
Like it or not, rap is a reflection of people's lives. It has been for years. There have been changes over time, like how a lot of the mainstream stuff now tackles topics that are pretty standard at this point (drugs, women).
But there's been a rise in popularity for more 'conscious rap' by folks like J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar, the latter of which won a Pulitzer this year, the first ever for a rap album.
A year before Shapiro tweeted that rap is not music, Jay Z and Kanye released the criticially acclaimed album 'Watch the Throne." In the book The Rap Yearbook, the author quotes a professor that compared a technique that Jay Z used in a song to T.S. Elliot and Virginia Woolf!
That's part of the reason why Ben Shapiro's tweet bugged me so much and why the racism behind it is so subversive. Rap has finally reached the point where an album in the genre received one of the most prestigious honors in art. Yet well before that, the talent was present.
Despite this, people like Shapiro continue to carry opinions about rap like "it's not real music." Not even that they don't like rap or certain parts of it. I have issues with areas of rap too. That's not a controversial opinion.
I know that tweet was from 2012, but it was racist then and it's racist now. Recently, he joked that he likes rap now because a rapper said something he agreed with. It took something like that for him to at least mildly have a real opinion on rap.
In a vaccuum, this isn't racist. But given the rough history of rap, the congressional hearings, the amount of applause over a rapper winning a Pulitzer, and Ben Shapiro's history of smug dogwhistling, it's not hard to see why @RacismDog barked. He's a smart boy. /End
-B
-B
One last thing: I have more to say in a separate thread, but it's about one specific reply we got. I'll leave you all to guess which one it is. Here's the original tweet since I forgot to add it in the beginning:
Okay, one *more* thing: I recommend the Rap Year Book by @SheaSerrano. You'll laugh quite a bit and learn so great stuff. Although I argue that the most important song of 2007 is 'Crank That' by @souljaboy, the first mainstream internet rapper, years before it became a trend.
-B
-B
