The problem with saying that you love hip hop but have issues with some of it is that there are a huge number of people out there who don’t get what you mean about there being a positive side.
I’m glad Obama wants to work with rappers to reach youth and that he
doesn’t embrace hip hop unquestioningly but I really wonder whether or
not saying good things about hip hop when you’re running for President
of the United States is a smart move.
If you haven’t been a white man trying to explain to other white people what’s up with hip hop, you may not realize just how treacherous this can be. Since coming back to Raleigh where I mainly know white people, I have to say that I have yet to meet one white person over 30 who has a clue that rap can be anything other than potty-mouthed, sexist baby raps or violent nonsense that seems to be bringing the deadly chaos of the hood to the seemingly peaceful suburbs.
I still know people who say rap is neither music nor art. If you’re worried about white people who say they’ll vote for a black man but might not when the moment comes, think about this how this is going to work on their subconscious, not to mention their everyday awareness.
[Especially if Yahhh! Madness strikes the people.]
By the way:
I’ve had two close middle-aged white male friends whose wives turned them away from the N-word in a way none of their activist friends could. Guess what they’ve been using to justify occasionally bringing it back? Rap music, of course.
Best of luck, Obama.
Over at Hip Hop Press:
HipHopSodaShop Hosts Barak Obama’s Team for the New Hampshire Primary Presidential Returns
I feel what you’re sayin about trying to explain the positive side of hip hop, I’ve had heated arguments tryin to do just that. Unfortunately, I’ve mostly found that if you haven’t grown up on hip hop, theres a certain age you reach where its almost impossible for you to understand the essence of what it is.
If you don’t mind me asking, knowing that you’re a white male from reading your site, how did you end up connecting with hip hop? Was it at a young age or what?
Since you didn’t know I’m white, you probably don’t know I’m also 48.
Basically, I was in college when Rapper’s Delight came out and really loved it. But it wasn’t till the break dance movies and the first Def Jam albums that it became important to me.
So I was still young when I first got in.
What I think complicates things is that one of the white people to which I refer above is a relative and we saw those break dance movies together and he even tried to figure it out on his own but really needed a crew to pull it off.
If you pressed him about the issue and talked about early hip hop, he’d probably admit to really digging that music.
But it ain’t the 80′s no more!
Still I do think you’re mostly right about the issue of getting into it when you’re young.