The State of the Black Union conference is this week, and it’s always good for interesting stories, ideas, and controversies. Dr. Trisha Rose was the most interesting person so far – she’s a professor at Brown University who’s leading a discussion on the relationship between economics and hip-hop. When the conversation turned to how important context and history were to understanding the current situation, my ears perked up. If you’re been reading for a while you know that that’s pretty much my thing.
Anyway, she put the commercialization of rap music inside of a story that stretched back 70 years, from Jim Crow and the urban renewal craze that hit the country later. Hip Hop grew out of that tension, organic, homemade, low budget, borrowing from history and their own surroundings to make something new.
You don’t need me to tell you how things changed in the past twenty years. Arright, here’s Bling Bling, the song that made the catchphrase:
Now, ignore the beat (which was hot as hell in 1998 or whatever, but just sounds tacky now), and the lyrics (which were never all that interesting), and the direction (surprisngly lowbudget) Put your eyes on the amenities: the big mansion, the jewelry, the girls, the helicopter (I guess Mannie Fresh is gonna airlift these dudes to Banana Republic or somethin’), the sportscars that were really badass in 1999… oh and the girls. All of it is 100% rented, and the dudes in the video went 100% broke a few years later. Juvenile? Broke. Turk? In jail, and broke. BG? Broke. Pretty sure Mannie is broke. If it wasn’t for Lil’ Wayne selling so many copies, there wouldn’t be any money at all coming through that label.
If you have an internet connection, you probably don’t need me to tell you that the images that are sold on music video channels don’t have any reflection in the real world, that when the shoot’s over, the cars go back to the lot, the McMansions get steam cleaned, and the artists go home broke, just like anybody who’s signed up to a major label. What’s more interesting is how much that stuff is the exact opposite of hip hop’s roots, the idea that your music should be a reflection of your real self and your real life. You can make fun of the Beastie Boys (ooooh how you can make fun of the Beastie Boys), but at least they were rapping about Budweisers and frat antics instead of rented jets and custom brands of vodka.
Most people who have a problem with gangsta rap don’t have any experience with it, or any way of relating to it. But it isn’t for them. Those rappers told real stories during a time when nobody else was. It’s not an act, not a fad, not going away any time soon. But those stories shouldn’t be glorified, packaged, and sold as a product – they’re a crisis that people should be working to end. Music is situational, but it can also be transformational : in order to be relevant it has to be, and on a level that’s different than which samples get played in the background. With all the years and years that have passed since hip-hop officially became to go-to genre for mainstream music, it’s been stagant. It’s not enough to just “represent” where you’re from or where you’ve been – you’ve gotta represent what you want and where you’re going.
Makes sense.
Tags: Beastie Boys, Juvenile, Lil' Wayne, Tavis Smiley, Tricia Rose
[...] Dr. Trisha Rose was the most interesting person so far – she’s a professor at Brown University who’s leading a discussion on the relationship between economics and hip-hop . When the conversation turned to how important context and …Continue Reading… [...]