Thomas P.M. Barnett :: Weblog

Too bad its as aesthetically half-witted (no melody, no complex chord changes, disinterest in beauty, sampling/stealing as ok, repetitiveness, etc.) as it is politically simple-minded (nearly every socially-conscious song a primer in victimology and anti-european-white-male-attitudes, not exactly a positive message medium)... And the oft-times nonsensical verbosity... Lots of heat, very little light at all.

I know it is fashionable to be neutral about rap, or, say, death metal. But the rebellion isn't exactly emphasizing the need for more love in the world, as much of the 60s rebellion was.

There is more of an overlap between the disaffection of rap and the disaffection of radical islam than is often spoken. The "answer" is often the same for each... misogyny, violence, anti-white, anti-U.S., and a whole lot of angry rhetoric about victimhood that freezes the ability of the credulous and guilty-minded to judge the results of the form.

Let's not forget Hip Hop's antecedents in Trinidad's Calypso music, with its free-form social and political commentary.

kev: i agree with most of your points, though not the tone.

some virtues of hip hop: amazing rhythm and rhyme, innovation, sampling (you call it stealing), and, in the end, it's what the market wants. so, i don't dismiss it as an art form out of hand, your cultural critique not withstanding.

it's ironic in the extreme that you can get rich or die trying off of shallow criticism of the system.

Well then. Thats wonderful!
Now it won't just be our white sisters , daughters and even mothers.. reduced to Bitchez N Hoes !
And we all know the world needs more victomology, to justify violence, and death, as the only response to being dis'd or for a newer pair of sneakers. What a contribution.
Maybe thats what the anti globalization, content flows, fundamentalists are talking about.
I think Ray Charles nailed it when he said. "That isn't singing. And 6 yr old can talk in rhymes!"

skip the garbage geared to white teens and the good stuff is good: the roots, talib kweli and yes kanye and jay z.

lots of violence, misogny, anti-white, anti-US in hollywood, tv, the nation magazine but points well-taken above and i agree w/much of it.

The revolution has been televised, Tom--MTV went hip-hop before they stopped playing music videos altogether, which was some time ago. Now MTV is global, and many of the other countries do still show music videos from local artists. Mexico's is very entertaining, with lots of "real" music with very local flavor, but from what I've seen of the Far East it's very derivative and strange there, because they never made it their own. It's one of the Asian (and Middle Eastern) complaints that globalization and Americanization are the same, and television (including advertising and, yes, MTV) is a flagship of that overall community integration.

But hip-hop is most certainly and distinctly an American product, except for the sampling (derived from the Euro house dance scene, I believe), and it's most evident in the lyrics. Just as in the "lyrics" of jazz (with instrumental monologue and dialogue) and the lyrics of blues, the lyrics of hip-hop come from the American experience, and that specifically is the rapidity of our economic growth and social evolution since about 1970. The artists at the top of the heap, even the ones now passed (B.I.G. et al.) are all of the generation coming into leadership now (Gen-X). They don't write to the white teens of today (Gen-Y), who don't understand the process of racial integration, the beginnings of the tech revolution, the end of the Cold War and the societal changes that brought about.

Only those of us who became aware of the world prior to 9/11 are able to understand the roots of hip-hop and the continuation of its social commentary. To American teens today, 9/11 is a vague disaster that likely doesn't affect them personally, they aren't interested in its background or causes, and see hip-hop only as "entertainment."

That our soldiers are of the generation to bring hip-hop with them into the Long War is of great curiosity. These artist write of frustration with society, with leaders, with the fundamentals of growing up and the process of individuation and relating to others, including the opposite gender, and at the same time realizing that there's a world outside of their cell phone favorites list (as in, "You mean I'm not the center of the universe?"). It's just about as relevant as the Long War itself in how those who listen to hip-hop will develop and live out the rest of their lives. It's not necessarily about love, and needn't be--it's about connectivity and commiseration and fixing what's wrong with the world.

To make up your mind about this issue, or if you are just curious, here are two very good hip hop videos, the first from Daara J (Senegal)
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1256280124/bctid452310618
and the second from Kou Chou Ching, (Taiwan). http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1256280124/bclid537085294/bctid1027011698

Fun read. I'm a fan of M.I.A. from Sri Lanka. She lived in London because her family had to move so much to avoid the violence. Her father was a separatist guerrilla fighter in Sri Lanka. Anyone looking to see what Tom and others are talking about should check her out. Because of being raised in London, she speaks English very well. I only mention it because it makes her music very accessible to "us" while also shedding some light onto the subject matter. To date, she is the only hip-hop act I've seen that can put on a good show too!