http://www.slate.com/id/2193871/pagenum/2/

“Ironically, a George Clinton fan named Dr. Dre helped push space to hip-hop’s margins for the better part of a decade. In 1988, Dre co-produced Straight Outta Compton, the epochal album by ur-gangsta-rap posse N.W.A, which made the group’s stone-faced “reality rap” hip-hop’s dominant perspective. Cosmic journeys became fanciful departures from hip-hop’s so-called “true” locus, the flesh-and-blood, asphalt-and-concrete street. In the mid-to-late-’90s, bling-era hip-hop supplanted gangsta rap, trading an exaggerated narrative of urban despair for an exaggerated narrative of upward mobility—but not the sort you get from a shuttle blastoff.”

Back to lyrical content. I’ve witnessed kids, probably not even over ten years old, recite Ying Yang Twins’ “Whisper Song” on the A train in Bed-Stuy and in the Lower East Side. The words, messages replicated in hiphop songs sip into kids ears, affecting their attitudes, their emotions, and their character because, believe it or not rappers are looked up to, as role models and not just as entertainers. We listen to music outside of the club more than we do inside the club. Take Maino’s recent smash “Hi Haters”, which is currently burning the airwaves here in NYC, at least. The song is a classic example of how lyrical content can reinforce a stereotypical mindset, an attitude, in this case saying that if you are not attracting, generating ill will from others, you’re not shining and you’re doing something wrong.

Personally, I tend to go for the dark, abstract, subversive type of hiphop, which is something you can find in the mainstream and the underground/backpack, and you guys are making the underground sound like one terrible monolithic group. Most of the complexity/individualism you talk about already exist in the underground, and every now and then the complex, insurgent artists get exposed in the mainstream and smash the stereotypes. The monstrosity that is the Carter III is great, but then again so is the new Keak Da Sneak album “Deified,” Flying Lotus’ “Los Angeles.”

Here’s a video of Immortal Tech loosing a freestyle battle on BET in 2004, I think. It’s pretty funny.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=1719901

It’s hard to pin down exactly what the effect of music and video is on people, especially adolescents who according to the accepted brain research have certain disadvantages in terms of judgment and behavior. I’ve heard strong arguments for the necessity to more responsibly produce music and film because of the risk of copycat behaviors. But I can’t say that I entirely agree with that point of view. Nor do I think it’s completely true that violence has been “force fed” to people through popularizing gangsta rap either. It’s important to remember that consumers have the power to buy or not buy, and they usually buy stuff they can relate to. I think the streets were already pretty violent before gangsta rap showed up. Interpreting musical content is also a very subjective and complicated task, and I don’t think it should be our goal to pass final judgment. Everybody has something to express that somebody else would find offensive. Ultimately, I think it’s up to the individual people, the individual consumers to inform themselves, educate themselves and put some thought into making their own decisions.

‘You need to replace that time, buzz, whatever you’re getting from that, with something better and non-damaging.’

That’s one of the biggest challenges I face in trying to construct the kind of sets I’m talking about. Its hard finding non-damaging stuff that I would play out in a club without sounding preachy, dated or losing the dancefloor. Politically conscious MC’s aren’t the end-all solution to point to. I often take the MC out of the equation all together and play the instro, perhaps mashing it up with some obscure bit a somn from somewhere. One of my favorite jams to play this year has little more to say than I’m being attacked by mosquitoes while trying to chillax with a drink on a sunday. Pyrelli’s lazy boy style and tunes about food and being fat are another great example of fun jams that we can relate to without gettin too ‘better than thou’.

Rupture’s point about the backpack movement clutching to the boom-bap as vehemently as the crotch on their over-sized jeans serves as a huge limiter on selection (beatwise). Rappers rappin about rappin offer little more than an exercise in verbal calisthenics that is often better left out on the street-corner cypha then in the recording booth.

Audio Sniper Tip # 216
Keep the targets drunken and/or stoned head-space in mind while at the club. It’s a party. Church isn’t till sunday, and right about now all anybody is trying to do is get laid or at least dance with somebody.

Audio Sniper Tip# 247
Your target is trying to dance or talk to friends and isn’t paying a whole lot of attention to lyrics. Try playing music that is sample-based with sparse vocal snippets. Tunes like these are made for Dj’s that play in clubs and can be a killer alternative to playing something that perpetuates violence.

I am torn about this. On the one hand, there is nothing I have less time for than the knee jerk conscious finger wagging of backpack hiphop over bad old beats (or good new beats for that matter). On the other I do agree that promoting violence and death non-stop DO indeed have negative psychic consequences for everyone who listens, especially those who are young or lack perspective.

But I agree with Rupture in this that the one antidote is more reality not less. Someone like Z-Ro from Houston who went through the gangsta era, got locked up (he claims wrongfully), came out bitter and christian and now makes songs both about the Iraq war and how he’ll shoot you is contributing more to the dialogue. The level of individual detail he’s bringing to his music and weight of experience allows me to take him seriously when he starts speaking against black on black crime, or about why people do these things because they can’t get a better job. Nothing turns me off more than some 19 year old from the suburbs rapping about how he’s smarter than the gangsta rappers and that they’re wrong about x y and z and how lyrical irical he is. I really want to say dude, just shut up and rap about SOMETHING instead of rapping about rapping about something.

I think Kanye actually, for all his materialism, arrogance and general being annoying has probably done more for the ‘conscious’ rap world simply by not being gangsta and being successful in the hood, thereby showing new artists that if they want they can go that route, be fly and a good musician and talk about stuff that means something directly to your life (through the wire, etc) and you can break through without being a carbon copy. This is more of what we need, viable alternatives to the negative, rather than to simply say “we don’t like this, stop it”. If anyone has tried to stop any addictive behavior one of the things you learn is that you need to replace that time, buzz, whatever you’re getting from that, with something better and non-damaging.

i’m glad someone said it! and i agree with striving for a (um) weezian/wileyan ideal of individuation and complexity, as opposed to spitting a bunch of ‘conscious’ signifiers or commands (don’t fuckin TELL me to expand my mind, tell me shit that EXPANDS my mind). using the gangsta *archetype* (not stereotype) as a template for an mc to explore his own personality is what, to me, makes these folks next-level artists.

in a lot of ways, i think that gangsters, hustlers, players, and (to draw the link back to afroamerican folklore) pranksters (souljah boy tell’em!) make for useful themes precisely because they are not mundane– they allow a role for fantasy in which truth can be interpreted through contrast or exaggeration. you know what i don’t want to hear? an mc detailing the relationship between teen pregnancy and the oversight forms he’s filling out day-in/day-out at the English as a Second Language class he’s teaching in the hood. aside from being a top-down perspective, it’s boring.

i DO like hearing paul wall go on about using his financial aid checks to buy rims.

the rare thing in the black & brown pop persona is *complexity*, which is the only antidote to stereotypes that i’m aware of. I dont mean ‘complex lyrics’ or complexity in the literary sense, i mean complexity in the Wiley sense, in the Lil Wayne sense,

in the sense that you feel you are listening to an individual and not a puffy icon/sex toy/white-executive driven fantasy of the violent & big-dicked brownskinned male etc etc.

art (or club nights) which reduce possibilities rather than generate them tend to leave me cold — and sometimes those possibilities are sonic, are about flow, are about everything _but_ the lyrical content..

music is a place of symbolic action, symbolic battles.

I think it is extremely useful to follow the money & see who profits from gangsta rap, which in effect will let you know who gangsta rap “is” — who controls it.

I think it’s significant to look at early gangsta rap (pre-G-Funk/Chronic era, around1986 and 1992) when it seems a new batch of hiphop artists/MCs started embracing that other side of hiphop culture (not the political, cultural—graffiti, breakdancing side) the drug-crazy, reckless side of inner-city/urban life and disenfranchised communities—gangs, drugs, sex, cars, violence, whatever… We should examine that early period to gain insight before we talk about “gangsta rap’s ideology” and violence and hyper-materialism as being cool today.

Hiphop has always had that materialistic, “fun” side (the Sugarhill Gang “Rapper’s Delight” side) but it also had its mindful, conscious side (Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five “The Message”) and even when we had Ice-T, Eazy E, NWA, Geto Boys and Cypress Hill making raw, violent music that reflects the realities like police brutality/harassment, we also had Public Enemy, X-Clan, KRS-One, Paris (and Slick Rick, Tribe and De La to a lesser extent) reflect the struggles and frustrations of their community.

Hiphop has become so extremely tangled up with consumerism and materialism, so transient the fashions and tastes and role models and clothes—so heavy the peer pressure, the fashion again, and the gossip… very fleeting, but like you Geko, I’m optimistic.

In Freetown, Sierra Leone, at the height of the Tupac/Biggie controversy/beef, a gang (I don’t remember what they were called, Thug Life or something like that), which had been growing really since the early nineties on the eastern part of town, occupied an area they called Death Row. When the Revolutionary United Front entered the capital in mid 1997, members of the gang and a lot of other young men and women, to a certain extent influenced by gangsta rap mentality pick up weapons and joined, or become somewhat connected to the RUF and proceed to start wreaking havoc on Freetowners.

Ultimately, my goal is to understand and if there is anything I can do to “improve” things, do so. If something unhealthy fills a need in people, my personal goal is just to understand what that need is and to think of healthy ways to fill that need,whether its certain music,underaged sex, drugs, bling worship,etc. In my worldview, people engage in behaviors for reasons. If the behavior is maladaptive, then my solution is to try and find a better way for them to scratch their itch OR eliminate the itch.

I try to not impose my values on others. But I get to impose all I want with my kids, so they get to deal with no watching of videos or listening to radio and the total banishment of MTV, BET etc at my house.

Class issues complicate things, because much of what I dislike isn’t so much wrong as it is distasteful.I dislike ghetto wealth signalling because it is ghetto as much as I dislike it for being a waste of resources.If it were the conspicuous display of orchids rather than shoes and chains, I may be inclined to give it a pass.
*shrug*

When I get time,I’ll share my thoughts on being a girl in a world where men collect “bitches” to enhance their masculinity;on being a girl of a certain background, with a certain appearance. I have often felt that to many men I am nothing more than a trophy and source of cute kids DNA. That everything good about me they appreciated ONLY for what it could do to enhance their status.
I’m not even a woman, I’m a music video cliche.

G: I care. Whose hands are we talking about ? It doesn’t go back into the hands of the masses or the communities that need it. I’m well aware this isn’t a new phenomenon but when coupled with capitalism and the hyper-speed of the internet and its ability to reach the masses the problem grows exponentially and to sit idly and say that’s how it is and how it has always been doesn’t really offer much suggestion for how to get ourselves out of the slump we’re in

N: Encouraging, failing to discourage isn’t the same as force-feeding. Its more like McDonalds providing junk food for us to happily wolf down, we want it and like it. “They” enable and perhaps encourage the consumption of it, but force? Nah.

G: I end up at McD’s like once a year when its the 5 in the morning and no dinner in sight but otherwise I haven’t had a big mac in quite some time. I know alot of folks who can say the same because they live in an area like new york where you can find alternatives or because they have the means to get elsewhere (for reasons like having cars and being able to afford 4.50 a gallon or they making more money than someone in the hood). People have to eat, its a human need, when ya belly em growl up, and you only have a one hour lunch break, and thats all thats in your immediate area or within your price range OF COURSE your gonna eat that shit. Those fries are bangin calorie count and all! But I think we can agree that if there were more alternatives (i dont mean KFC/Taco bell – I mean healthy affordable alternatives) with money to franchise and advertise the way McD’s do people would explore more. The problem here is accessibility. TV and Radio offer very lil variety to choose from. Not having the internet is a major problem in parts of the world

N: My 45 year old husband TAUGHT his sons to be gangsta because he said “I want them to be prepared for the real world”. My husband wasnt listening to reggaeton growing up.

G: I live in the real world, I’ve been on my own since 15. I’ve lived in the south bronx, miami, puerto rico. I’ve had a 13 year old pull a gun on me, been at a friends during a DEA raid and ya know what… a lot of those gangsta kids really just want to laugh and scrape together enough money to cop a dime and smoke a blunt and chill.. They don’t wanna have to deal with drama. ” You cant keep the man offa you, but u can certainly go around terrorizing those weaker than you” Thats a learned behavior. We allow them to paint bullying as cool. Its out there of course, its nature, survival of the fittest and all that. but if no one stands up and says HEY-CUT THAT SHIT OUT! Things will continue to deteriorate. We need more Jim Brown’s in the world
MV Bill is one of them.

The bling thing Tali handled up top- massa’s way of gettin his money back.

N: Sex- you can get “bitches”, lots of em. Yeah, so THe Man sleeps with your wives and daugthers, sterilized em against their wills, wont pay welfare if ur married,etc etc. Nothing reverses emasculation like running amok screwing everyone.

G: I’d like to hear your perspective on a woman’s side of that struggle.

N: Till those issues are dealt with, whatever the music kids listen to will reflect their need to show the world certain aspects of themselves that they feel are underrepresented.

G: True, and this is part of the work that is needed to deal with those issues. We have to talk about them and offer suggestions, develop ideas and alternative programing. My problem is that I like afro-carribean and unerground bass music too much. I’m out of touch with hip-hop. But when we find ourselves a great hip hop DJ that enjoys the sound kids are listening to and mashes up interesting ideas about how to get out from under and can sneak that under the radar. That lady is gonna make a difference.

N: Me? I dont buy that sort of crap. I dont mind sex, do mind killing and drugs in my music and movies. I don’t let my kids watch much tv or movies. I banned radio in 1995. I wont buy books that glorify that lifestyle. And I try to make it possible for my kids and others to believe in a world where success is possible by means other than straight gansta-ism.

G: I’m testament to that success by other means. Glad to hear that you set those limits for your kids, that was an important factor in me turning out the way i did. thanks for taking part in the conversation

When the consumer has no more need for these fantasies. When the consumer has dreams that can be achieved by other avenues.

Thats why we have movies about the Lottery and Marrying Millioniares. Women know that there are often insurmountable barriers in real life, to financial success. Movies about going to college, working hard etc clash with our experience that tells us loans are hard to get, scholarships not easy, our secondary school educations inadequate, childcare expensive.

Fuck it, let me watch a movie where I meet a man at the diner where I work and he wins the lotto and shares.

Something that disturbs many is that we often consume that which harms us. We eagerly, greedily consume it and eschew Good Stuff when it is offered to us. We cant (totally) blame The Man for forming our tastes or for controlling our choices.

We have to find a way to properly portion out the blame and assign the responsibility for change.

Me? I dont buy that sort of crap. I dont mind sex, do mind killing and drugs in my music and movies. I dont let my kids watch much tv or movies.I banned radio in 1995. I wont buy books that glorify that lifestyle. And I try to make it possible for my kids and others to believe in a world where success is possible by means other than straight gansta-ism.