I am still in my nostalgic state of mind as you can tell by todays title. Public Enemy is and will always be one of my favorite rap groups. This title is fitting because today I want to point out an issue that, well... you'll see.
Currently there is a movement in the US among the black community to clean up Hip Hop ( or more importantly Gangster Rap) This movement gained momentum and favoritism after the Imus incident. During which time Blacks where in an outrage because of the statements made by this old white man. But during the midst of this it got turned around and became the fault of rappers in America. So this is what I want to touch on today.
Before I start there are somethings that I think need to be cleared up. First, Hip Hop, for those who have no idea, is a subculture within America. Hip Hop is not Rap music although Rap Music is a part of Hip Hop. Just as the Harlem Renaissance was not James Baldwin, but James Baldwin was a part of the Harlem Renaissance. Too many people Blame the culture of Hip Hop for being Violent, sexist, and anti-establishment. None of this is true, well all except the anti-establishment part. Hip Hop is art, it is spoken word, Graffiti art, Dancing, Dee-Jaying, and of course Music. I say music because although rap is a part of it, so is Neo Soul and instrumental music. The culture is truly an art form of our generation.
Now that I have tried to clear up that small piece of misunderstood information let's get to the point of this. Cleaning up rap music is not going to fix the problems in the black community contrary to some public belief. Rap music is only a small part of the problem here, and when I say small I mean infinitesimal. The problem that we face is much larger than some rappers out making music using derogatory terms. To make the rappers change their lyrics would be like getting the drug dealers off of the street. The problem with this is no matter how many you get rid of there will be others to take their place. The music (Rap) industry is not controlled by blacks or those who make the music. It is owned by the same people that own everything else in this country. Don't get me wrong back when it first started we owned it. But once it started to make money the powers that be came in and took over. They made it Global. So now rap (Gangster rap) music is a multi Billion dollar a year industry. So to get Snoop Dogg, and others like him to change is not going to fix the problem. The Rappers have no say over what gets played on the Radio Stations in rotation and what doesn't. They have no say in what MTV, BET, and VH1 will deem the hottest Video. All they are, are pawns in a much bigger game. So if we get rid of Snoop Dogg, TI and others like them; the machine will simply replace them with someone else. Building panels with rappers and Russel Simmons and others is not going to change anything because all of these people are figure heads and as sad as it is wield no real power.
So I say all of this in order to make the point that if you want to clean up what young children are listening too then attack the radio stations and Viacom. If you can not make them change then nothing is going to change no matter how many rappers you boycott.
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