An Open Letter to Fans of Hip-Hop/Rap (this means you)

Rant #318

Misogyny. Violence. Crime. Drugs. All words used to describe some of the most horrid aspects of what we either witness, encounter, deal with, or have to be conscious of in our day to day. Unfortunately, they are also words that can easily be used to describe the subject matter of Rap/Hip-Hop Music. Now I’m prolly gonna catch heat or get some dissent when i make this next statement but keep in mind these are MY opinions.

First and foremost, I don’t believe there’s a difference between Rap and Hip-Hop. I use both words interchangeably (actually, i don’t really ever say hip-hop, i just say rap). Some people create the distinction between the 2 by saying the difference lies in the message, etc. and tha’s cool. But not me. D4L, Talib, Ying-Yang, Mike Jones, Common and Eminem all rap.

That being said, i can move on. The reason I’m writing this is becuz I recently began looking for local rap talent who needed some help w/ Multimedia production (artwork, videos, etc.). I believe in order to put my whole self into something, i gotta understand and support it, or really just like it. If i don’t care about something, i aint’ gone work hard @ it.

So when i was approached by a local rapper who asked for my services, I listened to his groups music and even watched a small clip from a “video’ they threw together on Youtube. I shared the music w/ a good friend of mine and told him that there was no way that I was going to associate myself with this kind of music. The music glorified gangbanging, had numerous references about murdering innocent family members of the intended target, forcibly having sex with “girls” (they didn’t even say woman - not that that makes it any better but….), and the list goes on. Even in the YouTube clip, there were tons of trigger finger gestures and the rappers were wearing facemasks, etc.

Production-wise the group was pretty solid but I don’t feel comfortable producing something for a group so…negative. I gave my friend my big “I won’t glorify violence and lewd behavior” speech, said my goodbyes, and then hung the phone up.

I immediately pressed “unpause” on my Windows Media Player and went back to a favorite song “Stir Crazy” by Eminem. in which Mr. Mathers was right in the middle of saying:

“You’re hearing the last thoughts of a man about to blow his fucking brains out/ and fall back on the blood-stained blouse/ on top of his spouse spread out on a blood-stained couch/ in front of his kids that he just killed in the same house….“

And i was like……damn. Tha’s REALLY horrible. Of course i started trying to find ways to make myself not feel like a hypocrite. “I know that tha’s not intended or even realistic violence, therefore it’s not the same” and ” What I’m really enjoying is the complexity of not only putting together a rhyme scheme that complex but maintaining it for a full song”. All just sounded like excuses.

I loved when Slim Shady dropped an album cuz i knew there’d be some real crazy shit on that album and I’d hear some complex rap patterns that’d make me go “Dang, no one would have EVER thought to rhyme ______ w/ _______” or “Wow, i completely forgot that he said _______ and he came back like 3 bars later and STILL made it rhyme!”

“Well at least i know there’s something about Slim that I like beyond the shock value” which made me feel all noble and shit on the inside. But then “The Grand Finale” by N.W.A. came on afterwards and made me rethink my position on the issue.

“They made it Eazy for me to come off as the enforcer/. Mass Murderin’ motherfuckas in the course of/ the everyday, situation where i was stalked by/. Fuck a car, I do a mothafuckin walk-by!”

No explanation there. Clearly everything that i hated about the guy who approached me, yet i LOVE this damn song. Why? I dunno. There’s tons of songs like this on my playlist. I HATE Young Jeezy for this very reason, but i still listen to him. At least T.I. will throw in a good 3-4 songs on his album about how selling crack and committing felonies for fun is just STOOPID, but i DEF. jam that entire album.

Granted, there are plenty of other artist I listen to that don’t sensationalize these “gangster” lifestyles. Out of the 16 songs that I chose to put on my profile, only one song (Eminem - Kill You -even though that one song prolly cancels out the other 15, lol) describes the aforementioned vices in a comical manner.

I consider myself fairly musically eclectic. If it sounds right I’ll listen to it. When it comes to rap, it’s pretty down the middle for me. Because I know on my iPod, for every Young Jeezy song, there’s an Outkast song; for every Hot Boyz track, there’s a Z-ro track; Game::Devin the Dude.

I know myself and I’m more than capable of separating what’s real and what’s not, but it still makes me think.

Does my decision to reject that dude for his subject matter directly conflict w/ my affinity for artists such as Eminem, N.W.A., T.I., Jay-Z (Reasonable Doubt)?

Is it hypocritical to refuse to directly involve yourself with an artist because of their lewd & disrespectful subject matter but listen to similar music you had nothing to do with?

Not really sure what i think yet. Any thoughts?

P.S. I looked through my Eminem playlist and compiled some of his Best/worst lyrics for you to listen to while you think about those 2 questions.

http://www.southwoodmm.com/audio/shady.mp3

Also, Listen to What Pimp C has to say about the state of Rap Music - TRUTH:
Prolly one of the most important interviews the south has heard in some time:

http://www.zshare.net/audio/2833955bb6adc1/