Hip Hop Is NOT Dead: English 249 Colloquium

Don’t listen to what they say- Not all Hip Hop is BAD, and she sure is hell ain’t dead!  She just moved to the South.

 

AUTHORED BY: CEDRICK ALEXANDER

 Alike many of the artists in black literature, hip-hop and rap are art forms that do not necessarily express the views of one group of people, but solely that artist’s experiences and perspectives. The music gives us messages, stories, and makes us aware of our community. Whether you agree with whether that they are glamorizing negativity or not, the message does exist for many people.  Given the lack of a formidable justice system, lack of opportunity in low-income areas, and a cycle of irresponsibility in some situations, a lifestyle that many people would not normally condone seems to be the only way out. At the very least, some artists that aspire from this “trap” of bad decisions are trying to raise awareness to the suburbs that these conditions exist, and hopefully try to give back to their communities to help end the cycle. These artists have progressed from that lifestyle and may find that selling themselves to the music industry to better their family’s economic situation is a better avenue than selling drugs and going to jail.

In actuality, hip-hop may save your life.

Unfortunately today hip-hop has transitioned from an artistic movement and culture to a fortified business. The result of hip-hop is to provide a product that is marketable to a large audience, be simplistic enough to provide a message, and generate revenue- bottom line. The creative process is designed to be enjoyable and fun and controversial angles are avoided: 1) because it is difficult to perform 2) or there is a lack of knowledge about the subject 3)refusal of their audience to engage 4)or simply lack of interest. When it is attempted such as in the case of Nas and his song "Sly Fox", this happens.

You can also listen to the actual song here.

Ref: Nas, “Untitled” response by Jim Jones

At the end of the day, art is general is designed to evoke a feeling of some sort. When reading poetry or literature, you are given characters and situations to help you engage in the story, and sympathize with them. Music is designed to provide listening enjoyment. If you choose to use any expression of art as your means of education, or subscribe to the messages provided by artists you will be greatly mislead. As a matter of fact, if you try to live your life other than yourself, you will be in a bad position.  The audience must know what they are getting into when listening to the music, understand that the artist is just that, a character. Why do you think rappers have rap names?!  He or she is not a role model or model citizen or even one who he claims to be thru his or her records. Often times, lyrics are fictitious and used to arouse some sort of emotion. It is more important to look at the overall composition of the work, rather than emphasize on the lyrics alone. No one is forced to listen to rap or hip-hop, and though a majority of black culture identify with rap it is merely what they enjoy for various reasons, and have chosen, or not chosen for some, identify with.

I think we can agree that it ain't all right, but hip hop has a lot of good in it that people fail to realize.

Essential Questions:

-Is it fair to require any artist to be socially conscience of their audience or be advocates of a culture given their vast audience and platform? As mentioned before, the majority of consumers in hip-hop are not African-American so do rappers have to cater to the minority of their consumer base?

-Music is an art form. Why are rappers persecuted for presenting their art if it is not in accordance with the progression of African Americans? This is not the case in rock or pop. Why is this debate unique to hip-hop?

- Can we look at rappers as individuals? Is it just a coincidence that the majority of the rappers are black? At what point, don't we associate with hip-hop with race? Consider Zora Neale Hurston and "How It Feels to be Colored Me" 

"At certain points, I have no race. I am me."

-Who is to blame: the consumer or the artist?

-Is hip-hop life imitating art or art imitating life?

-With the same motifs present in books, movies, and sitcoms, why is hip-hop so overly criticized?

-Is it just music? Where are we heading and what are the social constructs present in hip-hop? Sociology vs. literature

-What makes “good” literature? What makes “good” hip-hop? Reference: Baldwin and “Everyone’s Protest Novel”

-Hip-hop the business model employs minorities that may not otherwise have had the opportunity to excel. Is selling out to the industry is wrong to better your family? Is it all about money?

-If not for hip hop who would talk about the struggle? Who would be the voice of the streets? Or at least a semblance of that?

To Be Enslaved or To Die

Today in class, we discussed the readings of Sojourner Truth, Maria Stewart, and Henri Garnet, who were all activists in one form or another. Sojourner Truth's piece was centered more so on woman's rights, rather than the rights of African Americans. She wanted women, no matter what race or creed, to be treated as such and given equal rights to their male counterparts. In a sense, it was as if Truth subscribed to the idea that she was a woman first and foremost, and African-American second, which is a discord to the thought that was traveling around at this time. In that sense, Sojourner Truth was a revolutionary.

Truth presents her argument in an accommodationists' format, stating in a sense that we (women) wouldn't take more rights than they needed. She even goes as far as to say that she wanted the opportunity to fix the wrongs women caused in the Bible, and hope that white men would give them the opportunity to do so. However, there is one argument that is posed with Truth's presentation. One must wonder how to negotiate chivalry with equality?

If women want to be treated as though they are delicate creatures and to be honed as the carriers of life, how can they in turn combat for equal rights as men who make a living working their entire lives in the fields being brutalized?

Maria Stewart's argument was a little more educated. Her intended audience was the black elite and the educated whites as shown thru the language used in the piece. She sought to use religion as the key force against the hypocrisy in America that slavery was justifiable by the Bible.

Garnet was a revolutionary. He called for an uprising of the people to combat the ills of slavery. He too, spoke in a heightened voice that was intended mainly for the entertainment of black leaders, but his message was different in that it was one of the first real calls to action. He understood the numbers game, and that blacks slowly were outnumbering whites and therefore changes were going to have to be made. Garnet felt it was time to accelerate that process.

However, the main discussion in class, came upon the idea that slaves from Africa had better assimilate to white America for survival. Many people in the class saw that slaves were being "smart" by "pretending" to follow the ways of the majority and sacrifice their own culture to survive, and quite possibly make a name for themselves in the north if they were able to escape. The conversation heightened when children got involved, when people stated that it was nearly impossible to rebel with children that you had to care for.

My point centered around the concept of individuality and culture. For me, it seemed as if you were sacrificing your culture, your religion, and everything you were taken from in your homeland to be enslaved, you were no good alive. You were not you. You were who they wanted you to be. You had lost all sense of who you were to be enslaved into a life of labor. Why would you want that? I would have rebelled and most likely would have lost my life fighting for the preservation of my heritage and culture, because if you don't have that, what do you have? You have nothing. You have a life of slavery and nothing to show for it. I would enrich my kids lives by instilling in them what you are fighting for so that they too can understand the lineage and heritage from which they come. In some sense, I imagine it was the similar liberal vs. conservative clash I have been facing since coming to Alabama. It seems I am as far left as possible, and it scares me that I know people that are even more liberal than I am!

The truth is that the abolition of slavery was not impending. There was no way for the slaves to have known that by them assimilating and making grassroots opposition from time to time, that slavery would undoubtedly come to an end at one point. So, why not rebel? Why not fight?

Maybe life is worth more than losing for your belief system and your ideals. I am not sure. The opposition made the claim that blacks were not as dumb as people made them out to be, and were simply acting as if they were listening to master, but were still practicing what they believed in regardless. The opposition felt that blacks were doing what was best for their lives and prolonging the name of their family. If blacks were to rebel, they would have become an extinct species. African Americans were simply doing what was best at the time.

I cannot say what is right and wrong, but I can say what my stance is.

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog, and have some input of your own. Thank you for reading. Stay tuned.

What Barack Obama Means To Me

Feature Story by Cedrick Alexander, Birmingham View

It is hard to put into words the magnitude of what happened last November. Barack Obama has become a social figure in this country. His face is on everything from shirts to shoes, and his name has been used in all modes of pop culture. It is hard to believe, that this time last year no one gave the senator from Illinois a chance to be where he is today, only two days from his inauguration as the 44^th President of the United States, the first of African American descent. The right-wing pundits targeted his lack of experience, his youth, and his “shady” affiliations. They accused him of being socialist, communist, a terrorist, and even sought to bring those around him down to get to him.

Yet, Barack Hussein Obama prevailed. He succeeded thru it all and got where he is today sitting in a position only days away from becoming the most powerful man in the free world.

Can you believe it? It is still surreal even to me.

Sitting from where I sit, it is still hard to fathom. I am a junior at the University of Alabama; a 20-year-old journalism major from Atlanta, Georgia watching all this unfurl from the confines of my dorm room. I consider myself fairly liberal, but even if you were to have told me in 2007 that we would have a black president, I would laugh at the idea myself.

But there was nothing funny about Obama’s campaign. There was no comedy in his plans to change the economy, the healthcare system, the way the United States was going as a whole. There was nothing comical about Obama’s chances of becoming the next president of the United States. Throughout his campaign, there was not much laughter. Even his fundraising, and grassroots politics upbringing, though unorthodox, worked. It worked because Obama would not allow it to fail. Failure was not an option.

Imagine my excitement, not knowing what the future holds for this trailblazer of politics. I tuned into politics fervently, not missing a single debate, tuning into every CNN and FOX News story about the presidential race. It was amazing watching it take place. I have never been involved in something so much in my life. Debates on campus arose around the presidential race, and all conversations seemed to center around politics in some capacity. It was amazing, the intellectual fortitude that we as collegians in a whole began to show for ourselves. We finally had more to offer than Alabama football and parties. We wanted to talk about the issues: the real issues that would affect our future and our children’s future.

We, African Americans, had finally gotten what we had been asking for for years. Barack Obama was a political figure that represented us in the light that we wanted- a candidate that spoke so eloquently when he opened his mouth, was manner able in all cases (even when he was attacked), that understood our condition as a people, and embodied the role model of what black people really are in this country. It was unbelievable watching him work; his surgical precision of the issues in his debates made him superhero-esque. He would not be rattled. He was focused. He was driven. He would not be denied his goal.

And this inspired us, as a people. Watching him inspired us to go out to the polls. Watching Obama caused the largest youth vote and African American vote in this nation’s history to go out and vote. We were in turn motivated by a man that was motivated! Personally, this inspired me to do better. To be better. Barack Obama has

singlehandedly made me realize that nothing is impossible. We can do anything if we work hard and are focused. People may laugh at your ideas and your goals. But there is nothing as strong as the determined spirit. Imagine the criticism Obama had to face once he declared to be considered in the running for US president. But Obama never questioned himself. Moreover, he knew he was destined for something greater. Why couldn’t he be the next president? It never occurred to him that he could not. He was qualified, and he went at his goals with everything he had. That is why Barack Obama is my role model. He embodies the type of person I want to be in my life. Barack Obama has accomplished what many thought was the impossible. And now I realize that nothing is impossible. Thank you Barack Obama.

About the Author

Cedrick Alexander is a contributing writer for Birmingham View, the Tuscaloosa News, BAMAlog, and the Crimson White. He is journalism major at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, AL originally from Atlanta, Georgia. The older of two, Cedrick lists his interests as everything from politics to pop culture to sports.

Cedrick served as an intern for Radio One Atlanta with his summer in 2008, and served as an intern for the International Institute for Sustained Dialogue in 2007. Cedrick also is a radio personality for the student radio station WVUA90.7.

For any questions or comments, please contact him at Alexander.cedrick@gmail.com, or cedrickjalexander@yahoo.com.

Welcome!

Good evening,

My name is Cedrick Alexander. I am a journalism major at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, AL. I am 20 years old and originally from Atlanta, Ga. I created this blog to record the discussions we have in my African American Literature class. I think we discuss a lot about black culture in general, not just the text presented to us. Some of the material even touches on current subjects.

So with that I hope you enjoy what you read. I will try to be as objective as possible and I hope that you will comment where you feel necessary. Thanks for visiting bamablackliterature.blogspot.com.