Negativity in Rap

Teddy_Ruxpin · May 29, 2005

Although BET has shown the acceptance that Telemundo and Univision don't, it seems that a lot of rappers both African American and Latino tend to put Latinos in a negative light to boost their non-existant street credibility. 'Coca please, I'm Dominican, we bag em up as coca leaves, step on em, turn em into coca keys, rawest smoke off the boat from over seas'-J.R. Writer

I just don't see why he would want to stereotype Dominicans. Most Dominicans are hard working honest people, not the Pablo Escobar people that they try to portray. He mentions that he's Dominican in almost every song and he always puts being Dominican in a negative light. In another song he says 'son understand me, come to the candy(crack), I'm Dominican dog it runs in the family'. And he does it in many other songs too. African Americans do it too. 'It's for the black culture, Spanish chicks wit the sweet chocha, Spanish(of course we know Dominicans aren't Spanish Jay-z is just dumb) cats wit the keys of coca'-Jay-z Almost every rapper is doing it now, trying to make themselves look like some Latin drug lord or Italian mobster. What happened to just doing Hip Hop and being yourself?

Not only is it spawning a negative image, it's making light of many people's situations. In a rap battle T-Rex said 'I go pound for pound wit cane(cocaine), my connects Colombian I can't pronounce his name' That's making light of real situations. Luis Gilberto Murillo, Afro-Colombian, said that when the U.S. dumps chemicals on the coca plants from airplanes they also kill crops that many Afro-Colombians depend on to survive. And while they are actually living it, this clown is trying to glorify it.

Another thing that I don't like is the excessive use of Latinas in rap videos. They've been stereotyped as subervient geisha girls that are there for the rappers pleasure.

How do you feel about the negative impact of Rap these days? As an African American I'm quite appalled at what rap has become.

gatamayo · May 29, 2005

Hip Hop and Rap

Well said Teddy, well said. Take it from someone that works in the media field scandal, sex and any other from of negativity sells and sells big. 50 Cent, prime example is shot nine times. Why?, because he use to sling rock on the street. Now he becomes and rapper and glorifies drug running and selling and the fact that he was shot nine times gives him street cred to all the other misled street youths that run around in the inner city ghettos. In my opinion getting shot nine times shouldn't be a sign of credibility but a sign to do something else, its also a sign that who ever tried shooting him is a lousy shot.

Now before anyone goes and starts yelling that I shouldn't abdicate viloence or murder. The last statement was a bit of levity in this very serious situation that is affecting American pop culture and its youth.

krissiebee · May 29, 2005

Good Lord.

Honestly? First I think you need to stop watching BET. Besides sucking generally (that's another rant) that channel only plays the lamest, most commercial BS "rap" that's out there. Rap/hip-hop is a MUCH wider and more diverse field that what you get from mainstream video channels (and BET, whatever it wants to call itself, is really only a glorified video channel.)

Anyway. I don't completely buy the argument everyone makes that rap supposedly used to be all about harmless good clean fun and nothing else. (Consider "The Message".) Weren't women objectified back in the day? Didn't rappers beef back then (minus actual fighting, but I seem to recall it was still fairly vicious at times). I also don't buy that the amount of "negativity" or the "negative impact" in rap is somehow greater than in other genres. Maybe if you're comparing it to Amy Grant and Richard Marx. But let's be real. What about Metal? Alternative? Country, even?

The songs you're hearing are popped-up bastard stepchildren of late 80s-early 90s gangsta rap, sometimes fused with late 80s-early 90s southern bass music. Yes, those types got seriously played out (hence so much popular current stuff is stupid) but gangsta rap originally had a purpose: exposing America to the harsh realities of the crack cocaine epidemic. This involved a lot of unpleasant imagery, but underneath most of the anthems of drug dealing and pimping and robbing and whatever was the message that that lifestyle was extremely dangerous and ultimately undesirable. And, um...aren't most African Americans "hard working honest people" too? One of the other messages I took away from gangsta rap was the fact that the people caught up in drugs, whether dealing or using, were often people who felt they had few other choices to participate in the so-called American Dream. These problems were easy to overlook for those who didn't have to live in areas saturated with them, including the people in power. Heck, I grew up in one of those sorts of neighborhoods and didn't recognize what was really going on until gangsta rap became really popular there! Seeing as how African American neighborhoods and Latino neighborhoods are usually very close to one another, I don't see the connections in rap as surprising.

That being said, yes, a lot of the stuff you'll see pushed at us does suck, a lot. Some of these "artists" (Chingy, I'm looking at YOU) make me want to kick in the TV.

So, what to do about the garbage rap? Stop listening to it. It gets marketed because it is what sells now. Once it became apparent that this was a potentially lucrative enterprise, you got all these jerks with nothing to say, really, jumping on the bandwagon, and then came serious attention from major labels, and it's gotten all slick and monotonous and Britneyfied and gone downhill from there. Don't buy it; don't watch programs that only feature that. Check out local artists. Listen to older stuff, if it makes you happy. Find current hip-hop artists you like and can support; find out who they listen to. It's a small thing to do, but if we ignore it, it goes away. Can't get street cred when a) you didn't have any to start with and b) the streets aren't listening. And no street cred still puts a good sized dent in ones' "career."

I'm not sure if this clearly addresses the question, but I was thinking about it! Really. I will stop ranting now.

Teddy_Ruxpin · May 29, 2005

krissiebee said:
Good Lord.

Honestly? First I think you need to stop watching BET. Besides sucking generally (that's another rant) that channel only plays the lamest, most commercial BS "rap" that's out there. Rap/hip-hop is a MUCH wider and more diverse field that what you get from mainstream video channels (and BET, whatever it wants to call itself, is really only a glorified video channel.)

Anyway. I don't completely buy the argument everyone makes that rap supposedly used to be all about harmless good clean fun and nothing else. (Consider "The Message".) Weren't women objectified back in the day? Didn't rappers beef back then (minus actual fighting, but I seem to recall it was still fairly vicious at times). I also don't buy that the amount of "negativity" or the "negative impact" in rap is somehow greater than in other genres. Maybe if you're comparing it to Amy Grant and Richard Marx. But let's be real. What about Metal? Alternative? Country, even?

The songs you're hearing are popped-up bastard stepchildren of late 80s-early 90s gangsta rap, sometimes fused with late 80s-early 90s southern bass music. Yes, those types got seriously played out (hence so much popular current stuff is stupid) but gangsta rap originally had a purpose: exposing America to the harsh realities of the crack cocaine epidemic. This involved a lot of unpleasant imagery, but underneath most of the anthems of drug dealing and pimping and robbing and whatever was the message that that lifestyle was extremely dangerous and ultimately undesirable. And, um...aren't most African Americans "hard working honest people" too? One of the other messages I took away from gangsta rap was the fact that the people caught up in drugs, whether dealing or using, were often people who felt they had few other choices to participate in the so-called American Dream. These problems were easy to overlook for those who didn't have to live in areas saturated with them, including the people in power. Heck, I grew up in one of those sorts of neighborhoods and didn't recognize what was really going on until gangsta rap became really popular there! Seeing as how African American neighborhoods and Latino neighborhoods are usually very close to one another, I don't see the connections in rap as surprising.

That being said, yes, a lot of the stuff you'll see pushed at us does suck, a lot. Some of these "artists" (Chingy, I'm looking at YOU) make me want to kick in the TV.

So, what to do about the garbage rap? Stop listening to it. It gets marketed because it is what sells now. Once it became apparent that this was a potentially lucrative enterprise, you got all these jerks with nothing to say, really, jumping on the bandwagon, and then came serious attention from major labels, and it's gotten all slick and monotonous and Britneyfied and gone downhill from there. Don't buy it; don't watch programs that only feature that. Check out local artists. Listen to older stuff, if it makes you happy. Find current hip-hop artists you like and can support; find out who they listen to. It's a small thing to do, but if we ignore it, it goes away. Can't get street cred when a) you didn't have any to start with and b) the streets aren't listening. And no street cred still puts a good sized dent in ones' "career."

I'm not sure if this clearly addresses the question, but I was thinking about it! Really. I will stop ranting now.

A lot of rappers today have never done the things they're talking about. I can respect someone like Cormega, he's done all of the things he talks about and he does it without glorifying it. I won't say that rap was all peaches and cream because being African American is not all peaches and cream, but it was real. It wasn't about jewelry, light skinned girls, and things that you've never done.

I don't watch BET as much as I used to but I try to give it the benefit of the doubt.

krissiebee · May 29, 2005

Teddy_Ruxpin said:
A lot of rappers today have never done the things they're talking about. I can respect someone like Cormega, he's done all of the things he talks about and he does it without glorifying it. I won't say that rap was all peaches and cream because being African American is not all peaches and cream, but it was real. It wasn't about jewelry, light skinned girls, and things that you've never done.

Exactly what I was trying to say.The BET/MTV stuff is almost completely imaginary, imitative and devoid of meaning.

(Although I have to admit they have improved with the "light-skinned only" thing--growing up in the 80s it seemed the "pretty" girl was always the super light one. Today's videos do have a variety, and don't really hold to the whole skinny blond girl ideal.)

Teddy_Ruxpin said:
I don't watch BET as much as I used to but I try to give it the benefit of the doubt.

Ooh, don't get me going on that!

Suffice it to say that BET has been around for 25--TWENTY FIVE!--years now, which seems certainly long enough to move past "let's give it the benefit of the doubt" status to "actual force to be reckoned with, legitimate channel worth watching" status.

But I think we're getting off topic?

fortywater · May 29, 2005

The New Minstrel Show

The problem with rap now is that it has become the new minsterel show. It's gone from "Bug your eyes out, act like you're slow witted" to "Tell us how many (black) people you've killed and how much your chain costs." "Aritists" now will do or say anything just to get paid, even if it makes them look like an idiot. Look at Lil' John's crew, Big Sam and Lil' Bo (Sam-bo); what's up with that? People justify it by saying "I'm getting paid", but weren't people back in the day getting paid to put on blackface and go "yessa massa"? It's amazing how many people now want to live the "thug-life", even though Tupac was a formally trained actor and dancer who never did anything he talked about in his rhymes.

Rap has always been a braggadocial artform, an extension of playing the "dozens" put to lyrics, so one rapper has always tried to outshine the next. However, the glorification of easy money is leading our little girls to aspire to be shake dancers and our little boys to be drug lords.

Teddy_Ruxpin · May 29, 2005

krissiebee said:
Exactly what I was trying to say.The BET/MTV stuff is almost completely imaginary, imitative and devoid of meaning.

(Although I have to admit they have improved with the "light-skinned only" thing--growing up in the 80s it seemed the "pretty" girl was always the super light one. Today's videos do have a variety, and don't really hold to the whole skinny blond girl ideal.)

Ooh, don't get me going on that! Suffice it to say that BET has been around for 25--TWENTY FIVE!--years now, which seems certainly long enough to move past "let's give it the benefit of the doubt" status to "actual force to be reckoned with, legitimate channel worth watching" status.

But I think we're getting off topic?

LOL, what rap videos are you watching? I hardly ever see a black girl in these rap videos. Most of them are like Mariah Carey, white girls with a little sprinkle of color. This is mainly rap videos though, not every show like on the Spanish channels. And rap videos are more sexist than discriminatory towards complexion. The guy can be as dark as Wesly Snipes but the girl can't be darker than the color of a paper bag. Rap is doing a lot of harmful things these days, teaching that whiter is better, selling drugs is cool, etc.

I try to give it a chance. I'm 19, soon to be 20, and I didn't really start watching BET until I was about 11. And I didn't really start taking the impact of Rap into account until I was about 16, so I've only been watching BET consciously for about four years

krissiebee · May 29, 2005

Teddy_Ruxpin said:
LOL, what rap videos are you watching? I hardly ever see a black girl in these rap videos. Most of them are like Mariah Carey, white girls with a little sprinkle of color. This is mainly rap videos though, not every show like on the Spanish channels. And rap videos are more sexist than discriminatory towards complexion. The guy can be as dark as Wesly Snipes but the girl can't be darker than the color of a paper bag. Rap is doing a lot of harmful things these days, teaching that whiter is better, selling drugs is cool, etc.

I try to give it a chance. I'm 19, soon to be 20, and I didn't really start watching BET until I was about 11. And I didn't really start taking the impact of Rap into account until I was about 16, so I've only been watching BET consciously for about four years

Really? Hm. All the ones I see, the main girls are definitely brown, like most American black women. True, there's usually not too many really dark ones up front, but it's a faaaaar cry from the 80s where they all seemed to be white white, light brown hair, blue eyes, bony--not even Mariah-ish. I was watching "Classic Soul" on VH1 the other day, and was struck by how pale all the leading ladies in the old videos were. There was one where the woman was dark--but she had blue eyes. It's a wonder I watched as many as I did and didn't develop some deep complex.

True about the more sexist than colorstruck, though.

I'm 27, soon to be 28, so I guess I've essentially grown up with hip hop and with BET. Back in the 80s they were asking people to ask cable companies to add it, promising it would be a channel for African American interests, with news and TV shows, movies, etc. At that time there was little black representation on TV, and certainly not a whole channel devoted to African Americans, so people were eager to support. (I remember that for the longest time it was mostly infomercials and old black TV sitcoms, with a little Donnie Simpson and Tavis Smiley to round it out.)

It's cool that you're paying attention to what you're seeing there, didn't mean to signify otherwise. It just infuriates me to see that after all this time, there's still no real content, no clear purpose, and there is apparently no desire to add any. Yes, it's nice (well, theoretically, anyway) to see some videos that I likely never will see on MTV--but do I need them going ALL DAY? How many video shows do you need on a channel that is supposedly not a video channel? Johnson essentially got rich off the whole "support a brotha trying to do something positive and helpful for the community" thing and left the viewers, loyal throughout, in the dust, with very little that is positive, helpful or even interesting.

FuegoAzul21 · Jun 2, 2005

Teddy_Ruxpin said:
Although BET has shown the acceptance that Telemundo and Univision don't, it seems that a lot of rappers both African American and Latino tend to put Latinos in a negative light to boost their non-existant street credibility. 'Coca please, I'm Dominican, we bag em up as coca leaves, step on em, turn em into coca keys, rawest smoke off the boat from over seas'-J.R. Writer

I just don't see why he would want to stereotype Dominicans. Most Dominicans are hard working honest people, not the Pablo Escobar people that they try to portray. He mentions that he's Dominican in almost every song and he always puts being Dominican in a negative light. In another song he says 'son understand me, come to the candy(crack), I'm Dominican dog it runs in the family'. And he does it in many other songs too. African Americans do it too. 'It's for the black culture, Spanish chicks wit the sweet chocha, Spanish(of course we know Dominicans aren't Spanish Jay-z is just dumb) cats wit the keys of coca'-Jay-z Almost every rapper is doing it now, trying to make themselves look like some Latin drug lord or Italian mobster. What happened to just doing Hip Hop and being yourself?

Not only is it spawning a negative image, it's making light of many people's situations. In a rap battle T-Rex said 'I go pound for pound wit cane(cocaine), my connects Colombian I can't pronounce his name' That's making light of real situations. Luis Gilberto Murillo, Afro-Colombian, said that when the U.S. dumps chemicals on the coca plants from airplanes they also kill crops that many Afro-Colombians depend on to survive. And while they are actually living it, this clown is trying to glorify it.

Another thing that I don't like is the excessive use of Latinas in rap videos. They've been stereotyped as subervient geisha girls that are there for the rappers pleasure.

How do you feel about the negative impact of Rap these days? As an African American I'm quite appalled at what rap has become.

Honestly,I dont think J.R writer is a good rapper ,he should stick to producing(think that is also what he does),he just be rappin to make as much money as his fellow Dip Set members Camron,Juelz Santana,and Jim Jones.He represent all Dominican youth

NJ_Traveller · Jun 2, 2005

I'm Torn on This Topic!

I'm not na?ve in thinking that rap is not influencing our poople and portraying us in a negative light. The simple fact is that dealing drugs/giving beat downs/ chasing girls/flossing is what sells in rap. Similar to the fact that Scarface is a lot of guys all time favorite movies. Of course there are always exceptions to the rule like Common and funny man Ludacris to name a few. The next generation is going to lose big time in the game of life and its happening right before our eyes. The drop out rates are ridiculous?when did getting good grades become acting white? Over 50% of males in prision are of African or Hispanic descent. I could go on but I think you get the point. Can we blame it all on rap? No but it definitely plays a part. Where are the parents who are letting Chanel Zero (old Public Enemy line) be one of the largest influences of our children. We can boycott but in reality it?s the white kids that are buying and supporting all the rap music because you can get the bootleg copy off the street.

I'm also torn because it doesn't represent me. I didn't grow up in the hood, have to sell drugs or run from the cops?.but you know what it?s the life they actually lived and they are rapping about it. The only thing I can relate to is the chasing the girls (of all colors I might add). I'm educated and making my money by working hard for it. Who wants to hear about going to school or working long hours? And I don't knock them for making their money that way. Sure it?s the new minstrel show but it beats the streets and provides some people with opportunities. Look at P Diddy & Jay Z with their clothing lines and movies, they would have never (at least as quickly) been able to do that without rap music.

FuegoAzul21 · Jun 2, 2005

I did a mis-typo , i ment to say that he does NOT represtent all Dominican youth.

jackquontee · Jun 2, 2005

Great point

NJ_Traveller,

Where are the parents who are letting Chanel Zero (old Public Enemy line) be one of the largest influences of our children.

Thanks for identifying what, I think, is the most valuable point made thus far. Does BET influence our children? Of course! In the same way that VH1, MTV, and TV in general. Our children are exposed to many external influences outside of the home, and always will be. There is just as much murder and sex on just about every station on tv as there is on BET. Where is the criticism for tv in general? BET is not an exception, other than the fact that it is primarily Black. Additionally, with the exception of BET, the major tv companies are not owned by Blacks. However, I see sex used to sell everything from cars to orange juice.

We, as parents, place too much of the responsibility for raising our kids on everybody, and anything else, but ourselves. We expect teachers to parent our kids and teach them respect and morality, rather than teach academia. We expect everybody to play the role of parents for our kids, except for ourselves. What you see on BET is no different than what you'll find on the major tv stations. Look. In fact, I recently read about a study done stating that MTV had the most incidences of sex and violence than any other station.

I have two young sons, and I know that they will be exposed to a number of things beyond my control. My hope is that, in the end, I will be the greater influence.

Jon S. · Jun 11, 2005

JR Writer is not really good anyways

I get embarrased every time I hear that poor excuse of a rapper saying something. Nothing but garbage coming out of his mouth and whoever said that he represents all Dominican youth must be smoking the crack that he talks about selling so much. Sorry but all these rappers that have come out, whether they're of Dominican descent or not, are exploiting and glorifying a type of lifestyle that I really don't like. I live in Virginia and anytime I go up to Washington Heights I walk or drive around and don't feel good because a whole bunch of kids are doing what guys like JR Writer and stupid a$$ Juelz Santana talk about. Not to say that it's all their fault because I'm a big Jay-Z fan but I never ended up doing anything stupid like that but it's mostly weak parenting to me. Lack of responsible parents, 1-parent households, letting the TV be the babysitter like what I went thru although my parents talked to me alot, all that affects the kidsand when they hear some of the music it might be the catalyst that sets off the reaction. Don't think it doesn't affect the child's mind.

I'm a child of the 80s and saw what crack did to my cousin so naturally I am against rap that glorifies it. At one point I was just listening to the flow and rhyme structure of most rappers but felt disgusted by the subject matter. Right now I listen to a lot of early 90s stuff like Tribe Called Quest and Nas and it never glorified the street life although it spoke of the streets. There are no more heroes in Hip-Hop although there are a few people like UN who happens to be from Wash. Heights and is Dominican and Immortal Technique from Harlem who is Peruvian who carry a positive message but with an updated style and they're lyrically excellent. Also, Little Brother have that early 90s Native Tounges vibe but it's much more updated. I have more to say but I gotta speak it. Peace

YaniKK · Jun 23, 2005

Rap is a business

I agree with a lot of what was said.

Jackquontee wrote:

I have two young sons, and I know that they will be exposed to a number of things beyond my control. My hope is that, in the end, I will be the greater influence.

I agree with that to the fullest with that because I grew up in what is known as "the hood/ghetto" exposed to all kinds of horrors, but in the end my mother made the biggest influence in my life. She came from DR with nothing supporting four of us while working in factories and now she owns various real state offices. All the crap about the ghetto won't even be an issue to the youth if the parents take control.

NJ Traveler wrote:

Who wants to hear about going to school or working long hours? And I don't knock them for making their money that way

I agree with this too because if you sit down and think about it from a larger perspective, everyone some form or another has always criticized how the next guy makes a living. Wether the job is morally sound or not people always tend to criticize the next guy especially when the other guy is making more money. Think about it! If there wasn't any crime then there wouldn't be any cops, lawyers, judges, etc, etc. That is already millions of jobs gone, poof! Eliminate all the diseases and everything else then we as a society and humans eventually will cease to exist becasue there would not be any work. competition is tough enough as it is in my field so if they want to rap and make money let them, it just will be fewer people that we have to worry about in the real world.

Teddy Ruxpin wrote:

A lot of rappers today have never done the things they're talking about. I can respect someone like Cormega, he's done all of the things he talks about and he does it without glorifying it.

Thank you for that Teddy. Back in the day, Rapping was putting words that sound the same with rhythm. It didn't even matter if it made sense because it was just "rhyming". Then someone said "there is only so much rhyming I could do withou really talking about anything so I will start rhyming about my life" then it became the norm to rap about the streets becasue rap was developed in the inner-city streets and neighborhoods. Then of course a whole bunch of fakes got in the game because they saw the next guy make money so they began rapping too, but what they don't show you is that what they portray on TV is not really their life from before or now, they just simply know how to rap. Don't get me wrong though, they sure as hell know how to sell the image of being "gangsters and thugs" to the crowd but they are not. There are a lot of exceptions like cormega, Nas and others but don't be fooled.

What I think about the whole thing is that Rap is just a sub-category of entertainment. Just like movies, books, music, sports, etc. The problem is that these sub categories of entertainment influence people greatly often leading them into the wrong direction. The message is: what is being taught at home is where it all adds up to. The mind is stronger than any petty influence you see on TV but it is up to you to follow it or not. What you see in rap videos is like watching half of a movie. They don't show you the reality of Prison life of these glorified "gangsters" and what they have to put up with trying to get a quick buck. Or the millions of times "Gangsters" get shot up and robbed by someone who has more money and power trying to take turf. Or the milliions of pay-offs "Gangsters" have to do to keep everyones mouth shut. THINK ABOUT THAT

Teddy_Ruxpin · Jun 25, 2005

krissiebee said:
It's cool that you're paying attention to what you're seeing there, didn't mean to signify otherwise. It just infuriates me to see that after all this time, there's still no real content, no clear purpose, and there is apparently no desire to add any. Yes, it's nice (well, theoretically, anyway) to see some videos that I likely never will see on MTV--but do I need them going ALL DAY? How many video shows do you need on a channel that is supposedly not a video channel? Johnson essentially got rich off the whole "support a brotha trying to do something positive and helpful for the community" thing and left the viewers, loyal throughout, in the dust, with very little that is positive, helpful or even interesting.

I can't really watch too much television period because not much of it is good but there are still a lot of shows that come on that are good. American television isn't as bad as it could be. Atleast it does try to appeal to more than one audience, unlike Spanish television which appeals only to whites and Mestizos and their brainwahsed, self-hating admirerers. I usually end up turning the t.v. off and reading a book.

J.R. Writer isn't really that big of an obstacle though now that I think about it. He's not commercial and probably never will be. It's rappers like Fifty Cent who have the youth in their hands. I remember Conrad Muhammad said 'one of a rapper's songs is worth a thousand of my speeches'.

BrothaNature · Jun 26, 2005

The Power Elite

Although BET has shown the acceptance that Telemundo and Univision don't, it seems that a lot of rappers both African American and Latino tend to put Latinos in a negative light to boost their non-existant street credibility. 'Coca please, I'm Dominican, we bag em up as coca leaves, step on em, turn em into coca keys, rawest smoke off the boat from over seas'-J.R. Writer

Perhaps, BET's 'acceptance' has a lot more to do w/ it being owned by VIACOM? Tavis Smiley/Ed Gordon Show and BET Tonight News was cut out for a reason....Much in the case w/ MTV, also owned by VIACOM, who gave loads of attention to Eminem, 50 Cent, ect, yet gave little to no exposure and hype around Common's album when he released Be. Despite the fact that he is a much better artist and his album was highly anticipated.

I just don't see why he would want to stereotype Dominicans. Most Dominicans are hard working honest people, not the Pablo Escobar people that they try to portray. He mentions that he's Dominican in almost every song and he always puts being Dominican in a negative light. In another song he says 'son understand me, come to the candy(crack), I'm Dominican dog it runs in the family'. And he does it in many other songs too. African Americans do it too. 'It's for the black culture, Spanish chicks wit the sweet chocha, Spanish(of course we know Dominicans aren't Spanish Jay-z is just dumb) cats wit the keys of coca'-Jay-z Almost every rapper is doing it now, trying to make themselves look like some Latin drug lord or Italian mobster. What happened to just doing Hip Hop and being yourself?

Can't be any different than some of the druggies who do/did Punk, Grunge, Death Metal and Gothic music. While many of the Hip Hop artist you mentioned may have been guilty of talking about drugs, many of these artist of the genre I mentioned either talked about, indulge(d) or overdosed (all of the above even). Example:

"If you wanna hang out you?ve got to take her out; cocaine.
If you wanna get down, down on the ground; cocaine.
She don?t lie, she don?t lie, she don?t lie; cocaine" ---Eric Clapton

Yet, there may have been more of a decision among record exec's on their part to enforce more responsibility among these artists. No call, however, of responsibility among record execs in the part of many of the Hip Hop artist they hand pick. No call of responsibility on the part of record execs when they tell Hip Hop artist they can not receive strong marketing promotion *if* their music has a positive message or lyrics they (Execs) consider "Too Political" (whatever that means). Which is exactly why The Roots' latest album,The Tipping Point, did not do as good as their previous works (thats a fact), and why A Tribe Called Quest's last two albums were rushed. Therefore, if you are 'sick and tired' of Rap artist who justify why they talk about crime and mysogyny, people should hold the same, if not more, contempt towards execs who provide large financial marketing for them.

If Jimmy Iovine can say, "if it bleeds, it leads" and for Ted Fields to tell C. Delores Tucker, "I'm going to put out the dirtiest rap records whether you like it or not", and for them both to get away w/out any criticism by print media and the alphabet (ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, CNN, BBC, ect), people should have taken noticed years ago.

How do you feel about the negative impact of Rap these days? As an African American I'm quite appalled at what rap has become.

Well, Rap (not Hip Hop), as defined by Corporate American standards, those who profit from what *they say* sells, should be held accountable first. *They* have more capitol to invest in these artist moreso than independent labels, and their contracts state exactly what these artists can and can not say. And it is a proven FACT that many major labels have signed people (not artists) from prisons or those w/ a crimanal background.

Which is why most 'positive' Hip Hop artist opt for the independent/underground relm (De La Soul, KRS ONE, Jungle Brothers, J-Live, ect.) because, although they have less of a chance to have equal exposure they have more freedom to say whatever they want.

Now, if cleaning up negative lyrics and challenging these stereotypes is the issue, then more people should hold record companies and mass media (MTV, VH1, BET, Clear Channel, Radio One, XXL magazine) accountable who make it possible for the younger generation chasing fame first then those interesting in Hip Hop second .

BrothaNature · Jun 26, 2005

Well

That is already millions of jobs gone, poof! Eliminate all the diseases and everything else then we as a society and humans eventually will cease to exist becasue there would not be any work.

Well, there are still many indigenous people who generally still live traditional lives outside of the modern way of living. Those such as the Masaai and even some Ashantis, "Hottentots" who raise their own food and hold on to their own cultural roots in spite of the changes in the shifts of society. They are not concerned w/ Warren Buffet's statements one bit

Criss Colon · Jun 28, 2005

"Gangsta Rap" Is Just Exploiting "Black On Black" Genocide!

Most "Crime" in the "Ghetto" is "Black on Black" :bandit: ! The "Rappers" like to "Glorify" illigitamacy,drugs,crime,violence,gangs,"Do'in Time".All the things that contribute to the sense of "Hopelessness and Helplessness" in the urban neighborhoods!White people are happy to look the other way and let the urban black community destroy themselves.The Black Community better look within to solve their problems, White people are enjoying the status quo!
"Rap" is an art form. A way to express ones feelings.Don't blame "Rap",it is only holding a mirror up to the "Black Experience"!
Any Idiot can be a "father",it takes a real Man to be a DAD!
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Ricardo900 · Jun 28, 2005

Sad, but true.

Criss Colon said:
The Black Community better look within to solve their problems, White people are enjoying the status quo!
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I can honestly tell you, that the "The Black Community" has seperated into two nations or classes, the Bourgeois & the Ghetto. The Bourgeois blacks, at least most of them are not overly concerned with the Ghetto, because they have moved out of the Hood, into middle & upper-class neighborhoods and their children go to private schools and nice universities. Black on Black crime, ha, only in certain neighborhoods. How many Urban Black Community Leaders can people name? The Intelligent and well to do, black community is separated and safe and don't care how many bodies are piled up on Pitkin Ave. Sad, but true.

sancochojoe · Jun 28, 2005

Ricardo900 said:
I can honestly tell you, that the "The Black Community" has seperated into two nations or classes, the Bourgeois & the Ghetto. The Bourgeois blacks, at least most of them are not overly concerned with the Ghetto, because they have moved out of the Hood, into middle & upper-class neighborhoods and their children go to private schools and nice universities. Black on Black crime, ha, only in certain neighborhoods. How many Urban Black Community Leaders can people name? The Intelligent and well to do, black community is separated and safe and don't care how many bodies are piled up on Pitkin Ave. Sad, but true.

I personally care, I'm just not going to assimilate into negative behavior by glorifying it. If being of color and living a civil decent life is defined as Bourgeois, then so be it. Its better than adapting the other. It is obivious it does not work. True Rap talks of how things are in the hood, but more energy should be on how to get out of the situation.

On the rarist of occasions, I have to agree with Colon.

Negativity in Rap

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