Too Many Questions?
Ouch.
Possibly true, but does it matter? Are white people in the process of appropriating and re-writing history as some folks would speculate? Is it possible to write anything of value on hip hop if you’re not from the hood? Should all white people be banned from writing on hip hop or just the rich ones?
See, as a honky I’d love to say race doesn’t matter, but then I look up at my music collection and see 75% of it is by black artists, and probably 95% of what I’ve bought in the last eight years. Am I trying to buy into some condescending notion of black cool? When I listen to stupid black music am I buying into a 21st century minstrel show or just identifying with the moronic escapism? Does it make everything okay if I listen to some clever black music too? Do I have more in common with Fred Durst or Dizzee Rascal and should I shift to writing about music I grew up with rather than music which moves me right now?
Ahhhhh…I dunno. What do you think?
Posted on Thursday, March 15th, 2007by Ringo
Plan B,
Here is the shit that I try to get my readers to gird against…
When I watch a National Geographic or Discovery Channel show I only see white people discussing other cultures. It’s not just that whites are the only people allowed to have the scholarship, but it’s that everything is described from the prism of privilege.
I think that damages the HISTORY of Hip-Hop when people with no connection to it’s origin are given the podium for describing it’s cultural values. It doens’t mean that anyone should be banned from discussin it or how it makes them feel, but there should be an understanding of it’s beginnings.
You can’t understand Hip-Hop’s origin without accepting that supremacy is the root cause for the music. The poverty that exists in America is caused by supremacy’s economic model - capitalism. To ignore that is to forfeit your true legitimacy as a historian and documentarian. That was my issue with Breihan.
Hip-Hop music was always a globally recognising genre. DJ’s sampled platters from everywhere. Anyone can love Hip-Hop and write about it, but if you don’t want to recognize why it was born you do a diservice to the culture.
Posted by Dallas on March 15th, 2007 at 8:08 pm