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How to determine if hip-hop is good or bad for black America

2,260 views · Published 27 October 2014 · 16:27 · Indexed 26 October 2026

Channel: The Dr Boyce Watkins Black Excellence Channel · 2014 · People & Blogs

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One of the first requirements of anyone seeking to criticize the state of hip-hop is that they should have some appreciation for it.  They should understand the history of the music, it's influences, how the genre has evolved, and different streams of self-expression that occur within this particular artform.   This was my first concern when watching a debate that took place in London between a series of experts, all of whom seeking to put hip-hop on trial.

Hip hop is a very diverse artform, so the premise of the question being asked gives an obvious answer.   To ask if hip-hop degrades society is like asking if men hurt women, or if the sky produces rain.  Some men do hurt women, and it does rain on occasion.  But the same sky that produces a tornado can also create rainbows and sunshine.

A better question would have been, "Does toxic hip-hop degrade society?" If that's the question, then the answer is "Hell yes."

But let's talk about the platform of the conversation and the issues which arise from that.

The fact that a predominantly white organization would gather a group of people that they select to evaluate the legitimacy of an African American artform is in itself part of the problem with this whole conversation.  It's like a scientist conducting a bacterial experiment with an infected lab.  While whites have certainly benefitted from the beautiful music created in the south Bronx, it is the influence that predominantly white corporations have had on hip-hop that has led to it's infection with the disease of black male self-destruction.  Black artists seeking more fluid forms of self-expression are sometimes muted and forced with corporate money to present themselves as one-dimensional, thugged out, minstrel shows that are hardly reflective of the diversity and beauty of African American culture.

In fact, the first person to speak on this video (below) starts off by saying that he doesn't know much about hip-hop.  That's one of your biggest problems right there.  If he is going to criticize hip-hop, he should understand it, listen to it and even be willing to admit that he likes it.  This was my own requirement for myself when I decided to challenge some of the toxic music being produced within the hip-hop music industry.

Anyone seeking to critique hip-hop should not only understand it, they should be willing to defend it.  To toss nearly every artist and every style into the toilet is as sloppy as assuming that every white man is a member of the KKK or that every black boy wants to play in the NBA.   Also, when whites are the ones controlling these conversations, we continue to live in a world where the bulk of black identity is being shaped by the financial resources of our overseers.  You will never be able to find yourself if someone else is guiding you to the destination.   These conversations should be had among black people who care about the futures of black children, and not just those who like to evaluate black people and tell us what is acceptable and what is not.

A final point about these conversations is that one has to be careful about asking fans of hip-hop if the worst music has had a positive or negative effect on society.  Die hard, unreflective fans of hip-hop are naturally acclimated to appreciate the music and also, many of them are white or middle class Americans who are not affected by the violence that may be promoted in the music.  If you don't live on the worst parts of the south side of Chicago, a verse about a 12 year old being mowed down with a machine gun is just an exciting lyrical adventure, a mere fantasy that doesn't produce real bloodshed.

But when you are the mother of that 12-year old boy, you are wondering what kind of culture could convince a young black man to want to blow off her son's head in broad daylight.  The guns and drugs were put into the black community by the CIA.  But the mentality necessary to use those guns is planted by the "Kill a n*gga" messages embedded daily into the minds of these young men.  Marketing does have an impact on behavior, and our sons are being doused with messages of death.  Michael Eric Dyson, in his argument, cites music from the 1990s as a counter-example, but I have to tell my homie, "This ain't 1998.  This is 2014 and some of the music has become downright horrific."

If we don't acknowledge, confront and squash out the worst music being produced in hip-hop today, we are going to lose the artform.  Those corporations determined to produce homicidal zombies have to be stopped by us all.

With that said, here's the video.  Tell me what you think.

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