Mo Meta Blues Analysis

In the essay “Before Hip-hop was Hip-Hop” the author, Rebecca Walker, uses many literary tools to get her point across. This reflective piece compares hip-hop from the 80s to hip-hop today. Walker uses sensory details to help readers picture what she feels about the topic. She often uses slang which allows the text to have an informal tone. This makes the piece easier to read and comprehend. The author also provides examples of her own personal experiences of hip-hop which creates a casual mood and comes across as a story. In the first paragraph, Walker explains how kids these days are able to “spit out names of recording artists…..tell you about the songs they like and the clothes they want to buy. They’ll tell you about the indisputable zones

Chapter 1: What does the Civil Rights Movement gave to the African-Americans compared to Hip Hop as a subculture/movement.

Hip Hop was the wildfire that started in the South Bronx and whose flames leapt up around the world crying out for change. James McBride’s Hip Hop Planet focuses on his personal interactions with the development of Hip Hop culture and his changing interpretations of the world wide movement. Many of his encounters and mentions in the text concern young black males and his writing follows an evolution in the representation of this specific social group. He initially portrays them as arrogant, poor, and uneducated but eventually develops their image to include the positive effects of their culture in an attempt to negate their historical misrepresentation.

This article focuses on the color-blind ideology that allows white people to participate in and appropriate hip-hop culture. Rodriquez notes that they do so by using the guise of inclusivity of all races to justify their participation in hip hop and to adapt characteristics of the culture without respecting Black identity. He uses his own interviews of several white audience members of hip hop concerts who identified as participants of hip hop culture. Rodriquez identifies two groups resulting from social collectivity to reinforce his argument: consciously collective white groups, who actively reinforce racial segregation and passively collective white groups, who unknowingly unite and reinforce systematic racism through their adherence to color-blind ideology. The participants of his research are part of the latter, who unconsciously reinforce systematic racism through treating cultural objects, namely aspects of hip hop culture, as shareable products and experiences. Rodriquez’s interviews demonstrate that color-blind ideology enables white people to

Hip Hop is seen as something inspiring, but most people see it as a way to speak out the truth about a problem. As in “Hip Hop planet” being able say the truth can sometimes worsen any situation because sometimes what we say can promote violence and whatever happens after is not in our control. The essay is about how hip hop has changed into speaking out the issues that need to be taken care of in order to maintain a proper society. McBride talked about how rappers use violent lyrics to degrade women and gays and because of this it shows how the music has evolved into something entirely different that no one would have ever expected to have changed. In James McBride's essay “Hip Hop Planet,” he argues that hip hop has a negative influence on American Culture despite people thinking of it as inspirational and how people live through different experiences in life despite of your race.

At the heart of whiteness studies is the invisibility of whiteness and white privilege (Ahmed, 2004). Whiteness is thought of as the hidden criterion to which every other race is measured against. Through the lens of whiteness, the “other” is seen as deviant (Ahmed, 2004). The invisibility of whiteness, however, is only from the perspective of those who are white (Matthews, 2012). To people who are not white, it is pervasive and blatant. People see whiteness because they experience its effects. A useful comparison can be drawn between the unrecognised privileges of males, and those of white people (McIntosh, 1988). It is not unusual for men to acknowledge that women are disadvantaged. With that said, McIntosh (1988) argues that white privilege is in the same manner without recognition and thus preserved. McIntosh (1988) views white privilege as an invisible collection of unearned assets that is of benefit to white people on a daily basis.

Williams argues that hip hop is “detrimental” to the black culture. He believes kids growing up in the hood assume that they have to meet the stereo type mentioned in hip hop. This is the music they listen to when growing up leading them to believe that should be their way of life. Anybody who acts different is “acting white” because they are not following the typical black culture stereotype. (Williams) According to Williams this causes several generations of black kids ending up in violent gangs or doing criminal activities. All this is caused from association black culture with hip hop. When this is separated kids and families won’t feel the pressure of acting a certain way. This potentially might lead to advancement in black culture as they will feel the need to advance and move up in the community. Hip – Hop acts as the road block between advancing and what it is now. Dela Rosa on the other hand believes that Hip-Hop can be a good way of getting kids out of the “Ghetto” and moving them to higher education as this is the topic that they are really familiar. And due to increase in listeners of hip hop he believes this will be a huge success around the community. Placing this genre in education will discuss the history of the genre and point out that it is not necessarily associated with violence or someone’s behavior. Since it’s a highly known topic in the lower class studying it will help them have interest on school because it is something that they are really passionate about and very familiar with. By them going to college doing something they love, this will reduce the number of potential people that could be involved in violent or criminal activities. So De la Rosa views this as a potential outlet for low income families not as a road block. So both authors believe that Hip hop has influence on culture but the views on those influence is different for both authors.

The article “Hip Hop Planet” by James McBride is about how hip hop is not his favorite type of music but, it needs to be heard. McBride shows us this by explaining that he avoided hip hop most of his life. In the article McBride says that he basically ignored “the most important cultural event in my lifetime.” James informs us that hip hop has influenced the world globally and that it has become a phenomenon. Furthermore, McBride made clear that he eventually realized that hip hop is much more than just music, it has a message. Hip hop has a message that reveals the social inequalities of our nations. In addition, McBride wants people to keep an open mind about hip hop and new thing that they may not be used to. In conclusion, he declares hip

As Rap, Hip Hop, and RnB become ever so popular in present music, the ideas of authenticity and black identity transfer from similar ideologies gathered from Blues music to that of the current Rap and RnB artists. I want to explore how stereotypes of Black artists reinforce our beliefs of authenticity, also how do Black artists recognize the need from their audience to live as authentically as possible, but display their Black empowerment through the rejection of the stereotypes placed on them.

In her essay “hip hop’s betrayal of black women,” Jennifer McLune implies that “(h)ip-hop owes its success to the ideology of women-hating” (193). She does not agree with Kevin Powell’s article that hip-hop does not mean to “offend” black women, but instead artists are only letting out their temper throughout their music. McLune feels infuriated that many artists in hip hop (including black men) rap about their community and downgrade their own women. In the hip-hop genre, sexism is mainly used, not only by black men but also by many other race hip-hop artists. Artists assume that women-hating in their rap songs will be accepted by women, but do not realize that it is affecting all women. Some lyrics focus on success and making money. Nevertheless,

Critical Whiteness Studies responds to the invisible and normative nature of whiteness in predominantly white societies, criticizing racial and ethnic attribution of non-white subjects who have to grapple with their deviation from the set norm, and opening the discussion on white privilege that results from being the unmarked norm (Kerner: 278). As Conway and Steyn elaborate, Critical Whiteness Studies aims to “redirect[...] the scholarly gaze from the margins to the centre” (283) and, more specifically, to

¨If Hip Hop has the ability to corrupt minds, it also has the ability to uplift them.¨ Hip hop music, also called rap music, is a music genre developed in the United States by African Americans consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted. Mainstream hip hop culture is also filled with misogyny and negative images of women. These artists are unaware that sexism has been forced onto them through the brainwashing from the media, which is controlled by a patriarchal society. Conversely, feminism is the belief that both genders should have equal power. Mainstream hip hop culture contradicts feminism because it degrades women, promotes male dominance and hypermasculinity. On the other hand, feminism focuses on equity for both genders.

What seems to us now as excessive violence and misogyny in hip hop stems from a culture that has been consumed in a continuous battle against social and economic oppression since its early days. In the beginnings of hip hop, there was an explosion of defiance against the subjugation these artists had to experience on a daily basis. For many artists, rapping about guns and gang life was a reflection of daily life in the ghettos and inner-city housing projects. Not only did rap provide an outlet to voice the struggles of black youth, it also gave them a sense of pride. Before major hip hop groups such as NWA arrived on the scene, people would refuse to admit they were even from Compton. Nowadays, everyone wears the identity with pride. The genre was a testament to triumphing over hardships, to having enough confidence in oneself not to let the world drag you down, and to rising above the struggle, even when things seem hopeless. Violence in rap did not begin as an affective agent that threatened to harm America 's youth; rather, it was the outcry of an already-existing problem from youth whose world views have been shaped by the inequalities and prejudice they have experienced.

This movie was a broad discussion about hip-hop music (or more specifically gangster rap) and what kind of social issues the music not only showcases but seems to promote. The producer of this film, Byron Hunt, interviewed people involved in all aspects of the hip-hop industry, including famous rappers, to try to get to the bottom of this.

Even though my parents listened to KRS-One and Public Enemy, while my sisters engaged in Kanye West and OutKast, both eras of the hip hop genre purpose were to discuss economic problems and push people toward the right path of life. In Yan Dominic Searcy’s article, he says, “Many rappers grew up amid violence, police harassment, poverty, drugs and promiscuity. Rappers will tell you they rap about what they know. If the community wants to change rap lyrics, the community must change reality.” (Searcy) In this quote, the author is details that the only reason hip hop artist write about things that are real and actually going on in the world, so we should put blame on the community on violence. Searcy goes on to