Black Culture Discussion Thread

[DCAllAfrican]

Last night while piddling through the record collection (my older brother left me crate upon crate of heat) I played "it takes a nation of millions to hold us back" both sides. I realize why hip hop has taken the direction it has.

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” -Upton Sinclair

 

[Raji Lowenthal]

We value the struggle. We indirectly speak as if our Black Cards are strengthened if we go through THAT struggle. It also doesn't help that much of the music that gets promoted/greenlit highlights that same struggle so it tells us to value it. We need to cut that out.

What struggle is the music that gets promoted that we value. Jayz at 50 still rapping about selling dope?

 

[tr1ll]

Really its the execs behind the music pushing all that stuff. I remember Fabolous saying one of the execs told him not to rap about being in a relationship.

 

[DCAllAfrican]

What struggle is the music that gets promoted that we value. Jayz at 50 still rapping about selling dope?

Yea because he is the only rapper that exists.

If we want to play this game where we don't know what foolishness is promoted through a LOT of our mainstream music then there is no point of even having a convo.

 

[Raji Lowenthal]

Really its the execs behind the music pushing all that stuff. I remember Fabolous saying one of the execs told him not to rap about being in a relationship.

PE made profits but you can't have rap groups writing woke lyrics, what if the youth took up the fight against the system instead of opps.

 

[DCAllAfrican]

Really its the execs behind the music pushing all that stuff. I remember Fabolous saying one of the execs told him not to rap about being in a relationship.

Exactly. Which is why I framed my initial point the way I did.

That is what is promoted.

That is what is greenlit.

That's what they want us to believe is normal behavior/black culture.Culture.

Don't tell me that is the only genre of music that promotes filth. I never said it was and I mostly care about black people so I ain't concerned with anyone else.

 

[Raji Lowenthal]

Yea because he is the only rapper that exists.

If we want to play this game where we don't know what foolishness is promoted through a LOT of our mainstream music then there is no point of even having a convo.

I'm asking for an example of a rapper that "It also doesn't help that much of the music that gets promoted/greenlit highlights that same struggle so it tells us to value it." What struggle is the music being greenlit highlighting. We may very well be having 2 different convo's. My example of Kay was based on the convo I thought we were trying to have.

 

[tr1ll]

I'm asking for an example of a rapper that "It also doesn't help that much of the music that gets promoted/greenlit highlights that same struggle so it tells us to value it." What struggle is the music being greenlit highlighting. We may very well be having 2 different convo's. My example of Kay was based on the convo I thought we were trying to have.

The shining example:



Boy know he started in the middle.......not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

[Raji Lowenthal]

The shining example:



Boy know he started in the middle.......not that there's anything wrong with that.

Ok. Drake co opted the struggle I was thinking of rappers who actually struggled and didn't think of Drake. I still see him as an actor but many top rappers show a knack for acting so there could be some correlation.

 

[finessence]

I'm asking for an example of a rapper that "It also doesn't help that much of the music that gets promoted/greenlit highlights that same struggle so it tells us to value it." What struggle is the music being greenlit highlighting. We may very well be having 2 different convo's. My example of Kay was based on the convo I thought we were trying to have.

It’s always been out there. The average human being is just lazy

Laziness and lack of forethought is the problem

 

[finessence]

The older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve realized a lot of millennials listened to below average rap even back in the 90s and 2000s.

That’s why their kids grew up to have the same bad taste. Let alone rap, some can’t even recall R&B jams from that era as well

 

[tr1ll]

The older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve realized a lot of millennials listened to below average rap even back in the 90s and 2000s.

That’s why their kids grew up to have the same bad taste. Let alone rap, some can’t even recall R&B jams from that era as well

Examples because I can't even think of what would be considered below average rap in the 90s, early 2000s. It didn't really turn to slop until the mixtape era.

 

[fluid hips]

I remember when Lupe got shelved after dropping this

 

[tr1ll]

Convo got me thinking......Atlanta did a lot of damage to hip-hop.

 

[finessence]

Examples because I can't even think of what would be considered below average rap in the 90s, early 2000s. It didn't really turn to slop until the mixtape era.

Soulja Boy, D4L, 08-11 Wayne…Shop Boyz, Dem Franchise Boys, YING YANG Twins (except 23 hr lockdown) Young Berg, The Pack/Lil B,

 

[tr1ll]

Soulja Boy, D4L, 08-11 Wayne…Shop Boyz, Dem Franchise Boys, YING YANG Twins (except 23 hr lockdown) Young Berg, The Pack/Lil B,

Ok yea...the mixtape era. Wild when you think about it because thats when the game was semi-autonomous. That's when the record labels WASN'T sticking their hands into everything.

 

[Public Enemy]

That old age accusation struck a nerve.

It was the opposite

 

[finessence]

Ok yea...the mixtape era. Wild when you think about it because thats when the game was semi-autonomous. That's when the record labels WASN'T sticking their hands into everything.

There were still good mixtape era guys. I’m not lumping them in there. Currensy, Big Sean, KRIT, Wale, etc are NOT of the cats I posted

When Wayne started spitting endless bulls** around 2009-2012, I knew what it was

Nas dropped Hip Hop is dead in 2006 and Jay Dropped DOA in 2008/2009 (I’m a Tpain fan though) I think Jay was talking about all the other dudes who weren’t talented like Pain who fell in love with autotune

People just started championing everything a few years ago so, it is what it is.

 

[Public Enemy]

I can't seriously have a debate about hip hop being a negative force because for me it would be akin to seeing stuff like people getting skin cancer and wildfires burning people's homes and asking "Has the sun done more harm than good?". But certainly left unchecked and with just unlimited exposure, I can see how some would try to make the case.

People drown, rain causes wet roads and innumerable accidents and floods and deaths. Contaminated water has killed millions over the span of human history, but "has water done more harm than good" wouldn't be something I'd spend time arguing. And sure hip hop isn't something we'd die without, like sunshine or water, but the core idea is the same for me. If you consume good (thing), don't overdo it, avoid its pitfalls and learn how to keep a nice supply of good (thing) at the ready, it will serve you well.

 

[DCAllAfrican]

Public Enemy

What GOOD would you say hip-hop has brought to our people as a whole? (Name all reasons if you will).

Not making individual folks rich or anything like that but how has it improved the lives of black Americans?

I asked because you used the example that you did with the Sun/Water.

 

[DCAllAfrican]

 

[tay1]

They should have Ochocinco on and have him as a counterexample of how to properly manage your money

 

[Public Enemy]

Public Enemy

What GOOD would you say hip-hop has brought to our people as a whole? (Name all reasons if you will).

Not making individual folks rich or anything like that but how has it improved the lives of black Americans?

I asked because you used the example that you did with the Sun/Water.

It's a question, but it's like asking what good the sun/water has brought to our people. The answers are evident for me, even as I can acknowledge the perils. If people are drinking contaminated water, swamp water, polluted water, runoff water from a brownfield site, and others are making the case that water can kill you, wreck your organs, destroy plants, result in the death of all types of wildlife, make women infertile and wreck your community, yep, all those things are true. But if you get good water it keeps you alive. It feeds your organs. It nourishes plants. It sustains ecosystems that help wildlife flourish. It keeps women alive and helps women produce milk that feeds babies. So if it feels like what's the point of debating if water is good or bad, that's kind of what I'm saying.

Just so you don't think I'm being deliberately opaque, zoom out and replace "hip hop" with "music", and see if the discussion turns meaningless barring a war-and-peace length discussion that would ultimately yield little in the way of anything meaningful. What good has "music" done for our people? The answer to that is probably notably similar the answer to the "What good has hip hop done for our people"

 

[DCAllAfrican]

It's a question, but it's like asking what good the sun/water has brought to our people. The answers are evident for me, even as I can acknowledge the perils. If people are drinking contaminated water, swamp water, polluted water, runoff water from a brownfield site, and others are making the case that water can kill you, wreck your organs, destroy plants, result in the death of all types of wildlife, make women infertile and wreck your community, yep, all those things are true. But if you get good water it keeps you alive. It feeds your organs. It nourishes plants. It sustains ecosystems that help wildlife flourish. It keeps women alive and helps women produce milk that feeds babies. So if it feels like what's the point of debating if water is good or bad, that's kind of what I'm saying.

Just so you don't think I'm being deliberately opaque, zoom out and replace "hip hop" with "music", and see if the discussion turns meaningless barring a war-and-peace length discussion that would ultimately yield little in the way of anything meaningful. What good has "music" done for our people? The answer to that is probably notably similar the answer to the "What good has hip hop done for our people"

A lot of words typed to say, "I'm not sure."

Cool though.

 

[deuce king]

“A FOOL and his money are soon parted”