[QUOTE=fetus]
I don’t know about you, but I hardly know anyone who denigrates, belittles, etc. hip hop music–regardless of race–but most people I know (me included) laugh at death metal, boy bands and country. May be a geographical thing.
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Even as someone who wouldn’t place country and hip hop at the top of my favorite musical genres list, I have respect for the music and enjoy a lot of artists from both. Actually I find country and hip hop very similar in certain ways. Both forms emerged as a uniquely American music style based on the lives of poor disenfranchised people. Both are heavily stereotyped, and the musicians are often assumed to embody all the traits they sing about - even though a large aspect of both forms is the ability to tell stories from the perspectives of those who are in the audience. Braggadocio, violence, and sexism all play a role in the lyrics, and there’s a segment of performers who tend to revel in the so-called negative aspects of the culture as a way of rejecting labels placed upon them by those outside of the audience. And both have audiences far beyond the “target demographic.”
What I’m referring to is the tendency of individuals who are not purveyors or observers of the cultural movement to get on a stage with sparkly “bling” and imitate Black vernacular speech patterns to poke fun at the genre. There’s plenty of that. I see it much like Al Jolson and his ilk performing blackface years ago. Note that I have no problem with rappers regardless of race - I’ve actually enjoyed seeing the international aspects of hip hop as well as Whites, Asians, and Latinos use the medium to communicate messages specific to certain communities. I also dislike seeing people mocking country musicians as toothless, ignorant wife-beaters. There’s a lot of variance in country in terms of topic and tone.
I just think it stings a little more when I see hip hop insulted, or country music insulted in such a way because it doesn’t just make fun of the artist, but also makes fun of the audience - typically an audience without much power. The way that hip hop is viewed today isn’t a million miles from how jazz was viewed in its heyday - music by and for arrogant, violent, drug users (think Miles Davis and John Coltrane). Eventually jazz came to be respected as an art form and one can see jazz performed in the most high-class environments. Of course, it’s been homogenized and made “less dangerous” because “safer” artists are afforded prominence. I wonder if hip hop will end up the same way?
[QUOTE=magellan01]
In a way, I find it unfortunate that many of the things that have been embraced by the black culture are things that create even further differences. Rap music is one, although I agree that among the youth it has become a unifying common denominator, and that is a good thing, so my age may be a factor here, as well. Another point of differntiation is how many black athletes and music stars choose to express their success and spend their millions. Although I’m not into cars, I can understand someone buying a Porsche. I cannot understand the whole “bling-bling pimp my ride, $2,000 per rim” mentality. One is not inherently better than the other (I think they’re both wastes of money), but I percieve one as being an indicator of “otherness”. The same with clothing. Whether it be some of the eccentric threads worn by some blacks in professional sports or the gang-chic I see on the streets and on neighborhood b-ball courts.
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Are Black athletes and musicians doing things with their money significantly different to what White/Latino/Asian/insert race or nationality here athletes and musicians are doing with theirs? You’re referring to the tendency of some musicians and athletes to popularize a trend that has permeated across American society. I see cars with expensive rims in the suburbs of Newton, Mass - the drivers aren’t Black and they aren’t musicians or athletes.
Regarding fashion, the whole swing fad that was so hot about ten years ago was, as I understood it, greatly derivative of the styles of Mexican American zoot-suiters in the 1940s. Again, people of color often present a style that is denigrated initially, but makes inroads into middle-class culture.
[QUOTE=wm–]
When I was in college, one of my classmates was a native Russian. We spoke in class and I considered her a friend, but every time I saw her outside of class, she was with a group of Russian students, all speaking Russian to one another. An outsider observing her group would naturally assume that they didn’t wish to associate with anyone who wasn’t just like them. Even though I knew that they intended no hostility toward anyone, having to interrupt their conversation to say hello in English made me feel like an unwelcome intruder.
Any homogenous group can seem unfriendly and intimidating to an outsider, and it’s easy to assume that the best course of action is to just leave them alone.
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I think the problem with this is the assumption that the people who are together chose that option. I’ve heard the same said about people with disabilities - people often don’t approach or speak with them because there’s an assumption that they don’t want to be bothered or would rather be left to socialize with people like them. If you’re in a minority group in any context, it seems to me that the experience of being an outsider is fairly enduring. Even in a group of fellow outsiders, you’re still an outsider. Though I understand it is a hard judgment to make, deciding whether to approach a group of people different from you.
