CRIMINAL MINDED HIP-HOP - TIME TO GROW UP!

[DevilsJim89]

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/columns-edit...time-to-grow-up

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Critical Minded: Hip Hop, Time To Grow Up

May 28th, 2007 | Author: J-23

There is just nothing that is black and white anymore, everything is shades of grey with extreme opinions and beliefs usually just leading to ignorance. Of course, what follows ignorance is usually pain, suffering and disaster. Hip hop is currently surrounded by ignorance, both from people outside of it and from people within it. In the wake of this Don Imus situation there has been a firestorm of controversy, as his comments have somehow become a debate when they should have never been more than a discussion. But that is ****ing racist people for you. As usual, hip hop was blamed for his comments. While the blame was well founded in good old fashioned ignorance and bigotry, we certainly are to blame in a lot of ways.

Unfortunately, hip hop has largely lost its edge and this kind of **** continues to slide without anyone pulling the appropriate cards or accepting any responsibility. Didn’t anyone else think it was funny to see Snoop on TV talking **** about Imus? Doesn’t anyone remember Snoop showing up at the MTV Awards in 2003 with two black women collared and leashed? Does that give Don Imus the right to call black women nappy headed hoes? No. Is it Snoop’s fault that Don Imus is racist ****ing redneck? No. Does Snoop have to accept some responsibility for what happened? Most definitely. If a black man shows show such utter disrespect for black woman on national TV, what kind of message does that send to the rest of the world? Can we really be surprised when a white person does it? No, this isn’t the same as the classic racist question “they call themselves niggers so why can’t we?” Taking that term was a matter of empowerment, leading women around like dogs is nothing but human degradation. I just don’t understand how you can demand the respect of other cultures when you show them you don’t even respect your own. Listen, I’ve been a fan of Snoop since I was 11 years old, even through his ****ty albums. That doesn’t mean I can’t dislike something he does and say what I feel needs to be said. But where was everyone else, why didn’t his peers pull his card for that one?

There are hoes out there, that is a fact, and there is nothing wrong with rapping about them. But there was a time when every song about a gold diggin’ tramp was offset by a song about the queens out there. How often do you hear that anymore though? In terms of the mainstream media, this doesn’t even matter because these exact same events would have transpired. They are always just going to focus on the negative no matter how much positive is there. That doesn’t mean we have to turn a blind eye to it.

Russell Simmons is out there looking like a ****ing jackass babbling on about poetic licenses and rappers just rhyming about what they see. On some level he is right but we all know that is ****ing bull**** these days. The days when hip hop was the CNN of the streets is long extinct save a handful of artists, even fewer of which are in the limelight. Hip hop now isn’t documenting, its glamorizing and sensationalizing. Can we really be surprised when hip hop gets blamed when the same violence and crime it glorifies is imitated? Sure, it is complete bull**** that Hollywood gets a pass 99% of the time while we remain the scapegoat. More than likely, the mainstream media’s perception and blame game wouldn’t change even if we did, but **** them. It should be a matter of self respect and being able to make that argument with a straight face. Russell can preach all he wants that we need balance and positivity (which we obviously do), but he has never done **** but talk about it despite being one of the few people with the power and means to make a change. What conscious artist did he ever sign to Def Jam? ****, even Public Enemy was Rick Rubin’s choice. He has never put his money where his mouth is, I’ve been saying this for so long. Russell has played a big role in building hip hop and we’ll always owe him gratitude for that, but that doesn’t mean he is immune to criticism.

It is sad that there even need to be scapegoats for all the terrible **** that happens in this world. When some kid goes and shoots someone in his school everyone looks to blame hip hop, movies, video games, TV or whatever. No doubt, there are plenty of negative influences out there, but the vast majority of the blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the parents (usually the first ones to blame something else). What happened to raising your ****ing child so that he or she knows better than to mimic some drug dealing rapper or a gun-toting actor turned governor. I was knee deep into gangsta rap by the time I was 8 or 9 years old and throughout my easily influenced teenage years. I’ve never dealt drugs, I’ve never shot someone, I’ve never been in prison. I’m 26 year old university graduate and own two houses. I can only thank my parents that I knew well enough to listen to them instead of Eazy E. The fact of the matter is, too many kids aren’t lucky enough to have parents as great as mine and end up with 50 Cent as a role model. Whether or not it is right that rappers have become role models, they have. Whether or not they want the responsibility, they have it…and it is time to be men and accept it.

50 Cent wields so much power with the youth and he could make such a positive impact if he chose to. Sure, he won’t sell as many albums if he isn’t sensationalizing being sprayed by 9 bullets, but does the man really need any more money? Like him or not, the man is a brilliant entrepreneur. Why isn’t he teaching these kids what he knows? Is that really too much to ask? ****, even if it’s one song on his album. 50 has had a ****ed up life and his story is most definitely one that needs to be told (and he’s told it enough times), but its back to that old black and white stuff. There is a fine line between telling your story and glorifying it, and 50 has done a **** of a lot of glorifying. Resorting to dealing drugs isn’t something that should be made cool, it is an act of desperation born out of poverty and systematic racism. Have you ever seen a real live crack head? There ain’t **** cool about facilitating that habit. The life of a drug dealer is one that often ends with prison or death, it is a life of severe consequences. How many rappers are actually communicating that? The world needs to hear about crime, drug dealing, gang violence and death, we need the voices of the voiceless. What we don’t need is these clowns making it sound like a desirable lifestyle, especially when most of them never even lived it and are straight lying their asses off.

Look at Busta Rhymes, 35 years old and 15 plus years into his career in which he’s been largely a happy go-lucky emcee, suddenly became a former crack dealer and criminal. Why? Label pressure? A desperate attempt to appeal to the youth and sell a few more records? Regardless of why he did it, it is nothing short of ****ing sad and pathetic. Once a proud 5 percenter who rapped alongside Brand Nubian, KMD and A Tribe Called Quest has lowered himself to the most common, tired and destructive denominator. To keep up his new image he has racked up a nice list of misdemeanors in the past couple years, culminating with allowing his loyal bodyguards murderer to go unpunished to uphold the “stop snitching” credo.

Are people still buying into that ****? Refusing to cooperate with police was born during the COINTELPRO era, it is barely even relevant today in most the circumstances when people claim it. These days it is nothing more than a marketing gimmick. You all heard Cam’ron on 60 Minutes, the first thing out of his mouth when asked why he wouldn’t “snitch” was to protect his credibility so he could sell records. Then he quickly adding in that he won’t snitch because that is what he believes. Again, this isn’t a black and white issue…it’s all grey. There are plenty of instances when dropping dimes should be prohibited, especially in neighborhoods when the drug dealers are far more philanthropic then the government will ever be. But if there is some dude raping little girls in your neighborhood you ain’t gonna talk to the police, you’re gonna move and let innocent girls get torn up? You’ll let a deranged lunatic free to rape somebody’s daughter rather than risk your credibility? Does Cam have the slightest bit of human decency? Seriously, that dude deserves a severe ****ing beating for even suggesting that nonsense. Now wait for the hater accusations thrown at me followed by DIPSET ALL DAY BITCH! If you defend that man after those comments then you are just as ****ing stupid as he is, I don’t give a **** how much you like his music.

I feel myself going off on multiple tangents here (if I haven’t already), so lemme (w)rap this up. This culture and the people who lead it need to grow the **** up and act like responsible adults for once. All the people mentioned are grown ****ing men, 30 plus years old. There are no excuses for any of this, they aren’t 20, young and stupid. Just because they’re making music for 15 year olds doesn’t mean they need to act like them too. Time to grow up people, be accountable for your actions and accept some responsibility for your role and influence in society.

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TRUTH! :wickedwisdom:

[bigted]

That was a great article, a lot of these sucker mcs need to get their act together