"I'm a ho, you know I'm a ho. How do you know? Because I told you so."
So went the line in Whodini's infamous track "I'm a ho".
Thanks to Don Imus, the word "ho" has been placed front and center of the American conscience. We, that is those of us in the so called "hip hop generation, knew full well what a "ho" was. For those still unawares of what a "ho" is, it would be any person, of any race who was deemed particularly sexually "prolific". If the Whodini quote doesn't show that, then a quick review of pre-conscious KRS-ONE's tribute to the prowess of late DJ Scott La Rock:
Scott La Rock had 'em all.
He is a super ho!
Now, to be clear, back in the day, one had to be very specific about who one referred to as a ho. In fact in some circles one could have been ridiculed if one claimed to be a ho without "bonifides". You woudn't even THINK about calling Queen Latifa a ho. Nor would MC Lyte be referred to in such a manner. Black folks generally knew who a ho was and who was not. But that was when Hip Hop was still a "black thing". That was when you had to get mix tapes or wait till the Rap Attack on 'BLS or DJ' Red Alert's spin sessions on Kiss FM. Generally this was before white folks knew what Hip Hop was.
Back in that time, a time of party anthems, BDP, The Bridge, Radio and Dear Yvette, there was plenty of profanity and talk of black pride. I, self was introduced to Hip Hop via The Message blasting from the local record store on Sutphin Blvd while waiting on the Q6. That track was one of the few that made it on air. Back then, there were rules about what got air play. It had to be clean. period. You could cut a tape on anything you wanted but it wasn't getting airplay if you cussed. Period.
"My Adidas", "Bring the Noise", and Arrow Smith's colabo with Run DMC on "Walk This Way." brought White Suburbia into the mix. You had white kids in Bomber jackets and picking up Hip Hop music. The Beastie Boys, Third Base, and the like made Hip Hop more "accessible" to this soon to be huge market. Meanwhile something had to be done about those Africa Medallion wearing Black Pride MOFO's like Tribe Called Quest and DE LA Soul. Personally out of that era I think that PE and KRS one presented the largest threat to the social system than any other publicly known MC's. KRS one not only dropped science (however flawed) but HE was and IS a TOP RATED MC. Period. PE, fronted by Chuck D was the consciouness raising hype man next to KRS (in my opinion) since I think KRS One could out rhyme Chuck any day of the week (I'm just sayin'). After PE got you ready to fight the Power, you had KRS talkin' about "Bo! Bo! Bo!" and "You MUST Learn"!
It was about this time that the record companies, upon seeing what "safe" Hip Hop could sell after the likes of The Fresh Prince blew up with "Parents Just Don't Understand" realized that they had a "Nappy headed Negro" problem. If Hip Hop became dominated by KRS types rather than folks such as Heavy D and the Boys, then it would remain nitched. But if you made it "safe" then you could make some serious loot. So artists with less controversial language came to the fore such as LL Cool J. Now I'm not knockin' LL, I remember his very first album but we all know that after he rocked the bells, he really blew up on the Like a Panther and Momma Said albums.
Once this rise of what some called "happy rap" happened there was a nascent 'real rap music" movement in which MC's would lament the ability to get prime time airplay. Hence we saw the call for "real rap music" and to "keep it real" though this realness was never really defined. Wasn't The Show real? Wasn't LA-Di-Dadi real? In retrospect what we were really seeing was a call for the more explicit rhymes that one could get a peek of late nights on the weekends or in the clubs. But even those would be tame compared to what would soon be unleashed from the left coast.
Just as this "safe" Hip Hop was brining Hip Hop into the mainstream, we had this explosion from the West Coast. NWA. Then things got "interesting". While it could be argued that tracks like "Criminal Minded" were the first "gangster rap" tracks to make it on air, I don't think anyone can argue that once NWA stepped on the scene, that true gangsterism and gang style came to the fore. First off, the very name of the group put "Nigga" dead into the public sphere as never before. Sure "Nigga" had been said on air before by black folk (The Jeffersons). Sure it had been said on a track before, but no artist in their right mind, until then would even THINK about marketing themselves as a "Nigga". NWA spawned BWA, for those with long term memory problems, that was Bitchiz With Attitudes. The whole West Coast Hip Hop scene transformed Hip Hop in ways that would lead to very very destructive ends. What is most important though was the deep infiltration of gang and pimp culture into Hip Hop music. Ice T and Too Short, along with 2-Live Crew (among others) brought pimp and strip club culture into the main artery of Hip Hop. Men were no longer hoes. Men were "pimps" and "ho" became the exclusive domain of women. Just as it is on the street and clubs. Once this happened Hip Hop was changed because it became a money game. Hip Hop became "this Rap Game" And for those familiar with pimp and gang culture, when you "run game" you are hustling and you hustle for one thing: Cash. Hip Hop stopped being a form of black entertainment and became a Cash machine, another means for poor black men (mostly) to make money.
One had to understand that once Hip Hop took off within' black America, anyone with a microphone and a tape deck could make a tape and sell it on the corner or out the trunk of a car. In fact the vast majority of Hip Hop artists start out that way. In fact most artists start out that way. Hip Hop music for the a large portion of urban poor America, became an alternate and legal means of income. It was the rap game much like the drug game: Another way to make money without bending and scraping to "the man". Of course the audience for such music was at first was the 'hood the artist came from. This hood, filled with people who like any other group of people, wishes to see themselves reflected in their entertainment, connects with the lyrics that describe their hood or the mentality of that 'hood. So that the pimp and gang culture with it's requisite mysogyny and violence is reflected in that music is not some anomaly. it's not some conspiracy by the artist. It is simply a means to get paid. Period. It is not much different than the fact that Western music reflects so called country cowboy life and certain types of rock music is reflective of white teen suicide wishes.
What is important to understand here is that there is no means to legally stop anyone from producing any kind of music they want. There is also no legal means to stop anyone who wishes to, to purchase said music. Commentators that try to act like the government can or even should censor rap artisis because they don't like what kind of music they perform are taking the wrong tack and completely mis-understand where the real blame ought to be assigned for the stuff they "see".
The problem Hip Hop has, at least in the greater public is the record companies and the FCC. The reason that we have the relative garbage we have in Hip Hop is because of the "rap game". Record companies want one thing: profit. They will do whatever is legal to produce that profit. It is legal business to record and sell Hip Hop of any stripe. It is legal to record and sell Hip Hop with racist, sexist or any other language. The government cannot legally do anything about that. Anyone who wishes it would ought to be very careful about what they are asking for.
The real issue for both record companies and certain radio hosts is: Why is there a market for certain types of music or talk?
Simply put, millions of people listen to Don Imus, Millions of people purchase Hip Hop albums. Here's the rub though: the FCC sets pretty strict decency rules about what can and cannot be broadcast on the public airwaves. For some reason the FCC thinks that Janet Jackson's titty is more offensive than calling women hoes. For all the protests about rappers using crude language, the fact of the matter is that on the public airwaves it doesn't get broadcast. There are "clean" versions of any broadcast track to minimize the radio censor's work.
While any artist can be "fired" by his or her record company for any lyric the fact of the matter is that these artists are recruited because of their lyrics. This is the profound difference. I don't care to prevent Imus from saying whatever he want's to in private. If he was at home with his boys and commented that those were some "nappy headed hoes", that's his business. I dont' have to like it, but he has the right to say it, in private. Heck he has the right to say it on the street too. Similarly, I don't care for the language of many rap artists but I don't have the right to stop them from saying it in the privacy of their homes. In fact I don't even have the right to prevent them from writing raps with that language. Nor do I have the right to stop them from selling it.
The issue at hand is whether a company wants to be associated with such ideas. Clearly the record companies have made their position clear: They support the artists "right" to say it and their right to sell it. The radio stations that carry the music also support these rights within the FCC regulations. The advertisers of the various shows also support the radio stations. Why? Because this is the "rap game" Hip Hop at it's most capitalistic.
Understanding that the entire issue here comes down to money then we can only deal with the problem via economics. There are stupid black people out there who write to newspapers and such that they don't listen to rap music. They don't let their kids listen to rap music. These are, in my opinion, elitist, shamed of being black, folk. Seriously. Not only that, many of them are hypocrites because Jazz, R&B and other forms of black music had the same criticism in their day. Look at it this way. If I'm a music producer or artist and someone tells me that they don't purchase rap music and that person says they want me to change what I produce. I will tell them to take a hike ( to be kind). No way no how would any sane person with mouths to feed, NOT produce the music that does so, knowing that they will not buy.
Hence, the real and only way to change the Hip Hop music scene is to put your money in the pockets of the decent artist. Clearly if you don't listen to rap music then you don't know who these artists are. Simply put conscious Hip Hop rarely gets air or digital play. And that is NOT accidental.
In the end Hip Hop reflects America's obsession with sex, violence and money. if people are going to be upset with certain artists in Hip Hop music, reflecting that, then we ought to be asking why we have a system that pays niggas to be niggas. We ought to ask why MYV can go from a no Rap policy to Sucker Free Sundays. Clearly Viacom and it's employees don't have problems with sex, violence and money. Also, I'd be interested in knowing whether or not many of the people that object to the culture of violence and mysogyny in Hip Hop are also willing to address the social and economic issues that push so many young black men to see Pimp Hop as the best means of alleviating poverty.
(17 years of informed commentary)
7 comments:
Kudos on your fine piece my brother. I don't know if you remember or not, but my name is Dr. Rhymes and you and I had a spirited debate regarding an essay I wrote for the Black Commentator. I felt then as I do now, your are one quality individual and prolific social critic. I will be adding a link of your site to mine, www.rhymesworld.com/rhymesreasons.
I hope this correspondence finds you well and in peace. Drop me a line sometime and please, please continue the good and necessary work.
BTW, you can read my take on this whole uproar about Imus, hip-hop and the popular culture on my website as well.
got here via a link from Edward...
There does seem to be a key contradiction in your post --- you seem to be critical of both those who are putting out lyrics to get paid and parents who say "I don't let my kids listen to rap"....and accusing those parents of a lack of pride.
Given the corrosive and negative stereotypes that corporate america provides in rap, I don't think its fair to say that a parent who denies their kids access to all rap denotes a lack of pride.
In many (some? most?) the denial of rap is simply a misplaced expression of pride -- the equivalent of "Just Say No" to drugs for fear that experimenting with weed will lead to crack. Asking a child to understand where irony ends and ugliness begins has to be difficult -- and I have a great deal of sympathy with parents who prefer to do what they can to ensure that negative stereotypes are not assimilated by their children -- even if those parents do go to extremes.
And maybe you don't mention it because its so obvious, but the fact that young white males make up a huge portion of the rap market might merit some discussion. Personally, I think that its a reflection of corporate America's consistent willingness to exploit the inevitability of teenaged rebellion -- "Listen to gansta rap, your parents will hate it....just like their parents hated the Beatles, and their parents hated Elvis, and their parents hated Sinatra".
To me, what is most insidious is the effort of people to turn that phenomenon (teenagers expressing their independence through their choice of music) into a racial issue -- of black culture leading these innocent white youths into the void. Its not -- if anything, its a sign of progress that "today's teens" have chosen transgressive black music to do what teenagers have always done -- give a metaphoric finger to their parents through music.
Paul" Unfortunately the blogpost was not meant to be a complete history of Hip Hop Therefore your issue of the motives behind the white consumer base was only handed a sentence.
In the case of my critique of black people/parents who say they do not listen to rap music, I stand by my statement. I'm not sure how familiar you are with black American social class history, but the fact is that there has been a long time divide between the black middle class and or similarly minded lower class members (often called strivers), and that of the "lower class' black population that until recently made up the vast majority of black America. the "upper crust" has had a long time hate relationship with the lower class, yet it has often been the case that the lower class (whome most often carried with them the more Africanized cultural habits than those of the 'middle class" that have been at the forefront of, in this case, black music. Jazz, R&B, Rock and Roll, all came out of that lower class. Each of those musical forms were largely looked down upon by the larger white society and because of that the "black anglo-saxons" as Nathan Hare put it, took the same dim view.
Similarly, when Rap music came out many older black folk rejected it as classless music. In fact many middle class blacks did not even think it was music a sentiment that was also reflected in the early white commentary on the art form. But what was Rap music except a poet saying rhymes over a beat? In fact early rap music was done over mixed disco beats or breakbeats. So for one to say that Rap music wasn't music was a reflection of the continued devaluation of urban and poor black culture's newest creation. To see the hypocricy of this is to look at an early staple of rap music: scratching. Herbie Hancock, who is credited with discovering the technique (something I really can't confirm), was lauded for Breakit, his categorized "Jazz' piece which was never called "not music".
Let me get back to the black commentators though. If they had said: I don't let my kids listen to gangster rap, or I don't let my kids listen to Snoop or whomever, then they would have shown themselves conversant on the subject. Rather they made uneducated and uninformed proclamations, often to the approval of their white peers about how rap isn't allowed in their houses.
So yes, while corporations are pushing Pimp Hop, any fan of the art would have made comments that reflects the fact that there are genres of Hip Hop music that are not gangster rap and are readily available for those willing to put their money where there mouths are.
So in a word, you ought to be really suspicious of any black person who makes a blanket negative statement regarding rap music.
sondjata:
I'm obviously not as conversant as you are with specifics of black social class issues. (My knowledge doesn't extend much beyond Spike Lee's School Daze.) I am, however, somewhat familiar with "class" issues in general, and being a 53 year old gay man, somewhat familiar on a personal level with issues of negative stereotypes and self-acceptance.
And, at least from my (admittedly limited) experience, class, not race, is the issue with the middle class black parents in question. I've only known a handful of middle class blacks well enough for me to call them friends, but all of them embrace African culture -- possibly as a substitute, but they embrace it nonetheless.
Yes, there is a -- usually unspoken -- disapproval of "inner city" culture, and an effort to dissasociate themselves from it. But I don't get the feeling at all that these people were ashamed of being black -- rather, they were proud of being black while wanting to distance themselves from the negative stereotypes in the predominant (read: white) culture.
Maybe its simply a question of nomenclature.... but "shamed of being African American" would at least be a more accurate reflection of the distinction between race and class/culture. (although that phrase isn't really accurate either... something like "hyper-paranoid about being associated with African American stereotypes" is about as close as I can get without writing a paragraph.)
"Shamed of being black" struck a really discordant note in me in what was otherwise an excellenty written, informative, and insightful piece. Rather than challenging me to think like the rest of the piece, it raised hackles.
Anyway, take my observations however you want to. I am, after all, just some middle-aged, lower-middle class white guy. I really don't know what you are talking about from either an academic or personal perspective.
Man I just wrote a piece on my site, about the larger issue of loathing on black women, but this one sums up the whole hip hop issue.
It's good to see such a well written piece from someone who knows, not pretends to know, the history of hip hop.
Glad to be of service. Please post the link.
Sorry I forgot to put the link in.
http://davespeaks.wordpress.com/2007/04/18/race-matters-a-gender-issue/
Thanks.
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