Organizing for America | SaSa in Santa Rosa's Blog: Barack likes Hip Hop and wants to help artists find less materialistic messages

Barack likes Hip Hop and wants to help artists find less materialistic messages

By SaSa ♥ NorCal vote RUE FURCH in the Fall! ♥ - Apr 3rd, 2008 at 12:13 am EDT

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFSVG7jRp_g&feature=related

After taking a University Course last semester on Hip-Hop Culture, this is a sharp video about Barack Obama and hip-hop culture. Long misunderstood, hip-hop culture is an incredible art form (whether you personally like it or not, it's a valid form of self-expression of a marginalized people) that has reached the limits of its own designs.

Now, at a crossroads, it needs Barack's message of Hope and Change.

By the way, the hip-hop experience is all about socio-economic status and geography, and not much about race these days. In fact, this year it was the most popular musical genre out there, squeaking out country music for the first time ever.

For the hip-hop curious (and you should be, it's an ENORMOUS cultural force that shapes all of us whether or not we listen to the music), I recommend the following books:

Jeff Chang "Can't Stop, Won't Stop"

Luis Rodriguez, "Always Running"

Brian Ascalon Roley "American Son"

Anna Deavere Smith "Twilight in Los Angeles"

Jervey Tervalon "Understand This"

Michael Eric Dyson "Tupac Shakur" (I think it's called, very interesting and highly readable)

Assorted Essays "That's The Joint!" (a masterpiece of textual analysis for scholars)

I listen to a ton of music personally, and am mainly a fan right now of new Bhangra, any out-there Dancehall, and French pop like Coralie Clement, but I'm not sure I can put my finger on a favourite band... but I literally listen to a little bit of everything... including hip-hop. My favorite HH artists are Dead Prez, Aesop Rock, Immortal Technique, Atmosphere, Deltron 3030, The Grouch, Living Legends, NWA, Public Enemy, Nas, and Mos Def. Who am I forgetting?

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What kind of music do you like? Do you feel that the messages are important or are you more concerned with if it sounds good will driving or makes you want to dance? Name a band you really love!

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By Avram from San Francisco, CA Apr 3rd 2008 at 12:44 am EDT

Don't forget about Brazilian Hip Hop, pronounced hippie-hoppie. They've got O'Rappa and Chico Science. They've also got a great liberal president who believes in peace, Lula, and singer Gilberto Gill on the cabinet.

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By joe catskill mountians, ny Apr 11th 2008 at 7:05 pm EDT

Sasa,
I love Hip-Hop as an art form, but struggle with the misogynistic and materialistic themes of many artists. Immortal Technique is great. I'll have to check out some of your other favs. I've been a long time fan of PE. For style, I love Eminem, but the boy is obviously out of his tree! Thanks for the links and book suggestions.
Oh- I'm a big folk fan and love Greg Brown, Ani DiFranco, Dar Williams, John Prine, Tom Russell, Tom Waits, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and Rodney Crowell. Clearly, I'm not a big dancer.

-Joe

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By Samantha from CT May 11th 2008 at 6:02 am EDT

well, sa-sa, i am a Christian, and struggle with the message in most pop-culture hip-hop, BUT...i love to dance, and i love hip-hop, rap, etc. one of my faves is "Holy Culture" by the Cross Movement. i wish i knew how to send it. once, i was about to send my children to a Christian school, until i heard one parent claim, "my children have never smoked a cigarette, and never listened to hip-hop." how stupid is that? a genre of music, although having been taken over by pop, is not bad in and of itself....so, they are in public school, after home-schooling (where they jumped grades, mind you). favorite lines: "i hear the whispers of the fat lady and the only reason she ain't singing is because God's got his hand on the volume baby." to me, music is an art form, of creative power. anything of creative power originated from the Creator, and can be distorted, but cannot take away that power, so i do not reject or denounce art in any form....

admittedly, i had prejudices against hip-hop before listening to it. one was: these ppl are stupid, but when i began to listen, to feel it, feel the language and its use, i was blown away...there is an understanding of things that cannot be explained outside of its own terms (like freud's theory LOL)...

and i learned a great deal....

about myself, about ppl, and about the world around me.

i became more comfortable with me, as me...

i am so tired of ppl branding certain anything as "bad." silly-ness, truly.

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