Ellington

Just in time for April and National Poetry Month, one of our contributing writers, Junior, has posed an interesting question that I'm sure will spark some interesting discussion. It should be noted that his paper at Hinds Community College would not publish for "fear" of how others might view it.
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it seemed to rhyme, was it at all Poetic? Also, after further listening to a
couple of more videos, I realized that the direction that most rap takes is
"story telling" about one's life. The group I was analyzing was "G-UNIT" and
was very graphic when describing their struggle in the "HOOD". Also, the
group mentioned the "Little Momma's Shake that A$$" and included "White
Boys" as the police that were disrupting their operations as "Street
Hustlers". Being somewhat familiar with America's social mobility status and
the economic factors within poverty, I became alarmed at the amount of
Jewelry including flashy diamonds and 80,000 dollar vehicles they were
using.

Also, I was unable to discover if these rappers were in any
Government Assistance Programs, or of what various types of Degrees that
they may hold that offer creditability. If the "tale" of their struggle is
true, even as appeared millionaires, why do they still rap about struggle?
Is it possible for a rapper to use poetic rhymes regarding an era when
clearly that era never existed?
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ENTIRE ARTICLE CAN BE READ AT :
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?id=21507

Previous Comments

ID

105594

Comment

One of the things that struck me about Junior's article was that most of the times when rap does mention "white boys" in songs such as Young Jeezy it does normally mean the police. It just goes to show how language becomes whatever you want to when it has to do with a particular artist's expression.

Author

c a webb

Date

2006-03-31T14:28:53-06:00

ID

105595

Comment

This might not be a bad place to mention that we have the FREE2FLOW summit going on this Saturday at the GMC Family Life Center. They are recommended for anyone interested in rap, the hiphop culture, singing and poetry. The first forum begins at 10a.m.. Here is the schedule: * "The Commercializing of the 'N' Word"/ 10-11:30a.m. * "Marketing Yourself for Success"/ 12-1:30p.m. * "How to Build Your Own Buzz"/ 2-3:30p.m. * "The Effects of Hiphop on Today's Youth"/ 4-5:30p.m. Featured guests are C. A. Webb, Latasha Willis, Kamikaze, Dub-G, Anthony Colom and other hiphop heavyweights from the Southwest. See www.free2flow.com for details or leave a voicemail at 601.832.3116.

Author

c a webb

Date

2006-04-04T07:45:52-06:00

ID

105596

Comment

Kendall Walker of www.askkendall.com weighs in on this at her blog: "Now because I am a black woman, I am directing this question to my fellow women. It has been my experience that we as black women adopt the attitude of "by any means necessary." Especially when it comes to our families. But how far is too far? At what price can a person's integrity and morality be bought? Let me first start by saying, I don't knock any woman for having a high self-esteem. I love to see a woman who is confident and self-assured. Because I am comfortable enough in my own skin, I can appreciate the beauty found in other women. I don't feel intimidated or inadequate. But what does bother me is when I see beautiful women being displayed and depicted as nothing more than sexual objects. Sexual objects needed only to fulfill a man's needs. When was the last time you were able to turn on a music video without seeing some woman parading around more than half naked, gyrating and grinding (or being grind-ed on), in front of a man? Not only is it these images that bother me but the fact that most of the videos made now have absolutely nothing to do with the song. But what disgusts me above all else is the fact that you have children watching these videos and they see these images and they think it is OK. You have little boys that want to be like the men in the video that is getting all the money and all the women. And you have little girls that want to be like the women and get all the attention that these women get. But at what price do they pay for this attention?" Read her entire comment at www.askkendall.com.

Author

c a webb

Date

2006-04-12T00:45:38-06:00