Quiz 11 Flashcards
(21 cards)
Hip hop beyond beats & rhythms
Writer → Bryan hurt
Produce → Bryon hurt & Sabrina Gordon
2006, starring : bust-a rhymes, chuck d , clipse, Doug e, fresh, fat Joe, jadakiss, m-1, mos def, Talib kweli
By way of example, Michael Eric dyson
Points to the early years of America, the expansion of the frontier & manner in which guns equated w/ manhood & ability to care & protect family
Ability to use words skilfully & aggressively is central to being masculine in hiphop world
B/c its ability to survive the violence that is much part of young, poor + working class men lives
Rap grew out of a long tradition of male boasting in African American culture
A tradition of boys & men fighting for respect by projecting & proclaiming their own power t ability while simultaneously denigrating other men
Jackson Katz argues that mats who feel powerless -particularly MOC & working class white man often turn to their own bodies as source of power
Men w/ other power sources (economic, social, political ) don’t have need to adopt this kind of hyper- aggressive physical posture
Violence is so much a part of American
Culture that we’ve become desensitized to it
Found in rap, movies, sports, video games, & real-world politics of militarism and war
Chuck d argues that instead of challenging notion that black male violence is natural
the industries that produce popular music culture actually exploit stories & images of Black Death for profit
These images not unique to hip hop. Objectified women bodies everywhere
→ in American culture, films, advertisements, tv programs
→ however, across the landscape of music video, this is virtually the only vision of women available
Beverly guy-shetfall argues that black people don’t believe sexism is as urgent a social issue as racism
Michael Eric dyson, points out both black men & women are victimized by sexism & racism
1/4 black women are raped after the age of 18 Black women are 35% more likely to be assaulted than yt women
More than took women assaulted en USA every year, 1 woman every 45 seconds. 61% of victims are under 18
Guy - shetfall suggests that women un rap videos are participating in degradation & commodification of women
Rapper, jadakiss, says rap shouldn’t be taken seriously bc its “just entertainment” & argued women are some of the biggest fans of rap music that has lyrics of “bitches & ho’s” and they like hearing those words
Hurts says we’ve become desensitized to the sexism, misogyny & sexual objectification of rap
& this has blinded us to how demeaning & harmful it really is
In rap, men refer to other men by demeaning feminized terms like “bitch”
Man being called feminine name is greatest insult that can be inflicted. Hurt believes that this reflects deep insecurity that men have about their masculinity
Michael Eric dyson points out that this is also double assault
Attack on women through demeaning language & On any type of masculinity that doesn’t fit the stereotypical hypermasculine image
Feminizing men for purpose of insult does not just happen in hip hop
Throughout American culture; media, interpersonal interactions & world of politics
Recording industry profits from selling images of violent, materialistic, sexist black masculinity
By turning misery of black poverty into a commodity that benefits white-owned corporations
In previous decades, when there were still many small, independent record labels, was easier for more diverse and positive artists to obtain recording contracts + get music to public
Former president of def Jam records told hurt that the rise of so-called “gangsta” rap as the dominant sub- genre coincided with the takeover of independent labels by major corps
White fans of hiphop interviewed by Hurt admitted they know little about African American culture beyond what they see in recordings & videos
Admitted music tends to reinforce negative stereotypes of blacks as violent, sexually predatory & obsessed with material goods
Chuck d., of the political rap group public enemy
Called BET “ the cancer of black manhood in the world” b/c of their promotion of rigid stereotypes of greedy evident, sexist black men
chuckD points out that individual rappers cannot be blamed for what is really a state of affairs bought on by recording industry
Artists create what they know industry will support. Industry supports what glamorizes sexism, violence not music that is political or includes positive / anti-corporate messages
Industry controlled by white-owned corporations
Therefore white businessmen make decision about what rap music gets released and promoted
