sophia_sadek (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} sophia_sadek) wrote,@ 2008-12-02 17:00:00 |
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got state? (part 4)
Hip hop culture is the perfect example of the American experience. When a rap song mentions booty, it is not quite the same kind of booty, but it applies nevertheless. America is a society heavily dependent on booty. It is booty central. Hip hop expresses the American values in such an open way that it shocks the sensibilities of people who prefer not to air the dirty laundry in public. The exposed underwear of hip hop fashion reflects the naked aggression of a society addicted to plundered goods. The self-hobbling of hip hop youth reflects a rigid discipline of sloth in the American experience. We work really hard at being profligate.
Hip hop has been around so long that it has begun to achieve the status of nostalgia. The kids whose pants are falling down today are the children and grandchildren of the genre's pioneers. It doesn't possess the dignity of jazz culture, but jazz culture started out in a similar state of disdain. Jazz didn't become respectable in America until it was exalted by the Beats. Its respectability is probably the thing that turns younger people off to it. It's like rustic cuisine that has become favored in the chateau.
Hip hop clothing (manufactured overseas, of course) often bears symbols of gaudy conspicuous consumption. "Money, Power, Respect," appears on one jacket. Gem symbols adorn another. Traditional icons of European royalty make a place for themselves on hip hop garb. All of this speaks openly of the values American would prefer were hidden from plain view. Although the white bread housewife might think the same thoughts, she would never publicly wear a shirt that said, "I [heart] my penis."
When hip hop glorifies gangstah culture, it glorifies Americana. If Americans wish to be viewed in a more positive light, they need to repent and stop playing the role of crooks. The gang violence in the ghetto is minuscule compared to the gang violence that America practices on a global scale. People with positive intentions don't set an example by stockpiling weapons of mass destruction. The ghetto gangstahs admire the boardroom gangstahs. As long as there is profit for the latter, there will be profit for the former. Where there is money to be had, people will go there.
If we truly want the ghetto child to pull up his pants and walk like a human being, we would do likewise. By failing to act with dignity, people set an example for the disfranchised to follow in their own peculiar fashion.
Hip hop culture is the perfect example of the American experience. When a rap song mentions booty, it is not quite the same kind of booty, but it applies nevertheless. America is a society heavily dependent on booty. It is booty central. Hip hop expresses the American values in such an open way that it shocks the sensibilities of people who prefer not to air the dirty laundry in public. The exposed underwear of hip hop fashion reflects the naked aggression of a society addicted to plundered goods. The self-hobbling of hip hop youth reflects a rigid discipline of sloth in the American experience. We work really hard at being profligate.
Hip hop has been around so long that it has begun to achieve the status of nostalgia. The kids whose pants are falling down today are the children and grandchildren of the genre's pioneers. It doesn't possess the dignity of jazz culture, but jazz culture started out in a similar state of disdain. Jazz didn't become respectable in America until it was exalted by the Beats. Its respectability is probably the thing that turns younger people off to it. It's like rustic cuisine that has become favored in the chateau.
Hip hop clothing (manufactured overseas, of course) often bears symbols of gaudy conspicuous consumption. "Money, Power, Respect," appears on one jacket. Gem symbols adorn another. Traditional icons of European royalty make a place for themselves on hip hop garb. All of this speaks openly of the values American would prefer were hidden from plain view. Although the white bread housewife might think the same thoughts, she would never publicly wear a shirt that said, "I [heart] my penis."
When hip hop glorifies gangstah culture, it glorifies Americana. If Americans wish to be viewed in a more positive light, they need to repent and stop playing the role of crooks. The gang violence in the ghetto is minuscule compared to the gang violence that America practices on a global scale. People with positive intentions don't set an example by stockpiling weapons of mass destruction. The ghetto gangstahs admire the boardroom gangstahs. As long as there is profit for the latter, there will be profit for the former. Where there is money to be had, people will go there.
If we truly want the ghetto child to pull up his pants and walk like a human being, we would do likewise. By failing to act with dignity, people set an example for the disfranchised to follow in their own peculiar fashion.
