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Entry for March 12, 2007
The Poet's Bench Volume 1, Issue2 March 2007 Rap criticism grows in the hip-hop community By Nekesa Mumbi Moody, AP Music Writer
var requestedWidth = 0; 0){ document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup').style.width = requestedWidth + "px"; document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup').style.margin = "0px 0px 10px 10px"; } NEW YORK (AP) _ Maybe it was the umpteenth coke-dealing anthem or soft-porn music video. Perhaps it was the preening antics that some call reminiscent of Stepin Fetchit. The turning point is hard to pinpoint. But after 30 years of growing popularity, rap music is now struggling with an alarming sales decline and growing criticism from within about the culture's negative effect on society. Rap insider Chuck Creekmur, who runs the leading Web site Allhiphop.com, says he got a message from a friend recently ''asking me to hook her up with some Red Hot Chili Peppers because she said she's through with rap. A lot of people are sick of rap ... the negativity is just over the top now.'' The rapper Nas, considered one of the greats, challenged the condition of the art form when he titled his latest album ''Hip-Hop is Dead.'' It's at least ailing, according to recent statistics: Though music sales are down overall, rap sales slid a whopping 21 percent from 2005 to 2006, and for the first time in 12 years no rap album was among the top 10 sellers of the year. A recent study by the Black Youth Project showed a majority of youth think rap has too many violent images. In a poll of black Americans by The Associated Press and AOL-Black Voices last year, 50 percent of respondents said hip-hop was a negative force in American society. Nicole Duncan-Smith grew up on rap, worked in the rapindustry for years and is married to a hip-hop producer. She still listens to rap, but says it no longer speaks to or for her. She wrote the children's book ''I Am Hip-Hop'' partly to create something positive about rap for young children, including her 4-year-old daughter. ''I'm not removed from it, but I can't really tell the difference between Young Jeezy and Yung Joc. It's the same dumb stuff to me,'' says Duncan-Smith, 33. ''I can't listen to that nonsense ... I can't listen to another black man talk about you don't come to the 'hood anymore and ghetto revivals ... I'm from the 'hood. How can you tell me you want to revive it? How about you want to change it? Rejuvenate it?'' Hip-hop also seems to be increasingly blamed for a variety of social ills. Studies have attempted to link it to everything from teen drug use to increased sexual activity among young girls. Even the mayhem that broke out in Las Vegas during last week's NBA All-Star Game was blamed on hip-hoppers. ''(NBA Commissioner) David Stern seriously needs to consider moving the event out of the country for the next couple of years in hopes that young, hip-hop hoodlums would find another event to terrorize,'' columnist Jason Whitlock, who is black, wrote on AOL. While rap has been in essence pop music for years, and most rap consumers are white, some worry that the black community is suffering from hip-hop _ from the way America perceives blacks to the attitudes and images being adopted by black youth. But the rapper David Banner derides the growing criticism as blacks joining America's attack on young black men who are only reflecting the crushing problems within their communities. Besides, he says, that's the kind of music America wants to hear. ''Look at the music that gets us popular _ 'Like a Pimp,' 'Dope Boy Fresh,''' he says, naming two of his hits. ''What makes it so difficult is to know that we need to be doing other things. But the truth is at least us talking about what we're talking about, we can bring certain things to the light,'' he says. ''They want (black artists) to shuck and jive, but they don't want us to tell the real story because they're connected to it.'' Criticism of hip-hop is certainly nothing new _ it's as much a part of the culture as the beats and rhymes. Among the early accusations were that rap wasn't true music, its lyrics were too raw, its street message too polarizing. But they rarely came from the youthful audience itself, which was enraptured with genre that defined them as none other could. ''As people within the hip-hop generation get older, I think the criticism is increasing,'' says author Bakari Kitwana, who is currently part of a lecture tour titled ''Does Hip-Hop Hate Women?'' ''There was a more of a tendency when we were younger to be more defensive of it,'' he adds. During her '90s crusade against rap's habit of degrading women, the late black activist C. Dolores Tucker certainly had few allies within the hip-hop community, or even among young black women. Backed by folks like conservative Republican WilliamBennett, Tucker was vilified within rap circles. In retrospect, ''many of us weren't listening,'' says Tracy Denean Sharpley-Whiting, a professor at Vanderbilt University and author of the new book ''Pimps Up, Ho's Down: Hip-Hop's Hold On Young Black Women.'' ''She was onto something, but most of us said, 'They're not calling me a bitch, they're not talking about me, they're talking about THOSE women.' But then it became clear that, you know what? Those women can be any women.'' One rap fan, Bryan Hunt, made the searing documentary ''Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes,'' which debuted on PBS this month. Hunt addresses the biggest criticisms of rap, from its treatment of women to the glorification of the gangsta lifestyle that has become the default posture for many of today's most popular rappers. ''I love hip-hop,'' Hunt, 36, says in the documentary. ''I sometimes feel bad for criticizing hip-hop, but I want to get us men to take a look at ourselves.'' Even dances that may seem innocuous are not above the fray. Last summer, as the ''Chicken Noodle Soup'' song and accompanying dance became a sensation, Baltimore Sun pop critic Rashod D. Ollison mused that the dance _ demonstrated in the video by young people stomping wildly from side to side _ was part of the growing minstrelization of rap music. ''The music, dances and images in the video are clearly reminiscent of the era when pop culture reduced blacks to caricatures: lazy 'coons,' grinning 'pickaninnies,' sexually super-charged 'bucks,''' he wrote. And then there's the criminal aspect that has long been a part of rap. In the '70s, groups may have rapped about drug dealing and street violence, but rap stars weren't the embodiment of criminals themselves. Today, the most popular and successful rappers boast about who has murdered more foes and rhyme about dealing drugs as breezily as other artists sing about love. Creekmur says music labels have overfed the public on gangsta rap, obscuring artists who represent more positive and varied aspects of black life, like Talib Kweli, Common and Lupe Fiasco. ''It boils down to a complete lack of balance, and whenever there's a complete lack of balance people are going to reject it, whether it's positive or negative,'' Creekmur says. Yet Banner says there's a reason why acts like KRS-One and Public Enemy don't sell anymore. He recalled that even his own fans rebuffed positive songs he made _ like ''Cadillac on 22s,'' about staying way from street life _ in favor of songs like ''Like a Pimp.'' ''The American public had an opportunity to pick what they wanted from David Banner,'' he says. ''I wish America would just be honest. America is sick. ... America loves violence and sex.'' “Nathan Hair” An Editorial by Ali Baba da OG
What ever happened to the Afro? From the late 1970's through the early 1990's I wore dreadlocks. Those of you who remember me from that time would also remember that I was one of, if not the first, Black male from East Oakland with dreads and facial piercing (my nose was pierced twice and both of my ears were pierced) who was not homosexual. I remember being the butt of many jokes about my hair. On several occasions I had to defend my and my family's honor (my daughters did not have their hair combed or straightened until they were nearly 12 years old), almost to the point of violence because of the ridicule most people leveled at me and mine because of our hair. To us it wasn't a fashion statement. It held intense value and meaning for us as it represented our commitment to the "cultural imperative" and all that meant during those times of struggle for the African American under Reagan, Bush I, etc. What do dreads mean now? It means that you fit the standard description of the urban savage who exists mostly as a predator in the community from which they com. It also makes the mostly youthful wearer of dreads a target for the police. People used to tease me and offer to pay for me to get a haircut. I would love to take clippers in masse to the majority of these young Black men in Oakland. I wonder if they have an inkling as to how much they have bastardized something that meant so much to so many people not too long ago? I believe that one of the first things that needs to happen if we are to regain ourselves is a rededication to that clean-cut look that many in the first resurrection were required to wear. What do you think about this? Free quo vadis for any youngster who wants to rid himself of the onus of that now (to me at least) filthy-looking hairstyle? -- ABOG
Featured Writer this Month J.V. Cromartie Street Spirits (Or a Poem for Marvin X)
under a red sky you have roamed the streets of San Francisco rapping about homeless blues in your poetry in your life in your spirit
under a red sky i saw you once selling the Poetry Flash to rich tourists and wondered whether you would become the next Bob Kaufman
under a red sky you have roamed the beaches of the Golden State praying here and there remembering your sweet Sherley confessing your sins and mistakes
under a red sky you have remembered that a poet is full of great feelings of love for God for self for others whether the poet is homeless or not
under a red sky you have helped me to embrace the street spirits and the rays of a red sun with your poetry with your life with your spirit.
--J. Vern Cromartie © 2005 Another One for Marvin X
start out in Fowler go to Fresno and fall in love forever with a deep chocolate woman who loves you and your poetry
you know she loves you forever like the waves rolling in the dock of the bay
she loved you
this woman loved you when she breathed her last breath
sometimes you see her in your sleep and you wonder about what could have been about what should have been about what was your flight to love forever
the power of love is holy
Jimi Hendix knew this holiness in his dreams when he sang deep into the night about the power of love
if you want to follow on the mantle of Jeremiah let the power of love drench your soul forever.
--J. Vern Cromartie © 2006
Oakland Poetry Slam's Blurbs
This is a reprint gleaned from a “friend” of the Poet’s Bench’s sister musical arm on My Space, www.myspace.com/thewonkanese. The url for “Oakland Poetry Slam” is: http://www.myspace.com/oaklandslam
Each summer Slams from dozens of scenes representing cities as far-flung as Paris (that's France! not TX), Vancouver and every single state in the US (yup, including Hawaii & Alaska) send teams to the National Poetry Slam. This year there are more teams (100+) than there are spaces available at Nationals (75) so teams must compete with each other regionally in “bouts” in order to see who gets to go to the big show. These bouts are being held at Slams all across the country but in The Bay the only one will be at The brOakland Slam on March 16th. If you’ve ever wondered what all the fuss was about with National’s or want a taste of the fiercest competition around then you NEED to get to this show!
The brOakland Poetry Slam (and open mic) 1st & 3rd Fridays Monthly - Next Show: March 16th, 2007 SPECIAL EVENT W/ SLAM TEAMS FROM ALL OVER THE BAY AREA Featuring Chitown's BILLY TUGGLE! Hosted by Nazelah & Dahled, DJ Agana Limited Sign-ups – 7:45 / Show – 8:00 Food, Drink & Cash Prizes!!! $5 General Admission ALL AGES!!!
Questions and Answers Marvin X is my friend , my brother and one of my master teachers. He is not only an insightful poet and prolific writer, he is one of today’s truest and purest thinkers. It is with great pleasure that we did this interview by phone March 8, 2007. His book is on sale at better bookstores across the nation Go and buy it. Marvin x Q: Do you know that you’re an influencer of the bay area rap scene? A: Brother, I’ve been talking for 40 years and nobody has heard me yet. But they are still interrogating me, they want to know my DNA, my genealogy; “Where did I come from? Who educated me? Do I have any degrees? Who’s my mother and daddy? Who is my uncle and cousin, aunt? Q: So apparently they just don’t know you yet? A: Everybody is waiting for me to die because they guaranteed me that, on the day of my death, I would become rich and famous. Q: So, how many of us, do you believe, are patiently waiting for the day of your death? A: All of you. Q: Does that include your local admirers and colleagues.
A: Actually I’ve been told that I have no idea how many people actually know about me and appreciate my work.
Q: Well, I have it on good authority that you are not only revered as a progenitor of many of today’s prevalent oratory styles, but that many of the bay areas most prolific contemporary artists in the genre you say you unknowingly pioneered, such as Askari X, AB the OG, and Too $hort , look to you for further inspiration. What do you think about that?
A: With all due respect to $hort Dog, I don’t know how much I have influenced him. But as per Askari X and Ali Baba, I can see a definite spiritual connection. Especially when I see myself being called the father of Muslim American Literature and Art, as well as one of the founders of the Black Arts Movement. Basically I am in the tradition of Paul Robeson, the artistic freedom fighter.
Q: Are there any other parallels you would like to draw between your struggle, the weapons you’ve chosen to fight them with, and any other individuals past present and future?
A: I think that Tupac is an example. He is a “child of Marvin X”. He just had the misfortune to be a Gemini.
What it is and where to get it. Remember, if you have any news you’d like to share, or any announcements you’d like to make such as weddings, obituaries or special events just send it to us at least two weeks prior and we’ll be glad to run it. E mail us at poetbench @ yahoo.com or call (415) 861-3024 Friday: 2007-03-13 01:12:48 GMT
Comments (1 total)
Author:kisses4_u_only1
that was some long reading thanks for the info be blessed
2007-03-14 15:53:39 GMT
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