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I am white and you may be correct. But it's not so much who buys the music, as for who these rappers are role models. Do you think white suburban kids see them as role models? I'm asking since I don't really know.
As for the rappers themselves, many are talented people that ride the wave because that's what the market demands. But it's the culture around the rap that seems to have the greatest impact on black kids.
You got it.
White suburban kids see this music as "entertainment." If it's cool to listen to in their circles they'll buy it. They also grow up in very different households.
It's a bad influence on young black people in general because these entertainers tend to be identified with and used to mimic behaviors that give one social status in black majority schools/neighborhoods. Pretty much as you stated, role models.
Black kids are very susceptible to this influence which is reinforced by their peers.
I haven't read this thread, but I've akso never met a black persons who says "blacks".
This is silly. I am black and black people say "blacks" all the time. The blacks in this thread have used it too lol.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ibanezguitar
You got it.
White suburban kids see this music as "entertainment." If it's cool to listen to in their circles they'll buy it. They also grow up in very different households.
It's a bad influence on young black people in general because these entertainers tend to be identified with and used to mimic behaviors that give one social status in black majority schools/neighborhoods. Pretty much as you stated, role models.
Black kids are very susceptible to this influence which is reinforced by their peers.
Black kids see it as entertainment too for the most part, similar to the white kids. I grew up in the height of "gangsta rap." I think it is hilarious today the conversations about rap since it is much more "soft" than it was in the 1990s and early 2000s when I was a teen/20 something year old.
One of my favorite rappers was a West Coast rapper named Spice One. I remember my brother joking 3 people minimum got killed in every one of his songs lol. I never killed anyone. Never sold drugs. Never wanted to be in a gang. Never did any of the things that were/are common in gangsta rap in particular. I felt that most of the songs were a warning or were a story about what was happening in the lives of many people who lived in the hood. I still do believe that they told a lot of truth about what was happening during that era, same as today. Most rap music today is more sexual in nature IMO and not violent as much as it used to be and that is a reflection of our changing society. Those who don't have knowledge about hip hop and its evolution from the 1970s through today, don't recognize the fact that all rap is not the same and there were/are different eras and in those eras different predominating subject matter is apparent in mainstream and/or underground rap music. I was a little kid in the 80s so grew up listening to my dad's records of rap musicians and I know a LOT of old school rap as a result. I know 90s rap due to being "into" it in high school and 2000s era rap due to being "into" it in college. I currently have a teenager who is "into" rap as well as other music and so I keep in the loop of the popular artist today via him and believe me, it is not as bad in regards to subject matter as it was when I was a teen.
Only thing I had an issue with then and now is the misogynistic nature of rap music and I feel that in general our American culture de-values females and that rap is a reflection of that for America at-large.
Or go back even further to the Last Poets in the latter 60s.
Indeed, they helped pave the way, along with Gil Scott-Heron.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ibanezguitar
You got it.
White suburban kids see this music as "entertainment." If it's cool to listen to in their circles they'll buy it. They also grow up in very different households.
It's a bad influence on young black people in general because these entertainers tend to be identified with and used to mimic behaviors that give one social status in black majority schools/neighborhoods. Pretty much as you stated, role models.
Black kids are very susceptible to this influence which is reinforced by their peers.
I agree. I grew up during the era of "shiny suit" rap...and hated listening to it. My high school "friends" were influenced by these songs and believed they had to have the latest fashions these rappers talked about in their rhymes. I only refused to listen to said rappers because there was no positive message from them.
The violence, the drug dealing, the stuff we find in rap songs, that stuff was going on before rap music. Rap music just provided a medium to glorify it.
All I can say at the end is this. I'm sorry that kid went through that. Those thugs deserve prison time for what they did. And this should be thought of. We need to love another alot better than we have. We can't get better as a nation if we have hatred. And it isn't just this incident. The rape in Idaho where someone got off, the shooting in Florida. Things have been bad all over, for a long time. It isn't just enough to make some speech. Action is needed.
All I can say at the end is this. I'm sorry that kid went through that. Those thugs deserve prison time for what they did. And this should be thought of. We need to love another alot better than we have. We can't get better as a nation if we have hatred. And it isn't just this incident. The rape in Idaho where someone got off, the shooting in Florida. Things have been bad all over, for a long time. It isn't just enough to make some speech. Action is needed.
I can't grasp the mindset.
Having been an intelligence analyst, we learned how to "look at the game from the opponent's side of the board." We learned how to see from another person's viewpoint so that we could predict his responses and actions.
I can do that pretty well. See things from an Iranian's point of view? I can do that. See thing's from a Columbian's point of view? I can do that. I can see things from the point of view of even a gangbanger. Those are actually all rational actors, once you see the game from their side of the board.
I can't see the world from the point of view of those people. There was no rationality. To stream it live on social media? I can't grasp it. What response did they expect? How did they think that action was "normal" enough that they would attract an approving following from a generalized public?
White suburban kids see this music as "entertainment." If it's cool to listen to in their circles they'll buy it. They also grow up in very different households.
It's a bad influence on young black people in general because these entertainers tend to be identified with and used to mimic behaviors that give one social status in black majority schools/neighborhoods. Pretty much as you stated, role models.
Black kids are very susceptible to this influence which is reinforced by their peers.
wait, so when white kids fund "thug" rap it's just fun, but for black kids it's real? Amazing. I'm mean, you know you're wrong, right? This is straight up white supremacist rhetoric. "whites are just having fun, blacks are really thugs". What a joke post. lol
Most blacks that I know who listen to rap do not glorify a thug lifestyle, however for those that DO glorify it, they really need to read into the biographies of some of these rappers, you'd be amazed at how differently they grew up compared to what they rap about. Rapping about money, drugs, and pimping is what sells at this moment. Underground stuff, your poets, your storytellers..............right now that isn't hot.
This opens up a new topic. Should blacks take control of their own creativity, start their own labels? You have a few black musicians who have done such, however many are still being overseen by the big corps who have a significant influence over what is being recorded. Also, what do you think we as blacks can do to promote or raise awareness of better music?
We have one arguing that the attack on the mentally disabled man in Chicago was not a hate crime, though charges have been filed. What's your take on that one?
This thread, I wanted to start mainly to get input from other blacks life myself regarding where they stand regarding the racial climate that we are facing right now. Do you feel discriminated against on a regular basis? Do you feel you do relatively well for the most part in life?
I also want to know, how do you as a black person feel about these black conscious movements, SJWs, and black nationalists/separatists movements? How do you feel about the cultural appropriation issue? BLM?
The reason, I'm asking is because it seems like a lot of people are showing their true colors and in response to that, it seems we have many blacks counteracting to the racism being received. I do feel that the issue needs to be discussed but there are so many online black groups and forms that I just don't relate to. As a black person, I find that many of them are only cool with you when you are agreeing with them full stop. The minute you express a thought that deviates from the mindset of that particular form, blogger, or movement, the name calling (i.e. coon, uncle tom, jigaboo, boot licker) starts.
Now my question to other blacks-Where do you fit in at? Do you discuss racial issues with your friends? Are you met with any disagreements? When you find that one disagrees with you, do you educate them? Refer them to Google? Does the conversation go anywhere at all?
This is a weird thread, but I'll humor you.
Do I feel discriminated against often? Not at this moment, but I definitely experience microggressions. And I have experienced more discrimination when I was younger.
Am I doing well in life? By most accounts pretty well, I have a good job and make more than the average American. I have a big professional network and lots of prospects if I need to change jobs. I am involved in my community and have plenty of friends. I live in a high cost of living area and my apartment is small. Even though I am paid well, buying a home where I live is too expensive for even well paid people and I need to decide how important that is to me.
Black consciousness and so on. That is a heck of a lot of stuff to try and lump together. Systemic racism is real and an enduring legacy Thad impacts all sorts of decisions, access and opportunities of all sizes. Our society is not headed in the right direction if you need to be exceptional to have hope for the American Dream.
There is plenty of evidence that the deck is stacked, if you want to opt for a different game, it makes sense to me.
It is not racist or separatist to think people regardless or race, creed, gender or sexual preference should be treated equally. I encourage everyone to read the Black Panthers original 10'point plan with a critical eye. If you do you'll clearly see that their vision was a society that was fair or black people, where block people are healthy, happy and productive citizens who have the space ans opportunity to satisfy the basic human needs of safety, shelter and protect their loved ones. The Panthers ran pioneering programs that provided rides to seniors, meals for kids, literacy programs and community gardens. Not exactly scary and radical.
I don't participate in many "black focused" online spaces because I find there are too many "hoteps" and I don't have time for that. I also generally avoid this subforum like the plague because there are lots of racist thoughts lingering here.
Do I talk about racism with my friends? Yes I do with most of them. I also talk about it with my work colleagues in the context of our diversity and inclusion group, and individually with some of my peers. I also talk about it some with my boss, who is a straight white male from an upper class family. We have productive conversations. I don't educate people on the basics, but I will share my experiences and observations. I may point them to books to read as well on ocassion.
I'm also going to close by noting that I saw a few posts about being called an uncle tom, oreo and other derogatory terms. I haven't been called anything like that by a black person since I was in my early teens. And that was only once or twice. I have heard those things many many more times from non black people: mostly Asian and white. Many more times and the last was a few years ago.
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Chicago attack
