Black Entertainment : Has hip-hop benefited the black community?

[One-Hundredd]

So what is the fruit of this and is it poisonous?

Someone who doesn't really know money is talking about money. They're just talking about material wealth they may not even have yet that's solely based on you buying into them having money. It's like the guy on TV after midnight trying to sell you tapes on how to get rich and the tapes tell you to make a commercial and sell tapes. It's a scam. It only works because people believe it. Materialism and greed can lead to violence. But the most violent people are the ones making the least amount of money. Think about it. The O.G. isn't out there risking his neck for $200. Elon can compete with Mark all day. They're never going to "take it to the streets". Because real money doesn't do that because it doesn't have to. The richer a rapper gets the more their violent lyrics become metaphorical. But someone who doesn't really know money cannot pass on an understanding of money to the broke people on level 1 dreaming about easy money opportunities because they don't have money. It's the wrong message and without balance simply makes people spend more than they earn. Rapping about brand names creates a status symbol that the community starts to measure by. And that money might as well be burned for heat because all it does is redistribute the wealth to the owners of those brands and record execs at these labels, if they're smart, are shareholders. We need to make the conscious decision not to push brands we don't own shares of.

Sex without balance is basically sex without responsibility. These rappers are talking about the act and not what comes from it. They aren't talking about having or raising children, just the act of making them and it's a shame that female rappers are getting in on this (whether they write their own lyrics or not) because women are usually the ones left with the children while young men have the consciousness of being fathers erased because they're buying into a lifestyle, reinforced by repetitive lyrics, of irresponsibility. When a beer commercial says "Drink responsibly" its because they know they are involved in creating a culture they may or may not be responsible with that drug. And they say it, not because they care so much as they don't want to be held liable.

Note: R&B is also not exempt from romanticizing the act of lovemaking in a separate context from marriage, families, and raising children. This, over time, influences minds and causes people (and culture) to compartmentalize. And therefore the result is less marriages, less families, but not less children because we're not having less sex. People from the outside looking in only see absent fathers. But how can a man learn how to be father when he looks up to guys who parade themselves as powerful men without the responsibility of what a poor man represents to the family unit?

CB4 Illustrated a lot of what I'm saying. On one hand white folk love it. On the other hand, their only fear is that their kids will emulate the lifestyles represented because they know it's destructive. What they don't do is take credit for their part in the self-destructive nature of mainstream hip hop. White people created it for the masses to be entertained, not for for the masses to be educated. And that was the original purpose of hip hop. It was a tool to educate. And now I have to make sure that my children understand that difference so that they don't become self-destructive or buy into a lifestyle that will make them part of the problem and not the solution. It's like we need a whole consciousness to now save us from hip hop when hip hop was created to be a consciousness that saved us from racism and class warfare which, ironically, make us victims of exploitation based on capitalism. Now hip hop is a tool that doesn't force us but rather seduces us into the same oppressive trap that the roots of hip hop were designed to save us from.

Exactly brother. And both of your posts clearly outlined what hip hop was originally about. It was a movement as I have stated in my email to our esteemed psychologist and author Dr. Na'im Akbar. We do have the chances to fight back by putting out better music that would sell and promote uplifting messages. This is why I really love Tupac Shakur. His music was mostly political but he was slick enough to blend his own personal views with the views of people who are struggling. He still made music for parties and hardcore delivery but he knew how to reach the soul of Black folk through his words and it is why he's still being honored today. He deliberately said his music is spiritual and about the oppressed rising against the oppressor. That's why he made Holla If Ya Hear Me, Brenda's Got A Baby, Keep Ya Head Up, Trapped, Words Of Wisdom, Me Against The World etc.

Nowadays, there's not enough rappers consistently speaking to the soul of people, while at the same time keep their records selling. So most of them like you said, sold out for their chance to make it big. I'm also a hip hop artist as well. The best thing I can do is get all the knowledge I can now before my debut so that I'm armed with knowledge because I have studied Tupac and his rhetoric and seen how sometimes his own lyrics got him in trouble and other times it made him very successful. They also was attacking this brother because of his connection to Black Panther Party via his mother Afeni. His entire family was tasked with uplifting the Black Community and he tried to do that through the avenue of music and the ostentatious living of his lifestyle as a rapper but it backfired to a degree. The enemy wanted to label Tupac and make him something that he's not and he got into a lot of legal trouble.

I was fortunate back then to not only receive a phone call and letter from Pac back as a kid in 96, but also to study his reading list. The brother was very educated. His reading list inevitably changed my life forever especially with the suggestion of reading The Autobiography Of Malcolm X. A key book he had in his possession in relation to the music industry is "All You Need To Know About The Music Business" by Donald Passman. The 1991 edition of that book 2Pac had bought and read when it was first released and it proved fruitful for him just after he got his career off the ground. He also studied the Tibetan Book Of The Dead, Kabbalah, and I always wondered about that Kabbalah book because people were making connections between the spiritual enticement of the masses through the Kabbalah and music. (If you're wondering about receipts I have related to Tupac, go to my Facebook or picture album and you should see my autograph I got from him and the letters I got from Mutulu Shakur before his passing.) That's another thing, some rappers or celebrities think they too good to interact with the fans. Some don't really take time to write something to the youth or try to uplift them and inspire them. So we really have to look at who we're following.

I Think with the amount of knowledge hip-hop has brought along with informing the masses and serenading with style, I think we will eventually use it again as a weapon against oppression just as Fela Kuti has tried to do with his music. These rappers may say reckless things but they not ignorant. They know exactly what's going on. Some of them are too afraid to speak up.

 

[jamesfrmphilly]

rappers may say reckless things but they not ignorant. They know exactly what's going on

if that is the case then they are the worst kind of sellouts.

 

[IPXninja]

Exactly brother. And both of your posts clearly outlined what hip hop was originally about. It was a movement as I have stated in my email to our esteemed psychologist and author Dr. Na'im Akbar. We do have the chances to fight back by putting out better music that would sell and promote uplifting messages. This is why I really love Tupac Shakur. His music was mostly political but he was slick enough to blend his own personal views with the views of people who are struggling. He still made music for parties and hardcore delivery but he knew how to reach the soul of Black folk through his words and it is why he's still being honored today. He deliberately said his music is spiritual and about the oppressed rising against the oppressor. That's why he made Holla If Ya Hear Me, Brenda's Got A Baby, Keep Ya Head Up, Trapped, Words Of Wisdom, Me Against The World etc.

Nowadays, there's not enough rappers consistently speaking to the soul of people, while at the same time keep their records selling. So most of them like you said, sold out for their chance to make it big. I'm also a hip hop artist as well. The best thing I can do is get all the knowledge I can now before my debut so that I'm armed with knowledge because I have studied Tupac and his rhetoric and seen how sometimes his own lyrics got him in trouble and other times it made him very successful. They also was attacking this brother because of his connection to Black Panther Party via his mother Afeni. His entire family was tasked with uplifting the Black Community and he tried to do that through the avenue of music and the ostentatious living of his lifestyle as a rapper but it backfired to a degree. The enemy wanted to label Tupac and make him something that he's not and he got into a lot of legal trouble.

I was fortunate back then to not only receive a phone call and letter from Pac back as a kid in 96, but also to study his reading list. The brother was very educated. His reading list inevitably changed my life forever especially with the suggestion of reading The Autobiography Of Malcolm X. A key book he had in his possession in relation to the music industry is "All You Need To Know About The Music Business" by Donald Passman. The 1991 edition of that book 2Pac had bought and read when it was first released and it proved fruitful for him just after he got his career off the ground. He also studied the Tibetan Book Of The Dead, Kabbalah, and I always wondered about that Kabbalah book because people were making connections between the spiritual enticement of the masses through the Kabbalah and music. (If you're wondering about receipts I have related to Tupac, go to my Facebook or picture album and you should see my autograph I got from him and the letters I got from Mutulu Shakur before his passing.) That's another thing, some rappers or celebrities think they too good to interact with the fans. Some don't really take time to write something to the youth or try to uplift them and inspire them. So we really have to look at who we're following.

I Think with the amount of knowledge hip-hop has brought along with informing the masses and serenading with style, I think we will eventually use it again as a weapon against oppression just as Fela Kuti has tried to do with his music. These rappers may say reckless things but they not ignorant. They know exactly what's going on. Some of them are too afraid to speak up.

I would consider it a great honor if you would simply consider a few thoughts of mine as you considered how to weaponize your own expression.

1. Magic - magic exists as a manipulation of the mind; thus allowing the magician to create something in the mind of the audience.
2. Memory - Our 5 senses are channels through which information/ideas get into our minds. The EYE, the EAR, Touch, Taste, Smell... pair words with sounds while evoking images and that "flavor in ya ear" that people can FEEL... when you combine these with words used in repetition you can affect the inner programming of the human mind. The more people can match your vision the more "magic" you can create
3. Listeners are too used to the rapper making themselves the "chosen one" and pushing their ego as power. This plays into church mentality and giving power to a god, a priest, a king. Give that power and energy back to the people and they will reciprocate. This is why Beyonce is so powerful beyond her singing ability.
4. Western minds deconstruct to gain understanding. We divide sciences and people become masters in one area, leaving them blind to where science overlaps. Consider how you can reintegrate different pieces into the greater constructive understanding of a new whole.
5. Consider integrating different cultures to evoke higher spiritual awareness they were known for, such as martial arts references to Buddhism and Shintoism
6. Gods in the most prehistoric times were simply tools used to teach. It was only through the "commercialization" of those gods and the consolidation of power through them that most people now contemplate them as being real people; corrupting the ideas of polytheism. American Gods did an excellent job of going back to these concepts but even anime shows like Naruto have done the same thing for Asian mythology.
7. Consider my favorite music genre... Reggae. Because like Tupac, Reggae has been versatile in both entertainment and education and protest. Reggae has a conscious heart and isn't afraid to judge and uphold a higher standard. The music biz wants artists to let the audience decide morality by what they want to hear instead of artists being voices of reason, watchmen on the walls, standard bearers, and the voice of consicousness/God.
8. Symbolism. One of the keys is repeating ideas as symbols, capturing the complex in more simple language. And then put it on repeat. One of the ways of doing this is calling out names of icons who represent those things. You mentioned Garvey. That's a great example. And it's the same reason why Reggae arts envoke Selassie. This is iconic. Even magical. If you "FEEL" me. When you say these names you can invoke their spirits/energy/consciousness. I don't follow modern mainstream Hip Hop but when someone's verses are like "I'm black, I'm black, I'm black" yeah that's now stuck in my memory too.
9. The very things being stripped out of our music are the very things that can be understood to be weapons against our community, leading to more crime, broken homes, etc. because we're already acclimated to dysfunction. If the dysfunction was like hot water we would recoil. So the more dysfunction is sold to us in a lukewarm state the more we can no longer tell how hot or cold it is, how normal or abnormal our lives are becoming until normality itself is seen as alien.
10. Study and integrate the Art of War. Pick your battles wisely. Think of the role as being a fisher of men. Warm them up to more controversial ideas. Stay away from ideas that will get you blacklisted until you have the political capital to say them.


Finally... the mainstream is saturated and controlled by white masters. Stay out of their fields for as long as you can. Real Hip Hop is a threat to them because only the real can expose what's fake. Don't sell out. Crowdfund your stuff to market yourself while you gain traction and investors. It's really good that you're already thinking about the business side. Keep it real. Catering to a niche market is perfectly sound business strategy as long as they're buying, but "shareware" and "freemium" models should not be overlooked.

 

[jamesfrmphilly]

I would consider it a great honor if you would simply consider a few thoughts of mine as you considered how to weaponize your own expression.

1. Magic - magic exists as a manipulation of the mind; thus allowing the magician to create something in the mind of the audience.
2. Memory - Our 5 senses are channels through which information/ideas get into our minds. The EYE, the EAR, Touch, Taste, Smell... pair words with sounds while evoking images and that "flavor in ya ear" that people can FEEL... when you combine these with words used in repetition you can affect the inner programming of the human mind. The more people can match your vision the more "magic" you can create
3. Listeners are too used to the rapper making themselves the "chosen one" and pushing their ego as power. This plays into church mentality and giving power to a god, a priest, a king. Give that power and energy back to the people and they will reciprocate. This is why Beyonce is so powerful beyond her singing ability.
4. Western minds deconstruct to gain understanding. We divide sciences and people become masters in one area, leaving them blind to where science overlaps. Consider how you can reintegrate different pieces into the greater constructive understanding of a new whole.
5. Consider integrating different cultures to evoke higher spiritual awareness they were known for, such as martial arts references to Buddhism and Shintoism
6. Gods in the most prehistoric times were simply tools used to teach. It was only through the "commercialization" of those gods and the consolidation of power through them that most people now contemplate them as being real people; corrupting the ideas of polytheism. American Gods did an excellent job of going back to these concepts but even anime shows like Naruto have done the same thing for Asian mythology.
7. Consider my favorite music genre... Reggae. Because like Tupac, Reggae has been versatile in both entertainment and education and protest. Reggae has a conscious heart and isn't afraid to judge and uphold a higher standard. The music biz wants artists to let the audience decide morality by what they want to hear instead of artists being voices of reason, watchmen on the walls, standard bearers, and the voice of consicousness/God.
8. Symbolism. One of the keys is repeating ideas as symbols, capturing the complex in more simple language. And then put it on repeat. One of the ways of doing this is calling out names of icons who represent those things. You mentioned Garvey. That's a great example. And it's the same reason why Reggae arts envoke Selassie. This is iconic. Even magical. If you "FEEL" me. When you say these names you can invoke their spirits/energy/consciousness. I don't follow modern mainstream Hip Hop but when someone's verses are like "I'm black, I'm black, I'm black" yeah that's now stuck in my memory too.
9. The very things being stripped out of our music are the very things that can be understood to be weapons against our community, leading to more crime, broken homes, etc. because we're already acclimated to dysfunction. If the dysfunction was like hot water we would recoil. So the more dysfunction is sold to us in a lukewarm state the more we can no longer tell how hot or cold it is, how normal or abnormal our lives are becoming until normality itself is seen as alien.
10. Study and integrate the Art of War. Pick your battles wisely. Think of the role as being a fisher of men. Warm them up to more controversial ideas. Stay away from ideas that will get you blacklisted until you have the political capital to say them.


Finally... the mainstream is saturated and controlled by white masters. Stay out of their fields for as long as you can. Real Hip Hop is a threat to them because only the real can expose what's fake. Don't sell out. Crowdfund your stuff to market yourself while you gain traction and investors. It's really good that you're already thinking about the business side. Keep it real. Catering to a niche market is perfectly sound business strategy as long as they're buying, but "shareware" and "freemium" models should not be overlooked.

U managing people now ?

 

[jamesfrmphilly]