3. "cos we're still living in a capitalist realist nightmare..." In response to Reply # 0
how come there are no more Black existentialists.
_______________________________________ When discourse of Blackness is not connected to efforts to promote collective black self determinism it becomes simply another recourse appropriated by the colonizer
_______________________________________ When discourse of Blackness is not connected to efforts to promote collective black self determinism it becomes simply another recourse appropriated by the colonizer
18. "All came before "Blackness" was" In response to Reply # 14
A cultural, community and identity signifyer and one thing many so called people never grasped about existentialism was that is was directly related to French experiences post WWii and were predicated on the idea that the political cultural and social fabric of a people are torn asunder and they (the individual) must make a choice reconstruct and engage with reality. Being that African diaspora communities were in a constant state of crisis due to colonialism, existentialism wasn't "available" to us. Sartre himself later in his life called the philosophy bourgeois and not rooted in the reality that struggle was always present, no matter how much western civilization attempted to mask it.
Now liberation theology and nihilism are very much a part of Black art/rap so i don't know if I truly understand imvcpl's statement or if anybody has addressed it.
7. "You mean as far as being a narrative in lyrics? " In response to Reply # 5 Mon Dec-30-13 11:35 AM by Taye DiggumSmacks
With the exception of Eminem and Kendrick Lamar, in the mainstream, I'll agree. "Affluent Rapper" is just as much a character and marketing tool as "Gangsta Rapper". At this point, it's pretty much a given that most rappers aren't actually living the lives they claim.
But the "rags" aspect is still alive. And there are a number of emcees who don't rap about material excesses.
9. "where would the antecedent, to the disposer of bling come from?" In response to Reply # 0
_______________________________________ When discourse of Blackness is not connected to efforts to promote collective black self determinism it becomes simply another recourse appropriated by the colonizer
11. "Probably because it's at the root of Rapping" In response to Reply # 0
"I got a Lincoln Continental and a sunroofed Cadillac". Sugarhill Gang, Busy Bee, etc...There are waves when there is a backlash against that type of style and those type of lyrics (De La, Tribe, PE, etc) but I don't know that we will ever get to a point when no rapper brags about material items on some level. And I disagree that there are no more rags in Hip Hop. If you are a broke as hell in Detroit, DC, Watts, New Orleans or wherever and dreaming about getting the girl, the car and the money then you're in rags and on some level dreaming about "making it".
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