Printer-friendly copy Email this topic to a friend
Lobby Okay Activist Archives topic #30309

Subject: "Cycles, cycles - life runs in cycles" This topic is locked.
Previous topic | Next topic
Nettrice
Charter member
61747 posts
Tue Apr-26-05 12:03 PM

Click to send private message to this authorClick to view this author's profileClick to add this author to your buddy list
3. "Cycles, cycles - life runs in cycles"
In response to In response to 0
Tue Apr-26-05 12:11 PM by Nettrice

  

          

"New is old - no I'm not no psycho
The monkey on the back makes the best excel
The people in the crowd makes the best rock well
The people in the back lets you know who's whack
And those who lack - the odds are stacked
The one who makes the money is white not black
You might not believe it but it is like that" - Timebomb by Public Enemy

A central purpose of the mind-numbing media barrage is to overwhelm, confuse and intimidate public opinion, especially in the US. Nowadays entertainment is news and vice versa. People are not taught how to critically think about media (or entertainment). What has been going on since the late 80s/early 90s is a merging of rap, hip-hop and entertainment (popular culture). Remember that Little Richard scared the hell out of the white establishment in the 50s and changed popular music forever. Well, hip-hop just took it to the next level. It was/is the "ghetto CNN" and just what is rap music telling people? Not much more than what Little Richard was singing about in the 50s. Really.

Rap music took entertainment and popular culture to another level but no one really dealt with the "health" of Black communities post-Civil Rights. IMHO this is the reason why we stick up for "niggas". It part of the same ol' cycle except this time there are more "little richards", making more $$$ and in the media eye 24-7. It used to just be the white establishment that was shook but now Black folks, including women, are paying attention. The cycle has been there all along:

We form certain expectations of people or events
We communicate those expectations with various cues
People tend to respond to these cues by adjusting their behavior to match them
The result is that the original expectation becomes true

If you look at history and the larger picture you would see that things have not changed all that much. Since we are talking about music and entertainment I brought up Little Richard. My colleague teaches a course on music from the 50s and it is clear how music and what was happening around the music set the stage for the Civil Rights Movement. What did they do with Little Richard? They came up with Pat Boone (and others). That was by design and it's no different today.

>how
>do we expect kids to sift through this all and understand the
>good and the bad? even if they seem to get it on a conscious
>level, are we looking at the deeper effects? where's the
>balance? "some women are bitches and ho's," said a young
>brother on a mtv news clip, "so i treat them like that." how
>do you tell the difference? what makes you an authority on
>bitch/ho status, and what is your template?

Parents, teachers, mentors, etc. These are the folks who set the standards and help form the foundation for young kids. My mother had no problem with me listening to rap music but her thing was rock, r&b. My father was a fan and we used to spend lots of time just listening to Public Enemy, Wu Tang Clan or some other rap artist. We also talked about the same kinds of issues we heard in the songs. I was encouraged to think critically then and now. I noticed how Rakim seldom cursed and never said nigger in his early songs like Microphone Fiend. Later, I taught teachers and students on how to look for the metaphors and interpret the meaning behind the lyrics.

Chuck D told me in an interview that hip-hop isn't anything if you don't control it. How many rap artists are trying to hang on to their music and build? Folks trying to make $$$ just like everyone else. We can't leave it to rap artists. We have to hit the establishment in the pockets if we want to see change.

"In effect - the crew's in check
Run by the posse with the gold around the neck
Homeboys in heat - lookin' for sweet
Ladies in the crowd so they can meet
Somebody to body - makin' a baby
Givin' it to grandma an' makin' her crazy
I'm a MC protector - U.S. defector
South African government wrecker
Panther power - you can feel it in my arm
Lookout y'all I'm a timebomb
Tickin', tockin', all about rockin'
Makin' much dollars while the crazy one's clockin'" - from Timebomb

<--- Blame this lady for Nutty.

  

Printer-friendly copy


Beats, Rhymes, & Life: The Effects of Hip Hop [View all] , B, Tue Apr-26-05 12:45 PM
 
Subject Author Message Date ID
RE: Beats, Rhymes, & Life: The Effects of Hip Hop
Apr 26th 2005
1
co-sign, co-sign, co-sign
Apr 26th 2005
2
RE: co-sign, co-sign, co-sign
Apr 26th 2005
4
RE: co-sign, co-sign, co-sign
Apr 26th 2005
5
      RE: co-sign, co-sign, co-sign
Apr 27th 2005
21
           RE: co-sign, co-sign, co-sign
Apr 28th 2005
25
RE: co-sign, co-sign, co-sign
Apr 26th 2005
8
RE: co-sign, co-sign, co-sign
Apr 26th 2005
9
      RE: co-sign, co-sign, co-sign
Apr 26th 2005
12
      To help you make the point.
Apr 28th 2005
24
           'The Rapeover' indeed
Apr 28th 2005
26
i was highly upset
Apr 28th 2005
30
      It's madness
Apr 28th 2005
33
           i'm usually tuned into 88.9
Apr 28th 2005
34
                Oneofus-ism is such a hot phrase. I love it.
Apr 28th 2005
36
I think we have to have a healthy alternative. U said it urself.
Apr 26th 2005
6
i agree
Apr 26th 2005
10
      RE: i agree
Apr 26th 2005
11
I always respond to these posts - This post is unadulterated bullshit
Apr 26th 2005
13
True...but is it all b.s.?
Apr 26th 2005
14
yes it is.
Apr 26th 2005
15
      Oh, I get ya
Apr 26th 2005
18
      RE: yes it is.
Apr 26th 2005
20
           RE: yes it is.
Apr 28th 2005
37
i agree, HOWEVER
Apr 28th 2005
32
very well written
Apr 26th 2005
16
RE: Beats, Rhymes, & Life: The Effects of Hip Hop
Apr 26th 2005
17
My thoughts on Beats, Rhymes, & Life: The Effects of Hip Hop
Apr 26th 2005
19
      RE: My thoughts on Beats, Rhymes, & Life: The Effects of Hip Hop
Apr 28th 2005
22
           RE: My thoughts on Beats, Rhymes, & Life: The Effects of Hip Hop
Apr 28th 2005
23
           You turned out O.K.
Apr 28th 2005
28
RE: Beats, Rhymes, & Life: The Effects of Hip Hop
Apr 28th 2005
27
first: put music back in schools
Apr 28th 2005
29
Rap Is Part Of Capitalism
Apr 28th 2005
31
whats entertaining about it, is a...
Apr 28th 2005
35
RE: Beats, Rhymes, & Life: The Effects of Hip Hop
Apr 28th 2005
38
Enough with the RHETORIC
Apr 28th 2005
39
RE: Beats, Rhymes, & Life: The Effects of Hip Hop
Apr 28th 2005
40
RE: Beats, Rhymes, & Life: The Effects of Hip Hop
Apr 29th 2005
41

Lobby Okay Activist Archives topic #30309 Previous topic | Next topic
Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.25
Copyright © DCScripts.com