Ishvara,

Well said. While I'm not too fond of rap I do appreciate it as another medium of music where some beauty can be found just as in all varieties of music. I agree that rappers should not be role models, that is to say that not all rappers should be role models. There are however some productive things such as determination, creativity, and hard work that could be attributed to many of the hip-hop artist today and used as models to follow. Those particular aspects never seemed to be mentioned as Kaffie Sledge brought out. In this dog eat dog world many hip-hop artists are using their poetic skills to survive and venture out into their own businesses providing a degree of wealth they may never have seen otherwise. Many of them are good business men indeed and those factors can be used for others to look up and strive for. But selling records and making money isn't everything because there's a downside to this venture, several in fact.

Much of the hip-hop content is garbage and hypocritical from where I'm sitting. You can pick up a rap cd and track three will be something touching like "Honor da Women" and track five will be "Dat Hoe Betta Have My Money Or I'll Whip Her A$$." The videos picture the same garbage with the same themes, a bunch of ugly black dudes with hired models rubbing over them as if they're the sexiest things in the world. Using sex, money, and power to sell records before they disappear to be rarely heard of again if ever. And to cap things off many really aren't good rappers. You couldn't make out what they were saying even if you tried which is probably why some of them rap the way they do, to make it seem like they know what they're doing when they're really not talking about anything. If it were a matter of life and death for half of these so called rappers to actually rap with skill then there would be one big hip-hop holocaust. Not to mention that many of these same fools are some of the most stereotypical black men that you can find. Running around on their videos rapping with a plate of potato salad and ribs in their hands and a bunch of black folks crunching on chicken in the background. Is there anything wrong with chicken, ribs, or potato salad? No! But there is a long standing stereotype of blacks and those items and they way they eat them that many other black people are trying to get away from. The rappers that help push these kinds of stereotypes claim they're just "keeping it real" but if a white director made a film where a certain scene had black people pictured the same way those same artist would be dialing the NAACP. Its alright if "Ray-Ray and the Grimy Thugs" rapped about pork chops and Niggas, but it isn't outside of the gangsta rap spectrum. This (and much more) is the negative aspect of having rappers as business men and role models.

By Melirosa (208.48.12.181) on Monday, July 30, 2001 - 05:39 pm:

a lot of people on this board may disagree with me, but here it goes. as a woman who grew up in the inner city, i know the things that go on and the things that people go through growing up in that enviroment. when rappers are making music, they are talking about their experiences growing up and the type of lives they had. many people look down on rappers because they do not understand where they are coming from and they think their music is violent and insulting. people from the inner city grow up very different than your average kid from the suburb. their life experiences are radically different, something that you can not understand unless you have experienced it first hand. people talk about, and testify to the things that they know and are real to them. i am not offended, and i listen to rap/hip hop music because that is what i grew up on. as for the role model issue, i think that rappers are looking to make music, rap, whatever, talking about what they know and capitalizing on it. i don't think their objective is to go spread news to children about how they should be thugs and gangstas. if people do not want their children listening to rap, exercise your parental authority and monitor what your child listens to. a lot of people do not understand the language that is used in the inner cities and they are offended when they hear things that they truly don't understand. look at master p for example, he is a self made kazillionaire and he is a smart business man. he is intelligent and a good father. i had the chance to meet him personally because my daughter just made a music video with his son lil'romeo. he was well spoken and very concerned about the children in the video...yet he raps about harsh street life, and makes a VERY good living off of it. rappers are not all "bad", womanizing, heartless thugs.....they are just tellin it like it is from their standpoint, nothing more, nothing less.

By Ishvara (208.37.104.105) on Monday, July 30, 2001 - 11:17 am:

I guess nobody wants to touch this one. I find hip-hop music to be an effective tool. No I don't think rappers in anyway should be represented as anyone's role model. They usually are city kids growing up in deplorable conditions and using their artistic expresion as an outlet. Their experiences are uniquely their own as well as being the same for many inner city kids. They can relate to the lyrics. I like rap music because of its raw realness, and the beats! I don't think it's mindless, if you listen closely the successful rappers have a precise command of the language and I agree it takes real skill to be that good. Many have taken hip-hop to the level beyond just making music and turned it into a very profittable venture, Russell Simmons, Master P, P Diddy and the list goes on.

By Spade (63.101.60.46) on Thursday, July 26, 2001 - 07:42 pm: