Sharpton on Hip-Hop

This might be a bit of tension with my qualified defense of hip-hop, but I think American University Professor Darren Hutchinson’s post documenting Al Sharpton’s criticisms of misogyny and violence in rap music was quite illuminating–especially for those folks falling over themselves to try and use hip-hop as evidence of his hypocrisy in the Don Imus case.

10 Responses to “Sharpton on Hip-Hop”

1. Chris says:

   April 14, 2007 at 8:42 pm

   It’s impossible to claim that Jackson or Sharpton have not protested rap music. The argument then becomes that they haven’t protested them enough, and who gets to decide that?
2. Lynx says:

   April 15, 2007 at 12:40 am

   Chris, it’s not that hard to judge, actually, Has started outcries like they did over Imus in the case of any single rapper? Has dragged rappers who pepper their lyrics with slander and humiliation towards black women regularly onto a program to receive a full dressing down, demanded they apologize and encourage companies to fire them? It’s good that he criticizes rap lyrics, but pretending that the treatment Imus got has nothing to do with the fact that he’s white, and that had he been black this would have made a single headline is disingenuous, at best.
3. Lynx says:

   April 15, 2007 at 12:41 am

   pardon my atrocious grammer, I’ve been up all of 5 minutes and it shows.
4. Richard Horton says:

   April 15, 2007 at 10:48 am

   Who cares what Sharpton says about rap? The problem with Sharpton isn’t that he’s a hypocrite, it that he is a vicious anti-semite. He has all the moral standing to speak on matters of race as a grand kleage of the KKK.
5. Richard Horton says:

   April 15, 2007 at 11:24 am

   More words of “wisdom” from the “reverend”.
6. tony smith says:

   April 15, 2007 at 12:28 pm

   Richard Horton — clearly you do not know much about the Klan. The Klan was organized to terrorize and lynch blacks in the south to keep them from voting, exercising any rights and liberties, and to keep them in “their place.” They murdered thousands over the years, usually with state sanction. Please do not invoke the KKK as a comparison to Shaprton. It is grossly inaccurate.

   Finally, the matter of how strongly Sharpton complained about hip hop versus Imus is a fair question, but I think it gives Sharpton too much power in this setting and fails to look at other factors. First of all, people were able to become outraged over Imus because of whom he attacked — college students, females, underdogs who made it to the national championship game only to lose to a chronic powerhouse. They had the national attention. Plus, the cumulative impact of Imus’ comments made him an easy target. Also, women’s groups got involved – not just Sharpton and Jackon. NOW, and women’s athletics also staged protests. The Rutgers team spoke out. The internet fueled the story everywhere. Advertisers withdrew sponsorship. The writing was all the wall. These events are lagers than Sharpton ever was. If corporate sponsors backed out of hip hop as they did with Imus, hip hop would reform or dry up as well. The fact is, however, that people really do not care about black women being insulted by black men (with a few exceptions – including Sharpton). Hip Hop brings in billions of dollars. Too many wealthy executives are not going to let a boycott of hip hop take place.
7. ChuckPrez says:

   April 15, 2007 at 12:50 pm

   From my homie Frank Longo ^ok

   Let’s talk about political commentary in popular rap songs.

   Rick Ross’s “Hustlin”

   “We never steal cars, but we deal hard
   Whip it real hard whip it whip it real hard
   I caught a charge, I caught a charge
   Whip it real hard, whip it whip it real hard”

   Clearly Rick Ross has been a victim of racial profiling. All he does is deal, he never did anything as felonious as stealing cars. Despite this fact, the police STILL throw charges at him. Is this an example of drug dealers getting their due comeuppance, or the policemen discriminating against a black man trying to make a living? Rick Ross begs us to ask this question of our society today.

   Yung Joc’s “It’s Goin Down”

   “Time to set it off let these n*ggas know
   Have ya every seen a chevy wit the butterfly doors?
   I ride real slow no need to speed
   Gotta make sure ya see the buckets on my feet
   Feds on my trail but they don’t think i know
   I keep my hands clean cuz I never touch dope
   Every time I see ‘em look ‘em in they eye
   Ask ‘em how I know its me suprise!
   Put it in the air rep where ya stay
   Take a step back blow the kush in they face
   Stuntin is a habit let ‘em see the karats
   I’ma make it rain n*gga I ain’t scared to share it”

   This is a heartfelt analysis of the modern-day young black man addicted to materialistic extravagance and victimized by the racist government as a direct result of his obvious signs of wealth. Mr. Joc makes it very clear that he has never aided or abetted any drug dealers, yet the federal government insists that he must be, because how else could a young black man afford such possessions as the Chevrolet with the butterfly doors, or even the buckets on his feet? An in-depth analysis of the final couplet of the verse shows an inner sadness to Mr. Joc that the casual listener may not catch. He refers to stunting as “a habit”, which immediately brings to mind a comparison between extravagant spending and drug addiction. Then, the use of the word “rain” in the final line brings to mind the image of falling water– perhaps tears rolling from the cheek of Yung Joc, upset that he must hide his inner anguish behind the “cubes on his neck” and the “black beamer coupes”?

   From the first moments of this scathing commentary on society in America, Ghostface holds nothing back:

   “Yo, Oh, Yo Rae… I can’t feel my face
   My heart pounding and shit (audible heart)
   Paranoid as a motherfucker right now, who the fuck?
   Close the blinds and shit! Who that? Captain Kirk?
   The stark…enterprise, enterprise I was on and some shit?
   ..I need some pussy though I’m ready for a catwoman or
   something f-fuck it, lets go!”

   To the casual rap fan, this opening sequence may seem like a simple coked up Ghostface talking nonsense to fellow rapper Raekwon, but there is much more. He refers to his heart pounding and feeling paranoia, which is in reference to the police and federal agents looking to put Ghostface and his associates in jail. The government leaves Ghostface Killah no oppertunity to be succesful and persue his American Dream besides selling cocaine. Here enlies the tradgedy of it all. Ghostface is left with no options but to persue his dream in an illegal way.

   Shame America. Shame.

   “Some say a drug dealers destiny is reachin the ki’
   I’d rather be the man behind the door, supplying the streets
   A hundred birds go out, looking like textbooks
   when they wrapped and stuffed
   four days later straight cash, two million bucks
   strictly powder, no cut
   your coke is vialed in, whats up?
   Y’all beefin over little shit, we sniff, the balance split up”

   In this section of his second verse, Ghost conjures up images of textbooks to describe the kilos on cocaine that he is selling. He uses textbooks to show how the inner city schools are underfunded, and the kilos of cocaine become the textbooks to these young people looking at a futre with no options.

   Overall, we should be ashamed as a nation that Ghostface Killah has to make a song like Kilo. We need to take a look at ourselves as a nation and realize that WE are pushing the youth towards cocaine dealing. I personally thank you, Ghostface Killah, for making me realize the weight of our actions.

   Dem Franchise Boyz and the socio-political ramifications of “White Tee”"

   I gotta couple throwbacks it just I choose not to wear them
   White tee extravganza n*gga like a foot locker sale
   N*ggas think i done fail but my paper stacking a lot
   Or you can throw back this but
   Partner check my nine
   And im a ghetto gangsta white tee laws gone hate ya
   Street games with a little fame them hoes gonna chase ya
   Can’t escape from this white shit it done covered the map
   Like crack did in the 80′s and it took over the trap
   Come to the hood and you can find me trapping in my white tee
   Standing with a full grill n*ggas might try me so how i be still in my white tee
   Rock jeans Tiger green yeah hoes like me
   Haters try to bite me
   Some try to dislike me
   Became a rich n*gga and the feds try to indict me

   These young men who go by the nom-de-plume of Dem Franchize Boyz make some startling parallels between three plagues upon the black community:

   1. The dominance of a Caucasian, or “white”, society and government while the average African-American is placed into an inferior role.
   2. The affliction of cocaine, traditionally found in a white color, upon the black community since the 1980s.
   3. The popular craze of black people forced by societal standards to wear “white tees”, a label akin to the yellow Stars of David Jews had to wear during the Holocaust, a sign of the social status and intentions of young African-American males.

   The color scheme black/white conflict is dabbled into the imagery throughout these gripping lyrics. Think of the reference to Foot Locker– a store whose mascot wears shirts where black and white stripes are always pushing against one another, in eternal combat. Dem Franchize Boyz attempt to “escape from this white shit”, and the haunting image of young black men running endlessly from this wave of white cocaine, white policemen, white merchants and the white apparel that they sell to the black community, but there is nary a place on the map that can shelter the boyz from this sea of white. Everywhere that anyone of any economic class– especially wealthy African-Americans– goes is ruled by white.

   Think of some of the words that these boyz use to rhyme with “white”:

   - tight
   - excite
   - bright

   This calls attention to a fact that many etymologists fail to understand when analyzing the word “white”– the racist originators of the English language rhymed white with only words with positive context. Even the only slightly negative word used in the song that rhymes with white– “bite”– is a word that in real life is quite a positive term. Without biting food, we cannot swallow and retain sustinence. Does this imply without white people, we would not be able to LIVE?

   Now, think of some of the words that rhyme with “black”, a point of contention that Dem Franchize Boyz subtly and masterfully direct you towards:

   - hack
   - wack
   - lack

   The case is made for itself.

   The most important political commentary is in the chorus, the chanted affirmation of “Yep in my white tee,” repeated ad nauseum. Why would they repeat the phrase so often when the listener gets the idea after a couple of repetitions? Perhaps the boyz wanted to remind us that they constantly must provide affirmations to the white powers-that-be, giving them exactly what they want, over and over and over again. Perhaps they are answering the white government’s indictments, or perhaps their repetitive “yep” is meant to conjure up the image of slaves repeatedly placating the desires of their masters. Although slavery is over, Dem Franchize Boyz wish to remind us that white is still constantly surrounding and dominating the black community in every shape and form, that one cannot wriggle away from the oppression of the white man and his white vices just as one cannot wriggle out of his own tee-shirt without using his hands. Dem Franchize Boyz use this anthem to remind the black community that only by banding together can they change their own definition and take off their white tee of oppression.
8. Richard Horton says:

   April 15, 2007 at 1:02 pm

   Yeah Tony, what’s a few dead jews matter anyway, right?
9. Politics of the Imus fallout « Likelihood of Success says:

   April 15, 2007 at 2:45 pm

   [...] MORE:  Interesting angle on The Reverand Al and rap lyrics. [...]
10. mountaintop says:

    April 18, 2007 at 6:24 am

    richard how could you possibly come to that conclusion based on tony’s comment? i agree with everything he said. i am so tired of hearing eurpean americans saying “well rap lyrics are worse than what he said” as if every black person supports rap. rev sharpton has continuously tried to get these artists to stop using such degrading remarks but, as tony said he doesnt have the support of the people who are financially backing them that are in turn financially benefitting off of them. and why do european americans care if some black people choose to use certain terms with each other? is it a deep craving or desire to call someone the “n” word? and what is an apology? should rev.sharpton give a false apology to appease certain individuals? why if it is not sincere? imus apologized yet started talking crap again, what was the purpose, just so he can say he said sorry? i thank God for men like rev.sharpton that does what he feels is right regardless of what the masses say. like with tawana brawley(spelling?) im glad he didnt apologize, i think the girl told the truth. the attacker did not go to trial and get an acquittal nor was he exonerated, there was insufficient evidence to prosecute, the case is still open. people dont know what words really mean. a lot of cases dont go through due to insufficient evidence, doesnt mean it didnt happen, just means, they cant prove it=not proven=insufficient evidence