From Black Music to Crack Music:What Happened to Hip Hop?TRUTH Minista Paul Scott“I blame my mama for turning my brother into a crack baby."Keep Ya Head Up- Tupac ShakurThis is Black Music Month and just like clockwork people will ask the age old question, what happened to Black music, especially Hip Hop? However, like previous Black Music Months, June 30th will find many scratching their heads, filled with more questions than answers. However, the real answer is quite simple.Black music got hooked on crack.Following the death of college B-ball superstar Len Bias, in 1986, a great fear struck America . There was a new drug on the street that was gonna turn the hood into a kingdom of the walking dead. As Public Enemy put it , an eternal “Night of the Living Baseheads. “Worst than that they would spawn a horde of crack babies who would be destined to become career chain snatchers and riders on the prison revolving door. And since mainstream America was just getting turned on to Hip Hop, the destinies became intertwined.Well , a recent study has proven what many already knew. Don’t believe the hype.In an article published in Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The idea of the “crack baby” has been exposed as myth. Although, the authors concede , that like with any drug, crack is not the best thing to put in your body, especially, while you're pregnant., social factors such as poverty really play a greater role in determining the future of children.But what about the music that was supposed to represent the mentality of the “crack babies”. If the crack baby syndrome was a myth, the music must be fictitious, as well.Let’s be clear. There is no denying the devastating effect that the drug trade has had on the ‘hood, from the heroin explosion of the 70’s to the crack epidemic of the Hip Hop era. And the music of the periods served as soundtracks to the misery, from Curtis Mayfield’s “Pusherman” to Biggie Smalls’ “Ten Crack Commandments”According to Seeka tha Teacha, captain of the Hip Hop Liberation Army ,” Crack cocaine was introduced to Hip Hop for the purpose of destroying families and the well being of urban communities. It made drug dealers look rich in the eyes of the youth who were exposed to poverty.”However, in this case ,we are not talking about the glorification of slangin’ rocks.that has permeated rap music since the late 80’s. That issue has been the subject of too many articles , books and documentaries to mention. Nor are we talking about the real life drug issues that have destroyed the careers of artists from Billie Holiday to DMX. Thus, murdering the message and the music.The point here is how the whole idea of "crack music" is based on the media perpetuation of the crack baby (prenatal cocaine exposure) myth and the pathological behaviors associated with it have effected Black culture. And more importantly, how the stereotypical images associated with crack have affected our youth.Some believe that the media hype around selling and using crack was really a self fulfilling prophesy. And if you pump crack pipe dreams in the heads of children, they will gravitate towards that even if they ain’t bout that life.According to a recent Time magazine article , Dr. Maureen Black , professor of pediatrics and epidemiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine says that “once you label a child that way...there's no hope for the child. “Durham NC substance abuse activist, Shareef Hameed , agrees saying that “crack baby became part of the American vernacular.. It was like labeling someone before they even got started.”Hameed says that the signs of crack addiction are nervousness , paranoia and aggressiveness, which, ironically, are the same attributes reflected in today’s rap music. It was also rumored to cause ADHD (attention deficit disorder. ) Which explains why the music seems to be attractive to those with low IQ’s and short attention spans.Crack rap can be distinguished from Hip Hop by its lack of subject matter and overly simplistic, pickaninny choruses And the music industry has sold the idea across the planet that this is the type of music to which kids are addicted.Unfortunately, many Hip Hop fans have bought into this false reality, as well.The idea of crack babies has its roots in the negative stereotypes of Black people stretching back hundreds of years with the “small brain theory” which claimed that Black people had small skulls which limited their capacity to absorb information. Not much different than the racist stereotypes connected with Hip Hop.So, the crack baby myth is really a socio-political construct , a euphemism for the pathological behavior of some young Black males. The term is not really about a specific drug. In theory it's about a cocaine derivative but in practice it includes weed, malt liquor, molly or any mind altering drug that is promoted in Hip Hop.What should be of major concern is how the crack baby hoax has served to demonize Black men. This is especially important with the upcoming George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin murder trial as the media has already tried to portray Martin as a crack baby only hooked on weed, in preparation for what will become the “Trial of the Century.” Also, of note is the recent media fascination with Chief Keef and his recent exploits including accusing a security guard of racist mean muggin’ when he was allegedly busted in a hotel room smoking marijuana.Like any addiction, the first step to overcoming crack music addiction is admitting that you have a problem. We must admit that it hasn’t been crack that has had the most far reaching effects on the Black community but “crack music” that has propagated a hoax.Unfortunately, a whole generation has gotten high on the hype.This Black Music Month Hip Hop needs a detox.It’s gonna be a long hot summer, socially and politically for Black people and we need our minds sober and ready for action.Like Pac said on Revolution:“Can you imagine the damage we could do if we weren’t high?”TRUTH Minista Paul Scott can be reached at info@nowarningshotsfired.com Follow on Twitter @truthministaCheck out Militant Minded Radio every Tuesday at 9PM EST http://blacktalkradionetwork.com/page/militantmindedradio
Showing posts with label 106 and Park. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 106 and Park. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Is Hip Hop Hooked on Crack?
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Beefin', Bullyin' and Biggie
Beefin', Bullyin' and Biggie:
The Drama Continues
TRUTH Minista Paul Scott
"You're nobody 'til somebody kills you"
Notorious BIG
In today's news, there was a double homicide in the Bronx, yesterday, involving two fifth grade students at PS 187. After heated words, gunfire was exchanged leaving both children mortally wounded. Though first thought to be a result of bullying , it was later discovered that the killings were a result of an argument over who was the greatest rapper of all time; Tupac Shakur or Biggie Smalls. More news at 11:00...
On March 9, 1997, the murder of Christopher Wallace aka The Notorious BIG sent shock waves across a Hip Hop nation still mourning the death of rival rapper Tupac Shakur, months earlier. Wallace's death was followed by pledges to stop the violence, not only in Hip Hop, but in 'hoods across America. There were numerous conferences and rallies with people declaring that never again would a life so full of promise be wasted.
The final outcome fifteen years later... epic fail.
The senseless violence that plagued this country during the 90's is still prevalent and many will argue that the problem has gotten progressively worst. With the growing popularity of social media (Twitter, Youtube, etc) the 'net is flooded with videos of people beatin' each other's brains in. In 2012, every kid with an IPhone can become a ghetto Don King.
Although the focus in the media today is on "bullying," this term does not, adequately, address the drama that is going on in the streets. While it is popular to do a psycho-analysis of Lil Billy from the 'burbs who was picked on so much that he marched into his school cafeteria, one day, and started blastin', rarely do we ask what makes Lil Tyrone from Compton carry a gloc and shoot up the block on the regular. This type of behavior is just accepted as a cultural norm, especially in the world of Hip Hop. Like Cyprus Hill said back in the day , "Here is something you can't understand/ how I can just kill a man."
There have been rivalries in Hip Hop since the beginning. Many can remember the classic battles between Kool Moe Dee and Busy Bee or the Cold Crush Brothers and Dr. Rock and the Force MC's. Even during the era of "Hip Hop unity" there were ideological rifts between KRS One and members of the X-Clan and Ice Cube and Common. However, except for instances such as BDP throwin' that PM Dawn dude off the stage, these rivalries rarely led to violence.
However, by the mid 90's, the entertainment and other industries began to realize that beefs were extremely profitable for selling, not only murda music, but on a deeper level, guns and ammunition. Not to mention supplying the prison industrial complex with an endless source of funding. This is why many people consider the East Coast/West Coast beef that resulted (at least on the surface) in the deaths of Hip Hop legends Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls the result of a well thought out marketing scheme that went right.
This is not , merely, some some conspiracy theory, either.
In his autobiography, "My Infamous Life," Prodigy of Mobb Deep claimed that an associate once told him that the infamous shooting of Tupac at a NY recording studio that kicked off the deadly East Coast /West Coast beef was an attempt by Shakur "to start controversy" and use "Biggie and Puff" to "turn his gunshot wounds into marketing and promotion."
More recently, R@B legend Chaka Khan told CNN that a manager once told her that she was "worth more dead to him than alive." If this can be said about a musical icon, think about how much more dispensable are the lives of Hip Hop artists who are viewed as easily replaceable common street thugs.
Since, Hip Hop is dominated by African American males, the stereotype of Black youth as violence prone animals only heightens the folklore and commercial appeal of "beefs."
Although Biggie once defined "beef" as " when you need two gats to go to sleep" that ain't necessarily so. In the bigger scheme of things real "beef" is bombing a country while they're sleep" But if your world view extends no further than your block , then the ultimate example of beef is Black men killing other Black men in the streets.
This is especially destructive when this ideology becomes embedded in the psyche of the youth.
According to Dr. Amos Wilson in his classic work "Black on Black Violence: The Psycho-dynamics of Black Self-Annihilation in the Service of White Domination," the Black on Black violent criminal hates in other Blacks those characteristics that he hates most in himself" and he "commits homicide to keep from committing suicide."
This is the type of logic (or lack thereof) that flows throughout Notorious BIG's cds "Ready to Die" and "Life After Death," as he weaved tales of murdering other Black men with lyrics about being "black and ugly as ever" and how teachers told him that he would "never amount to nuthin'"
So the question after seeing all the death and destruction in our communities over the last fifteen years is; why do we still glamorize this nihilistic mentality? Why are we more concerned with creating another "Frank White" than we are saving a "Christopher Wallace?"
As Dr. Na'im Akbar wrote in "Visions for Black Men," "if we spend all of our time studying the destitute, desecrated and destroyed then we'll end up with a destitute, desecrated and destroyed image of the Black man." He urged that "if we want to know how to survive, let's look at the image of those who did survive."
An example of survival is the one time lifer, Durham NC's, Mike "Poetic Mike" Anderson who went from serving a life sentence in prison to founding "Polished Souls," a movement to save young people from the streets.
However, for every Poetic Mike, there are hundreds of Christopher Wallaces who don't get second chances but wind up six feet under.
Whether you call it beefin', bullyin' or Black on Black violence, the cycle of self destruction in the 'hood must end.
Despite what the Notorious BIG said on his first hit, "Juicy, " the stereotype of a Black male misunderstood" ain't all good.
TRUTH Minista Paul Scott's weekly column is "This Ain't Hip Hop, " a column for intelligent Hip Hop headz. He can be reached at info@nowarningshotsfired.com . His website is www.NoWarningShotsFired.com Follow him on Twitter @truthminista
The Drama Continues
TRUTH Minista Paul Scott
"You're nobody 'til somebody kills you"
Notorious BIG
In today's news, there was a double homicide in the Bronx, yesterday, involving two fifth grade students at PS 187. After heated words, gunfire was exchanged leaving both children mortally wounded. Though first thought to be a result of bullying , it was later discovered that the killings were a result of an argument over who was the greatest rapper of all time; Tupac Shakur or Biggie Smalls. More news at 11:00...
On March 9, 1997, the murder of Christopher Wallace aka The Notorious BIG sent shock waves across a Hip Hop nation still mourning the death of rival rapper Tupac Shakur, months earlier. Wallace's death was followed by pledges to stop the violence, not only in Hip Hop, but in 'hoods across America. There were numerous conferences and rallies with people declaring that never again would a life so full of promise be wasted.
The final outcome fifteen years later... epic fail.
The senseless violence that plagued this country during the 90's is still prevalent and many will argue that the problem has gotten progressively worst. With the growing popularity of social media (Twitter, Youtube, etc) the 'net is flooded with videos of people beatin' each other's brains in. In 2012, every kid with an IPhone can become a ghetto Don King.
Although the focus in the media today is on "bullying," this term does not, adequately, address the drama that is going on in the streets. While it is popular to do a psycho-analysis of Lil Billy from the 'burbs who was picked on so much that he marched into his school cafeteria, one day, and started blastin', rarely do we ask what makes Lil Tyrone from Compton carry a gloc and shoot up the block on the regular. This type of behavior is just accepted as a cultural norm, especially in the world of Hip Hop. Like Cyprus Hill said back in the day , "Here is something you can't understand/ how I can just kill a man."
There have been rivalries in Hip Hop since the beginning. Many can remember the classic battles between Kool Moe Dee and Busy Bee or the Cold Crush Brothers and Dr. Rock and the Force MC's. Even during the era of "Hip Hop unity" there were ideological rifts between KRS One and members of the X-Clan and Ice Cube and Common. However, except for instances such as BDP throwin' that PM Dawn dude off the stage, these rivalries rarely led to violence.
However, by the mid 90's, the entertainment and other industries began to realize that beefs were extremely profitable for selling, not only murda music, but on a deeper level, guns and ammunition. Not to mention supplying the prison industrial complex with an endless source of funding. This is why many people consider the East Coast/West Coast beef that resulted (at least on the surface) in the deaths of Hip Hop legends Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls the result of a well thought out marketing scheme that went right.
This is not , merely, some some conspiracy theory, either.
In his autobiography, "My Infamous Life," Prodigy of Mobb Deep claimed that an associate once told him that the infamous shooting of Tupac at a NY recording studio that kicked off the deadly East Coast /West Coast beef was an attempt by Shakur "to start controversy" and use "Biggie and Puff" to "turn his gunshot wounds into marketing and promotion."
More recently, R@B legend Chaka Khan told CNN that a manager once told her that she was "worth more dead to him than alive." If this can be said about a musical icon, think about how much more dispensable are the lives of Hip Hop artists who are viewed as easily replaceable common street thugs.
Since, Hip Hop is dominated by African American males, the stereotype of Black youth as violence prone animals only heightens the folklore and commercial appeal of "beefs."
Although Biggie once defined "beef" as " when you need two gats to go to sleep" that ain't necessarily so. In the bigger scheme of things real "beef" is bombing a country while they're sleep" But if your world view extends no further than your block , then the ultimate example of beef is Black men killing other Black men in the streets.
This is especially destructive when this ideology becomes embedded in the psyche of the youth.
According to Dr. Amos Wilson in his classic work "Black on Black Violence: The Psycho-dynamics of Black Self-Annihilation in the Service of White Domination," the Black on Black violent criminal hates in other Blacks those characteristics that he hates most in himself" and he "commits homicide to keep from committing suicide."
This is the type of logic (or lack thereof) that flows throughout Notorious BIG's cds "Ready to Die" and "Life After Death," as he weaved tales of murdering other Black men with lyrics about being "black and ugly as ever" and how teachers told him that he would "never amount to nuthin'"
So the question after seeing all the death and destruction in our communities over the last fifteen years is; why do we still glamorize this nihilistic mentality? Why are we more concerned with creating another "Frank White" than we are saving a "Christopher Wallace?"
As Dr. Na'im Akbar wrote in "Visions for Black Men," "if we spend all of our time studying the destitute, desecrated and destroyed then we'll end up with a destitute, desecrated and destroyed image of the Black man." He urged that "if we want to know how to survive, let's look at the image of those who did survive."
An example of survival is the one time lifer, Durham NC's, Mike "Poetic Mike" Anderson who went from serving a life sentence in prison to founding "Polished Souls," a movement to save young people from the streets.
However, for every Poetic Mike, there are hundreds of Christopher Wallaces who don't get second chances but wind up six feet under.
Whether you call it beefin', bullyin' or Black on Black violence, the cycle of self destruction in the 'hood must end.
Despite what the Notorious BIG said on his first hit, "Juicy, " the stereotype of a Black male misunderstood" ain't all good.
TRUTH Minista Paul Scott's weekly column is "This Ain't Hip Hop, " a column for intelligent Hip Hop headz. He can be reached at info@nowarningshotsfired.com . His website is www.NoWarningShotsFired.com Follow him on Twitter @truthminista
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Waka Flocka Flame: Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader ?
Waka Flocka Flame: Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?
Min. Paul Scott
"All my brothers eatin' chicken and watermelon, talk broken English and drug sellin'"
My Philosophy-Boogie Down Productions
Last night, during the premier of the Hip Hop version of "Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader," 24 year old Waka Flocka Flame, went up against nine year old up and coming rapper, Willow Smith. However, the show ended, abruptly when during the introductions, the host asked Flaka how many years he had been rappin'. After counting on his fingers for several seconds, a puzzled Flame stormed off stage, cussin' at the audience and accusing the host of asking him a trick question...
Waka Flocka Flame is, undoubtedly, one of the hottest artists in Hip Hop, right now. You cannot turn on any Hip Hop radio station in the world and not hear one of his songs blastin' through the speakers. However, what is making Waka most famous these days is not his music but his interviews. Grandma used to tell me that it is better to keep silent and be thought a dummy, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. Apparently, Flocka didn't get the memo.
On a recent episode of BET's 106 and Park, the host, Terrence J asked him about education and Flame responded by saying that he was going back to school to study "geometry." Later when the other host, Roxie asked him about politics, the boy genius said in classic Captain Caveman fashion "oonga boonga...votin' cool."
What is most disturbing, however, is the follow up interview that he gave on a radio station where he suggested that " Waka Flocka Flame" was just a character that he created in order to relate to the boys in tha hood. So my issue is not really with Juaquin Malphurs, the product of the American mis-educational system, but with his alter ego, Waka Flocka Flame that is being used by the industry to make being dumb, cool. A classic case of "I'm not really an idiot, I just play one on TV..."
The popularity of black folks actin' the fool has its roots in the mid 1800's with the black face minstrel performances. In the book, "Split Image: African Americans in the Mass Media," (Janet Davis and William Barlow) historian William Van Deburg is quoted as saying that in a time when many whites feared slave insurrections "the early slave image offered white audiences a comforting , psychological reassurance." He writes that "such intellectually inferior clowns posed little threat to white hegemony."
Such as it is today with black rappers in black face like Waka Flocka , who, despite all the hood talk are only a threat to the residents of the hood and not the socio-economic well being of those in the suburbs.
What is most disturbing about Waka is that he plays into the hands of those who still believe that black folks are more "Straight Out the Jungle" than "Straight Out of Compton." It must be remembered that barely a hundred years ago, African people were being locked up in monkey cages at zoos and forced to perform for white folks. According to Dr. Harriet Washington in her book, "Medical Apartheid," around 1903, a missionary explorer, Samuel Phillips Lerner, captured Ota Benga, an African "pygmy" and gave him to William Hornaday to put on exhibit in the Bronx Zoo. However, in 2010 they have stopped putting black men in cages but place them on stages.
To hear Malphurs tell it, the Flaka Flame character just represents the collective mentality of young urban males who have been victimized by society and he is only using rap music to express their collective point of view. Anyone who knows anything thing about Hip Hop history will tell you that that is a bunch of bull.
Back in the early 80's during the Reagan Era ,when times were ,arguably, socio-economically worst for black folks, rappers like the Treacherous Three and Funky Four Plus One More , expressed themselves very articulately, despite coming from conditions that were worst than those faced by the multi-millionaire rappers of today. We must ask ourselves why do the rappers of the 80's who were teenagers in the Reagan- Bush Era sound more intelligent than grown men in their 20's and 30's in the age of Obama? Just compare the lyrics of a young Kool Moe D or Grandmaster Caz with the ramblings of Waka Flocka or Gucci Mane. So the "product of my environment" excuse just doesn't fly in the face of facts.
What we have is the mass marketing of ignorance, a classic case of supply and demand. There are people who want to see black buffoonery and an industry more than happy to give it to them in large doses.
As we enter into an era where some people are trying to "turn back the clock" on African American progress, the actions of Waka Flocka Flame cannot be viewed in a political vacuum. In a time when many people want to put us back on the plantation we don't need rappers to supply the lyrical whips to beat us into submission.
So, what should we do? In truth, legitimate illiteracy is a major problem in poor communities. However, these folks should be helped and not exploited on TV. Perhaps there should be some "United Negro College Fund" for rappers to encourage artists like Wacka Flaka to obtain a higher education or develop a Hip Hop Rites of a Passage where more socio- politically conscious rappers take artists such as Flame and mentor them.
If that doesn't work, then it is time for some tough love. Like the old "scared straight" program, stupid rappers need to be "sacred smart" or risk being pulled off stage like KRS One did PM Dawn back in the day by crowds of disgusted black folks who are tired of seeing us portrayed as buffoons.
Either way it goes down, a change must come.
These are critical times for African Americans and we are in the fight of our lives against ignorance. We are at the bottom of the ninth inning; the end of the fourth quarter; down by three points with two seconds on the shot clock. There is a time for subtle diplomacy, but as Waka Flocka Flame said himself, there is also a time to "go hard in the paint."
TRUTH Minista Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com can be reached at info@nowarningshotsfired.com. For more information on Intelligence Over Ignorance lecture series contact info@nowarningshotsfired.com or (919) 451-8283
Min. Paul Scott
"All my brothers eatin' chicken and watermelon, talk broken English and drug sellin'"
My Philosophy-Boogie Down Productions
Last night, during the premier of the Hip Hop version of "Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader," 24 year old Waka Flocka Flame, went up against nine year old up and coming rapper, Willow Smith. However, the show ended, abruptly when during the introductions, the host asked Flaka how many years he had been rappin'. After counting on his fingers for several seconds, a puzzled Flame stormed off stage, cussin' at the audience and accusing the host of asking him a trick question...
Waka Flocka Flame is, undoubtedly, one of the hottest artists in Hip Hop, right now. You cannot turn on any Hip Hop radio station in the world and not hear one of his songs blastin' through the speakers. However, what is making Waka most famous these days is not his music but his interviews. Grandma used to tell me that it is better to keep silent and be thought a dummy, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. Apparently, Flocka didn't get the memo.
On a recent episode of BET's 106 and Park, the host, Terrence J asked him about education and Flame responded by saying that he was going back to school to study "geometry." Later when the other host, Roxie asked him about politics, the boy genius said in classic Captain Caveman fashion "oonga boonga...votin' cool."
What is most disturbing, however, is the follow up interview that he gave on a radio station where he suggested that " Waka Flocka Flame" was just a character that he created in order to relate to the boys in tha hood. So my issue is not really with Juaquin Malphurs, the product of the American mis-educational system, but with his alter ego, Waka Flocka Flame that is being used by the industry to make being dumb, cool. A classic case of "I'm not really an idiot, I just play one on TV..."
The popularity of black folks actin' the fool has its roots in the mid 1800's with the black face minstrel performances. In the book, "Split Image: African Americans in the Mass Media," (Janet Davis and William Barlow) historian William Van Deburg is quoted as saying that in a time when many whites feared slave insurrections "the early slave image offered white audiences a comforting , psychological reassurance." He writes that "such intellectually inferior clowns posed little threat to white hegemony."
Such as it is today with black rappers in black face like Waka Flocka , who, despite all the hood talk are only a threat to the residents of the hood and not the socio-economic well being of those in the suburbs.
What is most disturbing about Waka is that he plays into the hands of those who still believe that black folks are more "Straight Out the Jungle" than "Straight Out of Compton." It must be remembered that barely a hundred years ago, African people were being locked up in monkey cages at zoos and forced to perform for white folks. According to Dr. Harriet Washington in her book, "Medical Apartheid," around 1903, a missionary explorer, Samuel Phillips Lerner, captured Ota Benga, an African "pygmy" and gave him to William Hornaday to put on exhibit in the Bronx Zoo. However, in 2010 they have stopped putting black men in cages but place them on stages.
To hear Malphurs tell it, the Flaka Flame character just represents the collective mentality of young urban males who have been victimized by society and he is only using rap music to express their collective point of view. Anyone who knows anything thing about Hip Hop history will tell you that that is a bunch of bull.
Back in the early 80's during the Reagan Era ,when times were ,arguably, socio-economically worst for black folks, rappers like the Treacherous Three and Funky Four Plus One More , expressed themselves very articulately, despite coming from conditions that were worst than those faced by the multi-millionaire rappers of today. We must ask ourselves why do the rappers of the 80's who were teenagers in the Reagan- Bush Era sound more intelligent than grown men in their 20's and 30's in the age of Obama? Just compare the lyrics of a young Kool Moe D or Grandmaster Caz with the ramblings of Waka Flocka or Gucci Mane. So the "product of my environment" excuse just doesn't fly in the face of facts.
What we have is the mass marketing of ignorance, a classic case of supply and demand. There are people who want to see black buffoonery and an industry more than happy to give it to them in large doses.
As we enter into an era where some people are trying to "turn back the clock" on African American progress, the actions of Waka Flocka Flame cannot be viewed in a political vacuum. In a time when many people want to put us back on the plantation we don't need rappers to supply the lyrical whips to beat us into submission.
So, what should we do? In truth, legitimate illiteracy is a major problem in poor communities. However, these folks should be helped and not exploited on TV. Perhaps there should be some "United Negro College Fund" for rappers to encourage artists like Wacka Flaka to obtain a higher education or develop a Hip Hop Rites of a Passage where more socio- politically conscious rappers take artists such as Flame and mentor them.
If that doesn't work, then it is time for some tough love. Like the old "scared straight" program, stupid rappers need to be "sacred smart" or risk being pulled off stage like KRS One did PM Dawn back in the day by crowds of disgusted black folks who are tired of seeing us portrayed as buffoons.
Either way it goes down, a change must come.
These are critical times for African Americans and we are in the fight of our lives against ignorance. We are at the bottom of the ninth inning; the end of the fourth quarter; down by three points with two seconds on the shot clock. There is a time for subtle diplomacy, but as Waka Flocka Flame said himself, there is also a time to "go hard in the paint."
TRUTH Minista Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com can be reached at info@nowarningshotsfired.com. For more information on Intelligence Over Ignorance lecture series contact info@nowarningshotsfired.com or (919) 451-8283
Thursday, February 19, 2009
TRUTH Minista on WMNF (Tampa FL) 2/22
I'm scheduled to be a guest on Critical Times on 88.5 FM in Tampa FL 2/22 at 8AM EST to discuss my article about the new Madea movie , "Tyler Perry: The Art of Speakin' Christian-ese"
To listen go to:
http://www.wmnf.org/
To listen go to:
http://www.wmnf.org/
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