It's unfortunate that hip hop has such a bad reputation, but I can understand why. Much of the commercial hip hop is explicit, but there is alot of underground and independent hip hop that is poetic and politically and socially conscious. They don't get the same air time or promotion that the other guys do. As soon as there's a buck to be made off some kid screaming about drugs, violence, and bitches and hos, everyone jumps on. It has become formulaic and boring (at least I think so). Part of me wonders what would happen if the political/social hip hop became a money-maker. Would it become formulaic too?
Besides, I don't worry so much about people rapping about bitches and hos or Don Imus calling people names. I worry that it's so popular. Don Imus has been making dumb remarks for quite some time. Entertainers have been producing mysogynistic, violent, materialistic work for years now. People have been listening and consuming it. It says more about "us" as the consumers of this stuff than it does about those who produce it. |