It is not rap music’s fault; It’s bad parenting.

By Richard Montgomery

Rappers have had to survive in a fairly hostile social climate.  Scholars like Dr. Boyce Watkins have mobilized movements against more controversial artists.  Recently, Roland Martin suggested that rap music negatively impacts the Black community, and the list of hip-hop detractors is surprisingly long.  But to them I ask, is it really rap music that is behind the increasing number of African American teens committing violent offenses; is it really rap music that invokes early curiosities about sexuality and drug use?

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The softer side: Vulnerability in hip-hop

By Joshua Ddamulira

From the infancy of hip-hop, emcees were monolithic artistic expressers; artists generally articulated only one side of their characters. It didn’t even matter whether that side was true, partially fabricated or even entirely fictional, as long as the music moved the crowd and fans bought into it. Once emcees chose a particular persona and content, they didn’t venture too far from it. Run-DMC stuck to being hardcore. For DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince as well as Kid-N-Play, it was about having fun and partying.  N.W.A kept it gangsta, while Public Enemy was political. But as hip-hop aged, artists began to showcase more and more of themselves on records. Nowadays, along with the traditional boastfulness and lyrical dexterity, vulnerability is becoming one of the bare essentials of hip-hop.

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Stale pizza: Hip-hop on the radio

By Joshua Ddamulira

If I fed you pizza everyday for month, even if I served a variety of toppings, you would still be sick of pizza. And that is exactly how we should feel about hip-hop radio. There is nothing wrong with a Young Money record. It is good music. The problem occurs when this music is in constant rotation. Radio has always been a platform for the most popular music, but it should also be place where the audience can experience a genre like hip-hop in its entirety. There is little to no variety in hip-hop on the airwaves. Stations continuously serve the people pepperoni and sausage pizza.

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Universal beat: Hip-hop and race relations

By Joshua Ddamulira

I believe that hip-hop has improved race relations in America. Especially coming out of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, there was tremendous tension between the White and African-American/Latino communities, and hip-hop mended relations and brought people together.

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Shade-ism: On the black side

By Charisse N. Montgomery

In general, I couldn’t care less about the cultural commentary of Lil Wayne, but an article I read recently hit a sore spot. A fan is urging a boycott of Weezy because of his apparent dislike of dark-skinned black women.  For those of us who have heard his lyrics, this comes as no surprise. I’m just kind of shocked that this type of color prejudice among black people still exists.

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