HIP HOP PROMOTES VIOLENCE essays

HIP HOP PROMOTES VIOLENCE essays Hip Hop was once the African-American experiences and the voices of their people being told throughout music in the early 1990s. African-American youth experiences came about from the rise in police brutality, the crack cocaine epidemic, and its prison industrial complex counterparts. Its growing commercial appeal such as the music videos and soundtracks provided a dangerous outlet for the generation's frustration. "Gangsta rap" claims to speak of the new wealth of poor inner city youngsters. On the other hand with all the disadvantages of inner city life, hip hop culture and its economic components have failed in using its wealth to solve the public policy unfairness that frame urban societies. Despite the millions of dollars flowing to and through the rap music industry and the so called hip hop or urban clothing industry, very little if any of it has gone to support strategies geared at empowering African-Americans within American capitalism. An example of this is in Talib Kweli's 2000 song African Dream lyrics that say, "These cats drink champagne to toast death and pain like slaves on a ship talkin' 'bout who got the flyest chains". Kweli speaks directly about the phony value of fleeting wealth and the failure of hip hop wealth to actually better the quality of African American life. Many rap artists proudly admit that they are only concerned with discussing sex and money in their music. They cut off the idea that they should be troubled with "serious" topics or that hip hop artists have to promote race consciousness. They arrogantly discard the "role-model" label and do not want to take any responsibilities. Hip hop's recent obsession with money, fascination with crime, and complete violation of women signal the absorption of the generation into a mainstream psychology and social ethic. Many including African Americans see the ruthless pursuit of individual wealth as an American dream, and for the hip hop genera...