Re: Hip Hop classes at Harvard?

Date: 18 Jul 2003 09:09:36 -0700
Newsgroups: rec.music.phish
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> I would agree with you about not only hip hop but every other art form ever
> created. Charlie Parker turned into Kenny G and The Rolling Stones turned
> into The Backstreet Boys.
That's a stretch...I see no real correlation between the stones and
the backstreet men.
> As far as modern hip hop promoting drug use, misogyny, violence, and
> disrespect - have you ever heard of "jamband" music, the blues, or punk?
Sure. I'm just commenting on what society as a whole is being
influenced by. I realize that all of these genres of music have their
'undesireable' qualities...but I don't see punk music being blasted
out of radio stations across the country.
> There is plenty of hip hop out there that does not rely on those traits
> anyway. Of course, you (the general "you", don't get your panties in a
> bunch) may have to turn off MTV and the radio station to hear it.
And how many in the mainstream hip-hop world know of these artists? I
would venture to guess that there aren't too many. When we ask my 35
year old boss what kind of music she likes and she says: "you know,
whatever is on...hip-hop, alternative, blah blah blah", the art of the
music is lost. The masses enjoy hip-hop because eveyone else does,
not because they find some message in the music. I find it very hard
to believe that SUV girl can relate to the words of early hip-hop
artists.
> I would submit that money is not inherently evil - insincerity is.
I agree. With that, at what point does the the compromise of an art
form become insincere, and therefore...evil?
I have no problems whatsoever with hip-hop. I have a problem with
what it has become. As Lucas said, it is one of the few truely
American art forms that we have.
-J