The Atlantic does Hip Hop
It didn’t turn out so bad, though low expectations are a factor. Two of the writers were really smart, and if it had been just them I think it could have gone further, but the third kept dragging them down into the burden of representation muck. That is, the larger expectations placed on rap music–in this case, political. A commenter on Ta-Nehisi Coates’ blog described it well, though in service of an objectionable point:
the discussions are framed by either:
1. (mostly white) rock/pop critics who don’t know or care much about rap beyond what appeals to (mostly white) rock/pop critics.
or
2.) rap revisionists, KRS-type 4 elements zealots, hip hop “activists,” simpletons who think in binaries (“conscious vs gangsta…underground vs. corporate…hip hop vs. rap”), and out of touch hip hop academics, who care so much about hip hop that they have an unhealthy and unrealistic view of its history and importance.
Anyway, there’s not much to say on this that hasn’t been said already, but this, at least, I hadn’t heard before:
I’m not saying that hip-hop has not entered into larger conversations on inequality; nor am I saying that it has failed to inspire people. (Isn’t this what Jeezy’s entire career has been about? Motivating people?) But the idea of “political rap songs” seems to overdetermine what the music is about—and it is music.
[...]
there’s more to [representation] than authenticity and protest. Sometimes that protest isn’t literal—it’s a protest of form (like Lil Wayne). Sometimes it’s a strike against “community,” as with Wayne’s unhinged, solitary “I Feel Like Dying” or DOOM’s Born Like This. And sometimes it’s just masquerade. N.W.A. was angry as fuck—but they were also performing the part of being angry as fuck.
It’s a testament to how out of hand the discussion around hip hop has gotten that so simple a point seems so groundbreaking. Hip hop should be judged as music–Gasp! It’s the only starting point for a discussion on it. Next time fools get out of hand talking, remind them of that.
