Monday
Dec032007
Welcome to Our World Members of the Sports Industrial Complex: Raising the Cost of Admission Into the Mainstream
Monday, December 3, 2007 at 7:20AM The Blogmother
For an instant I was engaged in a momentary case of schadenfreude when I read this story on ABC News.com Sunday morning:
The AP is running a similar story as well. The whole sports industrial complex is in a tizzy:
There are some poor Black women down in West Palm Beach Florida who can relate to not feeling safe in your own home.
I guess as long as it was we "little people" whose blood was running in the streets and living in terror and fear, the glorification of foolishness was just fine and dandy. Anybody remember Carmello Anthony's "Stop Snitching" video? The "Average Joes" would like to say. WELCOME TO OUR WORLD! Sucks doesn't it!
Seems professional athletes are growing tired of the “keeping it real” culture they have been clinging to for the past decade or so. Despite the fact that they are multimillionaires, many have gone out of their ways to emulate the THUG LIFE-style. They were just KEEPING IT REAL!
I didn't start this blog for nothing. The world is changing and not in a good way. We are seeing the results of two decades of absolute insanity begin to show up.
What did you think was going to happen when you raised a generation of young Black folks to believe that being “upwardly mobile” meant rolling on over to somebody's house and “mobilizing” their property on “up” outta there?
What did you think was going to happen after plunking your kids in front of video games where their objective is to shoot, maim, rape and kill as many human beings as possible?
What did you think when the iconic “entrepreneurs” of these generations of late proudly proclaim themselves to be "hustlers", don't and wear suits and ties, but are 40 and 50 years-old running around in track suits calling themselves CEOs? Then we wonder why a COLLEGE or UNIVERSITY has to initiate a DRESS CODE because its students don't know how to dress for a freaking job interview.
What did you think was going to happen when ridiculous numbers of African American teenagers commit economic suicide and drop out of high school?
What did you think was going to happen when all of these athletes were inviting MTV into their homes so we could see their tacky over the top CRIBS with a plasma screen tv over the commode and gold fish in the floor?
What did you think was going to happen with a couple of generations of under educated, under employed, oversexed people who have been systematically desensitized to violence and have no frame of reference for socially acceptable behavior other than what they can surmise from mainstream popular culture.
What did you think was going to happen when CORPORATE AMERICA decided to mainstream a pro prison, pro pimp, pro drugs, pro crime, pro violence, anti education, anti woman, anti impulse control, anti social culture?
There used to be a time when we exacted a heavy price in order to be “Mainstream.” Remember Michael Jordan catching hell because he wasn't running around trying to be the next MLK. Although we know he had to be doing all kinds of dirt, he didn't brag about it on the front page of the paper as if he was proud. Why? Because he wanted mainstream money and back then, the mainstream exacted a price. Either fit within our narrow boundaries of socially acceptable behavior, or you will not get our mainstream money. Shut up and play and you will get paid!
Now the same sports media talking heads that love to call the San Antonio Spurs SOFT because Tim Duncan and crew aren't running around throwing up gang signs between scoring points and winning championships are lamenting the plague of violence besetting these multimillionaire ball players who have been obsessed with making sure that the world knew that they were GANGTA' and continuing to embrace the streets that they claim to have come from.
All of a sudden all the conspicuous consumption they wholeheartedly engaged in is coming back to haunt them because folks have been watching MTV Cribs and they want to consume too and they don't mind consuming you and you family to get what they want. There was a time when you didn't let folks know what was up in your house. Everybody couldn't come over and visit. You didn't pull your curtains back during the holidays so the neighborhood could see how nice you Christmas tree was and you made sure that when you got a new TV, VCR, or other electronic device that you cut up the box so folks wouldn't know you got anything new. Or maybe that was just we folks in Da Hood that knew you NEVER flashed money around unless you wanted to have someone take it from you.
Will there always be entertainment that promotes hatred and indifference for the lives of your fellow man? Of course, but it does not have to reside in the mainstream. We can drop kick it into the fringes where it belongs. I hope that with this new cloud hanging over them and their families that all of these poster boys of keeping it real join me and stop funding foolishness.
Stop funding foolishness does not just mean not buying CDs and DVDs and Video Games. It means imposing economic sanctions on large US Corporations that are pumping billions of dollars into an industry that is cannibalizing the African American community.
Gina, it isn't popular culture, its poverty! - You are wrong. We've always been poor. When you blame poverty for people running around shooting other human beings indiscriminately, you slander the poor. There is no correlation between morality and net worth. If that was the case, some of these multimillionaires would not be running around acting like a bunch of fools.
Gina, its racism! - Wrong again. It is something else. We've always had to deal with racism and we managed to have some kind of moral compass within the community. Our moral authority was one of the greatest weapons of the Civil Rights Movement.
Now I do believe that racism is responsible for polluting the mainstream with these destructive messages. There is no way that if other groups were targeted the way Black women are in popular culture that the likes of Starbucks, Ford, General Motors, Hewlett Packard, Apple Computers, Old Spice and Mountain Dew would be handing out checks. Explain to me how Verizon made Akon its spokesperson despite his conviction on robbery and drug charges? Explain to me how Macy's Department Stores and others are handing over millions of dollars by carrying the clothing, shoes, accessories, and perfumes of men who routinely engage in hate speech and acts directed towards Black women? If ANY OTHER group was being called names and degraded like Black women, they wouldn't get within 100 feet of a Macy's. Remember THAT the next time you go buy a new suit!
Gina, this has been going on forever!- Wrong! There have always been immoral murderous people, but again, they didn't dominate the mainstream. Think about this insanity: The Black multimillionaire that has a baby mama in every city; gets into a knock down drag out fight with his employer's customers in front of the world; got 8 cars with 3 garages; is tatted up and braided down and BLINGED OUT -Well he's from the streets and is KEEPING IT REAL!
But the Black man that has De' Evil 9-5; Who dresses appropriately to carry out his job duties;has a 401 K and is dollar cost averaging instead of trying to get rich quick; has a 5 year plan instead of a 5 minute plan; marries the mother of his children PRIOR TO CONCEPTION; takes whatever honest work he can get today knowing that it might lead to something else tomorrow instead of slanging rocks or hustlin' This Black man is called a CHUMP or a SELLOUT by the mainstream popular culture.
Yes, there have always been murderous thieves, but THEY used to be the ones scorned, not held up as some ideal to achieve (Frank Lucas my arse!- Even Frank knew to keep a low profile and not be running about Bling Blinging). Even then thieves used to have a code of conduct of sorts. Now it is anything goes. Whatever feels good. Do it! There used to be a time when people were embarrassed to be known as a criminal. Now it is a badge of honor. It shows that you are Keeping it REAL!
Gina, you and your solutions are over simplistic. They won't work! - WRONG!!! It ain't that hard. The next time you hear about some huge corporation offering another hooligan or misogynist a multi-million-dollar contract, howl at the moon and watch how quickly they back track. Case in point Twista and McDonalds - Akon and Verizon. Once these idiots realize that if they want the big money they are going to have to meet certain expectations, watch the attitude adjustment. They will still get rich,but not as easily as they are now. Not without access to mainstream money.
Why will it be that easy? Because most of them aren't artists in the first place, they're hustlers (haven't you been listening)who figured out the Entertainment Industrial Complex was a pretty good way to develop a brand name which they could then exploit to make exponentially more than they could ever make selling albums or touring. They make peanuts off of album sales. They don't care about the music. They care about their brand. The music videos and songs are just commercials for their brands. Why do you think certain rappers can't seem to retire? It ain't about the music, it is all about keeping up sales of their tacky clothing lines and they can't do that without a hit album out reminding people that they are still relevant.
Gina, I am sick of you and your gloom and doom blog! AND YOUR POSTS ARE TOO LONG! - Begone PEST!!!Don't you think I am tired of it too. If I thought the situation was hopeless, I would have bounced already, moved to a mountain in the Canadian rockies and thrown up the deuce. I am very hopeful. I sense a shift in mood in the Black community. Can you feel it? Now, even the Keeping It Real athletes appear to be all thugged out. As for the length of the posts, there are plenty of blogs where you can go to look at pretty pictures. I visit them myself on a daily basis. THIS ain't one of those blogs.
We can drop kick the foolishness to the fringes. We can raise the price of admission to belong in the mainstream. We can banish the bacchanal buffet of booty shaking into an abyss where it belongs! We don't have to take this crap. We are more powerful that you know and all we have to do is open up our mouths and speak.
What would happen if Black women or for that matter all people who are sick and tired of the foolishness sent a message to department stores that as long as you sell the clothing lines of these purveyors of porn and cultural pestilence we won't be shopping at your store? I bet they'd pull those clothing lines faster than you can say raccoon fur coat! ( It is a shame that a dog in China has advocates willing to take on corporate America and Black women don't. PETA and the Humane Society ain't playin'. Why the heck are we?)
I'm not saying we should do that. I'm just putting it out there.
So to the multimillionaire athletes, welcome to our world. We've been waiting for you. To those of you who, like Fannie Lou Hamer, are sick and tire of being sick and tired, what are you going to do? Are you going to continue to sit on the sidelines lamenting the decline of the Black community, or are you going to fight back? It ain't that hard. I believe our last free market capitalism campaign took about 4 hours to drive some foolishness into the depths of Hell where it belonged. All we have to do is ask. Why aren't you asking for an increase in the price of admission into the mainstream?
Stop Funding Foolishness!
No matter where professional athletes are -- at home, out with friends, in their cars -- they know they are targets, and they perhaps have never been more uneasy about their personal safety than they are right now. abcnews.com
The AP is running a similar story as well. The whole sports industrial complex is in a tizzy:
If Fred Taylor sounds a bit jumpy, somewhat paranoid, even a little desperate ... well, he is.
He's not alone.
Athletes feel as though they're under attack, their luxurious worlds invaded by thugs and hustlers and criminals who want to take them down — or take what they've worked so hard to earn through their skills on the courts and playing fields. SOURCE
There are some poor Black women down in West Palm Beach Florida who can relate to not feeling safe in your own home.
"People are not coming at your average Joe anymore," said Fisher, who called for the NFL to implement stricter security measures to protect players. "They are coming after athletes. People feel like athletes are an easy win. Why not (rob) an athlete?But I thought the members of the Sports Industrial Complex were all about KEEPING IT REAL- making sure everyone knew y'all were still down with the people in Da' Hood. Well the people in the hood are living in fear too.
I guess as long as it was we "little people" whose blood was running in the streets and living in terror and fear, the glorification of foolishness was just fine and dandy. Anybody remember Carmello Anthony's "Stop Snitching" video? The "Average Joes" would like to say. WELCOME TO OUR WORLD! Sucks doesn't it!
Seems professional athletes are growing tired of the “keeping it real” culture they have been clinging to for the past decade or so. Despite the fact that they are multimillionaires, many have gone out of their ways to emulate the THUG LIFE-style. They were just KEEPING IT REAL!
I didn't start this blog for nothing. The world is changing and not in a good way. We are seeing the results of two decades of absolute insanity begin to show up.
What Did You Expect When We Started Mainstreaming Foolishness?
What did you think was going to happen when you raised a generation of young Black folks to believe that being “upwardly mobile” meant rolling on over to somebody's house and “mobilizing” their property on “up” outta there?
What did you think was going to happen after plunking your kids in front of video games where their objective is to shoot, maim, rape and kill as many human beings as possible?
What did you think when the iconic “entrepreneurs” of these generations of late proudly proclaim themselves to be "hustlers", don't and wear suits and ties, but are 40 and 50 years-old running around in track suits calling themselves CEOs? Then we wonder why a COLLEGE or UNIVERSITY has to initiate a DRESS CODE because its students don't know how to dress for a freaking job interview.
What did you think was going to happen when ridiculous numbers of African American teenagers commit economic suicide and drop out of high school?
What did you think was going to happen when all of these athletes were inviting MTV into their homes so we could see their tacky over the top CRIBS with a plasma screen tv over the commode and gold fish in the floor?
What did you think was going to happen with a couple of generations of under educated, under employed, oversexed people who have been systematically desensitized to violence and have no frame of reference for socially acceptable behavior other than what they can surmise from mainstream popular culture.
What did you think was going to happen when CORPORATE AMERICA decided to mainstream a pro prison, pro pimp, pro drugs, pro crime, pro violence, anti education, anti woman, anti impulse control, anti social culture?
The Cost of Admission into the Mainstream
There used to be a time when we exacted a heavy price in order to be “Mainstream.” Remember Michael Jordan catching hell because he wasn't running around trying to be the next MLK. Although we know he had to be doing all kinds of dirt, he didn't brag about it on the front page of the paper as if he was proud. Why? Because he wanted mainstream money and back then, the mainstream exacted a price. Either fit within our narrow boundaries of socially acceptable behavior, or you will not get our mainstream money. Shut up and play and you will get paid!
Now the same sports media talking heads that love to call the San Antonio Spurs SOFT because Tim Duncan and crew aren't running around throwing up gang signs between scoring points and winning championships are lamenting the plague of violence besetting these multimillionaire ball players who have been obsessed with making sure that the world knew that they were GANGTA' and continuing to embrace the streets that they claim to have come from.
All of a sudden all the conspicuous consumption they wholeheartedly engaged in is coming back to haunt them because folks have been watching MTV Cribs and they want to consume too and they don't mind consuming you and you family to get what they want. There was a time when you didn't let folks know what was up in your house. Everybody couldn't come over and visit. You didn't pull your curtains back during the holidays so the neighborhood could see how nice you Christmas tree was and you made sure that when you got a new TV, VCR, or other electronic device that you cut up the box so folks wouldn't know you got anything new. Or maybe that was just we folks in Da Hood that knew you NEVER flashed money around unless you wanted to have someone take it from you.
Will there always be entertainment that promotes hatred and indifference for the lives of your fellow man? Of course, but it does not have to reside in the mainstream. We can drop kick it into the fringes where it belongs. I hope that with this new cloud hanging over them and their families that all of these poster boys of keeping it real join me and stop funding foolishness.
Stop funding foolishness does not just mean not buying CDs and DVDs and Video Games. It means imposing economic sanctions on large US Corporations that are pumping billions of dollars into an industry that is cannibalizing the African American community.
Excuses. Excuses
Gina, it isn't popular culture, its poverty! - You are wrong. We've always been poor. When you blame poverty for people running around shooting other human beings indiscriminately, you slander the poor. There is no correlation between morality and net worth. If that was the case, some of these multimillionaires would not be running around acting like a bunch of fools.
Gina, its racism! - Wrong again. It is something else. We've always had to deal with racism and we managed to have some kind of moral compass within the community. Our moral authority was one of the greatest weapons of the Civil Rights Movement.
Now I do believe that racism is responsible for polluting the mainstream with these destructive messages. There is no way that if other groups were targeted the way Black women are in popular culture that the likes of Starbucks, Ford, General Motors, Hewlett Packard, Apple Computers, Old Spice and Mountain Dew would be handing out checks. Explain to me how Verizon made Akon its spokesperson despite his conviction on robbery and drug charges? Explain to me how Macy's Department Stores and others are handing over millions of dollars by carrying the clothing, shoes, accessories, and perfumes of men who routinely engage in hate speech and acts directed towards Black women? If ANY OTHER group was being called names and degraded like Black women, they wouldn't get within 100 feet of a Macy's. Remember THAT the next time you go buy a new suit!
Gina, this has been going on forever!- Wrong! There have always been immoral murderous people, but again, they didn't dominate the mainstream. Think about this insanity: The Black multimillionaire that has a baby mama in every city; gets into a knock down drag out fight with his employer's customers in front of the world; got 8 cars with 3 garages; is tatted up and braided down and BLINGED OUT -Well he's from the streets and is KEEPING IT REAL!
But the Black man that has De' Evil 9-5; Who dresses appropriately to carry out his job duties;has a 401 K and is dollar cost averaging instead of trying to get rich quick; has a 5 year plan instead of a 5 minute plan; marries the mother of his children PRIOR TO CONCEPTION; takes whatever honest work he can get today knowing that it might lead to something else tomorrow instead of slanging rocks or hustlin' This Black man is called a CHUMP or a SELLOUT by the mainstream popular culture.
Yes, there have always been murderous thieves, but THEY used to be the ones scorned, not held up as some ideal to achieve (Frank Lucas my arse!- Even Frank knew to keep a low profile and not be running about Bling Blinging). Even then thieves used to have a code of conduct of sorts. Now it is anything goes. Whatever feels good. Do it! There used to be a time when people were embarrassed to be known as a criminal. Now it is a badge of honor. It shows that you are Keeping it REAL!
Gina, you and your solutions are over simplistic. They won't work! - WRONG!!! It ain't that hard. The next time you hear about some huge corporation offering another hooligan or misogynist a multi-million-dollar contract, howl at the moon and watch how quickly they back track. Case in point Twista and McDonalds - Akon and Verizon. Once these idiots realize that if they want the big money they are going to have to meet certain expectations, watch the attitude adjustment. They will still get rich,but not as easily as they are now. Not without access to mainstream money.
Why will it be that easy? Because most of them aren't artists in the first place, they're hustlers (haven't you been listening)who figured out the Entertainment Industrial Complex was a pretty good way to develop a brand name which they could then exploit to make exponentially more than they could ever make selling albums or touring. They make peanuts off of album sales. They don't care about the music. They care about their brand. The music videos and songs are just commercials for their brands. Why do you think certain rappers can't seem to retire? It ain't about the music, it is all about keeping up sales of their tacky clothing lines and they can't do that without a hit album out reminding people that they are still relevant.
Gina, I am sick of you and your gloom and doom blog! AND YOUR POSTS ARE TOO LONG! - Begone PEST!!!Don't you think I am tired of it too. If I thought the situation was hopeless, I would have bounced already, moved to a mountain in the Canadian rockies and thrown up the deuce. I am very hopeful. I sense a shift in mood in the Black community. Can you feel it? Now, even the Keeping It Real athletes appear to be all thugged out. As for the length of the posts, there are plenty of blogs where you can go to look at pretty pictures. I visit them myself on a daily basis. THIS ain't one of those blogs.
Raising the Price of Admission into the Mainstream
We can drop kick the foolishness to the fringes. We can raise the price of admission to belong in the mainstream. We can banish the bacchanal buffet of booty shaking into an abyss where it belongs! We don't have to take this crap. We are more powerful that you know and all we have to do is open up our mouths and speak.
What would happen if Black women or for that matter all people who are sick and tired of the foolishness sent a message to department stores that as long as you sell the clothing lines of these purveyors of porn and cultural pestilence we won't be shopping at your store? I bet they'd pull those clothing lines faster than you can say raccoon fur coat! ( It is a shame that a dog in China has advocates willing to take on corporate America and Black women don't. PETA and the Humane Society ain't playin'. Why the heck are we?)
I'm not saying we should do that. I'm just putting it out there.
So to the multimillionaire athletes, welcome to our world. We've been waiting for you. To those of you who, like Fannie Lou Hamer, are sick and tire of being sick and tired, what are you going to do? Are you going to continue to sit on the sidelines lamenting the decline of the Black community, or are you going to fight back? It ain't that hard. I believe our last free market capitalism campaign took about 4 hours to drive some foolishness into the depths of Hell where it belonged. All we have to do is ask. Why aren't you asking for an increase in the price of admission into the mainstream?
Stop Funding Foolishness!
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Crime, Stop Funding Foolishness
Reader Comments (53)
Bravo Gina! I have been saying this for years. All these the so-called rap moguls have been selling out their own people for years. I always hated MTV Cribs. All the show does is celebrate the 'look what I've got' culture. The moguls market their clothes to a group of people who do not have the economic ability to pay for them. At least Martha Stewart, The Olsen Twins, and host of other sell their stuff at discount retailers. But our own black moguls set out to make as much money as they can by going straight to expensive department store. Never mind that the people who they are marketing to mostly likely come from single parent homes and can barely pay the rent.
These group of black men have destroyed black music. It's easy for us to say the white media is putting it out, but it's black men who are producing it. It is a group of black men who are exploiting their people, but then have the nerve to tell us middle class black people who believe in hard work, education, and morals that we are sellouts. In the words of Malcolm X "we have been hoodwink, bamboozled, and led astray", but this time by our own people.
There is no correlation between morality and net worth.
There is a correlation between poverty and violence though. You're in denial if you don't believe it.
There is also a correlation between unemployed/unmarried men and violence.
Basic sociology principle: You can't have a community of unemployed unmarried men without having a hell of a lot violence.
You can control testosterone socially or through force.
In the past you didn't have so many unemployed/unmarried Black men running around. Even if work was scarce there was a community that could help out and a family that had to be supported
That's gone.
And this isn't a race issue. Look at Ireland in the 90's. China and India now. They're having similar problems with gangs of young men with no jobs and no families.
People talk around this issue but the bottom line is if you want to solve theat problem figure out (and stop) young black males from drooping out of school as well as address the lack of jobs.
The "mainstream" is reluctant to hire them (with or without high school and sometimes college) and those god ol' low skilled manufacturing jobs are gone.
So...
But solve that problem...the marriage problem gets solved and ultimately the violence problem.
Also the wealth disparity in this country is ginormous. As long as that remains (and its getting worse) you're going to see more attacks on the visibly wealthy.
You can'r have a nation of rich and poor without these types of problems. Look at Mexico. Look at Brazil.
You can fuss at corporations all you want but they aren't the real problem per se. They've always depicted us badly (Amos and Andy anyone) but we managed to thrive.
They're basic issues (education, employment, marriage) that have to be addressed before these big issues get solved.
.
It's easy for us to say the white media is putting it out, but it's black men who are producing it.
And its white media who says if you don't make this kind of music we won't sign u.
Well JJ, most these artists weren't sign to major labels. They started off as independents labels. Most of them brag they started their record labels with drug dealing money. So, that point is null and void.
t the Black man that has De' Evil 9-5; Who dresses appropriately to carry out his job duties;has a 401 K and is dollar cost averaging instead of trying to get rich quick; has a 5 year plan instead of a 5 minute plan; marries the mother of his children PRIOR TO CONCEPTION; takes whatever honest work he can get today knowing that it might lead to something else tomorrow instead of slanging rocks or hustlin' This Black man is called a CHUMP or a SELLOUT by the mainstream popular culture.
That is an over exaggeration if I ever read one.
To be honest I don't know too many people who call cats who are successful sell outs.
So anytime I see that I always think someone is drinking the mainstream kool-aid.
Oh and the dress code at Quinn was lame. It just was.
Well JJ, most these artists weren't sign to major labels. They started off as independents labels. Most of them brag they started their record labels with drug dealing money. So, that point is null and void.
Ahh Miss isues that's were you are wrong. When Hip Hop was mostly independent you had a diversity of voices and music.
MC. Lyte, Queen Latifah, Digable Planets, Arrested Development were all out when Hip Hop was independent.
In 92 when Corporations started to buy up the independent labels is when the music turned completely into misogynistic, conspicuous consumerist, violent crap.
And since my thesis deals with hip hop...I would know.
So you see my point was right on.
JJ, Jay Z, Irv Gotti, Soulja Boy, Ying Yang Twins, Ludicrious,Akon and a host of others started out their own labels and then got attention from major labels. You have to be naive to believe white are telling these men to write this kind of stuff. This is what sells and these men know it. Look at Talib Kweli. He hasn't sold out. Look at Prince, he decided to take the internet route.
The music changed when black men when Cash Money, Diddy, Gotti, and Jay Z stuck to the old American mantra 'sex and exploitation is an easy sell.
Hip hop has always been independent, back to the days of Luke and Two Live Crew and Too Short, NWA. White record companies wouldn't touch that crap. But when the young black men put on the entpreneurial caps and start selling it themselves, white corporations jumped on the bandwagon by offerind distribution deals. So, it started in the black community, no on Madison Avenue.
We can not keep using the excuse white corporations are putting this out. We have black men running major labels and are more interested in making a quick buck. You see it all comes down to education. Young brothers see it's easy to go to the studio and make up some stupid songs, then take the time to learn to play real instruments.
JJ, I am a hip hop veteran. I grew up with all Raheem, Beatie Boys, Eric B. and Rakim, Run DMC, Big Daddy Kane, Kid n Play, and Krs-one.
The music change the moment Luke won his Supreme Court case for 'Nasty as they want to be'. Before then you couldn't play suggestive rap lyrics on the radio. Most of the filty stuff was undercrowd. I hate to say it, but this when the tide change. Luke had the most stupidest and corniest lyrics, but he was by far one of the richest men in rap, because he recorded and distributed his own records. Luke lived the lifestyle you see today, the big house, the baby mamas, and the entourage. He became a role model for people like Master P and Easy E.
This is when the music change.
This is the first time in the history of the world where popular black music wasn't the most intensely spiritual, most creative, and most meaningful music out there.
In 100 years, we will learn that our generation slipped into the Dark Ages of Black music. And yes I blame BOTH the white corporate establishment and ALSO these black so-called 'artists'... in addition to an incredibly gullible consuming public.
For we would not have had this misogynistic scourge without the full collaboration of both black and white men. They are laughing all the way to the bank while we argue with each other about which one of those groups is responsible. This crap is the result of 3 things:
1) White racist men with a slaveholding mentality
2) The COLLUSION of nihilistic, selfish, short-sighted black men with a slave mentality (although they will never see it that way)
3) The APATHY of of consuming public, who do not see the black dignity as a precious thing to be preserved.
3b) The short-sightedness and moral weakness of black women who both buy and appear in music videos -- and never profit off of it.
So while everybody is pointing the finger at one of those groups and excusing the others -- the gruesome wheel keeps grinding on.
All three groups need to be addressed, forcefully, unapologetically.
People weren't able to start making big bucks in hip ho UNTIL the corporations got involved.
Period.
What changed the music was when MCHammer (thanks to major corporation support) was making tens of millions f dollars. And selling records like a pop act.
Jay Z, Irv Gotti, Soulja Boy, Ying Yang Twins, Ludicrious,Akon
All these guys became popular AFTER the music had taken off. You're proving my point. When Corporations got involved the music changed...period.
It's amazing how a more concious form of rap sold PRIOR to the corporations buying up the independent labels but after the only thing that sold seems to be as-shaking, shoot'em up, look at what I own music.
Amazing.
If you believe that the white heads of these corporations don't have the final say at what makes it on the airwaves then you're naive.
The bottom line is this: How do you convince someone who sees the "hustle" of the music industry NOT tp participate in the foolisness if someone is willing to throw mid-level stock broker money at them?
Tell me that.
There is plenty of blame to go around. But if you really think is all it wil take is some artists deciding they want to start sining/rapping some positive songs and then the corporations will go, "Oh Okay."
Then you're the naive one..not me.
@ Shecodes
I wasn't absolving the rappers. My point was that they are hardly in this by themselves.
And the women at play are minor players in this. And at the end of the day the rappers aren't the major players either.
The guys signing the rappers checks AND the consumers are the ones who've got the mst power in this scenario.
And with the drastic decline in hip hop sales and the pending death of urban radio...consumers may have had enough and you may see the corporations (and ultimately the rappers) may start to fall in line.
If Sean Taylor had a security system in his home instead of a machete for protection, he would still be alive. And as sad as it is that this young brother is dead, he was facing charges for pistol whipping folks before he passed.
If black athletes are worried about their safety, they should stay out of strip clubs and night clubs, they should stop pushing around fans in public, and they should stop wearing "bling bling" jewelry that says "I'm here, rob me." They should stop carrying weapons, hire bodyguards, and keep their million dollar asses at home with their wives, girlfriends, and baby mamas.
I was laughing at a recent newspaper article talking about how Allen Iverson has matured. He's 32 years old!!!! The average brother pulling some of the mess he has, would still be doing time!!!!
"The black athletes are scared of the public, but maybe we should be scared of them short list."
ROLL CALL
Pacman "Stripper Slapper" Jones
Michael "Hide Ya Pitbull" Vick Ricky "Weed-Head" Williams
Smush "Twist Ya Arm" Parker
Ron "Crazy as Hell" Artest
Dennis "I'm Strange" Rodman
Travis "Mega Baby Daddy" Henry
Rae "Kill Ya Baby Mama" Carruth
Mike "Mad-Dog 20-20" Tyson
Kobe "Bend Ya Over" Bryant
Not to mention the last few squads of the Portland Trailblazers and the Cincinnati Bengals!!!!!!
It was a long post ... but, well worth the investment of time to read it.
peace, Villager
Yep.
The chicken is definitely coming home to roost on us!
JJ, what?
Master P and Luke were making millions before white corp. got into. So, did Jay Z, Ludicrous, Soulja Boy and Akon. Most of these brothers will tell you they couldn't get a deal until they created their own hit.
White dudes don't get involved in anything unless it's a money maker. The same with Black books. They don't jump on the bandwagon till they say we were making money exploiting ourselves. We give white people too much power in our lives.MJK and three six mafia were household names in the south before they won the Oscar.
The problems is in our community. We have to ask ourselves why do we prefer this time of music over others.
I am not celebrating the decline of gangsta rap until I see what it's being replaced with.
The underlying forces of internalized racism, objectification of women, internalized sexism, and trafficking of souls have NOT been dealt with.
We could very well end up with something WORSE than what we already have -- unless we utterly destroy this system. Destroy the pipeline. Cast down the people in high places in the industry. Uproot the vile hatred of women. Destroy anyone who is determined to kill us slowly. DESTROY THEM!
Gina, there is a lot of misused time and energy on the Internet. WE forward pictures of celebrities. We read "e-mail manifestos" by men telling single women "It's Not That Complicated" when it comes to relationships. We forward pictures of misery without context. BUT NOT YOU. I know it must be tiring keeping up this blog, but KEEP AT IT. Keep up the fight. The light is on and things will be changing. They have to.
Miss Issues what part did you miss about the DIVERSITY of hip hop.
ALL music has shady elements. 9 inch nails and Maralyin Manson come to mind.
My point was that when the corporations got involved the Luke's of the world were ALL we got.
And no Jay and Luda weren't making million s UNTIL the corps picked them up.
The issue isn't there is a luke or jay-Z. The issue is that ALL we get are the Lukes and the Jay-z's
Hell you ever listen to Blues. I mean REAL Blues. That music is NASTY. Some of the stuff they say could make Luke blush.
There has always been raunchy music...the problem is when it gets massed produced and becomes the ONLY music.
This post was mad long, but I'm glad that you touched on a lot of points that have upset me personally, especially with regards to athletes. They live in this world where they believe they will suffer no repercussions from their actions such as flaunting their material wealth and wearing it in some cases.
Also, you raise an interesting point about the Spurs. Last year leading into their title run, everyone complained because they were a team that didn't bicker, fight, or get in trouble with the law. Isn't this what it's supposed to be? Also, why isn't Tim Duncan lauded as a role model more often? The dude could have left college as a freshman, but he decided to stay, finish, and is now at the top of his game.
My personal issues aside, I'm fully behind your argument. The standard does need to be raised, and we need to stop rewarding jackasses.
JJ, I know there isn't diversity in our music, because we don't want diversity. It speaks volumes when you have grown people listening to the same music as their children.
We, the black consumers, turned away from real music when we found there was more money in fake music.
Look what happen to the black female singer. Where is she? Why are our black male producers, ie Polow the Don, Timberland and others, pushing on us the 'new black 'white' girl. If I'm not mistaken wasn't it hip hop who started pushing this oversexed version of a black woman singing the hook on their songs.
I've listen to the blues. I from Alabama so I grew up with my parents Marvin Cease and Betty Wright. The blues is marketed to grown folks. Go to the the concerts and see who's there.
I grew up with Luke and Too Short, but I knew better than play it in mother's house. She'd kick our butts. The problem is you have parents and children wearing the same clothes and listening to the same music. The problem comes in when the parents are only 15 to 16 years older than the child. When a thirty year old women and her 14 year old daughter both like to wear Baby Phat and T-Pain is their favorite singer.
We are not demanding more, because our culture likes easy quick success. We get Soulja Boy and Plies, because that's what we want.
HEY LADIES and all other interested parties, my next posting contribution to WAOD will be about WOMEN and HIP HOP. I am reading some wild statements here, so I will be interested in your varied responses.
Maybe a subject for thursday's podcast? Gina?
This is my last post. I have to finish writing my thesis paper on why so many black children in urban are falling behind in literacy.
Sorry, with my parents listening to Marvin Cease and Betty Wright.
jj...
I was hearing you until you said that REAL blues is nasty. That isn't true! Yes there is some crude blues out there, but most of it (including popular blues) is deeply meaningful.
Although I will say that misogyny in music didn't begin with hip hop, and should have been addressed back in the day, before it became the huge problem that it is now. But we have to deal today with the problems of today.
I grew up with Luke and Too Short, but I knew better than play it in mother's house. She'd kick our butts. The problem is you have parents and children wearing the same clothes and listening to the same music. The problem comes in when the parents are only 15 to 16 years older than the child. When a thirty year old women and her 14 year old daughter both like to wear Baby Phat and T-Pain is their favorite singer.
We are not demanding more, because our culture likes easy quick success. We get Soulja Boy and Plies, because that's what we want.
If that isn't the most simplistic, stereotypical ish I've read all day.
And completely absolves Corporate America of ANY responsibility.
SMH.
AMERICAN culture likes easy quick success. Black folks aren't any different then the majority on that one.
@Prof. Tracey
What is there to talk about regarding women and hip-hop?
Hey Professor Tracy,
I have a post in the works about misogyny in music... let's collaborate.
Shecodes1[at]gmail[dot]com
I was hearing you until you said that REAL blues is nasty. That isn't true! Yes there is some crude blues out there, but most of it (including popular blues) is deeply meaningful.
My original Thesis was taking a look at Blues and Hip-Hop.
Let me tell you...the bulk of the music is raunchy...there's been alot of revisionist history regarding the blues.
But when you take a look at where is started - Brothels - then you get a lot of dirty, dirty stuff.
Not saying it isn't meaningful...'cause it is. But boy oh boy is it raunchy and Misogynist.
Robert Johnson spent a WHOLE lot of time talking about beating his woman.
Empty Bed Blues anyone?
The list goes own. I don't think raunchy and meaningful are mutually exclusive...but take a good listen to a lot blues and it may leave you blushing...hell it had me blushing..and that's saying something.
jj,
Then we are talking about two different things. There is more than one kind of blues -- the kind that was sung in speakeasies and brothels, and the kind that was played on the radio, made a lot of money and are recorded as blues 'greats'. They are not one and the same.
The difference between the blues of yesteryear and the rap of today is this:
You had to HIDE in some dive bar or brothel to hear the misogyny and lewdness, and you could hear 'better blues' on the radio.
Today, you have to seek out meaningful rap in poetry slams and independent labels. The 'good rap' is the rap that is in hiding, and the 'crap rap' is the one on the radio.
@Shecodes
Ma Rainey, Wright and Johnson were played on the radio...
and Rainey could put Lil' Kim to shame...Prove on it...yeah...
Hell holiday and the "my man beats me but I love him anyway" was a BIG hit as well...
Like I said...a LOT of revisionist history goes on about the blues. And some of the more raunchy stuff WAS the successful stuff back in the day and much of the same argument we have about commercial hip hop and conscious hip hop was had about the blues.
Empty Bed Blues was a big hit...and caused a big uproar because of its content.
I could go on...
Funny 'cause I had the same opinion you had about the Blues until I started my research. Had to completely change my thesis. This Hip Hop conversation is not new. It's been had before first with the Blues and then with Rock N Roll...which also was some nasty/misogynist stuff.
But the mass production - music videos - film - tv - internet - and the like - are the differnce between now an yester-year.
No arguments there.
Corporate America is out to make money. I wouldn't give a record company responsibilty of running my moral life, no more than I'll give Bank of America responsibility from my financial well-being.
It's simplistic,but it's the truth. No one is our culture wants to grow up. Every time I go to a party the music of choice is all the same, grown or young. Go to a party and see how we encourage our daughters to dance off those songs.
My daughter cheers for a recreational park football league at the white parents got upset when the announcer played Soulja Boy. The black parents said let the kids do the dance. It's cute!!
You had to HIDE in some dive bar or brothel to hear the misogyny and lewdness, and you could hear 'better blues' on the radio.
Go listen to some Rainey and Wright...look up the lyrics...Johnson wasn't even that popular back in the day.
He was "discovered" by some white dudes who had a different opinion of what the Blues really was.
They pushed this idea that it was about pain and suffering and what not. And it was but it also was about drinking, sex and having a good time.
And some of the most popular songs talked about drinking and sex and having a good time...
My daughter cheers for a recreational park football league at the white parents got upset when the announcer played Soulja Boy. The black parents said let the kids do the dance. It's cute!!
My university's Mascot did the Soulja Boy at the first home game and the black population is only about 8%.
They coopted the "YUUUUAH" as part of the chant.
When I used to waitress at Gameworks and 50 cent first came out a white parent bought here (14?) year old child the cd for her birthday...and er reasoning was that, "Oh I dont think the kids really listen to the bad stuff..they don't understand it."
Like I said...not a Black issue...an American issue.
And the dance is cute even if the song is a mess.
So what are you saying jj,
That all black people have ever wanted is lewd and crass music? Is that the argument that you are trying to make? Because if that's really the case, I will burn my black loyalty pass my own damn self.
Professor Tracey said...
"If black athletes are worried about their safety, they should stay out of strip clubs and night clubs, they should stop pushing around fans in public, and they should stop wearing "bling bling" jewelry that says "I'm here, rob me." They should stop carrying weapons, hire bodyguards, and keep their million dollar asses at home with their wives, girlfriends, and baby mamas."
I'm exhausted from reading the comments here, not to mention Gina's excellent post. I'd hope the comments would have taken a different tone, but hey, that's why folks come to this site, I guess.
I must say it's all fascinating read and I'm looking forward to further discussions, especially if there will be a podcast. But Prof. Tracey, your statement as quoted above: what are you trying to say here? Shouldn't people be able to go where they want to go without being threatened? Perhaps the issue is not where these guys find themselves when they get in trouble, but the KIND of guys that the scouts and teams are plucking from. These young brothas have always hung out in strip clubs, always had baby mamas and participated in underground dog fighting. The industry doesn't care what kind of person they are; they just need them to play ball. Someone referred to them as million dollar slaves, which is exactly what they are. This thing runs DEEP. But even with that, they should be able to live their lives how they want to, even if that means going to strip club, without the threat of violence (as long as it isn't illegal, that is).
I must say it's all fascinating read and I'm looking forward to further discussions, especially if there will be a podcast. But Prof. Tracey, your statement as quoted above: what are you trying to say here? Shouldn't people be able to go where they want to go without being threatened? Perhaps the issue is not where these guys find themselves when they get in trouble, but the KIND of guys that the scouts and teams are plucking from. These young brothas have always hung out in strip clubs, always had baby mamas and participated in underground dog fighting. The industry doesn't care what kind of person they are; they just need them to play ball. Someone referred to them as million dollar slaves, which is exactly what they are. This thing runs DEEP. But even with that, they should be able to live their lives how they want to, even if that means going to strip club, without the threat of violence (as long as it isn't illegal, that is).
Amen.
woman in transition, I know first hand a lot of these kids are recruited from inner cities projects here in the suburbs of Atlanta. You will be amazed to see black and white coaches knocking our doors and asking the kids do they want to play ball. This start at about age 7-8 years old. I applaud them for getting these kids off the streets, but what happens after football and basketball season.
@Miss Issues: there's definitely a method to their madness. I mean, really, we're talking about millions (perhaps billions) of dollars at stake here. It's a matter of picking the best product for your franchise!
@ JJ and Woman in Transition,
I am not saying that these athletes cannot go where they wish, but to realize that their circumstances have CHANGED. These guys are multi-millionaires!!!! And they are famous!!!! They are no longer average citizens and should not pretend that they are.
If a famous black athlete or entertainer feels so UNSAFE that they feel the need to arm themselves to go to the club, YES, they should stay at home. They are endangering themselves and others by carrying weapons.
A lot of these athletes feel ENTITLED and INVINCIBLE!!!! Getting into fights and arguments at nightclubs is stupid and dangerous for a pro athlete. They have EVERYTHING to lose!!!!! The player from the Denver Broncos got killed that way and he was not the first to go over a petty argument.
Like Gina pointed out, a lot of these guys have been PLAYING
"celebrity gangster" until someone got hurt or killed and then it's the "endangered black pro athlete."
Pacman Jones caused death and destruction by wantonly tossing several thousand dollars into the air in a strip club. Athletes
wearing several thousands of jewerly and carrying thousands of dollars in cash on you without a bodyguard and not in the V.I.P. section of a nightclub are ASKING to be robbed or worse.
And let's not make excuses for black athletes. Many white athletes come from poor backgrounds and single-parent homes and they are not doing half the things black athletes are doing. In fact, there are plenty of black athletes from the same background, not getting into trouble.
Further, these are not kids, these are grown ass men!!!! Dennis Rodman is over forty. So is Mike Tyson. Still in trouble. Allen Iverson is 32, Michael Vick, 27. How low should they get before they grow up? They are responsible for their behavior.
Michael Vick had enough money to start a legitimate business for his friends. Rae Carruth should have had protected sex or paid the child support money, but no, he and four OTHER brothers came up with the plan to kill the woman carrying his child. Kobe Bryant is not from the hood. What is his excuse?
To me, one of the MAIN reasons for black men's struggle in society is their repeated failure to recognize, compromise, and comprehend regular, everyday circumstances. Basic commonsense issues.
If you want to go into a hood nightclub flossing your jewelry and cash, you should have enough brains to KNOW that makes you a target. If you want to engage in fights with members of the public, you should have enough brains to KNOW that a physical altercation could end up costing you your life or your freedom.
I've heard people call the Spurs boring (for their on the court game, inside-out, sound fundamentally not worried about being streetball fancy) but never because they aren't getting into trouble off the court.
Sean Taylor had a security system but like many he didnt have it activated.
Being from Florida, my mom had a machete but it was in the garage (which is where Pedro Taylor said his son's was usually until the house was robbed the first time). She used in when doing yard work.
Like Shecodes and JJ are saying, I agree, enough blame to go around. Battling over which is to blame is useless when everyone is to blame when it comes to hip hop.
Men, women, executives, artists, advertisers, all races, all ages, etc.
And let's not make excuses for black athletes. Many white athletes come from poor backgrounds and single-parent homes and they are not doing half the things black athletes are doing. In fact, there are plenty of black athletes from the same background, not getting into trouble.
True Tracey. There are more than 1600 NFL players. Its not black athletes, its knuckleheads. Too many times we make that synonymous.
Symphony said: Its not black athletes, its knuckleheads.
Amen. You can take a lion out of the jungle, but you can't take the jungle out of the lion. Someone once said that money turns you into who you REALLY are.
Many white athletes come from poor backgrounds and single-parent homes and they are not doing half the things black athletes are doing. In fact, there are plenty of black athletes from the same background, not getting into trouble.
That's not true. The white boys get n Major trouble the press just doesn't repot on it...like Peyton's rape charge and Farvre's Alcoholism are just a few examples..
Gina writes, "Gina, I am sick of you and your gloom and doom blog! AND YOUR POSTS ARE TOO LONG! - Begone PEST!!!"....
As for the length of the posts, there are plenty of blogs where you can go to look at pretty pictures. I visit them myself on a daily basis. THIS ain't one of those blogs.
------------
Are you referring to me???? LOL.
I cannot help it. I like pictures. LOL
I support a dress code and a no braids policy (for males) in professional sports. The operative word is "professional." As a professional athlete, you should be required to dress in a professional manner while working.
The professional sport leagues should start enforcing the moral turpitude provisions of their contract with signed athletes. Being a professional athlete is a privilege, not a right. Therefore, if they engage in behavior (both on and off the courts/fields) that violates or act contrary community standards of justice, honesty, or good morals, then the league should kick them to the curb.
@JJ
If you're going to cherry-pick statements out of an entire post, please read more carefully. I clearly said "many" and "white and black athletes from the same background do NOT get in the same kind of trouble."
There is absolutely nothing UNTRUE about that statement!!!!
"Being a professional athlete is a priviledge not a right".......ummmmm, what paying job do I have a right too?...that would be handy in case I'm ever fired. I need to know where I can go and a job is guaranteed simply by virtue of my right to it.
"The 'good rap' is the rap that is in hiding, and the 'crap rap' is the one on the radio.
That's a great quote!
Great post! What was it about the Montgomery Bus Boycott that unified Black Americans irrespective of gender and class to refuse to ride Montgomery City buses for well over a year? What is that we will not forgo music and media from Interscope, VH1, MTV, BET knowing good and well that the bumpin' beat we listen to is detrimental to our child's mind. I think sometimes black folk talk out both sides of their mouths when they denounce rap lyrics but then continue to allow such music to be played at the family reunion, wedding reception, etc. I guess my point is that it is the CONSUMER who has the power to impact what the corporation profits from by not buying what the corporation is selling. What a great message it would send if we just didn't buy this stuff. Sometimes, I think there is an unwillingness to sacrifice anything on our parts.
Ouch!
Man that was a very well written post but I think there are some very popular stereotyping going on.
It is unfair to characterize a athelets as thugs when the majority are what you would consider "good black" men.
What you see are the "highlights" that get dragged through the media, rightly so, for their behavior and unjustly so for the way they look. Whites have been complaining about the black jocks for a while now. Why else would put out a dress code? The NFL is now getting in the act not because they worry about the effect these men have on their community but instead on their white ticket base.
Allen Iverson was the darling of ticket sales for the NBA till white fans began to feel they were to many of him running around and threatened to stop going to games.
The Spurs are a nice team but they are considered boring because the stlye of play is BORING. Dallas, Phonix, and a host of other teams have good citizens playing for them but people enjoy there games.
As for rap, these artists do not make nearly as much money as you think. The days of coming up with your own label and keeping the money is over. The moment you sell a 100,000 units a label swoops down drops a heavy advance which you have to pay back, and keep all the publishing rights to your music. When theys say they are not making any money off a million dollar sold album they are not lying that is why they are hell bent on other avenues of sales like ring tones and clothing lines and movies. Something the labels have not been able to get at.
And yes whites will tell you what to say or sing about or did every one forget about Keke palmer? It is called a formula. When some one comes out with a winning one it becomes monkey see monkey do. Any good "biz-ness" will follow that logic and that is what the music indusrty is a BIZ-NESS. You wasnt to blame some one for bad music blame politics for cutting music programs at schools, blame parents who do not monitor what the kids listen to, blame radio stations that will hold fund raisers than play some Soulja Bouy and TI in the next breath. I cant blame men for taking advantage of a system set up for the easy way out.