"Just like music" is something Marvin Gaye once sang, but what is the true definition of music, hip-hop in particular?
When I was watching a rerun of "A Different World," the definition Mr. Gaines gave for rap music was "loud noise with kids bobbing their heads like they got a problem or something." Or, as Jasmine Guy's character, Whitley, said, "Rap is just a bunch of noise with people speaking so fast. You can't understand it. It's just garbage."
But nowadays, what really counts as hip-hop and R&B music?
On Easter Sunday, as I watching The Soul Train Music Awards, in the category of "New Hip Hop/R&B Artist of the Year," Bubba Sparxxx was nominated. Personally I was surprised, but not because of the song, "Ugly," but because of Bubba's skin color.
A good friend of mine had heard "Ugly" many times, but had never seen the video, so he didn't know Bubba was white until I told him. I don't know about Bubba, but I haven't heard the word "nigga" or "faggot" come out of his mouth. I have never, however, listened to his whole album, as I have with Eminem.
I wonder if Enimem is making a mockery of hip-hop music. Two very good hip-hop artists said this is an article in Newsweek: "Hip-hop was created out of love - a love for a culture and a people. We gotta get back to that."-Common.
"The problem is that the people at the top are only letting one type of music through," said Chuck D of Public Enemy.
When I hear statements like that, it makes me think about Enimem's music.
For example, Enimem is being mass-produced, despite many conversional songs on both albums. He repeatedly says the word "faggot," but said in an interview he would never say the word "nigga" because he understands the word offends and hurts people.
If I were an African-American, homosexual male, couldn't I be offended by either word? Just because a person uses one word over another doesn't make it right.
People still listen to Eminem just the same. He has three Grammys, while Public Enemy has none. Could Chuck D's statement be true? Public Enemy helped people in Arizona celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday the correct way be getting the state to recognize it as a national holiday. I don't know what Enimem has done to bring people together. Is he that extraordinary? Or is this an example of white privilege?
I think a statement made by Judy Shepard, mother of slain Wyoming student Matthew Shepard, said it best: "There's good MTV and bad MTV. Good MTV will stop music and talk about hate crimes or have an anti-hate commercial, but bad MTV will show a video by Enimem later on."
I have to agree. Why can Enimem be played during peak hours, but Afro Man's "Because I Got High" could only be played after midnight? Maybe there's more to the picture than anyone knows.
So, what is music? Is there such a thing as white music or black music? Are there clear-cut lines of what is hip-hop, what is R&B, and what is pop? I don't know, but that's something I'll be talking about next week.
Write to Moses at Moses_41@hotmail.com
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