A Week Later And We're Still Whitlocking

Da Realist:

discuss...

Gangsta D:

I'm so burned out on Whitlock. I'm creative. I hope to someday have a major movie made or a show on tv. I believe in freedom of creative expression. I don't care if Whitlock hates what hip hop has become or if he thinks it's too tied to prison culture. Artists have a right to express their creativity, or what they think is creativity, to whoever wants to listen or watch. Hip hop is a red herring. It's the boogey-man. Keyser Soze. "Look at all the ni**as going crazy because Snoop smokes weed and lets his pants sag." It's a fallacy. There are problems in the black community because our families are crumbling. Our support structure is failing in some instances. I listened to the most gangsta of gangsta rap growing up. Yet I have no desire to hold a gun or prove to someone how tough I am. I generally treat women with respect. There are legitimate instances where respect is not deserved:) And I think I'm a valuable member of society. Why? Because my mother wouldn't have it any other way. I was raised right. Home trained to NOT be a thug or a knucklehead. I could recieve all the negative stimuli the world has to offer, yet I would not change.

I firmly believe that if a child is raised right, it doesn't matter what they see or hear from the outside world. They will behave. The problem is, we're not all raising our kids to respect women. To respect the law. To give general respect. If you took the prison culture out of hip hop, is that gonna keep moms from dropping their kids off to Big Ma's while they hit the club AGAIN? Is that going to magically cause some to value education. Persecuting a scapegoat never solved a problem.

Da Realist:

I can see both of your points. i miss those creative discussion classes in high school. we would rip this apart.

And let me not underestimate those impromptu, 11:30 pm, middle of the week, gather-in-someone's-room-talking-about-nothing-and-then-all-of-a sudden discussions at morehouse about the state of the world, school, culture, race, sports, life, sports as it relates to life, relationships, plans, etc. i miss this aspect of school more than anything.

Gangsta D:

That was the best thing about school, hands down. I honestly feel I've become dumber because i don't have that interaction any more. Just don't have the opportunity for those conversations anymore.

But back to Jay Dub. My thing is, you can lament what effect hip hop has on kids. That's fine. But if that's the focus of your program, i have a problem. I want to know what you have DONE or are DOING. What are your actions? Are you a mentor, a big brother, a tutor? Have you donated time, money, and effort to make a difference in someone's life. Have you taken a kid under your wing to groom him as your protege? If there hasn't been any action behind the words, then you're just posturing for publicity's sake. That, i have a problem with.

Waldini:

Post college I had interaction with one person (you remember Jonathan from the wedding D?) about topics like these and we would randomly meet somewhere like Black Eyed Pea or Chick Fil A and just talk. I agree with both of you on that. My wife and I have dialogue like this from time to time but that's just two people. Most other people around me want to talk about sports and music only. I like those topics but what about progressing as a people, or working together to be financially stable in 20 yrs. Or what about the state of US and where social security is headed. Morehouse definitely was a hodge pod for this. I still remember being amazed by AY at Spelman when we went over there for a relationship discussion :-)

Back to hip hop. D I saw your note to Whitlock and I think he's just in denial. The issue with hip hop is that companies are concerned with making money. PERIOD. There are artists out there like The Roots, J Live, MadLib, Little Brother, Murs, late J Dilla, Dilated Peoples, Jean Grae, etc making good music but they are not making money making music. I dont think hip hop has corrupted the community as J Whit is making it seem. It's more of people playing what the public wants to hear. And if that's what you are basing your rap opinion on, of course it's going to either suck or have negative connotations next to it.

You remember what I said on the infamous 2PD album...I hate people that talk a whole lot about what black people need to do and aint doing nothing. Add Whitlock's name to that :-)