The latest truth from Jay Smooth
by Carmen Van Kerckhove
I’m really enjoying Jay Smooth’s video blog, Ill Doctrine. Check out these two excellent analyses of what’s wrong with the way we talk about hip hop.
First, a rant about the line Russell Simmons kept parroting on Oprah’s town hall meeting on hip hop about “the poets who speak the truth you don’t want to hear”:
Then, some thoughts on how the public discourse on hip-hop culture takes place within soundbyte-driven media where it’s almost impossible to talk real talk about complex issues:
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
Terell wrote:
In reference to the second video, I have always had a hard time with the over simplification that mainstream = bad underground = good. Common, one of my favorite artists and a poster child for the underground/positive hip hop, has said some questionable things about homosexuality, women & interracial dating. I don’t chuck his music in the trash but instead try to think of him as complicated like everyone else.
-T
Posted 02 Jul 2007 at 11:06 am ¶
S wrote:
Nice. I like his blog. Thanks, Carmen!
Posted 02 Jul 2007 at 11:53 am ¶
eric daniels wrote:
Jay Smooth is talking common sense on this issue, Hip- Hop has four elements and we know them verbatim and when you mix money and big buisness with an artform people are going to use the worst common demoninator Jusk go to Easy E’s grave. Dre and Easy were hustlers and in some songs they did report ‘reality’ but in most cases they were doing what sells in America sexism, violence, and anti- social attitudes.
St8 outta of compton did not get played on mainstream radio in 1988 much like Public Enemy’s ‘It takes a Nation of Millions.
Jay is also right that there is a lot of overomanticizing of Hip- Hop and I would like to add classic R&B music also, for every EWF, P-Funk ,Aretha, and Curtis Mayfield there were also Blowfly, Millie Jackson, and Clarence Carter saying sexual things that would make Lil Kim blush. I would advise people to watch the documentary called Corporation and listen to Milton Friedman on what he thinks a company’s responsiblity is to the public good None whatsoever.
Instead of listening to talking heads like Oprah, Stanley Crouch, Jason Whitlock and Black Feminists who have no clue expect to be melodramatic on an issue that is complicated we listen to people like Sarah Jones, Joan Morgan, Mark Anthony Neal, Bakari Kitwana Mc Lyte, Monica Lynch Common and people who are like actually involved in the music and culture.
Posted 02 Jul 2007 at 4:08 pm ¶
LM wrote:
Co-sign eric daniels
Posted 02 Jul 2007 at 5:06 pm ¶
Karen wrote:
I also co-sign with ED….
Posted 03 Jul 2007 at 9:39 am ¶