I'm a closet hip hop fan. Its not a secret that I have various artists in my collection, but I never listen to it around others. Number one, I feel too old and number two, I feel too white. Nothing like a 29 yr. old jamming out to Eve in the not so diverse Salt Lake.
For any of you who have seen "Office Space" all I can think of is that scrawny white guy rapping (kind of) to "Damn it feels good to be a gangsta" in his car and then quickly turning it down when he passed an African American. Yeah, not so much. The movie drives me nuts, but that scene is funny. I've thought a lot about this issue of rap/hip hop and have mostly approached it from a sociological/feminist analysis. I think I over-intellectualize it so it seems more rational to me.
I've been told that rap actually stands for rhythmic american poetry. Whether that is true, I haven't a clue. They say that most of the sales of rap come from young white teenage boys. This is not to say that the Black culture isn't purchasing the music, they are, but just think who really has the economic power to buy the cd's.
I usually listen to this music when I'm cleaning or needing some sort of energy (windows and doors shut however). I dated an African American a few years ago. I can honestly say I am out of touch with the scene and lingo. When I was with him I was SHOCKED by how much violence, adultery, sex, anti-women lyrics he jammed out to. I began to wonder if the music we listen to really reflects who we identify with.... I should have listened to my gut as he cheated on me several times.
For the record, I mostly have pro-feminist power hip hop.
