A couple of days ago, Doc Oc mentioned how his least favorite college basketball player, Nolan Smith for the Duke Blue Devils, has been described as being a “surprisingly articulate” young man. We discussed the racial problems that are associated with that description. Is it just naturally assumed that all whites are articulate? I’ve heard some very insightful Caucasian speakers, and yet never heard of them being “surprisingly” good with words. Also, on the other end of the spectrum, would a white person who don’t speak too good be thought of as surprisingly unintelligent? And then does our society feel that the majority of African Americans do not speak very eloquently? I would hope not, but I think that I have proved myself wrong.
It would be hard to find a teenager in America who doesn’t know who Jay-Z is. He is one of the most famous rappers in the world, and appeals to a great number of teenagers. I personally prefer other genres of music, but I acknowledge Jay-Z’s talent and success. Jay-Z, like most other rappers, raps about drugs, sex, and murder. He also tosses around curse words as if no one would take offense. Jay-Z is, quite honestly, not the type of person who I would think of as articulate. Yet Jay-Z proved me wrong when he appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher (click here to watch a segment). In this interview, Jay-Z touched on some very important issues, and spoke with high intellect. I remember being surprised at how insightful he was. It took me by surprise that someone who uses such vulgar language for a living could speak with such grace and intellect. I would like to think that the only reason that this took me by surprise is that he is a rapper, and that I would think the same think for all rappers, regardless of race. Yet, I can’t help but wonder whether this is more of a racial issue than it appears to be.
Yeah, I think that we often are surprised when people, especially black performers such as rappers and sports players, have almost two different personalities. Why does Jay-z rap with such ferocious language, but when interviewed he assumes a "intellectual" personality type? I think there is a standard when it comes to rap that you have to be racist and vulgar in order for it to be considered "good". If Jay-Z IS "articulate", why does he chose to sing about drugs and murder etc. while cursing every other word?
ReplyDeleteI'd like to add to Henry's response that rap has to be vulgar in order to, not only b be considered good by a lot of its fans, but also to be commercially successful. There are plenty of rappers who talk about political and social issues but they tend to be less mainstream. I think something can be said about the responsibility of corporate interests in the projection of the negative image of African Americans seen in rap music.
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