I not only just shake my head at Williams but also at [mostly white people] who condenm and talk about how much they despise hip-hop and rap (to which they never seem able to differentiate, heck they even confuse it with R&B). Something about their tone or attitude, online and offline, just sounds so ugly and subtextual. Never hear that same sort when it comes to “mainly white” occupied genres of music.

I especially hate it when they tend to derail any interesting conversation on a subject like this. Glad it hasn’t happened here. =)

But I think that some of these conversation usually get bogged down between the gansta vs. conscious dichotomy. It often sidelines other forms in hip-hop music. Among them: it was music you can dance to.

Actually dance to.

Not the “booty shaking” and “clothed sex” people proclaim to be part and parcel to all-black clubs (ignoring that such dancing exists in the the mainly white–usually referred to as “mixed” clubs) but actual dancing.

But as soon as you mentioned Hydroponic Sound System singing about writing, that got my attention, and although that track’s not on their myspace page, the stuff that is appeals. I’m bookmarking this post and the comments so that I can seek out more of this quality music when I get back to the States.

And that’s why it’s important that people of conscience stop funding these conglomerates that are out to denigrate Black women and girls!

artistatheart, you betta preach.

Hey Sara F., check out Akrobatik, J-Live, The Last Emperor, KRS-One, MURS, Little Brother, The Flight Brothers, JazzAddixx, Hieroglyphics. I could go on for days because there is so much good HipHop out there worth exploring.

A radio station’s job is not to advance an art form, nor is it the record company’s job to do so.

Their job is to make money. The lowest “common denominator” (i.e. most base and easily digestible thing) tends to make the most money.

This is why I have such a difficulty buying into “Corporate America wants to numb the Black youth’s mind” theories, at least as a sole cause for this phenomenon. Economics explains what we see as well as any conspiracy. Hence the solution I posit – put your money where your mouth is if you want “good” music. Everywhere I turned around, I saw advertisment’s for The Roots’ “Game Theory”, and Lupe Fiasco was unescapable leading up to “The Cool”. What happened?

Similarly, the same kids that are saying they are tired of misogyny and violence are the ones banging “Superman Dat Hoe” and “Coffee Shop”… songs that are not overt with what they are saying and hide behind danceable music.