His Point of View

Let me start with a disclaimer:

I love rap music, I grew up in the 1980′s so it is a part of who I am.  I kind of, sort of like Soulja Boy and many of the artisit who rap about money and drugs while they “…say the word nigga like it makes their teeth white.”- (excerpt form an interview of Paul Mooney, not related to the topic at hand, or the rap industry at all)

Ok, so I like many of the people I am about to discuss… but I like their music, not necessarily their message.  I am a fan of good music yet some of the lyrical content is disturbing to me.

Last year I took a trip to South Korea. This year I took a trip to South Africa. You may ask, What’s the  common thread  here? And if you were to ask I would say the influence of American “urban culture” (the hip hop/rap culture).  When I stepped off the plane in Korea I had no idea that I would not see another person of African descent (aside from the one friend who I knew from college) for 3 solid days, furthermore I only recall coming in contact with two people of European descent for those 3 days as well. But that’s not the point of this post.  The point of this post is that despite being on the other side of the Earth I was surrounded by American hip hop culture and rap music… and all of it was not good in my opinion.

As I wandered the streets of Seoul, Gapeyong, Chuncheon, and Bukmeyon (surprisingly it appears that I spelled all of those places correctly on my first attempt… I am improving at this memory thing) I was greeted by young adult Koreans who could speak some English as a result of it being a required course in the public schools there.  I was not greeted as you may imagine, by a smile, a handshake, a hello, or Ahn Yong hasehyo…but rather with a dance.  What dance you ask??? The “Crank that Soulja boy dance.” The first two occurrences caused me to think that it was  it was interesting that they were familiar with our culture… But I was in Korea for 8 days and by day 3 I was thoroughly disappointed that the “Crank that” dance is the first thing that comes to mind when these people see a black man from America.   There was one particular day when I had to endure 3, maybe 4 live performances; in the bus station, on the side walk, in the mall…everywhere I went people would break out into the Soulja Boy dance before approaching me.  Once the dancing was over I had decent conversation… well after they asked if I knew Andre 3000, Soulja Boy, 50 Cent, and so on.  Ok, so  you are probably thinking that I am over reacting, or that its no big deal, or that its good that our culture is accepted world wide.  Well if only it were that simple. Outside of Seoul the Korean people were not familiar with African Americans aside from what they saw in music videos.  And that is the disturbing part.  Imagine that half of the world literally, knows nothing about you, your culture, and your experiences, except for what they see in music videos.  Well you don’t have to imagine, because that’s pretty much the truth.  The few television shows and movies that show a decent view or even a positive view of life as an African American are not translated or even aired around the world but music videos certainly are.

What about South Africa?  Well my experience there was somewhat different.  Well it definitely was not an issue with race, because mostly everyone there was black or coloured(in Africa there is certainly a difference between being black and coloured).  But there as I wrote yesterday there was a disconnect from what they imagined life in America was like compared to the reality of life here is for an African American.  But still the hip hop culture was pervasive.  They have a whole other genre of music in S. Africa, which is a blend of hiphop/rap style and African song styles and African drum rhythms.  This is in addition to the standard mainstream rap artists we have here in the states.  Unlike in Korea, I did not hear any American rap played in the bars or in people’s cars as I wandered around town.  But it was still clear that their Young urban class was heavily influenced by ours.

I decided to try not to make this post too negative.  I could have gone on about who needs to clean up what, and how our rappers and record labels are not considerate of how the world views “urban America”  but I think any reasonable person an connect the dots.  What will say is that if more of these celebrities took a day when on tour to see the real behind the scenes look of how their foreign fans live, they would not be able to continue to produce much of the stereotypical, garbage that is being promoted these days.  If they really got to see what is going on in the world when they tour or vacation they would have to be completely selfish and motivated purely by money if they did not change their ways.  That is not who I want representing my culture.

Richard Pryor was formerly the king of the word nigga/nigger but even he said that when he went to Africa he stepped off the plane and he did not see any niggers/niggas.  And upon his return to the states he was determined to stop using the word in his skits.   Travel should change who you are, if it does not, you are not stepping far enough outside your familiar routine and that is unfortunate.   But it is clear to me that many entertainers from the inner city are not exposed to what life is like outside of the bubble in which they live.  If only they had a clue as to the influence they have on the world. Few entertainers have the power to start or stop a trend on their own… but when 5 mediocre to average artists perpetuate a similar theme or stereotype, it infects the world just the same.

The generation that was raised on and still thrives on rap/hip hop is about to be in the world’s driver’s seat… we need to act like it.   If you must “Represent” at least do a good job of it, and make sure you put some real thought into what and who you are representing.

On another note… I came across this video today of a street poet & musician and I wanted to share it.  Check out the entire clip if you can, at the least just enjoy the music(starting at 0:48).  Click Here