My observation shows an overlooking of the effect on hip hop culture. Walking through the mall you will see a young male with baggy jeans, timberland boots and a doorag on his head. Guess what? He's white. And nobody's laughing at him.
I understand the negative connotations in rap. It started in the 70's. It hit the charts in the 80's. By the 90's a new culture was born that did not discriminate if you had flavor.
Hip Hop is not a black issue. It's a life style. Bubba Sparx sang about being in love with a stripper. Have we forgotten about Kid Rock's 1998 album title? Devil Without a Cause. Not to mention the joint venture of Aerosmith with Run DMC. A notable mention has to go to Vanilla Ice. Though nobody interested in "Ice Ice Baby," his fellow white rappers should be thanking him for paving the way.
It is more than rival battling on wax or telling a down trodden story of your life. Hip Hop is about being heard, getting your story out and no different from the heavy metal screeching over a loud beat with equally offensive language and sometimes subliminal messaging.
The Gangsta Rappers in the 90's with a chip on their shoulders (Ice Cube, Ice Tea, Dr. Dre, Tupac, Biggie Smalls,) and an ingenious way to tell us about their struggles changed the game. The gimmick was shock value. They had us, reeled us in hook line and sink. There were some white Gangsta's too, Eminem. He rapped of killing his wife, kidnapping his child, an unfit drug addicted abusive mother.
It was something new. Didn't bother us until it was heard bumping through our suburban neighborhood. We ran to the window to see what or who was causing them to rattle. Our sons or daughters in our car were the culprit. A problem was born.
We watched the half naked women gyrating in the video, heard the vile language. Sad but true , some of us snapped our fingers and tapped our toes. We couldn't get the "hook" out of our heads.
