Hip Hop/Rap Culture

*I'll start this week's post with an apology if hip hop and rap music are the same thing- my title alone may be an indicator to how removed I personally am from this genre of music and this week's topic of discussion.

When I've heard the name "Tupac" in the past, my mind would make associations with "rap music", " gangs and violence", "killed at a young age". I've seen his face on many t-shirts with Notorious B.I.G. and possibly other rappers that I couldn't point out in a line-up. To be completely honest, I probably wouldn't have associated Tupac with anything positive. My impression of rap music hasn't been too exciting either. I can't say that I completely doubted that there were legit messages in a few artists' songs, but the ability to get past all the profanity and vulgar lyrics to hear the true heart of the artist wasn't something I deemed worth my energy. However, I really enjoyed learning the history of Tupac and how it shaped his identity. Since we are working on our own Cultural Self Portrait's this week, the readings gave me more depth into just how much our parents and the environment we grow up play a part in who we ultimately can become.

Of the two readings about Tupac, I enjoyed Son of a Panther the most. I really liked how in the beginning of the reading it gave us Tupac's "family tree" so to speak: how his godfather was a Black Panther and his stepfather, aunt, and mother were all also part of the black movement in some shape or form. The author wrote how Tupac was essentially "born into the revolutionary movement" and the whole piece implied how because of his upbringing and the values his mom stood for, he almost had no choice but to pick up the mantle and follow in her footsteps. My Pastor always talks about how powerful genetics are and I believe Tupac's life is a great example of the validity in that statement. We are our parents. We have a choice to better or worsen our legacy, but we can't escape in the natural the strong genes that are passed from generation to generation. Tupac spoke in one of the article's about how he went through a rebellious stage and how he sort of learned from his mom's mistakes in some areas. Afeni, Tupac's mom, also spoke of how her son taught her to fight for what she believes while also having to work and earn money for her own survival. Another lesson that I took away from these biographies was how important it will be for me one day as a parent to be conscious of what I'm exposing my children to. Afeni raised her children in an environment that most parents would cringe and probably call Child Services at, but it was a core value that she completely believed in and lived her life for. Because of it, Tupac the same strong belief in black freedom and represented it in his lyrics and lifestyle.

The portions of the readings that stressed more of the artistic struggles of Tupac and other black rappers didn't have as much impact on me but I did find them insightful. I agree with one of the statements from Give Me a Pen and Paper where the author writes how the hip hop/rap culture has seemed to have a strong negative impact on black women. I completely believe that artists have a special power to influence the views of others and when they use it talk about getting rich, objectifying women, violence, and other things of that sort then they can't be upset when people have such negatives views about African Americans and the ghetto. I do, however, feel bad for the artists that do use their musical ability to stress important social issues but are ignored based on stereotypes. Sadly, I've been guilty of doing that myself with some of these artists. I've been fortunate enough to grow up far away from the lifestyle that many of these hip hop/rap artists talk about, but to make assumptions that life is so hard that it forces people to live a life of violence and complete chaos is absurd. We hear stories all the time about African Americans growing up in extremely harsh conditions but making the choice to choose a lifestyle apart from drugs, violence, and "street life". I don't want it to seem like I'm against artists being "honest" because I'm not. But why focus only on the negative when you are in a position of power that could be a vehicle of change in some of these areas that they speak so passionately about.

If I said I'm on my way out to buy all Tupac's CDs after reading these short biography's about his life and artistic history, I'd be lying. But what I did take away from his life is how much our family history and the choices are parent's make can influence our lives. At the end of the day each person is responsibility for their own decisions and the path they choose to take, but being born and raised half way down a particular road will definitely make it that much harder to turn around a go down another one.