The Black poet Phillis Wheatley had composed many incredible poems in the 18th century that wowed audiences in the American colonies and in Europe. However, as an enslaved African, she was viewed as intellectually inferior due to the European intellectual climate of the time. She had to go before a committee to determine that she had actually authored her poems; the committee verified her authorship. Along with this, the elites she was challenging did not take her seriously, and Thomas Jefferson deemed her work derivative and unoriginal. This is an early example of a Black artist seeking validation for her work, and facing immense conflict in doing so from white elites.
Over 200 years later, Black art forms still face many challenges as well, especially with Hip-Hop and the mainstream’s understanding of the genre. This genre originated within African American communities, and from its most early days made an effort to educate people about the conditions in poorer communities. Grandmaster Flash’s 1982 song “The Message” was a very socially conscious song about the difficult conditions within his community in his native New York. These themes continue into the present day. In 1988 N.W.A. released the album Straight Outta Compton, which brought more hardcore hip-hop to the public eye. This was a much different confrontation than Grandmaster Flash’s examination of poverty and violence, which was more of a reflection of how depressing the situation of the urban poor is. Straight Outta Compton was an aggressive polemic that was looking from the inside out, and explained to the listeners essentially: “this is the reality we live in, and this is how people in our situation react to our surroundings.” The song “Fuck the Police,” one of the most popular songs from the album, directly implicates the police for terrorizing Black people in Compton, and talks about committing violence against cops.
With these kinds of themes becoming more common, hip-hop came under fire from political figures and the mainstream media. Bill O’Reilly said: “The rap industry often glorifies depraved behavior, and that sinks into the minds of some young people.” Kirk Jones from the hardcore hip-hop group Onyx responded to a similar statement by a reporter saying: “We don't glorify violence. Yo, put it like this: The government pass an anti-crime bill to put more money into brothers playing midnight basketball. I’m saying that’s cool and all, but meanwhile it’s hard as hell to get a grant for college. And now they talking about cutting off poor people from welfare? You damn right people is violent. But it ain’t cause of hip hop, know what I'm saying? But speaking for myself, I feel that by bringing out the truth we will only be making things better.”
Between Phillis Wheatley and the examples about hip-hop music, there appears to be a common theme throughout history of Black art forms not being acknowledged as legitimate or taken seriously. With regards to hip-hop, White America has criticized its content and misunderstood its intentions, and with this also criminalized blackness in a way, believing that hip-hop, a Black art form, is an endorsement of deviant behavior. This should call to the public’s attention a reevaluation of hip-hop as well as in a broader historical scale the way Black art forms are viewed and inserted into mainstream discourse.
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Pledged: Warren Socher
I really like the parallels you draw between Phillis Wheatley and rap, especially as many refuse to see hip-hop or rap as art, just as Phillis Wheatley struggled to gain respect for her expression. Your points reminded me of an article I recently read that speaks on the ways that black musicians are often placed into the categories of rap and R&B, even if they make music well outside of those genres. Even if these artists are well received or gain widespread audiences, they are still categorized in ways that are bounded by their race. Another example of this is the Grammy Award for "Urban Contemporary" music. Though created to acknowledge diverse voices, this label inherently places artists as less than their white counterparts, discounting their distinct perspectives. I definitely agree with you that we need to expand our views of what art can be, and who can make it.
ReplyDeleteArticle: https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/black-musicians-on-being-boxed-in-by-randb-and-rap-expectations-we-fit-in-so-many-things/
I also really like the parallel you made with Phillis Wheatley and hip hop. Hip-hop starts as the only way black people could force others to listen to the realities they were living in. The hostility and violence that came across in the music was only a product of what they had endured throughout their lives. This also made me think of how many people even today still brush rap artists off as dumb black folks who just got lucky with a hit song. Just like Phillis Wheatley, they dismiss the idea that they are even able to have artistic and creative thoughts. Many rap artists are extremely bright and work extremely hard to achieve their accomplishments. It seems sometimes that rap is on trial as well because many still do not take the genre seriously. It also seems that sometimes rappers that are most successful are the white ones. White rappers are seen as less threatening than African Americans who founded the genre as an opposition to current society. Although Eminem is a wildly talented person, I sometimes wonder if he would have reached the same amount of success, holding 2 of the top 4 best selling albums of all time, if he were black.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.complex.com/music/2013/05/the-50-best-selling-rap-albums/eminem-the-eminem-show