Sleep Is The Cousin Of Death
I had a nightmare last night. I was both a self-reflective 24 year-old kid and a seasoned old man. I lived in a world where Hip-Hop had changed. It lacked balance; I couldn’t relate to it; I wasn’t sure if I still knew how to (or if I wanted to) defend it from a constant barrage of scrutiny. Sitting up in the dark and dripping with sweat I wondered if I was actually the one who needed to wake up.
A generation of young men silenced by ethics of no snitchin and real talk; screw faced with empty and misguided anger of ice grills and immobilized by a nervous two-step. The newest generations of listeners don’t know Hip-Hop as the schizophrenic genius that could be a wise teacher, playful party promoter, slick charmer or providing father. No, Hip-Hop is limiting itself to a one-dimensional stone face with three-dimensional irony painted all over it. The standards of manhood are being narrowed in the ears and eyes of the whippersnappers. And those who are emerging appear to be more smart-mouthed little boys than thoughtful grown-ass men.
Pussy! Faggot! Bitch ass! These are the terms of most powerful degradation in Hip-Hop today. These are words that question manhood and remove power and respect from one’s male peers. A fear of stepping outside the appropriate attributes of masculinity has rappers looking like the confused adolescent demographic who are buying into their image. Insecurity is the driving force of the false swagger that dominates the tone of so much new rap. The product, a prototype of confidence for young men who want direction, an image of certainty amongst the most uncertain of times. The fun and thoughtfulness, which made hip-hop so beautiful and so engaging, is being sapped by an androgynous machismo assembly line. If insecurity controls what kind of men we will become then insecure men we will be. To never be weakened by emotion, to always get yours despite its effects on others, and to use an index finger rather than a brain to assert power.
So who feels the wrath of John Wayne with unlaced Timbs? His children, his girl, his community, and ultimately himself. To be comforted by the belief that the self-serving outlaw image defies the rules of an oppressive society at large is an even larger-scale misinterpretation. The sense of empowerment that said bravado inspires has equally deceiving benefits. A man who believes his agency and his virtues are limited will be limited in his achievements. Being a star in your hood will most likely mean you are never a presence for your children and never relevant in society at large. The achievements of these ideals of maleness force one to abdicate one’s humanity. Having the balls to shoot a gun might make you a man, but not that man of integrity who has the heart to walk his son to school.
11:37 pm on July 12th, 2007
the truth…
12:05 am on July 13th, 2007
le DUKE!
12:05 am on July 13th, 2007
le DUKE!
12:05 am on July 13th, 2007
le DUKE!
4:18 am on July 13th, 2007
Beautifully expressed. And great title.
5:03 am on July 13th, 2007
Wake up and put your dick back on, you pussy boy bitch!
;)
8:17 am on July 13th, 2007
Amen.
9:38 am on July 13th, 2007
And again, I remember why I read Palms Out within 20 minutes of sitting at my desk every morning.
9:50 am on July 13th, 2007
Nice topic…
The state of hip hop, tho?
Honestly, that’s fairly cliche at this point. Newer music (in general) having certain qualities? sure… it’s an art form. You just may be listening to the wrong records. It feels like you are trying to justify putting Lil Wayne up on your site, there is no reason to do this. No reason to judge.
I love what you put up on the site, for real, love, love the sh*t BUT scrutiny? I hope that exists in your dream world more than on POS.
Best,
Ciz
12:12 pm on July 13th, 2007
No.. this is pretty accurate.
3:16 pm on July 13th, 2007
I’m pretty sure he is referring to the mass ‘hip hop’ garbage that clouds our airwaves. Sure there are plenty of records that are outstanding in every way, but you will never hear them on any clear/cox station.
4:30 pm on July 13th, 2007
Amen, fuck that bs macho shit it screams insecurity. Its time for some more real hip hop made by real people capable of expressing insecurity, doubt & helplessness as well as empowerment.
Versus Blog
9:24 pm on July 13th, 2007
Thoughtful and beatiful
1:46 pm on July 14th, 2007
holy fuckin shit
4:54 am on July 15th, 2007
I don’t usually have time to read all the posts, on all the blogs, but that was solid. Fortunately there are to still people making real Hip-Hop out there.
6:06 am on July 15th, 2007
vey eloquent… nice to have some one lay it down like that… too rare.
peter p
4:52 pm on July 16th, 2007
Great essay. Any fault about current rap lies with record companies. Teenagers buy most CDs and, being young, they respond to sensationalistic rap glorifying violence, cars, jewelry, and half-naked girls. Record companies could put out more thoughtful rap, but why bother when it’s more difficult to find and promote, and thus more expensive? As for the rappers, can they be blamed? Take and stand and say “I don’t want to rap about this” and they will find someone else who will. So what’s the point in saying no? Self respect? Is self respect worth it to be poor? All any of us can do is buy good CDs from those rappers that are making good music. We can’t beat the commerce of major labels any more than we can demand that Hollywood make better movies, or McDonald’s make low-fat food, or car companies make enegy effiecient cars. It’s all the same engine and has only to do with dollars, nothing deeper.
11:12 am on July 17th, 2007
@egan:
Apportioning blame is even more fraught with danger than assessing what ails the artform. Are the record companies alone to blame? Would consumers take whatever drivel they put out, unquestioningly?
(A college professor told me I had a tendency to rely on my mastery of the rhetorical, so I’ll actually make my points from here on.) Responsibility is diffused, which is what makes this such a maddeningly difficult societal malaise. A combination of declining personal responsibility, poverty, despair, hopelessness, government sponsored feelings of fear and inadequacy (those constant messages on the subway reminding you to “be alert” are designed to keep you afraid, needing material comforts to reassure you of the solidity of your life – comforts glorified in various forms of media), corporate interests owning all the media outlets (Cox, Clear and VIACOM – BET – have a veritable lock on the mainstream hip-hop audience)…
And then there are the rappers, who disproportionately come from poor environments and shiftless youth (a brilliant strategic move by the record companies to have the “fuck it” attitude glorified, such that young future rappers feel that they need to establish their disenfranchisement and disillusionment)…
Don’t forget the race dynamics, and the way the gradual coarsening of “pop rap” has crystallized the debate into “rap is homophobic, misogynistic, criminal and sociopathic output from/for unfit black males.” That breeds a resentment, a “well, fuck you, too” retort even among perfectly well-adjusted hip-hop fans when they come under such undeserved attack, an “I don’t give a fuck what y’all motherfuckers say, and I’m-a play my Weezie mad loud, and you can go fuck yourself!”
Like I said, maddeningly difficult.
12:39 am on August 26th, 2007
Real men wear grillz.