Ok so after reading the comments in the "Paul Mooney on Hip-Hop" thread (https://www.futureproducers.com/for...-r-b/paul-mooney-white-people-hip-hop-427279/) I really want to say something.
Hip-hop is an art form, and thus it's non-exclusive. By that I mean that any form of music, whether it's hip hop or classical, should not discriminate based on race. If you can spit, you can spit. If you can make hot beats, you can make hot beats. To say that white people should not make hip-hop because of their skin color is an inherent form of prejudice and racism. Separate is NOT equal.
HOWEVER, I believe the point Paul Mooney was making in the video is that it's wrong for Caucasians to emulate the behavior/way of talking of black people in hip-hop for the sole purpose of being cool or accepted in the industry. In short, he was saying be yourself.
Also, the fact is that we are not that far removed from slavery. Many of our parents (and maybe even us) were around when schools were still segregated. The history of America and much of the world is wrought with instances of one race (usually white) controlling and discriminating against another race (usually black) through violence and institutionalized racism. As much as we choose to ignore it, racism is still alive and kicking, and many black people are understandably still touchy about any instance of white superiority. Hip-hop originally was largely a black dominated industry, and a way for many black people in poor areas to rise above their poor socioeconomic conditions. When white people started entering into hip-hop, it felt to many as though this was another case of whites stealing something that the blacks had created. Let us not forget that much of the reason that blacks are over-represented in the lower class and prison populations is because of slavery's lasting effects. It's not like after they were freed they had equal access to the resources that white people have. The whole reason black people use the n-word and wear chains is to devoid these items used for such hateful and evil actions in the past of their meaning.
That being said, I was shocked reading the comments in the Paul Mooney thread as a lot of posters were saying things like my race is entitled to this because we created it, your race stole it (going both ways). Associating race with entitlement is just propagating racial difference. Instead of focusing on entitlement, we should be focusing on the condition of the industry as whole. Wackness is wackness. Hotness is hotness. In fact, I personally think that hip-hop has been one of the most progressive areas of art in terms of bringing together diversity. From personal experience, I feel as though I can relate to a gamut of races and cultures just because of a shared love of hip-hop. Stop hating.
Hip-hop is an art form, and thus it's non-exclusive. By that I mean that any form of music, whether it's hip hop or classical, should not discriminate based on race. If you can spit, you can spit. If you can make hot beats, you can make hot beats. To say that white people should not make hip-hop because of their skin color is an inherent form of prejudice and racism. Separate is NOT equal.
HOWEVER, I believe the point Paul Mooney was making in the video is that it's wrong for Caucasians to emulate the behavior/way of talking of black people in hip-hop for the sole purpose of being cool or accepted in the industry. In short, he was saying be yourself.
Also, the fact is that we are not that far removed from slavery. Many of our parents (and maybe even us) were around when schools were still segregated. The history of America and much of the world is wrought with instances of one race (usually white) controlling and discriminating against another race (usually black) through violence and institutionalized racism. As much as we choose to ignore it, racism is still alive and kicking, and many black people are understandably still touchy about any instance of white superiority. Hip-hop originally was largely a black dominated industry, and a way for many black people in poor areas to rise above their poor socioeconomic conditions. When white people started entering into hip-hop, it felt to many as though this was another case of whites stealing something that the blacks had created. Let us not forget that much of the reason that blacks are over-represented in the lower class and prison populations is because of slavery's lasting effects. It's not like after they were freed they had equal access to the resources that white people have. The whole reason black people use the n-word and wear chains is to devoid these items used for such hateful and evil actions in the past of their meaning.
That being said, I was shocked reading the comments in the Paul Mooney thread as a lot of posters were saying things like my race is entitled to this because we created it, your race stole it (going both ways). Associating race with entitlement is just propagating racial difference. Instead of focusing on entitlement, we should be focusing on the condition of the industry as whole. Wackness is wackness. Hotness is hotness. In fact, I personally think that hip-hop has been one of the most progressive areas of art in terms of bringing together diversity. From personal experience, I feel as though I can relate to a gamut of races and cultures just because of a shared love of hip-hop. Stop hating.
