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In Shambles (And They’re Glad)
Im’a school kids
and tease ’em and please ’em
For the treason,
that’s the reason
Im’a squeeze ’em
-Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, No Need For Alarm
There’s a saying you may have encountered if you know any liberals inclined to sympathize with the ugliness that followed George Floyd’s murder. They say, “If people loved Black people as much as love Black culture, there wouldn’t be a problem.” Most of the people who make this point are Black themselves, or they are young. My experience with the young ones has shown me a couple of things: most of them are talking about Rap music, and that their attraction to it is borne of the same feeling that motivated Norman Mailer’s “white negroes” of the late 1950s. Boredom.
The issue with their line is simple. Black culture in the narrow sense they understand it is not as loved as they believe. My view of Hip Hop is nearly the same as the one I have on Country: Most of it is unappealing, offensive even; but when it’s good, it has all of the value that any other popular art form has to offer. I suspect few on this site truly share this in common with me; maybe not the Country bit, but with the Rap part.
You may be unfamiliar with this world – and that is a very fortunate thing for you – but I’d say it’s about time conservatives reconsider ignoring it. If I were to attribute any sin to Right, this would be it. Aren’t we supposed to go where the sinners go?
Lest there be any misunderstanding, I’d like to make one thing clear: I didn’t grow up in the Upper East Side or Beverly Hills, but I am about as privileged as they get. My preference is to flip the script and call it Gratitude, but I did grow up casual. That was a good thing, but I tend to think this means I owe something. (I’m not speaking for anybody else here, most of you probably owe less than I do.)
I understand that hearing misogynistic vulgarities, or songs which speak so casually about violence just isn’t everybody’s cup-o-tea. It isn’t mine either. I was raised to believe that the N-word is ugly, and shouldn’t be uttered, but I can appreciate that it means something different to people who have more to be angry about than I.
But I’d assume that most of the talk we have about the tragedies that grew out of The Great Society is had from a distance. Mightn’t we feel a bit more sour rage if it were our own mothers or the mothers of our children, that got in bed with Uncle Sam? Outkast’s “Mrs. Jackson,” The Pharcyde’s “Passin’ Me By,” or the aforementioned Del’s “Boo Booheads” are expressions of the bitterness which comes from these betrayals. This isn’t a one-way street, of course. Queen Latifah’s “U.N.I.T.Y.,” TLC’s “No Scrubs,” “Lauren Hill’s “Ex-Factor” were responses that hold their own as “classics.”
If we were raised in fatherless households where bars on the windows proved necessary, isn’t it reasonable that a young man might learn that hardness is essential to walking through this world fearlessly? Whenever boys take up football, we rightly acknowledge the importance that these future men to learn to channel anger; we further hope they’ll learn to become courageous and stand up for what’s right. Andre Benjamin’s, “Put my Glock away, I got a stronger weapon that never runs outta ammunition, so I’m ready for war, okay,” is one of the better iterations of this very common message in Hip Hop. Unfortunately, it was only people on the Left that took notice that a good message was prepared in a way that appeals to the ones who need to hear it. If you asked me how to get your kids to eat their vegetables, I’d recommend you figure out how to make them taste good.
Most kids are stupid, most are misguided, but none of them should be left to the vultures. Ask Chuck D:
Published in CultureBeware of the Hand
when it’s comin’ from the Left
I ain’t trippin’
Jus’ watch ya step.
Can’t Truss It!
Why did you chose that photo?
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/06/us/hart-family-crash-inquest-searches/index.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hart_family_crash
I wanted to find a picture of a young protester – nothing violent or ugly, just a young person who believes there is something to protest. I like how this image shows reconciliation. And even though it doesn’t quite match the tone of quote I put next to it, I decided it was fitting in a way. Who else do we need to forgive except for those who’ve wronged us?
Artists don’t always recognize the significance of their work. (See Dr. Seuss on abortion). “I’ma squeeze ’em” needn’t be vengeful; and having enjoyed Del’s work for a time, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if he chose his words with the same care as any other lyricist.
Hey, man, I like both types of music: Country and Western.
(Actually, no. But when someone floats a Blues Brothers softball across the plate, one must swing away.)
You stumbled into a profound truth. In the real world, the real tensions and violence are largely between members of leftist constituencies. To distract from this, the left has to beat its constituencies into ever increasing murderous rage against normal people.
This is why we need young Conservatives!
The way to get kids to eat their vegetables is to serve them tempura vegetables.
Or make ‘em salty, buttery, or spicy!
My first jobs were in restaurants, and I met multiple sauté chefs who said their little children do not like meat.
Or cheese. Copious amounts of delicious, protein-laden cheese!
Kids may not like meat because of the texture. Our son didn’t like hamburger for years, but sushi, mussels, whitefish, Costco rotisserie chicken no problem. Now all he ever wants to eat is hamburger.
That’s true. It took me years to realize that the reason I liked McDonald’s Cheeseburgers but didn’t like homemade burgers was because they added ketchup and mustard – I had it in my mind that I didn’t like them for some reason. But having eaten veggies prepared by these guys and gals, I know exactly why their kids liked veggies.
We’re getting a little off topic though. You guys have any thoughts on the subject matter above? I promise I’m not that sensitive, so if you disagree vehemently I won’t take it personally. I’d like to hear what all of you smart people think.
This is really well written and thoughtful, but it’s hard for me to figure out a positive way for conservatives to understand rap. It’s cartoonishly exaggerated macho posing but aside from the racial element, many conservatives do “get” the idea that too many young black men yearn for a more manly role in life even if the way they go about it is destructive to themselves and others.
Sure: If they’d put on a uniform they’d have all the chances they wanted to prove themselves to themselves and the world, but that takes more discipline and hard work than they can imagine. So in most cases it won’t happen.
Thank you for disagreeing with me!
It’s a real challenge, I admit. I’ve been reading C.S. Lewis’ Merely Christianity, and, as happens for us young and impressionable ones, I find myself emulating the few adults I’m fortunate enough to encounter – imperfectly, I’m sure. The point that’s been rattling around my noggin since is that something can be bad, or not great, and yet still be better than an available alternative. I don’t really think that many of you ought to become interested in rap. It’s braggadocios and in-your-face, it’s junk food that isn’t easy to digest for anybody with a sensitive stomach.
When I was about 11, I discovered groups like Led Zeppelin and The Beatles. You know, actual music. My peers were listening to Eminem and other trash. These were all white southern kids living in the Bible Belt and it was a real culture shock to me when I moved north from South Florida “to the South” and found that they used the N-word. (I almost hate saying “N-word” more than using the actual word.) And yet they all loved the most senselessly nihilistic that the genre had to offer. They tended to call it “real,” as though their own lives were not. This was my clue to the fact that boredom motivates this special brand of catastrophe tourism.
I steadfastly avoided the genre for years because I found that genuine racism was what attracted my white friends to it. I remember exactly the moment that changed. It was the first time I ever heard OutKast. The typical ingredients where there, but so was something else. The Andre Benjamin quote I used above was in this song.
If we really want to pull kids off the street though, we’ve got to know how to reach them. Unfortunately Ricochet’s members are probably a bit too old to be able to pivot this hard. That’s fine; your generations have done much more than you’ve been given credit for. This one is on the youngsters.
That’s why I’m trying to test the waters a bit. That I can is why I love Ricochet.
We’re glad you do! I don’t really disagree with you, I’m just hopeful-but-skeptical about the Right’s ability to create working cultural vaccines. When it comes to today’s case of, we’d better try something, even if our first attempts fail, the OP and your comments are 100% solid platinum truth.
Rap has been around for well more than forty years. It’s got staying power. Even a curmudgeon like me has some respect, not all of it grudging. If it were just a fad it wouldn’t speak to hundreds of millions over the years, and in unexpected places of the world.
Decades ago, few people saw that the Federalist Society would be such a useful resource, altering the direction of American jurisprudence. We need something like that for culture, a reliable source of talent and good ideas. That’s what @samuelblock and @titustechera, and others on Ricochet, are trying to craft.
Oh, my! Putting my name next to Titus’ (as though we’re equals!). Now you’re just flattering me. 😉 That Romanian knows more about American culture than I do.
Even if you are flattering, I appreciate it. It helps to know whether I’m copy-catting artfully or not.
For any Ricochet members interested in exploring hip-hop further, I recommend Akira the Don as a gateway artist to follow. He is an LA based DJ who pioneered a genre called Meaningwave. Meaningwave is a sub genre of lofi hip-hop that involves mixing in speeches from prominent thinkers into a hip-hop composition. Akira appeared on my radar through a series of Jordan Peterson Meaningwave tracks. To give you a taste, here is a track from one of his recent albums that puts selections from Marcus Aurelius Meditations to music:
That’s pretty neat, Michael. And what a good idea! Maybe the handful of us who enjoy the genre could put some songs that might be more palatable.
Wow. Read the articles you posted. I really did stumble on something, huh?
Anyone still listening?
The video is… uh… incendiary – this came out before Kanye’s infamous shot at President Bush. Even so, it isn’t much of wonder how this guy took notice when the Republican Party had the courage to approach him.
You mean before he made that crack about Bush and the handling of the hurricane?
Yeah. This came out in 2004.
AH that makes sense. I was watching when he said that thing about Bush letting black people die etc.
Revenge of the nerds!
RA, you are such a good sport! (From what I can tell, you’re the only one still tuning in.)
X-ecutioners. And jiujitsu.
I really am.
I think you are talking about older conservatives. I would guess most younger conservatives are already perfectly comfortable with rap.
People like me, in their 40s or younger, probably grew up hearing rap music along with other pop music on the radio, or from whatever source people hear music. In the late nineties, as a soldier in my early 20s, I once found myself swimming in a pond (they called it a cattle tank) in rural Texas, with some white, rural Texans. I don’t recommend cattle tanks for swimming, but anyway, the soundtrack for the occasion was mostly hip-hop.
Also, if you listen to the sort of “country” music a lot of young people are listening to, it’s really just rap, or has significant rap elements. That’s true for other genres, too.
The music of my people
Boss! You and I are kinfolk?