Me & Hip Hop...It's Complicated
by Tulaine Shabazz Marshall
Hello YouthBuild graduates,
I'm sure many of you are familiar with the expression "my two cents". It is a phrase
used to introduce the stating of a personal opinion. I'm sure you also know the expression"opinions are like noses, everybody has one" (that is of course the PG version of the phrase. Not as muchoomphas the original but you get the point). All of us have opinions about a whole range of topics on
any given day. But we don’t always have a place to share those opinions. Every once in a while, I will take the liberty of sharing my opinion on a topic that has been on my mind lately and invite you to share your opinions as well. Consider it an invitation to a conversation. We can talk about pressing issues on the political front, strategies we are using to cope with our busy lives, or just general ideas and inspirations on our minds. I'll call these invitations "Tulaine's two cents" to send the signal that there is something on my mind that I would like to share with a network of people I respect. I am hoping we can spark some good conversation. Let's see where it goes.
Something that is on my mind these days is music, particularly hip-hop music. Hip-Hop and I have a long-term, complicated relationship. In many ways Hip-Hop is one of my great loves. I was raised listening to all kinds of music, jazz, classical, world music, rock and roll. I played the classical cello for close to two decades and taught classes on the history and significance of blues music. I have been a fan of Pavarotti and mourned his recent passing. Really just about every music genre moves me. I really, really love music.
But then there is Hip-Hop. I love all music but Hip-Hop is something special. Hip-Hop and I grew up together. As a distinct music form, Hip-Hop is almost exactly the same age as I am. There is something precious about sharing a friendship that lasts through all stages of your development. When I was a little girl and wanted to show off my memorization skills and breath control, the Sugar Hill Gang gave me “Rapper's Delight."I would walk around the house, proud as you please, showing my parents, aunts and uncles how many verses of that song I could say from memory in just one breath. “Have you ever been over a friend’s house to eat and the food just ain’t no good..”,etc.
When I was going through adolescent angst, I had MC Lyte, (beforeshe got glam) as a powerful example of a strong Black woman whose confidence came from her strength and intelligence, not how quickly she could move her hind parts for the camera.
As a young adult, when I developed a clear strategy for social justice and activism, I had Chuck D and Public Enemy telling me to use my assets as an engine for change with their songs "Shut 'em Down” or "Brothers Gonna Work it Out”. This was of course before Flavor Flav; the illest Hip-Hop hype man ever, lost his mind for fame and set up the tragically trite TV series"Flavor of Love". He got his money for it, true, but that was some expensive cash.
And now, as an adult and a parent, my love for Hip-Hop grows even more when I see that it is possible for our entire household to have all of its members bopping their heads to the same beat. Put on Mos Def, Common, Talib Kweli and even a few Kanye songs and the Marshall family can get down. It doesn't hurt that our son enjoys the "Old School" Hip-Hop that my husband and I claim as "our music". He is patient while we enthusiastically recite the versus we treasure most from back in the day -songs like Slick Rick & Doug E. Fresh’s
“La Dee Da Dee, we likes to party, we don’t cause trouble, we don’t bother nobody...”we tend to go on and on...poor child. He endures it with kindness and courage.
Sometimes we all look forward to an album release date or my son will burn me a CD of some Hip-Hop he thinks I’d like or some beats he made. Those moments are really nice…
But then there are the other moments...
A few weeks ago, as the summer was coming to a close my son was talking to me about his summer camp experience. One of the things he talked about was the music that he and the other young people were really feeling at the time. He talked to me about a 16 year old Hip-Hop artist who made a song called"Superman". So I, just as happy as could be for this musically sponsored bonding moment with my teenage child, gladly looked up the artist to download his repertoire of songs for our listening pleasure.
As the musical selections began to appear on my monitor, my feelings shifted from elation to horror. There I was, sitting at the kitchen table with my 13-year old son, and my computer screen greets with me with titles such as” Test these Nutz, Pimp Slap that Ho, and of course the full actual title of the hit song “Superman that Ho”.
Suddenly a bonding moment turned into an unwanted reality check about just how far my beloved hip-hop has strayed from me.
So, while I am a fan of bangin' beats and lyrical MCs, I have no love for songs that celebrate illiteracy, self-hatred, violence, obessesion with “bling” or the notion that women are merely on the earth to show heterosexual men “what they workin’ with”. Like I said, me and hip-hop...it’s complicated.
How do you deal with the influence that music has on the children you care about? How does this music help you connect and how does it introduce difficult moments and lessons?
Give me a shout with your two cents.
Tulaine