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Originally Posted by Shauk
I'm convinced that it's indicative based on the fact that if you listen to a white rapper, he'll tell you of his struggles to be accepted as an artist in the genre simply because he's a white man in a culture that a black man would claim as his own. Because of the prevalence of the "N word" in the lyrics of many tracks, be it used with vulgar intent or as a show of solidarity, it ultimately is a point of contention. Some would claim the word, some would banish it's use. In either camp, despite the superlative, it still has something to do with black culture.
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Having read this paragraph a few times I can only suggest, like others in this thread already have, that you invest more time in educating yourself about rap music before you spout off about it. Rap music is such a poor example to draw parallels from because there are so many different forms of it and much of it varies greatly in subject matter.
You talk about the prevalence of the word nigger and about white rappers working through racial bias but all that falls under your scope and is assumed to constitute the whole is pop music that's styled after rap music. I wrote of confirmation bias earlier because there's much more to all of this than you obviously care to consider and while that's perfectly acceptable in your own life, it doesn't leave you much ground to argue from.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shauk
Despite my "poor" fleshing out of the connection, I'm sure you could connect the dots on your own if you tried.
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No such connection exists beyond your flawed reasoning.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shauk
I'm just saying it's a goddamn shame, it's sad, that a racist person today, in this day and age, can pick a few gansta rap tracks, a few episodes of COPS, and build himself a collection of material generated by black culture to help fuel his irrational hatred of the race.
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As someone who creates music, I can't help but to find it strange that you can so naively believe that the images that come your way of whatever gangster rap is are not only tweaked and manipulated for the sake of selling units but wholly accurate and indicative of the communities from which these artists came.
Should we also believe to depictions of Italians in gangster movies to be accurate? Consider how many hands those images go through and how often they're manipulated and polished before they're pushed out for mass consumption. Get real.
Also, Cops creates a glaringly inaccurate and biased portrait of the poor more so than it does of any race in particular. One need not guess at the incomes and education levels of the various races of people who are exploited on that show.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shauk
Any firefighter will tell you, the best way to put out the fires are to deprive it of fuel, cut off it's source of life. oxygen or raw material to burn. Yet the time line is rife with fuel to draw that connection if you try. I'm not saying it's the right thing to do, just that it exists.
in the early days, racists were just stupid and had no material to draw upon to paint a real bad example of the race, now they're just easily confused with white people who disagree misogynistic, violent music and it's prominence in black culture. They could be confused with an actual racist.
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Wait, so that's your premise? We should do something about media depictions of blacks in rap music because those depictions actually give racists something to stand upon? Early day racists weren't stupid as they had plenty of so-called expert advice and scientific evidence to base their assertions about race from. You can't be serious.
And even then, should be really be so concerned with winning over racists from their misconceptions - regardless of what informs then? Perhaps someone should also come and convince me that the Jonas brothers aren't gay.
Also, you might want to take into account which demographics these images are marketed to and which groups create the market for them. You'd probably be surprised.