Comments on: Response Assignment #6

By: Chris Hemstreet

Chris Hemstreet — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:25:43 +0000

After watching the video and listeing in class because i wrote on the wrong assignment its really quite interesting on the way rap has progressed throughout the years. Everything changes with time and the people that say they hate change is in for a negative life because everything changes, whether we like it or not the world is changing and its your choice to chose whether you accept the change and even if all the effects arnt positive to stive and work on making the current world and society a better place, or to just sit back and moan because you liked things the way they were. But in reality you cant always get what you want. Rap is deffinetly not an exception. Rap music has progressed with time and opinions may differ if that change has been negative or positive but it has changed none the less. Reading some of the past comments about in the earlier stages of rap where artists such as Public Enemy had some distinction about society and how unequal some aspects were compared to rapers now a day focusing on sex for the most part has gone off track of what rap was started for. I know im white and have no distinct background in the rap culture but i definetly can notice a change in morals that artists in the rap culture have. The video was talking about how the rap culture has progressed and is focusing on materialistic aspects such as money and sex and drugs and I am definetly agreeing with her. Every time you turn on the tv and see a rap music video its right away the artist raping and 20 girls wearing next to nothing dancing. They are taking the theory “sex sells” and taking it to an extreme. I think artists should sing about more of their feelings and hardships with their lives or society personally then sex for 10 tracks on every cd. It gets old and of course i have bias because im not a large fan of rap but i like to listen to old school rap every once in a while because its more artistic to me and more interesting because it deals with every day issues where now a days it dosnt.

By: Whitney Hoffman

Whitney Hoffman — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 23:23:27 +0000

I recognized parallels between the video and the SOL readings with the subject of resentment, especially gender resentment, or the misogyny referred to on page 143 of SOL and during the video. In the rap videos, the women are depicted in “sexy” clothing, doing erotic dances and gestures. The lyrics are also obscene, depicting women as things to admire for their bodies in sexual ways, and nothing beyond that. The woman in the video refers to the black female body in sexual terms such as “the hot pussy, the prostitute, the slut, the vulgar girl, the girl that’s willing to do what the nice girls wouldn’t.” She then goes on to talk about color casting, presenting light skinned, long haired, straightened haired young women as being the most desirable.
The video also has some parallels to the Theory Toolbox, such as “the medium is the message.” Rap itself is a medium to get out certain views and feelings, and we often have stereotypical views of rap because of what we hear and see about the most in the rap culture. The woman in the video talks about which rap gets on the national news, and that this rap is the rap with the misogyny and obscene language. The news is a media that sensationalizes particular things and events, and therefore only shows the vulgar rap that is most popular. The woman also talks about rap artists’ knowledge that sexual and violent rap will get them more money. Despite being artists, they are making a product, and because their way of getting the product out is through major labels, they have to change their product to fit what the label wants to release to the public.
The video lastly focuses on the commodification of blackness. The woman refers to an American obsession with blackness. She also presents the contradiction of a young white male enjoying black rappers, but being afraid of the reality of a black person on the street. Her last point is that white Americans are still like wonderbread, still conservative because they can look to black people as exotic commodities.

By: ben p

ben p — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 23:02:23 +0000

One of my favorite subjects in the world is hip hop music so it was interesting to hear this lady’s spin on it. Basically, she is saying that hip hop has been commodified so that rappers are no longer selling a genre, they’re selling a lifestyle and a new mentality on women, money, crime, ect. This is all true to a degree when looking at radio rap or BET. As it says in the TT, “media culture offers particular identities and meanings, the norms underlying these are resisted all the time”(73). This is why when the Wu Tang Clan comes along talking about killing and gangsta culture, folks like myself absolutely love. And I do love it. Because it’s bad ass and cool, it has the power to “reject outright conventional modes of thought”(TT,73). Who cares what color you are, sometimes all of us (men mostley) just want to “bring da mothafuckin ruckus” so the Wu Tang Clan delivers by advertising that mentality in their music. Sometimes it’s only human. That being said, I realize and fully agree that much of the hip hop on tv is pure crap and worthless but, at the same time, most hip hop isn’t on mtv and is just as brilliant and musical as any rock song. The difference come in how we (the culture that embraces the media) reacts to such things. “The key issue then is to become more savvy readers of media”(TT,78). If we have an informed basis for comparison then we, the culture, can throw out the bad and not worry about it being commodified into the mainstream.

By: Sean

Sean — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 22:51:31 +0000

I chose to talk about the Bell Hooks video, seeing as how a lot of you chose the Marx reading. The video didn’t necessarily help as much as restate what I already knew about marketing and advertisement. I make rap music, so I know all about the tricks of getting people’s attention and knowing what sells. Just like the video stated, so many choose the path of the “sell out” and go for the easy way to make riches. So with that in mind, all of the negative rap music is pushed to the front and stands as the poster child or representation of what rap is, and this is the furthest thing from the truth. Rap is one element of four that make up the culture Hip Hop. Rap stands for Rythum and Poetry, and is meant to be used as a form of expression. The problem with Rap is now its become more of a business than creative expression. So people who aren’t even Hip Hop, are rapping and using R.A.P. as an outlet to get money. Since rap music is so saturated with rappers who choose this path, it seems impossible to market against sex, guns, and drugs, but it is very possible. Things go in cycles and people get tired of routine, so Hip Hop will soon return to the essences of which it came from. There are ways to express yourself and talk about hard or good times without the negative approach. And that would be the marketing tool. The ability to be able to speak to the masses without going over people’s heads at the same time, not blending in with the “norm”, and many rappers have been successful doing so.

By: lisa coleman

lisa coleman — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 22:50:30 +0000

i understood the reading i got where they were coming from when mentioning all the different types of advertising and so forth. rape artist are known for explcit words and doing wild things. all being true in what the video was saying. most people think of rape music as degrading i do to, to some extinct. their are other types of rap music that don’t have any women dancing in them but they show the black male in jail, stealing drugs or something else. i disagree 100% with geof when he said that rap is uneducated, kanye west,tupac biggie smalls all of these rappers all have one thing in common they all have something to say whether it be about the world or something else whatever is on their minds their going to say it. kanye west may be very arrogant and obnoxious but he has reason for being that way and that’s what make shim good the fact that he knows he’s good and he lets it get to his head. rap music in the 80’s and 90’s sex mostly. all they were doing is saling their female that was in that video, sex sales and these videos were made to appeal to the male audience and they did just that, girls in the video’s waering the skimpest things, shaking their god givin talents and such. being and artist has its perks and its down falls, desire is what keeps the audience wanting that lifestyle and all the things that go with it money, girls “desire itself becomes the product that the advertiser is selling”. the clothes the rappers wear, jewlrey,shoes and so on the way these rappers live is what is being advertised and that’s what it is.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 22:46:44 +0000

One thing to ponder as I read this week’s readings is how much the media “tells us what we want.” as Hitler once said, “if you tell them the same lie over and over again for enough time they will start to believe it.” That is just what the media is doing all the time in our everyday lives. For example in my life I have my free phone that I got when I renewed my service plan 2 summers ago it has been dropped on the ground thrown at the wall rained on and has been talked on for hours on end, why do I need a much more fragile I phone to do the same but break the first time it slips out if my hand when I’m late for class. I think that the question we think about we should be thinking is not “what does the media makes think/ do… but what DOESN’T the media do. When Marx speaks about commodities he seems to want to put more value on the use of the product than on the product itself, whey do we need all in one computer-cell phones that can do everything short of fly, when we can life just the same with a simple make and receive calls phone and a lap top computer. Not to say that my habits in consumerism are anything to strive for. But why in modern western culture is the thing so important, I could care less about the brand of jeans I wear as long as they keep me clothed and warm.

By: samantha p.

samantha p. — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 22:40:42 +0000

Yea, so that karl marx reading was definately rough and sucks so say… i could barely get through it let alone understand it so i do look foreward to going through it in class. I really enjoyed the video and through it had a lot to do with the reading. the rappers dont necessarily believe in what they are rapping about but they know what sells. they know what to do to intrigue people. it’s like, for example, i remember when 50 cent first started getting popular and he was the rapper that had been shot a bunch of times. you dont think that didnt help him sell records or get a movie deal about the struggle he had been through… oh man… i know every white gang banger in my neighborhood was in line to pay 10.50 to see that movie… how thug of them, right? It’s all an image and it’s all marketing and advertising. rapping about how you feel doesnt sell records… coochie, asses and killin cops sells records. in a way… kind of putting the reading and the clip together… the record companies make the rappers themselves the advertisement. they are like puppets to make more money.

By: Geoff Firestone

Geoff Firestone — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 22:15:19 +0000

When I read Marx’s writings I was very interested in his ideas. His basic idea is to stop having producers treat their products as commodities, or put a specific value on them. He wishes to have a free and open society where products are valued based on the amount of labor put into them, and they are open for everyone. Marx sees the problem with commodities as people just see a product they want that will be useful to them. Not a product that someone put in a lot of labor developing. Marx describes this with his term the “fetishism of commodities.” This basically means the commodities to the consumer “appear” on the shelf out of no where for your consumption. That these commodities have a “life of their own” so to say. The problem he sees with this is that people don’t take the time to think or consider how much work was put into this object for them, they just want it to add to their long list of commodities. I think this relates to the readings because all advertisements are today are just ways to get consumers to buy specific commodities (that they really don’t need) They don’t show the work that was put into developing the technology of the product, they just see the product and how it will make them “cooler.” This is best described on page 46 of SOL- “Modern advertising seeks to transform desire into needs.” We don’t need to go out and buy the newest Verizon phone that costs hundreds of dollars, but the advertisement where the hot chick is hanging all over a guy who has this phone turns this desire into a “need.” Thats at least how I interpreted it.
When watching the Bell Hooks video it just further shows how easily influenced people are to buy products or support something based on some false “bull shit” they watch. As if you listen to rap music suddenly all these half naked women are gonna suddenly be all over you and your gonna be the man. Its also sad to see the recycled material they use in todays rap songs and videos. I agree 100% with Andrew that what people want to here is the same old stuff about killing, and money, and drugs, and this crazy party life. They dont want to hear music that is actually artistic and challenges this popular genre. The video is a real eye opener to people of all cultures about how sad todays popular rap music has become. Its redundant, uneducated, lies that are being shown to kids today. So in return they are growing up with this false mentality and its just wrong. Thanks for reading

By: Olivia Cole

Olivia Cole — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 21:49:50 +0000

I fully intended on writing about Marx until I saw the bell hooks video and thought about it next to the reading from SOL. “Brought to You B(U)Y” explains that every advertisement, every commercial, is laden with a cultural message that is up to us to analyze.
An example of a message (almost a code) that is being sent in commercials and ads that I saw very clearly was the presence of resentment that SOL mentioned. The Budweiser ad about the scruffy guy training his scruffy dog to go for the rich man’s crotch showed class resentment; the one with the pit bull taking the jeans off of the girl and leaving her in her underwear was gender resentment. Recently I saw a Burger King commercial with P. Diddy rolling up to the fast food joint—fly cars, hoes, and all—which had just closed. P. Diddy pressures the dorky white guy outside into re-opening the restaurant just for him (and his entourage). Dorky white guy agrees, P. Diddy and his posse get into Burger King. Dorky white guy puts his hand up for an enthusiastic high five, P. Diddy looks the other way, i.e. “leavin’ him hangin’.” Dorky white guy is now not only dorky, but humiliated. In my mind, this is a cultural message of race resentment. Just as the guy in the Levis commercial humiliated the young woman by exposing her (physically), P. Diddy “exposes” the Burger King employee by not returning the high five.
SOL describes a new kind of “gender gap,” a gap which I see present in rap lyrics. In the new “gender gap,” “women, once placed on a kind of pedestal in sexual relations, have been cast into the dirt” (p144). While the bell hooks video goes on to explain how music-industry masterminds know exactly what it takes to make a million dollars and will have their artists say what it takes to get it—even if their beliefs don’t match their words—I think that there is a double agenda beneath the surface. Yes, these artists want to make money (and they do, there’s no doubt about that) but they also want to “cast [women] into the dirt.” Here is the gender resentment, next comes the race resentment, which bell hooks faces head-on when she starts talking about the color caste system. Self-hatred seems undeniably present when the women that are considered beautiful in these songs are closer to white than black, but then there is race resentment toward whites as well because these “white-ish” women who are so beautiful are nonetheless being humiliated. (Did that make any sense at all??)
A teacher in junior high once told me that everything that humans think is funny is funny because someone is getting hurt. Slapstick comedy, sarcastic humor…all cause someone some kind of pain. It’s kind of frightening that the “best commercials” are the ones where someone is being humiliated, and the most popular music in America is based on the degradation of women and blacks. Ok, I’ve rambled long enough….

By: Chris Hemstreet

Chris Hemstreet — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 21:30:37 +0000

I looked through all the entries that I have submitted for the longest, and what I thought as to me, my most deep and to the point comments that I am most proud of and put them into the gender guesser. I didnt know what to expect at first after reading the comments you had written about how I guess your a European Male. After hitting submit I was surprised to see that my informality caused me to appear like a man to the guesser, but at the same time they were fairly close, I am about 55% male. On the other hand with my formality on ethnicity I was almost clearly, 75% to be exact am a European. The results on one hand were not as shoking and off as the teachers was, but then again European was wrong but the ethnicity was closley matched so it could have gone either way. This is just one ideological fact that we have to prove that in society today even computers see good grammer and formality to be either female and European. This does not help our sterotypical views that we as a society maintain today to put people in their “catagories” by saying, oh your a female your good at writing and oh your writing is very formal, your European. On one side it hurts to be called a male on that standpoint but i cannot argue due to my obvious spelling and grammer mistakes present in all my writings to be called a male. And European, well I find it common that people have the misconception that Europeans are all formal and well spoken. they might be to an extent but it is still non the less a ideological perception we have of other cultures. I am not sure how accurate this guesser is because in the two cases i know of people usuing it, it has been off but i can tell that the program is using human ideological thinking to make its guesses, and that is a kind of thinkign and bais that computers should not have.