George Bush Senior Created Hip Hop
You may think this is crazy or more likely blasphemous. How could George Bush have created something that most Bush fans would say is awful? I'll tell you.
When there is a social injustus people will fight against it any way that they can. Some people form coups, throw a riot or picket, but most of all, they try to get others involved. A way of getting others involved is through music. Being that many musicans are liberal by nature they don't like to see the people at the bottom of the social ladder going through the pains that they are. Many musicans believe/hope that through music they can inform or incite people to help make a change.
Now hip hop started around 77 and 79. Well, Bush didn't get into office until 88 right? Correct, but before that he was running the CIA. Around that time the CIA has been accused and has been well documented on the fact that they were bringing cocaine into South Central Los Angeles. (You can find sources at http://www.geocities.com/~virtualtruth/crack.htm).
Even though hip hop started in the late 70s it wasn't much more than a local thing that was going on in New York. Something that people did at some parties. But then, in '83 Grandmaster Melle Mel released "The Message" that spefically talked about how crack/cocaine was destroying the neighborhoods and it was the second hip hop songs to be played on major radio stations (behind Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper Delight"). Once that record started to sell it got companies interested in hip hop. Back in '83 rap music was still looked at as a fad. A gimmic, something that would come and go. And you know what? It probably would have. But thank God for George Bush. With all the cocaine he was pumping and/or letting into Los Angeles and other black communities it created poverty and crime beyond African American's wildest dreams. From this a voice came. A voice loud and clear. A voice that was so loud in fact that middle Americans like myself couldn't stop but listen to it. That voice was called N.W.A. Niggaz With Attitude (formed of super producer/rapper Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, Eazy E, MC Ren and top 50 movie star Ice Cube). They came out so angry, with so much to say and so unapplogetic that it was the new rebel music. Even though white kids in the suburbs couldn't relate to the things that were getting said in the songs they were sure of one thing. That this would piss off their parents. That it did. Hip hop started pissing off so many people and caused so much controversy that it started to get bigger and bigger and bigger until it was unstoppable. What about the crack/cocaine epidemic? Well that did the exact same thing and spread over the country inciting groups on the east coast like Public Enemy, KRS-One, X-Clan and others to make strong, angry and unabashed music that us white kids couldn't get enough of.
All hip hoppers give praises to George Bush. If he would have tried to stop drugs coming into this country instead of bring them in, hip hop music would have just been a gimmic. Something that came and went. Something new and fun for a couple years like techno, until it just died out. But since he fucked up the black community so bad and got them so pissed that they started to make music about their surroundings...he saved it! Thank you George Bush! With out you there would be no Snoop Dogg.
When there is a social injustus people will fight against it any way that they can. Some people form coups, throw a riot or picket, but most of all, they try to get others involved. A way of getting others involved is through music. Being that many musicans are liberal by nature they don't like to see the people at the bottom of the social ladder going through the pains that they are. Many musicans believe/hope that through music they can inform or incite people to help make a change.
Now hip hop started around 77 and 79. Well, Bush didn't get into office until 88 right? Correct, but before that he was running the CIA. Around that time the CIA has been accused and has been well documented on the fact that they were bringing cocaine into South Central Los Angeles. (You can find sources at http://www.geocities.com/~virtualtruth/crack.htm).
Even though hip hop started in the late 70s it wasn't much more than a local thing that was going on in New York. Something that people did at some parties. But then, in '83 Grandmaster Melle Mel released "The Message" that spefically talked about how crack/cocaine was destroying the neighborhoods and it was the second hip hop songs to be played on major radio stations (behind Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper Delight"). Once that record started to sell it got companies interested in hip hop. Back in '83 rap music was still looked at as a fad. A gimmic, something that would come and go. And you know what? It probably would have. But thank God for George Bush. With all the cocaine he was pumping and/or letting into Los Angeles and other black communities it created poverty and crime beyond African American's wildest dreams. From this a voice came. A voice loud and clear. A voice that was so loud in fact that middle Americans like myself couldn't stop but listen to it. That voice was called N.W.A. Niggaz With Attitude (formed of super producer/rapper Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, Eazy E, MC Ren and top 50 movie star Ice Cube). They came out so angry, with so much to say and so unapplogetic that it was the new rebel music. Even though white kids in the suburbs couldn't relate to the things that were getting said in the songs they were sure of one thing. That this would piss off their parents. That it did. Hip hop started pissing off so many people and caused so much controversy that it started to get bigger and bigger and bigger until it was unstoppable. What about the crack/cocaine epidemic? Well that did the exact same thing and spread over the country inciting groups on the east coast like Public Enemy, KRS-One, X-Clan and others to make strong, angry and unabashed music that us white kids couldn't get enough of.
All hip hoppers give praises to George Bush. If he would have tried to stop drugs coming into this country instead of bring them in, hip hop music would have just been a gimmic. Something that came and went. Something new and fun for a couple years like techno, until it just died out. But since he fucked up the black community so bad and got them so pissed that they started to make music about their surroundings...he saved it! Thank you George Bush! With out you there would be no Snoop Dogg.
posted by Tim at Wednesday, April 12, 2006
5 Comments:
Ok, let's assume that the guy and his geocities website is correct...that's a big assumption, but I'll give it to you so we can focus this. Even if the CIA was pumping crack into LA, how is it Bush's fault for creating a poverty-stricken city?
The presence of crack in their neighborhood does not make people poor...it's the addiction to drugs that does. And unless you're going to argue that Bush was on the street corners singing the praises of crack, the responsibility still mostly falls square on the shoulders of the dealers and users.
To clarify, I am not saying that had the CIA sent drugs into LA that they aren't immoral...I'm saying that, for example, even though Hugh Hefner is wrong for publiishing his filth, it's still the buyers of porn that are responsible for their addiction and the pain that addiction causes to their family. Tru dat for the CIA and crack.
Very interesting. I'm lost though. Do you like Hip Hop because it voices the problems of a drug plagued culture? Or is it that you like the style and this is a side issue that caught your attention. I know you like Hip Hop, but I know you are a pretty compassionate person and probably don't like to see people suffer in a terrible lifestyle. I couldn't tell for sure what your feelings were from your post.
Do you think that now that Hip Hop is so big and there is a lot of money to be made from it that the people who see the problems with this culture and make music about it want to see that culture change? I sometimes get the impression that they've started out with a good gripe and now they're kind of indulging in their anger, and getting rich complaining, but not necessarily doing anything to really bring about change. But I really don't know much about this at all. Even though I did get that personal e-mail from Rass Kass (you know, since I'm his biggest fan :-))
Curious to hear your thoughts
Great post Ann. Yeah, I guess I didn't make it very clear. What I was trying to get across was the fact that when hip hop became drug/sex/violence crazed it got the attention of middle America because it was rebel music. I think myself and others my age were attracted to that. Over time though I fell in love with hip hop but I really started getting sick of what the artists were saying. I think you're right by saying that in the begining hip hop was about exposing the problems in the inner city but unfortunatly now it is about exploiting the problems in the inner city. It's really a shame because it is such a great art form that is getting really misused by the mainstream. Back when I started listening to it in 92-93 mainstream hip hop was probably 1/4 "gangsta rap". Nowadays the popular hip hop that most people hear is probably more like 90 to 95% "gangsta rap".
There are a lot of artists who do want to make a change and who do talk about positive things but almost all of them are independent artists and that's basically all that I listen to. I'd say 99% of the people who consider themselves "hip hop fans" who saw my music collection, wouldn't have a clue what most my CDs are. That sucks, because I think they'd probably like my stuff more than the garbage they see on the TV and hear on the radio.
Tim,
Thanks for the response. That makes a lot more sense to me now.
Ann
Tim,
Thanks for the response. That makes a lot more sense to me now.
Ann
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