I write regarding your cover story, "Hip-Hop Happening" (March 6, 2008). The so-called "hip-hop" genre of music, which a genuinely accomplished musician, Wynton Marsalis, and a noted journalist and music critic, Stanley Crouch, have labeled "buffoon minstrelsy," should not be recognized outside of its use in the marketplace. In other words, Hip-Hop is not "art." Rather, it is mere pander.
Initially called "rap music," it had a revolutionary potential, with lyrics by groups like Public Enemy, which sought to articulate the social conditions of urban youth. Unfortunately, before long, greedy record companies convinced equally greedy young people to produce recordings without using either musical instruments or dignified lyrics.
Some of these new "recordings" focused on the childish narcissism and selfishness in which people with low self-esteem engage, as they try to convince themselves that they have worth. Others, mostly young African American males, attempted to gain their self-worth at the expense of others, using sexual impropriety and violence as proof of their manhood. None of these behaviors have been abandoned by either the so-called artists or record distributors in the "Hip-Hop" industry. Thus, for the most part, the revolutionary potential mentioned above has all but dissolved, except for, perhaps, a very tiny group of independents who attempt to "expand" the meaning of "Hip-Hop" through poetry readings and the like.
At any rate, the definition of culture has become anything that the market determines it to be. The notions of "youth" culture (clothing, hairstyles, piercing and tattoos, books, magazines with ads sold in them, and so forth), "Hip-hop" culture (drugs, guns, gangs, and so forth), and "gay" culture (weddings, nightclubs, exclusive recreational venues, magazines and newspapers with ads sold in them, and so forth), are totally market constructs.
If our youth are to be our future, then it will only happen if we as adults, particularly parents, take over the reins of this present culture and provide our children with both an historical and social conscience, and set the example for them, by informing identity through recognition of the connection between generations (as opposed to basing who they are upon claims regarding with whom they are having sex, or what "gang colors" they are wearing). Additionally, elders should define human life to our young charges in a meaningful way.
Our society will then benefit from the "leadership" of our youth. As well, the "market" will then be a function of the values of the society and not vice versa.
G. Djata Bumpus
Northampton
