Mar 062006
Good or bad for the public image of hip hop?
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well… didnt HIP HOP get one of these already (see eminem… afew years back.) i think this keeps it real, just like when SHAFT won.. or when PRINCE won for score back in the eighties…
Wow…
Your post was dead on it, the shit speaks for itself.
C.
Step 1: Hip Hop being recognized as a viable and important cultural and musical expression by all corners of the artistic world no matter how stodgy.
Step 2: Snarky generalizations and "those crazy kids" jokes of hip hop music and culture are no longer the only commentary that can be made by other subsects of pop culture.
I'm very happy to see us past step 1 and am looking forward to seeing step 2.
J
The Smithsonian is collecting a national history of Hip Hop to be part of the permenant collection:
"Over the next few years, the museum plans to reach out to the community to gather additional objects and oral histories. An advisory panel, made up of artists, producers, scholars and others will assist in defining and refining the project. The museum also will host a number of public programs and scholarly symposia to further explore the content. The long-range vision for “Hip-Hop Won’t Stop” includes a comprehensive exhibition for millions of museum visitors and a companion traveling display."
What does that mean for Hip Hop?
http://americanhistory.si.edu/news/pressrelease.cfm?key=29&newskey=318
IMHO that pimp song is an embaressement to hip hop, no wonder it won an oscar, what ever happened to rappers, I'm sure they used to sound good live, everything about those guys was a joke!
I am the only person who thought that Hustle and flow was way melodramatic and exceedingly predictable. "it's hard out here for a pimp" sounds more like puff daddy or coolio–while the Oscars seem to be trying to be contemporary, this song seemed so 1995.
I won't front, it was pretty emotional watching that acceptance speech. For my part, I think the credibility of the oscars isn't high enough to merrit fretting over how validating this is on either side. However the fact that a mainstream media organization like the Academy is recognizing that a song such as this is a valid artistic expression despite the divisive subject matter (in the same way that songs by rock and country musicians have been for quite a long time) has to be a step forward.
and yo, I don't know what's up with comparisons to Puff Daddy and Coolio. I mean, I can understand if you're saying you *like* this song just about as much as a song by Diddy or Mr. Fantastic Voyage, but I honestly can't spot the audio similarities.
you guys gotta remember theres a thin line btw rap and hiphop.. this performance doesnt not reflect hiph hop as much as it reflects rap. if you call that hip hop, it shows the lack of respect y'all folks have for the style.
its like how they went up there and shouted out.. thankl you jesus after singing its hard out there for a pimp
but rap is a big part of hip hop, right?
Hey randymoss, I take your point but was well aware of the difference between rap and hip hop when I posed the question. I mean, putting the whole 4 elements aspect of hip hop to one side and not wishing to go into that grey area of definition I've always seen hip hop as a cultural thing while rap is more a descriptive term. This is why 3-6 winning an oscar with a track about pimpin seems a much bigger story than eminem winning one with a track about rapping.
The stage show (obviously arranged by the Oscars rather than 3-6) played on the image of hip hop with it's dancers performing sub breakdancing moves – though they wisely avoided a token guy pretending to scratch records in the background.
I don't pretend to be half as well schooled on the finer points of this topic as many other more literate writers but I was personally torn between on one side being mighty pleased for 3-6 personally and for the recognition that hip hop (as dstill points out) is getting and with being disappointed that the "first" hip hop song to win an oscar didn't go against so many cliches people have about the music and the culture. Nothing against 3-6, am a big fan of their music (though that's by no means their best work) I just think Independent J. picked up on my concern with his point about "Snarky generalizations and "those crazy kids" jokes of hip hop music and culture".
I just don't think this performance is going to alter that. Still, props to the Mafia, after all they've never asked to be the public face of a music scene. Anyways, who would have thought this could happen 5 years ago?
as usual o-dub has some wonderful and insightful thoughts on this over at poplicks.com. i don't want this to sound too dismissive but i'm wondering how many of the academy members listened to the song very critically. for many of the members music isn't their forte and having watched conan o'brian a lot this week i'd say it is surprising how many academy voting members openly admit they vote without seeing all the nominated material. that's foolish and lazy because i know they get sent the stuff early on dvd for free because at university i used to see all that stuff free free free because i had a friend whose father was a composer and a voting member (names left out to protect the innocent).
If you've seen the movie you know this song is ill…im not a huge fan of memphis rap but this song (as well as the movie) gives an accurate depiction of the area. Unlike the 3 6 Mafia performance, the movie doesn't glorify being a pimp. That's why the song is ill.