Movie/Documentary Review: Hip-Hop Beyond Beats and Rhymes
Ref: Hip-Hop Beyond Beats and Rhymes
Here’s the link to the video if you’re interested in watching it for yourself:
https://vimeo.com/143038369
Context: We watched this video in class (again I’m going to rave about my love for my Gender in America class) and I took some notes which I thought would be pretty good to share. I’m not trying to change a perspective on the topics being discussed, but to share what I was thinking whilst watching the documentary (and to possibly have a discussion on the entire thing itself).
At the beginning of the film, it introduces the idea of masculinity in society and the definition of what it means to be a man specifically in the Black community. As stated within the film, what defines a man is his level of strength, authority, power, and especially the amount of money he has. The film also states that in order to avoid having a weak reputation, there is this constant denial of fragility. All of these aspects of being a man are pretty commonplace where the vision of being a “real man” is constructed by the hegemonic masculine traits that are desirable from both men and women alike so things like: being intelligent, having a muscular body, dressing professionally, having many girls, can take as many drinks, lift many weights, so on and so forth. So essentially the concept of being a man is held at pretty high standards (some of which are carried out by more women than by men, but that’s a different story for a different day). For the doc itself, it really talks about how Black men are required to assert themselves and that this need to be seen as a man is at top priority level. I personally think that it is a way to counteract oppression and this systematic put-down by the people around you, by the government, and even by your friends and family; this is their response to all of that, which I think is pretty understandable. For the most part, your level of masculinity is defined by how much you come close to the previously defined standards of being a man and in the Black community, it is defined by how close you are to the image that is displayed in songs and music videos.
Here’s the link to the video if you’re interested in watching it for yourself:
https://vimeo.com/143038369
Context: We watched this video in class (again I’m going to rave about my love for my Gender in America class) and I took some notes which I thought would be pretty good to share. I’m not trying to change a perspective on the topics being discussed, but to share what I was thinking whilst watching the documentary (and to possibly have a discussion on the entire thing itself).
At the beginning of the film, it introduces the idea of masculinity in society and the definition of what it means to be a man specifically in the Black community. As stated within the film, what defines a man is his level of strength, authority, power, and especially the amount of money he has. The film also states that in order to avoid having a weak reputation, there is this constant denial of fragility. All of these aspects of being a man are pretty commonplace where the vision of being a “real man” is constructed by the hegemonic masculine traits that are desirable from both men and women alike so things like: being intelligent, having a muscular body, dressing professionally, having many girls, can take as many drinks, lift many weights, so on and so forth. So essentially the concept of being a man is held at pretty high standards (some of which are carried out by more women than by men, but that’s a different story for a different day). For the doc itself, it really talks about how Black men are required to assert themselves and that this need to be seen as a man is at top priority level. I personally think that it is a way to counteract oppression and this systematic put-down by the people around you, by the government, and even by your friends and family; this is their response to all of that, which I think is pretty understandable. For the most part, your level of masculinity is defined by how much you come close to the previously defined standards of being a man and in the Black community, it is defined by how close you are to the image that is displayed in songs and music videos.
This connects me to my next point on the isolated association of Black culture with gangster rap. In the documentary, Hurt interviews a few White listeners of hip-hop music and ask for their opinions on rap music in general and the reasons why they listen to rap music. According to the film, most of the people who listen to rap music are White. And honestly, I found that interesting too because I remember reading in Guyland (which by the way is a really good book and is one my highly recommended books to read) and what comes up is this idea that by listening to rap music and music from hip-hop culture, it helps to add a sort-of “manly fuel” to young White men when meandering along in their course of becoming a man. It helps give an excitement and thrill because of how strong and powerful the lyrics are. And when asked about why they personally listen to rap music, the answer was somewhere along the lines of “it helped to give an insight on black culture because many of us don’t know what it’s like being in the urban atmosphere or living on the streets… we grew up in suburbs, went to school with a bunch of people who looked just like us and so it was a way for us to look at and appreciate another person’s culture”, which sounds reasonable for the most part but what was interesting is that the same topic was brought up in class where, despite having the intention of appreciation, many things that result from said experiences is culture appropriation (which shouldn’t be taken lightly, hint hint). This strong sense of manliness, this hyper-masculine image of the Black male is so appealing to grab at that many people try to replicate it, and I say this with fingers pointing at Asia as well.
Culture appropriation is taken so lightly amongst our generation of people because there’s this constant idea of being the good guy (which is very problematic). “I am not a bad person, I am not racist because I listen to rap music and I have a black friend”, this constant denial of being the bad guy and being the “racist individual” is so common and I think this has a lot to do with euphemism and how we’re always trying to cover-up, sugarcoat, and really mask over bad things with more “sweeter” concepts. What is so problematic about it all is that they are basing all of their knowledge on black culture solely from rap and hip-hop music which has fueled stereotypes of black men being violent and really helps to define this hyper-masculine image of the black man. These things also happen with those who listen to hip-hop and contemporary music genres from Asian countries as well (specifically those from Korea) because there is no other knowledge of said culture besides from the songs that they listen to. Now there can be other sources, but I’m saying that MOST of what they associate with black culture (and any culture that they’re listening to) is with what is being displayed in their music. You can argue that music is a good branding of one’s culture and traditions, etc etc. I believe that music takes a good part in a culture and helps to bring light to some of the special and unique aspects of said culture but it is definitely NOT the only thing that helps to define it (which I feel that most lack the understanding for).
Another problem with this is that many White listeners tend to want to replicate this style or culture that they’ve overgeneralized from the music that they’re listening to and it becomes a “stage” or an “act” where now they’re speaking with the african american vernacular, they think it’s okay to say the word “n*gga” in any context, replicate the attire and dresswear, etc etc etc the list goes on. Now, it’s fun to act like a black person but it’s not fun for you to be one, which then becomes the problem. You understand, at least from my perspective, the struggles and hardships that are being faced by Blacks in America (and honestly all over the world as well), but as you put on these acts and try to temporarily wear this suit or disguise by appropriating black culture, you are able to escape from these problems by just simply taking off this mask and going back to your own life but the people’s lives that you’re trying to replicate? They can’t simply take that off and escape from those problems. It’s problematic because as you’re trying to look cool, look manly, be tough, and give yourself this masculine excitement, you are misrepresenting a culture and overlooking the struggles, hardship, and discrimination that people of said culture face on a daily basis for your own personal entertainment. As you’re listening to rap music, you feel empowered and strengthened and so you use this as a way to display your “masculinity”, you are essentially the “cool, manly” guy now. Take a second and think about the culture that you’re trying to step into, are you given the absolutely complete picture of said culture? What does this say about you?
Culture appropriation is taken so lightly amongst our generation of people because there’s this constant idea of being the good guy (which is very problematic). “I am not a bad person, I am not racist because I listen to rap music and I have a black friend”, this constant denial of being the bad guy and being the “racist individual” is so common and I think this has a lot to do with euphemism and how we’re always trying to cover-up, sugarcoat, and really mask over bad things with more “sweeter” concepts. What is so problematic about it all is that they are basing all of their knowledge on black culture solely from rap and hip-hop music which has fueled stereotypes of black men being violent and really helps to define this hyper-masculine image of the black man. These things also happen with those who listen to hip-hop and contemporary music genres from Asian countries as well (specifically those from Korea) because there is no other knowledge of said culture besides from the songs that they listen to. Now there can be other sources, but I’m saying that MOST of what they associate with black culture (and any culture that they’re listening to) is with what is being displayed in their music. You can argue that music is a good branding of one’s culture and traditions, etc etc. I believe that music takes a good part in a culture and helps to bring light to some of the special and unique aspects of said culture but it is definitely NOT the only thing that helps to define it (which I feel that most lack the understanding for).
Another problem with this is that many White listeners tend to want to replicate this style or culture that they’ve overgeneralized from the music that they’re listening to and it becomes a “stage” or an “act” where now they’re speaking with the african american vernacular, they think it’s okay to say the word “n*gga” in any context, replicate the attire and dresswear, etc etc etc the list goes on. Now, it’s fun to act like a black person but it’s not fun for you to be one, which then becomes the problem. You understand, at least from my perspective, the struggles and hardships that are being faced by Blacks in America (and honestly all over the world as well), but as you put on these acts and try to temporarily wear this suit or disguise by appropriating black culture, you are able to escape from these problems by just simply taking off this mask and going back to your own life but the people’s lives that you’re trying to replicate? They can’t simply take that off and escape from those problems. It’s problematic because as you’re trying to look cool, look manly, be tough, and give yourself this masculine excitement, you are misrepresenting a culture and overlooking the struggles, hardship, and discrimination that people of said culture face on a daily basis for your own personal entertainment. As you’re listening to rap music, you feel empowered and strengthened and so you use this as a way to display your “masculinity”, you are essentially the “cool, manly” guy now. Take a second and think about the culture that you’re trying to step into, are you given the absolutely complete picture of said culture? What does this say about you?
Now this was brought up in class where one of the women, talking about why she listened to rap music, mentioned something that may have indicated that she thought that it was the fault of black men that there is so much misogynistic lyrics in their songs. So essentially she is able to take a 3rd perspective view, step back, disassociate herself with the music she states that she enjoys listening to so much and point fingers at everyone but herself (that sounds like shade and I assure you that it is). This brings up another topic in question though, and a big one at that, misogyny and the mistreatment of women in the Black community, specifically. They gave a good example of Nelly, his visit to Spelman, and the women that were protesting against him. At first I thought, well it’s just a situation where women are being objectified and used for sexual arrousement (which, don’t get me wrong, is a very serious issue on its own), but it goes deeper into that. It is a situation where now, this specific depiction of black women is displaying a similar image of how Whites saw them during the times of slavery; they were seen as worthless, sex objects, used only for eye candy and moreover as commodities than as human beings. It takes away the respect for them as humans, as people, and as women; they are used for nothing more than masturbation. It brings me back to some earlier readings that I’ve been furiously jotting down notes on, that black women have to work extra extra extra hard in order to be seen as “normal women” or as “feminine women” (at that) because essentially the “ideal woman” is white and she doesn’t have to work hard for people to accept her as a feminine woman, she just is. Black women on the other hand, deal with having to express themselves over and over again and with extra work because people won’t see them how they are supposed to be seen. We masculinize them, put them down for their hairstyles and beauty and all of that, and it really pains me to say that because before this class I have never considered that at all. I’ve never personally put some thought into how the media saw anyone else besides myself, which I’ll admit is very sad on my part. Continuing on, it’s harder to be a Black woman because you’ll never know if someone is mistreating you based on your gender or your race or both, you’ll never know anyone’s true intention for treating you the way that they do and you may never find out and that’s really unfortunate to deal with.
One last thing that I found was a pretty new concept was the idea of “homo-eroticism” and at first I didn’t understand it but as we talked about it, it made more sense but I’m still a bit hazy on some parts. Homo-eroticism, especially in music videos from the early 2000s, possibly late 90s as well, shows Black men as strong, naked/half naked, and really just these oversexualized images of men. They also added the entire saggy-pants/low pants fashion to this homo-eroticism concept as well. It’s an intensity that “bonds men and excludes women” (these are direct quotes from my notes). I’m a bit hazy on this part because there’s this constant defiance of homosexuality and this complete disassociation with being gay and yet in the film there are connections of said attractiveness to the drag queens (which I’m not against but am still a bit confused on). I may have to rewatch the doc for that scene but I’ve never thought about this before. It reminds me of my readings from Guyland that talks about how there’s always this “bros before hoes” concept that when you’re acting manly, it’s not because you want “get the girls” but because you want to show off to your other guy friends and level up to them. There’s always this sense of, you want to have a girlfriend, but you have to mask up your feelings for said person all because you believe that your guy friends would make fun of you for having certain emotions, etc etc etc. Some other ideas would be like you have to dress a certain way, act like you don’t care about stuff, and talking specifically about girls within this “region of guyland” you either have to be the “bitch” or the “babe”. The babe being the one that just goes along with whatever the guy is doing; he can mistreat you, ignore you, hurt your feelings or just not care about your feelings at all, not be considered as important and his guy friends are and is just overall a toy that the guy is keeping in his life. She is the side-object for his daily life where he’s more focused on being with his guy friends, playing video games, going on social media, technology, sports, and she’s just there with him… on the side somewhere. The “bitch” is the one that refuses to play by the book and denies mistreatment from said guys; she’s labelled as such because she doesn’t want to just go along with how these guys treat her but again you can’t escape from being labeled as either the “bitch” or the “babe”. And these labels reinforce this constant idea of “my friends are more important than girls”, “these hoes mean nothing to me”, and mentalities of the women being the side-chick, being excluded, and being completely shut out.
[This went on for way longer than I expected it to be. If you have any thoughts or opinions, please please please share them! Sorry that this became an extended piece of crap, but I felt like it was nice to share]
One last thing that I found was a pretty new concept was the idea of “homo-eroticism” and at first I didn’t understand it but as we talked about it, it made more sense but I’m still a bit hazy on some parts. Homo-eroticism, especially in music videos from the early 2000s, possibly late 90s as well, shows Black men as strong, naked/half naked, and really just these oversexualized images of men. They also added the entire saggy-pants/low pants fashion to this homo-eroticism concept as well. It’s an intensity that “bonds men and excludes women” (these are direct quotes from my notes). I’m a bit hazy on this part because there’s this constant defiance of homosexuality and this complete disassociation with being gay and yet in the film there are connections of said attractiveness to the drag queens (which I’m not against but am still a bit confused on). I may have to rewatch the doc for that scene but I’ve never thought about this before. It reminds me of my readings from Guyland that talks about how there’s always this “bros before hoes” concept that when you’re acting manly, it’s not because you want “get the girls” but because you want to show off to your other guy friends and level up to them. There’s always this sense of, you want to have a girlfriend, but you have to mask up your feelings for said person all because you believe that your guy friends would make fun of you for having certain emotions, etc etc etc. Some other ideas would be like you have to dress a certain way, act like you don’t care about stuff, and talking specifically about girls within this “region of guyland” you either have to be the “bitch” or the “babe”. The babe being the one that just goes along with whatever the guy is doing; he can mistreat you, ignore you, hurt your feelings or just not care about your feelings at all, not be considered as important and his guy friends are and is just overall a toy that the guy is keeping in his life. She is the side-object for his daily life where he’s more focused on being with his guy friends, playing video games, going on social media, technology, sports, and she’s just there with him… on the side somewhere. The “bitch” is the one that refuses to play by the book and denies mistreatment from said guys; she’s labelled as such because she doesn’t want to just go along with how these guys treat her but again you can’t escape from being labeled as either the “bitch” or the “babe”. And these labels reinforce this constant idea of “my friends are more important than girls”, “these hoes mean nothing to me”, and mentalities of the women being the side-chick, being excluded, and being completely shut out.
[This went on for way longer than I expected it to be. If you have any thoughts or opinions, please please please share them! Sorry that this became an extended piece of crap, but I felt like it was nice to share]
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