.....Banks said that the history of American capitalism began with slave labor. And if there wasn’t going to be any discussion about reparations, Banks said, before beginning to cry, “at the very least y’all owe me the right to my ****ing identity and to not exploit that ****. That’s all we’re holding on to with hip-hop and rap.”
And there was the pull-quote for the next day’s hip-hop media.
Azalea’s response on Twitter was spectacularly tone-deaf.
“Special msg for banks: There are many black artists succeeding in all genres. The reason you haven’t is because of your piss poor attitude,” she tweeted. “Now! rant, Make it racial! make it political! Make it whatever but I guarantee it won’t make you likable & THATS why ur crying on the radio.”
Azalea had refitted a T.I. line with a hectoring voice – stop blaming racism for your problems. She was right on one point: calling out race and racism is no way to become “likable” in American pop culture – not unless one has the rare skill of being able to convert it into laughs and entertainment. And yet Azalea had, perhaps all too predictably, missed the point – the source of Banks’s breakdown.
Is hip-hop only for black people? It is an irrelevant question. Few black hip-hop artists have ever made that argument. But to say that hip-hop begins as black culture made by black people is not just a statement of fact, it is an acknowledgment of the master key that opens the door for everyone, the way a clave unlocks a rhythm.
Even after Q-Tip’s invitation – offered in the same spirit of generosity that those who remind us black lives matter invite us into a discussion that might take us beyond periodic eruptions of unrest – Azalea decided that she should refuse to lose her (borrowed) cool and keep it moving. That same mask of cool carries, as Greg Tate once cogently put it, everything but the burden. Azalea’s response amounts to: “I already know. And I don’t have to care.”The tea
Just because black people created it doesn't mean they own it. Just cause you were born with a certain color doesn't mean you own an arrangement of sound waves. In 2014 all races listen to all different sorts of music, some races more than others. I know tons and tons and tons of white / mexican / asian people ect who ONLY listen to rap and hip hop. So why can't they ****ing create it themselves? It obviously resonates with them so they should ****ing be able to!!
The same goes for black people if they want to do country though. Music is ****ing music. Times are changing. Yes we should respect and preserve the culture that a certain genre once held... But the fact that white people want to make hip hop/rap music just goes to show times are changing and we're all becoming the same!! Think of the culture of today we're CREATING, not losing.
Just because black people created it doesn't mean they own it. Everyone who started rap/hip hop is dead now. Just cause you were born with a certain color doesn't mean you own an arrangement of sound waves. In 2014 all races listen to all different sorts of music, some races more than others. I know tons and tons and tons of white / mexican / asian people ect who ONLY listen to rap and hip hop. So why can't they ****ing create it themselves? It obviously resonates with them so they should ****ing be able to!!
The same goes for black people if they want to do country though. Music is ****ing music. Times are changing. Yes we should respect and preserve the culture that a certain genre once held... But the fact that white people want to make hip hop/rap music just goes to show times are changing and we're all becoming the same!!
I do understand why black people would perceive it as a threat to an institution they own, but I see it as the complete opposite.
Just because black people created it doesn't mean they own it. Everyone who started rap/hip hop is dead now. Just cause you were born with a certain color doesn't mean you own an arrangement of sound waves. In 2014 all races listen to all different sorts of music, some races more than others. I know tons and tons and tons of white / mexican / asian people ect who ONLY listen to rap and hip hop. So why can't they ****ing create it themselves? It obviously resonates with them so they should ****ing be able to!!
The same goes for black people if they want to do country though. Music is ****ing music. Times are changing. Yes we should respect and preserve the culture that a certain genre once held... But the fact that white people want to make hip hop/rap music just goes to show times are changing and we're all becoming the same!!
I do understand why black people would perceive it as a threat to an institution they own, but I see it as the complete opposite.
Just because black people created it doesn't mean they own it. Just cause you were born with a certain color doesn't mean you own an arrangement of sound waves. In 2014 all races listen to all different sorts of music, some races more than others. I know tons and tons and tons of white / mexican / asian people ect who ONLY listen to rap and hip hop. So why can't they ****ing create it themselves? It obviously resonates with them so they should ****ing be able to!!
The same goes for black people if they want to do country though. Music is ****ing music. Times are changing. Yes we should respect and preserve the culture that a certain genre once held... But the fact that white people want to make hip hop/rap music just goes to show times are changing and we're all becoming the same!! Think of the culture of today we're CREATING, not losing.
The Guardian clocked this tea.
Quote:
Is hip-hop only for black people? It is an irrelevant question. Few black hip-hop
artists have ever made that argument. But
to say that hip-hop begins as black culture
made by black people is not just a
statement of fact, it is an acknowledgment
of the master key that opens the door for
everyone
they're right. she's the same careless, entitled bitch she's always been.
