sagaciously is...

Right before I was about to write the final verse to my hip-hop love story, I sat in my favorite nail salon, listening to a mixtape featuring both southern acts like D4L and Dem Franchise Boyz, and some underground (?) versions of some Biggie, Jay-Z and Nas tracks I'd never heard. Tony, my fave nail tech (who, yes is a Vietnamese straight man and yes, can hook up a French manicure) and I started talking about the mixtape, which he promised to burn a copy of for me later. And while that alone should have stunned me into action (that Tony had hotter music than me - I'm a hip-hop kid for Gawd's sake! Oh the horror!), something else served as the fuel for the final hip-hop post.

As I waited for my nails to dry, I picked up the April 2006 copy of Atlanta magazine, and skimmed through the editorial pages. Now, Atlanta magazine is a glossy regional lifestyle magazine, that typically features everything from politics and the local economy, to travel, culture and technology. Personally, I love it for the shopping.

But as I skimmed, the words Dissing Dupri caught my eye. This reader commentary was apparently in response to the (Feb '06) article written by Jennifer Senator called "Six Degrees of J.D.", which stated that Dupri "...was overlooked ... for the producer of the Year Grammy" and apparently praised Dupri. But this comment by an Atlanta magazine reader didn't agree with Jennifer's statements. At all. Wait, let me allow you, kind reader, to hear his voice of disagreement:

"Are tbug rappers like this what you call talent? ...Without mentioning race, these sub human beings have polluted our mainstream culture with gutter rap music and you are one of those white enablers who glorifies them and their trashy music. I hold you and other enablers like you solely responsible for alloing these creatures to contribute to the declining morals of the society in which we live today.

Because of white enablers like you, it is merely impossible to hold individual adults responsible for bad behavior and providing bad examples for children. You should deplore gangsta rap music, the drug and intoxication world, gangs, unfettered welfare, bad schools, disrespect for authority and the denigration of the English language." ~ John P. Burns Dunwoody

W.O.W.

So, it's 2 weeks later, and this still bugs me. I'm neither a "fan" or detractor of J.D., but it's still bugging me. It's stuck in my craw for three reasons:
1) Mr. Burns portrayal of rap music isn't far from my portrayal of the current state of hip-hop. Yeah, it was me who said that "that n*gga was still on the same block. Sometimes he'd be shiny suited up, screaming some shyt about bling, bytches and benjamins. Sometimes he's be in his tims and jeans, wifebeater and white tee, ramblling some bullshyt about Jesus and steady saying "we ain't going anywhere...we right here". It is a stretch from gangsta rap -to- trifling brotha posted up on the block, true. But it isn't a looong stretch. And I'm kicking myself for allowing the radio and tv to overshadow my historical knowledge of hip-hop, and let that caricature fester in my own brain. Oh yeah, and 5.0. Cent. Ugh. I actually bought into this bullshyt.

2) This portrayal is wholly inaccurate. This is J.D. we're talking about, right? No offense to any J.D. fans, but anyone who knows anything about his music would agree, he's as far from gangsta rap as you can get these days. He's produced for Mariah Carey, for Christ's sake - didn't her label make him sign a morals clause or something while he was working on her album? Look at his bio, his discography - gangsta rap? Are you kidding me?

And Mr. Burns apparently googled JD's name, and came across an API story about his performance with the YoungBloodz and BoneCrusher at a Falcons game, where the language and content was er - questionable to say the least. But - this story is 2.5 years old (Nov '03). And, there is no consensus about what the offensive language actually was. Each newswire that carried this story, modified the headline (some to make it rather inflammatory), but along with carrying the same story, they all stated: "It wasn't clear which versions of their songs the groups used at the Georgia Dome. Some people at the game claimed they heard profanity, others said they didn't." Clueless from his comfortable Atlanta suburb, Mr. Burns fired off this toney commentary with no facts in hand, and used this 'response' to loosely indict the genre. That, my friends - I have a problem with.

Okokok, let's assume J.D. works with questionable artists, gangsta rappers and thugs. Do you think Mr. Burns would take Clive Davis to task?

3) This portrayal typifies the view of a certain large segment of our political/cultural population. I find this kind of thinking maddening, because it's supposed to come from people who are "educated", "enlightened" and/or "knowledgeable" about "everything" including popular culture.They develop this esoteric perspective, and then force those views on the unwitting sheep who take their professed "knowledge" for granted, without thinking for themselves. "Unfettered welfare"? "drug and intoxication world"? Does any of this rhetoric sound familiar?

* shaking her head * I'm just...done. The whole thing was so overtly classist and racist, I'd have to start a whole new series to address it. I just can't give this anymore thought/air.