[EtH]

Originally Posted by GOOD GRIEF

Cause hip hop IS about race. It started as just fun and a distraction but turned into a form of expression from racism and classism suffered by (mostly) African Americans. It’s based in black slang, clothing, mannerisms, angst, etc. THEN it evolved even further passed that and others came in a flavored it up but it’s still black at its base. You can call it American or Urban or whatever. But that doesn’t change the fact it’s black culture. We’re both right fam.

I hate to bring it up again but look at some traditional Latino music. The lyrics are Spanish, with Spanish slang, references Spanish holidays, Spanish stories, featuring Spanish clothing, etc. Then it gets played at Spanish ceremonies where they eat Spanish food and blah blah blah. You can call it what you want and dodge it all you want but it’s clearly a part of Spanish culture. It’s too deep not to be. Why’s that so horrible? It doesn’t stop it from expanding changing or bending. Is the lable that scary? No one would gives a fuck if I said it was Hispanic culture... folks would nod there head and say “well duh”. but these dicussions seem to make people uneasy when it’s perceived as a black vs white thing. It’s not. There’s no exclusivity but recognize it for what it is. And To say “oh it’s just a genre”? Nah.

I’m going to end it right here cause I feel like I’m not getting anywhere. Clearly the idea of saying something is black implies segregation to people.

It could be a New York thing. An African thing. A freedom from oppression thing. But like everything else in the world... it's a race thing

I just cant imagine trying to claim French cooking as a "white thing". Oh the English language? Yeah homie thats a "white thing". Nah fuck that. Culture is something that is designed to grow and develop. Facebook isn't American culture because it was built in America using American ideals, it's something globally recognized. Maybe a better example is, how can you tell someone who raps in Poland, who exclusively listens to Polish rappers, exclusively is in Polish, that what he's doing is 100% based on "black culture"? He raps about different shit in a different language, all of white are relevant only to the people of Poland.

[EtH]

Originally Posted by GOOD GRIEF

Cause hip hop IS about race. It started as just fun and a distraction but turned into a form of expression from racism and classism suffered by (mostly) African Americans. It’s based in black slang, clothing, mannerisms, angst, etc. THEN it evolved even further passed that and others came in a flavored it up but it’s still black at its base. You can call it American or Urban or whatever. But that doesn’t change the fact it’s black culture. We’re both right fam.

I hate to bring it up again but look at some traditional Latino music. The lyrics are Spanish, with Spanish slang, references Spanish holidays, Spanish stories, featuring Spanish clothing, etc. Then it gets played at Spanish ceremonies where they eat Spanish food and blah blah blah. You can call it what you want and dodge it all you want but it’s clearly a part of Spanish culture. It’s too deep not to be. Why’s that so horrible? It doesn’t stop it from expanding changing or bending. Is the lable that scary? No one would gives a fuck if I said it was Hispanic culture... folks would nod there head and say “well duh”. but these dicussions seem to make people uneasy when it’s perceived as a black vs white thing. It’s not. There’s no exclusivity but recognize it for what it is. And To say “oh it’s just a genre”? Nah.

I’m going to end it right here cause I feel like I’m not getting anywhere. Clearly the idea of saying something is black implies segregation to people.

It could be a New York thing. An African thing. A freedom from oppression thing. But like everything else in the world... it's a race thing

I just cant imagine trying to claim French cooking as a "white thing". Oh the English language? Yeah homie thats a "white thing". Nah fuck that. Culture is something that is designed to grow and develop. Facebook isn't American culture because it was built in America using American ideals, it's something globally recognized. Maybe a better example is, how can you tell someone who raps in Poland, who exclusively listens to Polish rappers, exclusively is in Polish, that what he's doing is 100% based on "black culture"? He raps about different shit in a different language, all of white are relevant only to the people of Poland.