Black Baby Boomers vs The Hip Hop Generation*********

Every now and then, there is some hot button social issue that gets us at Grown Folks Hip Hop talking. Let me preface what I'm about to write by stating that truly I admire Bill Cosby, Oprah Winfrey, Rev. Jesse Jackson and these other "celebrities" for the charity work they've done in the past (especially Jesse) and continue to this day. That doesn't mean that any of them are qualified to speak for our people. Recently some comments made by Mr. Bill Cosby about poor Black folks have made its way to the local and national news as well as all of the major newspapers. In chronological order here are some of the comments.

It all started in May 2004, at an event celebrating the 50 year anniversary of the Brown v Board of Education decision sponsored by the NAACP, the NAACP legal fund and Howard Univ. Mr. Cosby was to receive an award his philanthropic endeavors. When he finally got the chance to speak, instead of thanking the people responsible for Brown v. Board ED. decision, or the NAACP or even Howard Univ., Mr. Cosby chose to take this time to get at the poor Black folk for "not holding up their end of the deal." He spoke about how activists "marched and were hit in the face with rocks...to get an education, and now we've got these knuckleheads walking around." Mr. Cosby accused the poor blacks of "not parenting", chided them for "crying when their son is an orange suit" and scoffed at parents who name their children, "Shaniqua, Taliqua, Muhammad and all that crap." He talked about young black men leaving pregnant women behind and not being fathers to their children. It got worse, but there was too much to list (get your Google on to read all of Mr. Cosby's comments).

Early 2006 Cosby is quoted by FoxNews at a rally for Hurricane Katrina victims. Cosby was quoted as saying: "It's painful, but we can't cleanse ourselves unless we look at the wound," Cosby told the rally of about 2,000 people at the city's convention center, where thousands of Katrina evacuees had gathered seven months earlier. "Ladies and gentlemen, you had the highest murder rate, unto each other. You were dealing drugs to each other. You were impregnating our 13-, 12-, 11-year-old children," he said, in quotes picked up by Reuters. "What kind of a village is that?" I'm sure this is exactly what they needed to hear after collecting EVERYTHING they owned in garbage bags after their homes were DEVASTATED in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Then recently at the 2006 graduation ceremonies for Spelman College, he went on to give the graduating class this lovely pep talk: "You have to know that it is time for you all to take charge," Cosby said. "You have to seriously see yourselves not as the old women where the men stood in front and you all stood behind, because the men, most of them are in prison." WTF??? Added Cosby: "It is time for you to pick up the pace and lead because the men are not there. They're not there and every one of you young women know it." "Who's running the show?" Cosby asked. "It appears that the male is, but I have news for you. It's your turn. We want you to lead in business. We want you to lead in medicine. We want you to lead in everything." Couldn't he have talked about the graduates being leaders without disrespecting all black men?

What the fu*k is wrong with this guy?

I'll be the first to admit that Mr. Cosby may have some valid points, but he's in NO position to be speak for, or to, a group of black folks and represent them. He donated a lot of his money over the years and helped finance Spike Lee's movie, "Malcolm X" (on the low of course), but Mr. Cosby almost NEVER confronted racial issues either in his comedy act or through the media. Someone with his profile and Hollywood clout surely could have done a lot more regarding civil rights, but he was busy protecting his personal interests (which is his right). I think "Fat Albert" and "The Cosby Show" were 2 of the best shows in TV history, but neither of these shows ever confronted any racial issues, so who is Mr. Cosby to start to try to become the "Beacon of Hope" for black folks? I'm of the opinion that Mr. Cosby isn't qualified to speak for me or any other black folks. He hasn't spent too much time on the front lines of the civil rights battle, nor has he spent too much time speaking to our generation to see what we're really about. He gets his opinion of younger folks from the same media outlets all the other black baby boomers get theirs from -- TV (more importantly music videos), newspapers and movies. Mr. Cosby told the Spelman graduates that all of the "black men are in jail." I doubt that telling those sisters that most of their choices for husbands are in jail was the speech they wanted to hear as they enter the "real world." He can say what he wants, but the the mainstream media continue to stick microphones in his face. Soon "they" will be saying, "See, even Bill Cosby says they're lazy", "even Oprah thinks that rap music is offensive", etc. Read "Is Bill Cosby Right? (or has the Middle Class lost its mind?) by Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities at the University of Pennsylvania. It's been out for about 8 months now and he rightfully takes Cosby to task for his comments. Cosby's rebuttal? "This is a man (Dyson) who teaches at Univ. of Pennsylvania. How much does it cost to attend that school?" Believe me, if Jim Brown or the late Ossie Davis or Boston Celtic great Bill Russell said some of the things Mr. Cosby said, my reaction would be a lot less angry. These are just a few of the people who sacrificed fame and fortune to stand in the front lines during the civil rights movement.

The thing that really feds me up the most is that our "elders" and "leaders" decide to fight this battle between the Black Baby Boomers (born btwn 1946-1964) and the Hip Hop generation through the (mostly white) media, instead of reaching out to some of the people he may have a problem with. You don't think 50 Cent or Jay Z would take Cosby's call? Couldn't Bill stop by 106 & Park to talk directly to the youth he's supposed to be so concerned about? Couldn't Oprah have reached out to Ludacris in private instead of trying to assassinate his character and embarrass him on national TV? T.I. & Snoop wouldn't have lunch with Jesse? Black Baby Boomers, like Dr. Huxtable, don't seem to WANT to understand the Hip Hop generation. If he did, he'd know that there are plenty of young black men who are a lot like me - almost all our friends have degrees, the ones with kids are good fathers, we don't deal drugs to each other and we think that Muhammad is a name that anyone would be honored to have.

Maybe this is Cosby's way of using reverse psychology against us. Maybe he thinks that if he continues to disrespect HIS people, then they would change to fit HIS idea of what a young black person should be. Someone needs to tell him that he's going about it the wrong way. Until he, and everybody else who feels like him, decides to try to truly understand the Hip Hop generation, we as a people will continue to act like crabs in a barrel. I doubt that is the result that the Black Baby Boomers are looking for.

We at Grown Folks Hip Hop want to know what YOU think about the recent comments of our so-called "Black leaders", and the war between the Black Baby Boomers and the Hip Hop Generation.

Remember the Time

Way before the beefs, the shootings, the cookie-cutter singles and corporate influence, Hip-Hop music had always been an important part of people's lives partly because of the way it made them feel. You would never believe it with today's music, but once upon a time, Hip-Hop music was used as a source of inspiration. There are some songs that make you go back to a time or period in your life when things were all good. I remember my female cousins losing their minds when Salt-n-Pepa came on the radio or TV. Songs like "Tramp"; "I'll Take your Man" and "Independent Woman" inspired them in different ways, obviously. For me, "Ego Trip" by The Ultramagnetic MCs, "You Gots to Chill" by EPMD (High School); "One for All" and "Wake Up" by Brand Nubian (my Ohio State days); "They Reminisce Over You" by Pete Rock and CL Smooth; B.I.G.'s song "Hypnotized" and "Lex Coups Beemers and the Benz" by the Lost Boyz (these songs came out during my most memorable years at Morgan) were the songs that take me back to a time when my life was good. Songs like "Who Got the Props" by Black Moon; "Where My Homies" by Ill Al Scratch; "They Want EFX" by Das EFX remind me of the days when me and my friends used to be heavy into our mixtape "exclusives". The songs from the "Bad Boy Era" like "Flavor in Your Ear" by Craig Mack; "Juicy" and "Unbelievable" by B.I.G.; "C.R.E.A.M." by Wu-Tang; "Dead Presidents" by Jay-Z and "NY State of Mind" by Nas remind of when the East started to get relevant again after Cali had the game smashed. My pro-Black side was serviced by the music of PE, X-Clan (R.I.P. Prof. X), Paris, Common, Ice Cube and KRS-One.

You hear professional ball players say the listening to Hip-Hop helps them prepare to play their games. Lauryn Hill inspired millions of females with her solo disc, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill." In some ways I'm sure the eclectic styles of Andre' 3000 and Kanye West have inspired a legion of people to do what makes them happy regardless of what others may think. Our question to you this week comes two-fold:

What are the Hip-Hop songs that remind you of the "good ole days?"

Is there any Hip-Hop music out here today that has inspired you in any way?

Self Destruction 2006/2007 - Is it Time for a New "Stop the Violence" Movement?

In 1988, the some of the most powerful and popular MC's in Hip-Hop join forces to create the song "Self-Destruction" as part of KRS-One's "Stop the Violence Movement." This was done not only to stop the spread of violence in Hip-Hop, but throughout the communities in which fans of the culture lived, went to school, went to party, etc. The historic gathering of MC's included: KRS-ONE; Kool Moe Dee, MC Lyte, Just-Ice; Doug E. Fresh; Heavy D and Public Enemy. The chorus of the song "Self Destruction, ya headed for Self-Destruction" seemed to make these MCs prophets after the violent deaths of The Notorious B.I.G., Tupac, producer Paul C, Stretch (from the Live Squad) and Big L in the next coming years. Also, in 1990 Eazy E and L.A. gang founder Mike Concepcion helped form the West Coast Rap All-Stars for a record named "We're All in the Same Gang." This collection of West Coast MCs that included the likes of Ice-T; King Tee; Tone Loc; Digital Underground; Young MC; NWA; MC Hammer; and Michel'le came together to try to stop the spread of gang violence in Southern Cali communities and all the other communities where gang violence was a major problem. Hip-Hop was supposed to learn a lesson after the "Big Two" were murdered. But recent events have caused us to question whether or not we, as the Hip-Hop Community, learned anything. Just in the past 6 months alone there have been these incidents:

* Obie Trice survived a gunshot to the head on New Year's Eve while riding in his truck with his girlfriend on a Detroit highway.
* D-12 member and Eminem hype man Proof shot and killed in a Detroit after-hours spot, allegedly over who was the "King of Detroit." WTF!!!
* Brooklyn rapper Gravy, who ironically is supposed to portray the Notorious B.I.G. in a movie about the legendary MC's life, who shot in the ass on his way to an interview at NY's Hot 97 FM. He went on to conduct the interview minutes after getting hit.
* T.I.'s personal assistant and good friend, Philant Johnson, is shot and killed on a Cincinnati, OH highway after T.I. and members of his entourage, Grand Hustle, were followed by 2 SUVs and fired upon as their caravan was leaving a nightclub. The beef allegedly set off after some party-goers were offended by members of Grand Hustle throwing cash into the crowd.
* Big Hawk, a member of Houston, TX legendary Screwed Up Click is murdered after being shot multiple times (by multiple pistols) in front of his grandmothers house.
* The bodyguard of Busta Rhymes', Israel Ramirez, is murdered at the video shot for "Touch It" supposedly after some of the artists got into an argument over who would appear in the video.

This is just over a six-month period. This time frame doesn't included the Cam'ron shooting in DC, the shooting of an associate of L.A. rapper The Game outside of Hot 97 FM in NY; Suge Knight getting shot (or shooting himself) at a Kanye West party in Miami; Brooklyn MC Saigon surviving a stab wound to the temple after fighting off some guys that tried to steal his chain outside of a NYC diner; or the alleged war between artists from the Bay Area and the Mid-West (particularly Kansas City, MO) that may have claimed the life of popular Bay Area rapper Mac Dre. The list can go on and on. Clearly the time has come for the artists of today to ban together to show that this senseless violence can stop. We all know the hood can dictate behavior for some. Stick-ups, robberies and shootings happen all the time that don't have a thing to do with Hip-Hop or any other music for that matter. But don't Hip-Hop artists have to take some responsibility for the violence on the hood? I'm sure a lot of their family and friends still reside in those neighborhoods where violence is law of the land. As powerful as their voices are, wouldn't SOME of their fans try another route other than violence if (insert your favortie artist here) said it was wrong? Can today's generation (14yrs.-25yrs.) be inspired by today's artists to do something other than 1) Go to jail, 2) Get shot (which seems to be real popoular these days) or 3) Shoot someone else?

I knew this was more than out of control after one of this season's early episodes of the Sopranos. A member of Tony's crew named Bobby is visiting Tony in the hospital and overhears another rapper, played by Lord Jamar, and his crew talking about how him getting shot should help his career. He also hears Lord J's character cry and whimper about getting shot. The next rapper on deck at the label, played by Treach, is approached by Bobby and he offers to shoot Treach for a small fee, in order to help Treach gain more "street-cred" before his album drops. Of course Treach agrees to the plot and is unceromoniusly shot in the ass soon thereafter (reminiscent of the Gravy incident). All rappers should pay some attention to this story because THAT is how most of mainstream America and entertainment think of them. And we should care because "they" think that these publicity stunts are a major part of the culture--our culture.

The time for a new Self-Destruction/Stop the Violence Movement is long overdue. We at Grown Folks Hip-Hop have 2 questions for you.

1) What is your opinion about violence in Hip-Hop music and culture?

2) Who would be your MC choices for the Self-Destruction 2006/2007 record?