Celebrating African-American Literature 365 days a Year!

Since hip-hop emerged from the South Bronx in the 1970s, it has become an international, multi-billion-dollar phenomenon. It has grown to encompass more than just rap music—hip-hop has created a culture that incorporates ethnicity, art, politics, fashion, technology and urban life.

While keeping much of its original fan base, hip-hop music and culture have become popular among mainstream consumers—particularly suburban youth. Some believe that as commercial and "gangsta" rap emerged, so did lyrics that glorify drugs, violence and misogyny. Many artists who choose, instead, to feature socially conscious and politically oriented lyrics are considered alternative or underground.

Check out some of hip-hop's most contested issues:

Socially Concious Rap
Representation of Women
Hip-hop’s white audience

Read the article here and discuss the topics on this site:
http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/special/hiphop/

What do you think about the following topics in general:

Socially Concious Rap
Representation of Women
Hip-hop’s white audience

Socially Concious Rap---Talib Kweli
What do you think?

“It became underground versus commercial, and they put us in a box, me and Mos Def and a lot of artists doing what we was doing. And you would see underground and conscious in front of our names as a prefix, but it would almost be like tongue in cheek. It would almost be like, ‘Well, it's that corny underground stuff.’ You know what I'm saying? It wasn't said in a way that was respectful in a lot of ways, and in the same way that people would talk negative about gangsta rap and not really understand what its roots are.

“So I saw the need to break those walls and those barriers down in interviews. So anytime someone referred to me as underground and conscious, you know, I'll wear it, because I am conscious about what I say and do, but I would make the distinction and let them know that I do the same thing as these other brothers. It's just a different part of the spectrum, and I try to celebrate the similarities between me and other artists when people try to divide me with it.”

Read the entire article:
http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200405/20040525_kweli.html

Share your comments--do you agree or disagree with this artist? Does these statements still ring true in 2007-2008?

The National Hip Hop Political Convention

The National Hip Hop Political Convention (NHHPC) is a political organization founded in 2003 and operating in 20 states throughout the United States working on issues facing the hip hop generation.

Their keystone event is a biennial National Hip Hop Political Convention, where delegates and local organizing committees from the Hip Hop Generation vote on, adopt and endorse a political agenda for the Hip Hop Generation "to funnel the political and cultural power of the hip hop generation into mainstream political activities."

The first National Hip Hop Political Convention was held from June 16 to 19, 2004 in Newark, New Jersey [1]. The second was held July 19–23, 2006 in Chicago.

Did you attend either event? What do you think the outcome was? Could be form another convention of this sort in 2008 and come away with better results?