In
case this brings any new visitors to the blog, I'm going to give a little
background. I write about two music reviews a week (Thursday and Friday).
Shortly after getting on Twitter, a lot of bands started following me. This is
a common practice as bands try to get new listeners and build up a fan base.
I
had been doing some writing about music anyway, and the reviews seemed like a
natural extension of that. I have since reviewed 168 bands, with about 70 more
on deck, so I don't anticipate stopping any time soon.
I
hate giving bad reviews. By the time I write about a band we have been
following each other for a few months, and I have often developed an affection
for them. I won't give false praise, but I try and focus on what listening to
the band is like, and who might like them, and be balanced in what I say. I
think that is why the bands usually don't seem to hate me after a lukewarm
write-up, but I still stress over it. Because of this, I cringe a little every
time I get followed by someone hip hop. I usually don't like it.
I
had thoughts about that, because I would think, okay, it's just not my thing; I
can still listen objectively. That sounded reasonable, except then I would
listen to De La Soul after not listening to them for a while, or "Rapper's
Delight", and they would be so good. (I'm 42; of course I'm old school.) When
the music is well done I do like it.
This
weekend I found myself defending hip hop, and I read someone else defending it,
and it kind of came together.
Shaun
King was tweeting about hip hop on August 21st. It is not the most important
thing he has tweeted about recently, but he was writing about how church music
didn't fill all of the needs, and how anger needed to be expressed, and it made
sense.
My
defense happened because someone re-tweeted Lecrae:
I
had never heard of Lecrae before, but the quote about how what's in your songs
means you can't demand social justice is pure respectability politics and it is
a lie. It is a lie that makes people who are already getting a raw deal have to
jump through hoops, when in fact the reason they are getting oppressed is
because it benefits other people.
Let
me be really clear, much of my bad reaction to hip hop comes because of the
misogyny and the profanity. It does offend me. There is room for improvement.
It is also often speaking truth. If it is an ugly truth, that is not merely the
responsibility of the speaker.
The
thing that suddenly came through for me (and a completely different Twitter
thread, that we will get to tomorrow, helped) is that I realized part of the
beauty of hip hop is its accessibility.
The
rock bands who start seeking followers have found other people to play with.
Occasionally there is one person with just an acoustic guitar or a keyboard,
but they have still learned to play those instruments.
For
hip hop, it may just be someone with a phone, or with a computer program. Yes,
that means some of them probably haven't tried as hard as they could, but there
is still an outlet available, even if they can't find any like-minded people,
even if there is not a way to obtain instruments and lessons, there is
something.
I
believe in the importance of creativity and self-expression. It has to start
somewhere. I have not given proper respect to hip hop as a starting point. I
will try and listen better now.
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