forums : Jungle Scene : Hip-Hop

chuck d speaks . . . .

Year-End Notes From Oz
By Chuck D of Public Enemy

At this point it’s confusing as to who calls the shots of who’s who and what’s what in this hip hop game. I’ve seen scavengers pillage, hustle and rape this thing like nothing wrong. Those that have the attitude of making a killing instead of making a living at this should get the tag of ‘poachers’. Scavengers digging their claws in the game with little or no replenishment to the well.

The SOURCE is anti-EMINEM thus 50 CENT. Ok. But for some of the wrong damn reasons. While in SYDNEY we all rode out to the 50 Cent/OBIE TRICE concert in the new Olympic ARENA, the same one VINCE CARTER rolled his nuts across FREDRIC WEIS face while dunking OVER him, yeah same place. Filled to the rafters were 20,000 Australians, mainly youth who were following every stitch of corporate game hip hop. This in certain ways is an advancement for the rap game because here was a current rap star at the peak of his frenzy not being lazy in the states and taking his thing abroad. Fearless I’d say. The EMINEM camp gets props for seeking out of the box, it’s something that I’ve been waiting for cats to do since we did it unconditionally in the 80s. Backstage before the show we met with OBIE TRICE who really seemed appreciative yet in awe of it all so soon, and 50 who as I’ve said is a really brilliant, well mannered thought out cat. We shook hands, talked, took the customary pictures etc and I told him that I would like to see him do his thing for a very long time, none of this short term thinking. I don’t know if it penetrated the swirl but I feel it did.

This brings me to what I didn’t like. The show had mad energy, 50 has a great stage presence and timing, as well as the standard/best biggest production stage set going around. It was that the theme of gunshots were played upon, even that was what it was but the street chants of ‘Getting Niggas Got’ were a bit much especially when there were 20,000 screaming white kids yelling it. Beyond 50 Cent the business of Black Death has found a cinematic theme thru hip hop. This was a different generation of hip hop white-kid who although being told by a blackface to ‘smoke a nigger’ were integrating a familiar theme of black death inside their minds and souls while their bodies rode the rhythms of super amped arena-beats.

As I looked stories and tiers full of kids knowing that this was IOWA, TEXAS, and JERSEY as well as 12,000 miles away, I couldn’t help to think about how some of these kids would think 15 years later, when some of them will be administrators, CEOs, law enforcers and possible politicians. Would this be another flying teenage fancy? If so then how good is that really for the music and culture itself? Then again 14 years prior another generation of white-kid amongst others found what society felt was highly offensive, to be quite essential to the cultural makeup of that same person.

To this day people in their 30s come up to PE and KRS ONE and say thank you. We are also 15 years post NWA, which spun off DR DRE, which hatched SNOOP DOGG, thus launched DEATH ROW, which propelled and killed TUPAC, which legitimized EMINEM and led to 50. There’s a lot of blood on that money either way you count it. But besides that what disease/virus has permeated the rap stream? Is there the possibility that this self hate can reignite young white kids into thinking of black life as disrespectfully as their predecessors 100 years ago? Could this be some twice reversed psychology by the puppet masters of social order, to have corporations using the sake of making money as a front to have black faces steer black youth into accepting inferiority while ushering in the aura of white supremacy all over again?

Not trying to get deeper than analysis but it’s as alarming if these questions zoom above and past the head of headz, some who have open mindedly accepted ‘dumbassification.’ Thus peep it when the society gets numb to it all and doesn’t recognize the powers that be have sold and reduced the masses into them asses, then it’s time to question what’s being drank from the jug. The business as usual by any means necessary will lead black folk back into slavery first. This system of haves over have nots will try to caste-system lead have nots into first mental, soul and eventually willing physical slavery this ten year period, but the fear is black folks will follow the face of our packaged, marketed, pimped and endorsed by Amerikkka culture down the drain of a new intangible holocaust with tangible one sided worldwide results. The advantage of all of this for culture bandits is that these answers and theories will be dismissed as crazy and too heavy to believe much less comprehend. Still I looked at 20,000 white kids unafraid to say ‘nigger’ because a blackface was giving it the go-ahead. Eventually a blackface won’t be necessary.

Fifteen years from now a monster returns to a past with a blackface signature. The un-elevation of a so-called inner nation is creating twisted effect. The scale of anything goes, rivals alongside the thought that you can do almost anything to black folks past, present, future, women, children and community. And thus we must know from the bowels of amerikkkan capitalism where black physical & mental slavery was a driving engine, a Negro is formed and created to be a figure in it all. In blackface. Make the symbols seemingly rich to silence their forwardness and allow the stupid paid to be the loudest while remaining stupid in order to show everybody how much they are paid. Make those in the middle seemingly content to grapple slip, slide and climb to the illusionary status of the fat Negro, and have the poor at mind, body and soul fight amongst themselves while many get out trying to climbing the ladder of nigger to fat Negro status. Yes slavery had many a happy slave who thought they were the most paid and showed it off to where they formerly slept. It’s all relative.

Re: chuck d speaks . . . .

sorry man but eminem, dre and 50 cent trying to take over the whole industry with this GUNIT nonscence is starting to piss me off.

Re: chuck d speaks . . . .

gunit = weak

Re: chuck d speaks . . . .

after reading this i have to say that i've been in real personal conflict with what the victories of hip-hop have produced...the riches; the cars, the 'cribs', the brand name remy martin cognac, the christal champagne and on and on...

a few days ago i was in a major canadian city reading a major newspaper from the city...during my readings i found a great article written by jay-z...the article talked about how most hip-hop artists love to go out and spend all sorts of money the second that they reach da 'next level'...the cars that they only dreamed about...the houses they could never have...the clothes they could never have afforded before...jay-z went on to say that he has noticed that 'the longer people have had money the less they show it'...he went on to talk about his personal conflict with having to prove yourself to a soceity that never seems to be happy with someone that is new to wealth...

this made me think about how the hip-hop culture has been taken over by major corporations trying to sell me anything from low carb beer to the latest sneaker...i can't help but feel somewhat sad! i mean i never thought about i before...i never thought about how i or where i wanted hip-hop to go, i mean i just live my life as i do and thats all...but one thing i do know is that i can't stand the way people try to sell me s**t under the banner of 'hip-hop culture'!! i mean really! i've never been one of these people that wears a pair of sneakers three times then has to ditch them because they aint 'fresh','fly' or 'funky' nomore...s**t man, i wear my sneaks till they are beat the f**k up or smell nasty!! because thats me! not because i'm hip-hop or anything else...

ok, that this point i'm starting to rant...but i just wanted to drop a word or two about this. i know that in any culture you will have the mainstream and the underground and tha i'll just have to think for myself about how i spend my time, energy and money...but i NEVER thought that s**t would turn out like this!!








one last thing...i like nice thnigs too...i'm not suggesting that hip-hop loose the goods...i am only suggesting that you(me) look at all options before you decide!!

and i don't think this has anything to do with what check-d wrote but his article just made me start thinking...something i should be doing more of!!

[ steelrain - 20 Jan 2004 11:28 ]

Re: chuck d speaks . . . .

Social responsibility to the fullest, promoting his own agenda which many share, Chuck D is f**king brilliant.

He brings a thousand good questions to the table which itself is often times so grandiose and ridiculous that I often write the whole platform off . . . I myself feel unaffected because I've chosen to be. BUT, there are many a young easily molded mind out there who watch, participate, and buy, and SING ALONG as ludicrous as those words might be coming out of their mouths . . . and the meaning behind the lyrics and face has been drastically altered to (possibly) the point of losing its bearing. Then the message has defeated itself in its delivery being too accessible . . . we already know the extent of the masses being empty vessels looking to be filled, with no original thought of their own, with little regard if the content is conducive to their own experience.

It's the double-edged sword that comes with fame and exposure . . . there's a responsibility to your art and integrity that has to be accounted for SITUATIONALLY. Now being that this particular audience was predominantly WHITE, perhaps the sing-a-long should have been questioned while it was occuring. The visual is pretty f**king scary!!!! I know that hindsight provides us with clarity that we aren't afforded beforehand.

Re: chuck d speaks . . . .

Social responsibility to the fullest, promoting his own agenda which many share, Chuck D is f**king brilliant.

He brings a thousand good questions to the table which itself is often times so grandiose and ridiculous that I often write the whole platform off . . . I myself feel unaffected because I've chosen to be. BUT, there are many a young easily molded mind out there who watch, participate, and buy, and SING ALONG as ludicrous as those words might be coming out of their mouths . . . and the meaning behind the lyrics and face has been drastically altered to (possibly) the point of losing its bearing. Then the message has defeated itself in its delivery being too accessible . . . we already know the extent of the masses being empty vessels looking to be filled, with no original thought of their own, with little regard if the content is conducive to their own experience.

It's the double-edged sword that comes with fame and exposure . . . there's a responsibility to your art and integrity that has to be accounted for SITUATIONALLY. I believe that is part of the spontaneity of creating . . . everything is contextual. Now being that this particular audience was predominantly WHITE, perhaps the sing-a-long should have been questioned while it was occuring. The visual is pretty f**king scary!!!! I know that hindsight provides us with clarity that we aren't afforded beforehand.

This Chuck D hypothesizing has my mind reeling . . . it's trippy s**t that my mind is having a difficult time grasping . . . I'm trying to transcend the obvious here and it's proving difficult.

Re: chuck d speaks . . . .

damn double posts!!!