Thx, my brother..You know I always enjoy exchanging some good speak with my man,Eyez.
I appreciate the words also.Now let's try to get down to some common ground...
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EyeGetzRaw
In that same spirit, Eye say this.....in this day and age, Eye think society (or at least, American society since we have an international audience) is caught up in a giant contradiction. One the one hand, largely due to the 24 hour news cycle and the instant access to information, we now live in a time where there is so much focus on "political correctness". Yet, if you observe what passes for entertainment these days, there has never been a time in this country's history more extreme in terms of sex, violence, profanity, etc.. As the Blastmaster, KRS-One once queried, "why is that?"...
I agree it's a catch-22.The devil in this situation is the very people that suscribe to it.
If you don't stand for something you'll fall for everything.Too many people in our generation decided
to press the mute button on their mouths instead of taking a stand
against the denegration of standard that the entertainment industry wraught.
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EyeGetzRaw
IMO, it's because most people are not truly concerned with making the social climate better; people are afraid of litigation and/or scandal. As a consequence, there is a tendency to tip-toe through certain areas of public life, so as not to wake any sleeping dogs for fear of getting bit. However, you can turn on the television or go to the movies or surf the web and find things that would defy any reasonable logic if trying to match the popularity of extreme content to the damn near puritanical posture of society at large.
Which in itself is ironic,because the standard bearers before us literally got attacked by the dogs
and beat in the head with sticks so that we have these unalienable rights that we have today.We in turn are not passing the torch,we in the most part are looking at he goings on with blind eyes.
It is the very reason that I had posted this becausewhen will we start saying that enough is enough?
Where do we as a people draw the line?It has to start somewhere.
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EyeGetzRaw
From my vantage point, he's as caught up in the contradiction as most of us. He's railing against social decay, both in the black coumminty and in the culture of Hip Hop. Yet, the manner in which he expressed his opinion is reflective of that very decay.
That is my very point! So that is when we as men have to seize that opportunity to be bigger than that.
To start changing the ad nauseum by being ahead of the fray.
Not preaching to the pulpit, but living the words that we preach.Showing our leadership by example,
not succumbing to it's ok "
this is how we livin' now,so let me kick it in a way where Hip Hop would understand me".You don't have to bring yourself down to a specific level.
You can build the stairs so that we can use them to come up to your level.
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EyeGetzRaw
Mel spoke in the language of the streets, unfiltered....Eye suspect, not just because that's his background but, because that's the order of the day in contemporary Hip Hop (not to mention, reality TV, and a host of other forms of entertainment).
Well,my brother then we as a people have to change the order of the day.
We did it before coming out of the pimp era,and we can do it again.
The people in the room were from the streets also and chose tolay down the language of Hip Hop
but still keep the flow respectful.I think Mel could have did the same,
and I think Mel could have did it aimiably.Yes,he was in the atmosphere of anything goes
..but he is a MAN before he is Hip Hop.Your Man in you has to come first.It is all we have...
you gotta know there is ladies in that room.Remember when Jeru said
" Mama always said watch what comes out your mouth."
I understand where he was attempting to go with the content,
but I was shocked that he didn't have the where with all to have figured out something so basic
that all us guys Hip Hop or not know just by being brought up by our fam.
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EyeGetzRaw
Now it just so happens, that you and Eye agree on the notion that, as elders and veterans, we have a responsibility to represent the culture in a manner that helps build it up. Also, as gentlemen and civilized human beings, Eye think there is a certain appreciation we share for the ability to express oneself with effectiveness without having to resort to the profane and abusive. In that latter respect, Mel's rant was more of a disappointment than anything for me.
We agree on this, although I feel it was more than just disappointment.
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EyeGetzRaw
You have seen how Eye have expressed myself over the years but, that's mostly a stylistic choice. Other people have other styles....but, the key is not to confuse style for content. Once you remove the profanity from his rant, you're left with some heavy concepts he's addressing. Trying to give thought to those concepts raises many more questions...which is why Eye said, not right space for it; too big of a package for such a small box. But unfortunately, many people simply won't get that far because of his stylistic choice....the profanity will be the only thing they hear...or, the hostile nature of profanity will put the audience on the defensive, which in turn, inhibits objectivity.
I am hoping that people these days are smart enough to divide the distinctions,
I had removed the profanity from his message and didn't think his rhetoric was that heavy at all.
I thought it was self absorbing,misleading,factually debateable
and painting Hip Hop with the stereotypical broad brush.
To me it was a conversation with the intent to blame instead of build.
Telling us how the leg got broken does not help us, we need to put a cast on that bad boy
in order to allow it to heal.I didn't expect Mel to be Mr.Smiley or Mr.Positive,
everyone has their right to vent.I just expected him to represent,
I'm from that same Bronx.A majority of us don't get down like that Eyez.
So to me, it was misrepresentation of the real.
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EyeGetzRaw
On the subject of what happened to Hip Hop after it migrated to the West, he has valid points. He may be too broad and dismissive regarding the current state but, that's common with many cats from his (our) generation of this culture.
You're absolutely right,but it's the denial factor which is agregious.
The West took Hip Hop over at that time because more people gravitated to the laid back,
less complicated style of the rap itself,not to mention the ridiculous beats that Dre
and them laid down.Brother's should have tipped their caps went back in the workshops
to try to put out a product that they believe was indicative of the rap they founded in a manner
that would reach the general consensus.Re-invent themselves to keep NY on top.That wasn't done.
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EyeGetzRaw
On the subject of the general direction of the Black community on a whole, Eye felt he spoke more out of emotion than fact but, having lived through the period of change that he referenced, Eye understand the underlying context of his assertion. That said, that subject would require far more discussion to assess his specific reasoning and whether or not Eye agree.
He had to navigate his way through that instead of painting our peoples
with a douse of the paint can.I dug the entire underlie,and maybe I could be asking too much of a person.
I just thought he could have done a better job in these circumstances on that subject.
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EyeGetzRaw
On the subject of women's contributions to the culture, as Eye stated in the prior post...he went down a road that exposed some clear signs of sexism. That, Eye can say fairly assuredly, would be a point of discord for me.
We basically agree in some common areas about most of the things we have built on here,
which is great.I still feel that Mel was disrespectful and disengenius and did not do himself a good service.
So even though we both are in discord,my feelings on this go a bit deeper.
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EyeGetzRaw
In the end my brother, what I'm saying is that you and Eye probably agree on the thought that how he expressed himself was not how either of us would expect someone of his cultural stature to roll. However, Eye am not inclined to let my disappointment in his manner preclude me from acknowledging the weight of his context.
Understood,with respect.
Peace to you, My Brother Eyez.
Always happy to continue to build with you,keep droppin' em.
