Is Hip-Hop colorless, or is it African...

Bb0y J · 06:48 AM

k basically, i did this essay for my africana studies class and i talked about hip hop and how its a colorless culture. and my professor is all hip-hop status (hes not the mainstream average guy, most definitely. he knows his shit). but i even included a quote from bambaataa himself saying that hip-hop is colorless, and he still lectured me after class about how its african and thats it. he said bambaataa was prolly paid or something or under pressure to say that. he seemed pretty positive in what he was saying. he talked about how it was brought from africa and influenced by african culture. i told him it wasnt just brought by africans, but from more cultures. and he said i was wrong and i was being racist for saying that. he said i was trying to do what they did to jazz and blues: take it away from african culture and say it didnt come solely from africans. but dude.. my god man.

i was kinda convinced and thought: if hip hop isnt colorless then i dont want to be apart of hip-hop. i dont want to be a bboy. the dance im doing is something else then.

but i still dont believe its colorless. i just went along with what he was saying so i dont get a shittier grade then what i already have, cuz hes not a very good grader. he gave me a C- because of that, and he told me that straight up.

anyways... if you have any real knowledge or good opinions, talk about it.

alphabet · 05:00 PM

hip hop was influenced by africans, but other races/backrounds have developed the culture.. simple as that
and btw.. ur teacher is bullshit

edit: VP, i meant influenced not created

Vice President · 12-02-2006, 08:51 AM

mmm... no. hip hop was created by poor kids in the bronx. most of the pioneers of hip hop were black because it was a black neighborhood. but there were also puerto rican and white kids.

as for as african roots go... mc'ing is supposedly based on african storytelling traditions, which were done over an african drum beat.

the indigenous drumming of continental africa is known to be primarily dense and up-tempo. the drumming of the indigenous americas, on the other hand, in its most common representation is primarily sparse and down-tempo. what happens when you put a mixer and a cross fader between those two cultural realities? what kind of rhythms and polyrhythms might you come up with? perhaps one complex yet basic enough to synchronize the hearts of an entire generation.
-saul williams

D.n.A · 12-02-2006, 08:53 AM

So basically what VP said is, your teacher is garbage =)

Vice President · 12-02-2006, 08:54 AM

oh and to answer your question. although hip hop did start off mostly black, or i guess you can say african but not really, it's still a CULTURE. it has a set of ideals which can be followed by anyone, regardless of color. ANYONE, regardless of gender, orientation, etc..

bboy Ch1B1 · 12-02-2006, 01:20 PM

What the hell Joules, I can't believe he said that lol. AND mark you down for it, that sucks. VP Pretty much got it with coming from the kids in the bronx though. But maybe HES the racist?

Ninjaness · 12-02-2006, 05:42 PM

Wow your teacher marked you down for arguing with him. Thats fucked up.

Jing · 12-02-2006, 06:25 PM

I would've figured it was more Jamaican.

Tinos · 12-02-2006, 06:35 PM

Yeah hip hop really is colorless, a lot of MCs proclaim that too. In my opinion KRS One is a perfect example of hip hop, and not only that but he is really politically and socially active, if your teacher has a problem with KRS, then your teacher really does have a problem with just life in general, well... hes got a white DJ. how can you argue with that?
and furthermore you can direct your teacher to this site made up by KRS and some others, it gives history and other issues within the hip hop culture and community... your teacher sounds like hes imposing his own personal beliefs and looking over a lot of facts.
Temple of Hip Hop - I Am Hip Hop

If your teacher needs a visual, ask if he has ever watched an old school hip hop movie, he cant deny seeing people of all races mixed in there. knowing your teacher though, he'd say thats all hollywood. even though it wasn't. whatevers...

Bb0y J · 01:46 PM

it really fuckin blows cuz now hes biased against me and gives me Cs on all my papers with no justified reason (i got an A on the first paper).

deep inside, i think hes kinda racist. hes like over proud too. he acts like a smart ass to me, and he thinks im some kind of poser bboy. ugh theres so much shit about him that pisses me off. i wish he was a bboy so i could battle him.

D.n.A · 12-03-2006, 01:46 PM

Lol make him read this shit and tell some dude with power (no mills n stuff -.-') on school to FIRE HIM =D !!!

sicnarf · 12-03-2006, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bb0y J

it really fuckin blows cuz now hes biased against me and gives me Cs on all my papers with no justified reason (i got an A on the first paper).

deep inside, i think hes kinda racist. hes like over proud too. he acts like a smart ass to me, and he thinks im some kind of poser bboy. ugh theres so much shit about him that pisses me off. i wish he was a bboy so i could battle him.

Can't you dispute that?

Tinos · 12-04-2006, 02:37 AM

we should get a better picture as to where he's coming from and what facts he has. after understanding this, we'd get a good picture of not only your teacher but also why he thinks that way.
a good way to start would be to simply know what rappers he listens to... obviously he listens to rappers who have a message that he likes, i'm sure your teacher is a knowledgeable guy and listens past the beats.
then we look at that music and the messages they have to say and most likely we got his information... but maybe you dont even have to do that--

I know rap came from funk and possibly some other types of music influenced it too, well funk was mainly an African movement, so maybe he is just specifically looking at that aspect, the rap aspect. but if he believes there is more to hip hop as a culture than just the music, than he would know there is bboying, graffiti, djing and so on... well, he can argue that the music was and is mainly African (unless your looking at a lot of the underground stuff which really is all mixed-raced), but if your look at bboying and graff... well there were all different cultures that contributed to that! there still is! I know more Mexican and white writers from very reputable crews out on the west coast than I do African writers... He can't even front on that stuff, UNLESS he disregards it completely and says it is not part of the hip hop culture.

Is he looking at this thing as a whole? I hope not.

cypherstyles · 12-04-2006, 03:04 AM

Graff was largely from hispanic gangs, MCing was partially from Jaimaican style toasting, partially from African Story Telling and partially from beat poetry over hand drums, DJing obviously wasn't created in Africa, and while Kool Herc was the first official DJ, the song he's famous for first looping by James Brown had latin drum and percussion (as MOST breaks do) Hispanics were really the main race that first starting doing bboying on their backs with windmills and power and most of the original uprockers weren't black or even into bboying it was it's own dance. White boys like Frosty Freeze helped develop bboying too. I'm really sorry about your teacher that puts you in a bad situation, but honestly I would talk to your principal and tell him the truth, that he actually said he was giving you bad grades for disagreeing with him on racial issues he's wrong about. That's fucked up and you shouldn't be marked down for not mindlessly agreeing with his ignorance. Culture doesn't have a Color. Good luck - BBoy GRIZ

Vice President · 12-04-2006, 04:11 AM

we also have to make a distinction between AFRICAN and AFRICAN AMERICAN. there were no africans that took part in the creation of hip hop, but it was slightly influenced by some african traditions.