Hip Hop

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Hip Hop

• Beyond the Beat

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Crossing the Line ActivityStand on the side of
the line which indicates your agreement or
disagreement with the following statements

• Hip Hop is a creative art form and a form of
  expression
• I enjoy listening to rap music
• When I hear a rap song, I pay more attention to
  the beat than to the lyrics
• Rap lyrics contain too many references to
  violence and gunplay
• Many rappers are just reinforcing negative
  stereotypes about urban youth and young black
  people
• Rapper who talk about violence and the streets
  are just reflecting the violent American culture
  that we live in.
• Musicians have a responsibility to provide to
  provide positive messages and images because
  children are listening
• Consumers of music dont want to hear music with
  conscientious, righteous or positive messages
• Record labels would rather promote stereotypical
  gangster rap music because it sells more units.

• Hip hop has become commodified and exploited by
  corporate America
• Rap music as a whole is disrespectful toward
  women
• Rap music as a whole is hateful toward gays
• Rap music, like movies, is ultimately
  entertainment and should not be taken so
  seriously
• Hip Hop is a culture that has the power to unify
  people across linguistic, racial and geographical
  lines
• Hip Hop has the power to be voice of resistance
  and social change
• Hip hop has become a caricature and a modern-day
  minstrel show

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Reflect

• Which statements were easy/difficult for you?
• Which responses from the class surprised you?
• Which statements did you feel very strongly about?

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Things to think about during the film

• If you could respond to one person in the film,
  who would it be and what would you say?
• What person or scene made the strongest
  impression on you?
• In the opening of the film, filmmaker Bryon Hurt
  says, What I am trying to do is get us men to
  take a hard look at ourselves. Do you feel he
  succeeded? Why or why not?

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Watch the filmHip Hop Beyond the Beats
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General Discussion

• If you could respond to one person in the film,
  who would it be and what would you say?
• What person or scene made the strongest
  impression on you?
• In the opening of the film, filmmaker Bryon Hurt
  says, What I am trying to do is get us men to
  take a hard look at ourselves. Do you feel he
  succeeded? Why or why not?

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List of Speakers and Quotes

• Part One Think
• Pick one of the speakers and quotations from the
  list given out in class
• What is the speakers relationship to or role in
  hip hop?
• What is the speakers view on violence and/or
  misogyny in hip hop?
• If you could respond to the speakers statement,
  what would you say to him or her?
• Part Two Pair
• Compare with your partner what each of you wrote
  about your speaker.
• Would the two speakers agree with each other?
• What would they say in response to each others
  statements?
• Which of these speakers most represents your
  view?
• Part Three Share with class
• We agree with _____, who says
• We disagree with_________, who says

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Manhood Gender Identity

• Brainstorm with a partner what boys/men should
  like to do what they should be like and how they
  should act. Do the same for the should not side.

Should be Should Not
Should like to do
Should be like
Should Act
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Manhood Gender Identity

• Discussion Questions
• How do you, your friends and adults you know fit
  these stereotypes? How are they different from
  these stereotypes?
• How do these stereotypes of how boys/men should
  and should not be influence some people your
  age?

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Manhood Gender Identity

• Read Article Issue Brief Men and Boys
• How does the Man Box oppress women? How does
  it
• oppress men?
• How do the images and lyrics in hip hop
  contribute to the
• Man Box?
• What can boys and men do to challenge or break
  out of that box?

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Manhood Gender Identity

• Which of the following quotes strikes you the
  most?
• Do you agree of disagree with the speaker?
  Explain.
• Hip hop is a mans game.
• Suge Knight, CEO, Death Row Records
• The notion of violent masculinity is at the
  heart of American identity.
• Michael Eric Dyson
• BET is the cancer of black manhood in the
  world.
• Chuck D
• From a young age, boys are taught that real
  men are tough, violent, control women and cannot
  under any circumstances show weakness.
• Byron Hurt

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(No Transcript)
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Discussion on Manhood and Gender Identity

• 1. Do you agree with Michael Eric Dysons
  statement, The notion of violent masculinity is
  at the heart of American identity? What examples
  can you think of to support or refute this notion?

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Discussion on Manhood and Gender Identity

• 2. Ask the group to consider the trajectory of
  Governor Arnold Schwarzeneggers career from
  action hero to statesman, or the career of Jesse
  Ventura, a professional wrestler-to-state
  governor. Imagine how a hip-hop artist such as
  Jada Kiss might be viewed if he attempted to
  enter into political office. How are perceptions
  of masculinity influenced by the economic status
  of the person? How are they shaped by race?

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Discussion on Manhood and Gender Identity

• 3. Were playing a role from the time were
  seven and were walking down the street and
  someone calls us a sissy, sucker, church boy, and
  we start playing that role. In this quote, Rev.
  Conrad Tillard speaks about the roles that young
  men play to maintain the respect of their peers.
  Where do young men receive messages about what it
  means to be a man? In what circumstances are
  young men encouraged to be sensitive? What are
  the implications of a society that raises young
  men to stifle certain emotions, and project
  others? Why should we support young men who
  refuse to play the role.

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Discussion on Manhood and Gender Identity

• 4. In a scene from Daytona, Florida a group of
  young women are asked how they feel when they are
  called derogatory names because of how they are
  dressed. One woman responds, Its not really
  directed towards you personally. I know hes not
  talking to me. I know what I am. At the same
  time, one young man explains, You know who are
  the bs cause you see how they are
  dressedsistas dont dress like that. If
  mainstream hip-hop has put manhood in a box, how
  has the music reinforced a limited view of what
  it means to be a woman?

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Discussion on Manhood and Gender Identity

• 5. Rev. Conrad Tillard argues that, we have to
  challenge this notion that its ok for black
  males to die early. Do you believe that
  Americans have become desensitized to images of
  violence against black men? If so, how have we
  arrived at this point? Can hip-hop artists
  describe the realities in their communities and
  also challenge that notion? How can communities
  challenge that notion?

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Gender Violence

• The chorus of a rap song is often (and
  accurately) referred to in slang as the hook.
• In pairs write down hooks that you know from
  current or past rap songs.
• How did you remember the hook? What makes a hook
  easy to remember?
• What is the overall message of the hook? If
  people are singing along with it, what are they
  saying?
• Do you think people think about what the lyrics
  mean when they sing along with them?

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Gender Violence

• Dr. Dre
• Dr. Dres The Chronic was wildly popular,
  considered by many to be a hip-hop classic and
  often referred to as the album responsible for
  ushering in the era of gangsta rap.
• He preformed a song called Bitches Aint Shit,
  with Snoop, Daz, Kurupt, Jewell
• The song was degrading towards women and
  expresses violence towards women.
• Analysis by Saul Williams, poet and actor
• Beats are extremely, extremely powerful. When
  the beat drops, you nod your head. Like yes. The
  affirmative. Dr. Dre puts out The Chronic. All
  of a sudden the beats are so hypnotic and the
  lyrics are like Bitches aint shit, and we
  start making excuses. Oh, I just like the beat.
  I just like to dance to this. I really dont care
  about what hes saying. And so over time we
  built up a tolerance for bullshit lyrics.
• Do you agree or disagree? How does the force of
  the music deliver the lyrics more powerfully?
• In the film, rapper Jadakiss argues that these
  kinds of lyrics are what people want to hear
  and that even women are some of the main people
  dancing and singing along. Do you agree? Why?

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Gender Violence

• Queen Latifah
• Queen Latifah has been one of the few and most
  prominent women in hip-hop, and U.N.I.T.Y., one
  of her biggest songs, could be considered a
  direct response to the misogyny of Dr. Dres hit
  song.
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vf8cHxydDb7oobav2e

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Gender Violence

• What is the hook? Is it catchy? What is the
  message of the hook?
• In the first verse, whom is Queen Latifah
  addressing? What is her message to them?
• In the second verse she calls out men who
  domestically abuse their partners. What is her
  message to them?
• Read Issue Brief Gender Violence and
  Homophobia
• If Queen Latifah were to include some statistics
  or factual information to back up what she is
  saying to men who abuse their partners, what
  would she say?
• In the last verse, Queen Latifah speaks directly
  to women. What is her message to them?
• This song was very popular when it came out.
  Would a song like this be equally appealing and
  commercially viable now? Why or why not?

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Homophobia Gay Rappers in Hip Hop

• Byron Hurt posed the following question to rapper
  Busta Rhymes in the film
• Would a gay rapper ever be accepted in hip-hop?
• Respond using the following sentences
• A gay rapper would/would not be accepted
  because
• A major record label would/would not promote a
  gay hip-hop artist because
• If a gay rapper were the best rapper,
• Busta Rhymes refuses to address the question
  because
• The lack of a gay presence in hip-hop is/is not
  surprising because

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Media Literacy

• Brainstorm as many places and spaces as you can
  think of where images of hip-hop can be seen and
  hip-hop music can be heard.
• Television Dances
• Films Clothes
• Commercials ETC
• Billboards
• video games
• Magazines
• news
• characters in books

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DiscussionGender Violence and Homophobia

• 1. Hurt describes his work as an anti-sexism
  trainer that led to an increased sensitivity to
  degrading lyrics in hip-hop music. Can you recall
  an incident, or series of experiences, that lead
  you to become more sensitive to how certain
  groups are talked about or portrayed in media?
  How have those experiences shaped your consumer
  choices?

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DiscussionGender Violence and Homophobia

• 2. Media educator Sut Jhally suggests that,
  hip-hop culture is not separate from the rest of
  American culturethe objectified female bodies
  are everywhere. If hip-hop music is an attempt
  to hold a mirror up to American society, what can
  we learn about the value
• of womens bodies in mainstream media?

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DiscussionGender Violence and Homophobia

• 3. Professor Jelani Cobb argues that, music
  videos have taken a view of women of color that
  is not radically different from the views of 19th
  century white slave owners. What view of women
  is Cobb describing? In what other ways can you
  identify the legacy
• of slavery within hip-hop culture?

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DiscussionGender Violence and Homophobia

• 4. Dr. Beverly Guy-Shefthall states, Generally
  speaking, Black people do not believe that
  misogyny, sexism and violence against women are
  urgent issues. We still think that racism, police
  brutality, black male incarceration are the
  issues that we need to be concerned about. Why
  do you think sexism has taken a back seat to
  other forms of oppression in certain communities?
  What would it take to elevate the importance of
  combating sexism in all communities?

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DiscussionGender Violence and Homophobia

• 5. While images of homosexuality have become
  increasingly common in mainstream media,
  homophobic slurs continue to be found throughout
  hip-hop lyrics. Why do you think hip-hop has
  become one of the last art forms to allow an
  openly hostile stance on
• homosexuality?

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Media Literacy Homework

• Pick media outlet that you will research, view
  and bring in examples to report on
• Use the following guide questions
• What type of media is being used?
• Who or what aspect of hip-hop is being presented?
• What stereotypes are being reinforced (or
  invalidated)?
• Is the image positive or negative? In what ways?
• What are the lyrics and images communicating to
  the viewer/listener?
• Who is the target audience? How might they
  receive the images?
• Who produced and funded the image? How much input
  do you think the hip-hop subject had in producing
  the representation?
• Who would benefit from this image? What product
  or service is being sold with the help of this
  image?

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Media Literacy Homework

• Hurt explains that in approaching the subjects he
  interviews and in presenting his critique it was
  important that people know me as somebody who
  really loves hip hop and not someone trying to
  dis hip hop. He also begins the film with a
  disclaimer to emphasize that he is critiquing hip
  hop from the point of view of a participant,
  hip-hop community member and insider.
• Use these guide questions to discuss Hurts
  statements
• Why does Hurt feel it is important that he make
  this disclaimer to the viewer?
• How do his disclaimer and his explanation for his
  critique of hip-hop affect how you, as a viewer,
  receive the points he is making?
• How do you think his insider position affected
  the responses he received from his interviewees?
• Who else do you think he should have interviewed
  or included as a voice in the film?
• What other questions would you have asked the
  interviewees if you were behind the camera?

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Discussion Media Literacy

• 1. Who do you feel bears the greatest
  responsibility for the images in hip-hop
  videosdirectors, artists or record company
  executives? What responsibility do viewers carry?
  In what ways might viewers hold these players
  responsible for images they deem
• unacceptable?

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Discussion Media Literacy

• 2. Jada Kiss argues that most violent lyrics are
  for entertainment and should not be taken
  literally, much like action movies are accepted
  as fantasy. Does all violent imagery (action
  movies, hip-hop videos, news clips) feel the same
  to you? What is the line between violent imagery
  and entertainment?

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Discussion Media Literacy

• 3. Should artists create socially responsible
  work? Why or why not? Are artists of all ethnic
  backgrounds held to the same standards when it
  comes to creating responsible art? Where might
  those differing expectations come from?

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Discussion Media Literacy

• 4. When speaking of white fans, rapper M-1 argues
  that their appreciation and understanding of
  hip-hop is as put on as baggy jeans. In another
  scene, a young white woman explains that interest
  in the music, appeals to our sense of learning
  about other cultures, but that it also
  reinforces stereotypes about African Americans.
  What are the implications when a musical genre
  serves to represent an entire community?

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Discussion Media Literacy

• 5. Filmmaker Byron Hurt defends his critique of
  hip-hop by saying that he is also a fan. How
  would you have felt if the filmmaker was not a
  fan? Was not African American? Was a woman? How
  does Byrons onscreen identity impact your
  reaction to his critique?

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Discussion Media Literacy

• 6. What did you learn about the record labels
  influence over the types of artists that are
  signed and heavily marketed? Do you think that
  record companies base their decisions on
  economics, politics or aesthetics? What are some
  of the effects of those decisions?

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Discussion Media Literacy

• 7. Consider the quote by Talib Kweli
• We have trusted the media and the corporations
  to define what hip-hop is. We have never let the
  media define us, so why are doing that now?
• Who do you think Mr. Kweli is referring to when
  he says we?
• In what ways are each of us involved in
  supporting the mainstream definition of hip-hop?