Word: hopful
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...This patent sexuality, shocking even for Britney, distracts from the staler elements of the record. Throughout, Brit’s voice is treated, Auto-Tuned, and tweaked until it’s robotic and metallic. This may be a nod to current successes in the hip-hop world like T-Pain or Kanye; it just as likely covers up lost singing talent. The android-like drone complements the futuristic sounds of “Womanizer” and “Mannequin,” but its ubiquitous presence soon becomes grating. And without the driving shock factor, milder songs...
When it comes to the old adage “You can judge a man by the company he keeps,” Common is no exception. His unique style of socially conscious rap was largely defined by his association with hip-hop collective the Soulquarians and his continued collaboration with innovative musicians like ?uestlove and De La Soul. Yet on his new album, “Universal Mind Control,” the aging rapper replaces those influences with newer artists like Kanye West and Chester French. Common’s entrance into a new crowd implies a baldly...
...hop causes violence. This is a very common argument that's been made pretty much from the beginning. There are a number of things that are wrong with this. One is that it posits an incredibly simpleminded causal relationship between music that has violent narrative in it and actual violent action. Hip-hop takes the bigger weight for this problem than anyone else. And the reason it takes such a big weight is not because it's any more violent than slasher movies or than horror movies or action movies in general but because there is a denial about...
...hop-causes-violence camp is incredibly dishonest about the profound role of structural racism, of economic disadvantange that has been produced over decades. It's not just personal, lazy behavior. It's a dishonest way of dumping on hip-hop a set of conditions that we are responsible for as a nation. That being said, that doesn't mean that a constantly violent narrative is a good thing. I'm not suggesting there shouldn't be a challenge to it to some degreee. But it's not the source of the problem. It's a red herring...
...this war, and I think the only way out is for the rest of us on the sidelines to get involved with an educated, sophisticated position. You have to be subtle, not extreme, in thinking about what's right and what's wrong when it comes to hip-hop...