It is a shame that we live in a world where “keeping it real” is a way of life. The definition of keeping it real is as convoluted as Malcolm X’s “by any means necessary.” People often ascribe their own feelings to these phrases and use them as mantras to enact violence or to do…
Tag: Hip Hop
Homothugs, Hidden Hearts
In Joël Barraquiel Tan’s piece Homothugdragsterism, he exposes the complexities of what it means to be queer, a minority, a young man, a hip-hop fan, and how the intersectionality of these components come together to shape identities in urban Los Angeles. Navigating the stratums of what it means to be homosexual proves to be no…
When Black Isn’t Beautiful Enough
In today’s Hip-Hop landscape the more “different” you are the more “unique” you appear to be. The presence of quarter million dollar cars and “exotic” woman are pretty much standard fare in music videos, but to what degree is this formula for visual performances a deeper psychosis?
Money Power Respect: Hip-Hop As A Socioeconomic Movement
Hip Hop from its inception has been about the unique ways and various means of self-representation and self-expression. Breaking, graffiti, rapping, and DJing were not all codified to encompass what constitutes Hip Hop, but through the very limiting and narrow lens of culture vultures, ethnographers and other voyeurs, they have collectively manipulated and constructed a…
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