Maybe You're The Problem!

Maybe You’re The Problem!

I’m realizing the problem with  Hip Hop… It’s not the commercialization of the negative images or misogynistic lyrics that plague the culture, it’s the lack of critical thinking applied by the listeners. I believe that if more fans were to pick the brain of an artist rather than label them as a bad role model or even except everything they say as the truth, a deeper meaning or self reflection could be applied to the argument. Just think… If a bad person person were to break in your house to hurt, rob, or rape you; there’s no time to think about why that person is doing this to you. Hip hop gives us the time and the space to learn about an artist or that “bad person” and reflect on the roots of their thought process, giving us the ammunition needed to show that “bad person” the error of their ways or even learn from that person and prevent them from doing more harm to others.

The problem with Hip Hop, is that most people dismiss the culture as “a young person’s game” something that only affects people from the ages of 8-25. Not True… That type of thinking is not productive at all. If I Can't have a conversation with my son about why I dislike his favorite rapper, how can I engage him to think critically about the music he is listening to? These days people are so afraid to be labeled a “hater” or a “weirdo” that they willingly agree with whatever the music promotes, or they completely separate themselves from the culture. Creating a generational or social divide only perpetuates a continuous conflict within the culture itself. If you see a problem in the community and chose to ignore it because “it’s that person’s business”, it could affect you that much more.

There are obvious problems in Hip Hop culture, but that does not mean that it is the cause of all problems in the world; nor does it mean that these problems are insignificant. These problems can “trickle down” and be a self destructive way of thinking for the next generation of adults and so on. Hip Hop doesn’t need to be “put in jail” or dismissed as the “bad guy”, it needs to be rehabilitated by people that know the uplifting potential of it. Unfortunately the culture doesn’t receive that type of self reflection whether it because of profitable or social relationships.    All I ask is for more critical thinking when it comes to Hip Hop. Instead of labeling it as the problem lets figure out why it’s the problem, teach our children to do the same and change it for the better of our future as well as theirs...