Of Thugs, Hos, and Niggahs

Of Thugs, Hos, and Niggahs

Today I have bumped into two online articles that are (rightly) highly critical of the “gangsta” culture that is so celebrated today in the hip-hop scene.

There is no question that there is much money – most of it from non-blacks eagerly buying the CDs and going to the movies produced by this virulent form of social scum and their corporate promoters – to be made by the hip-hop artists and those who corporately sponsor them.  

To gauge the incredible popularity of the likes of “50 Cent,” try going into a chat room frequented by Asians (e.g., Yahoo! – Regional – Asia) and asking someone about him:  The guy (“50 Cent”) is HUGE in Asia.  He is probably also huge in South America and Europe, too, for all I know.

As Derrick Z. Jackson points out, white business executives know a money-tree when they see one, and they are eager to do business with the hip-hop stars – to the tune of BILLIONS of dollars.  He derisively terms the black stars of gangsta rap are the new “house slaves.”  He calls for blacks to denounce the degrading cultural blight of “gangsta” rap now being fueled by (predominately white) greedy corporate big shots.  

There is also no doubt that the “gangsta” trend has done little to advance good study habits, a strong work ethic, or family values anywhere – but particularly in the black and Latino inner city world.

I can add my own anecdotal experience gained from a brief stint as a roaming substitute in inner city San Antonio a few years back:  MANY a young black and Latino kid aspires to hip-hop fame – most, by way of some sort of general fantasy, but, for others, as a concrete goal toward which they are actively striving.  The truth is, however, as one sister of an Austin-based (black) hip-hop talent scout once told me, only a few of these kids are ever given the chance to make it big.

However, as Matt Rosenberg points out in City Journal, LIBERAL whites are (surprise, surprise) – because of their infamous self-loathing guilt – AFRAID to criticize blacks and Latinos for the glorifying the “gangsta” lifestyle – seeing it as an “authentic” vehicle for minorities to use to express themselves, and at the same time, something which the descendants of oppressive white slave-owners have no right to criticize.

As Rosenberg points out, with the exception of Bill Cosby, most prominent blacks have taken a bye on criticizing the evils of gangsta rap – evils which are resonating to young listening audiences around the globe.

It is instructive that the preferred music of the “poor, underprivileged” Muslim “youths” that are currently vandalizing the whole of France is “gangsta” rap – of which they even have their own home-grown French variety that – in a manner not unlike its American counterpart – is being marketed to the white kids of France with great success.