True. But young children have minds that are impressionable and can be easily swayed into a false world of glitz and glamour. As a grown adult like you and I, we better know how to separate reality from non-reality. Children dont really know how to do that; hence, the need for strong parental guidance. I know its a sad fact to probably admit to, that music may have an even stronger influence than a parent, but to some degree it rings true. Not for all kids because their are more than a few who are are A-students, who stay out of trouble and who are respectable kids. But I have to say that music does influence; raise? Not so much. Case in point, before there was EVER a Dipset.....no one had a gang named after them. Once this group emerged there was a gang (in my area) calling themselves Dipset. So......what does this mean? Music influences. Period. I respect everyones opinion, but mine stays strongly with this fact. Yes, music is made to entertain but for some reason it has a hold on our youth in some kinda way.

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"The best proof of love is trust"
"Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom".

No Myspace, but I gotta place.....check out a few pics....

Timills i don't agree with your above statement of allowing the children to listen to lil wayne, that's the opposite of what i was talking about. 8 and 11.....and you discuss with both these children who have not reached puberty yet, the adult themes that lil wayne speaks of in his music? Why? There's are reason why 8 and 11 year olds aren't allowed to take out loans, or credit cards, you could explain the terms of that loan/credit card until you are blue in the face and they still wouldn't get it. Because they are CHILDREN. There's are plenty of child rappers that they could listen to with themes that are appropriate for their age group. Drugs, sex, violence are complex themes... too complex for an 8 or 11 year old to be able to sit down and hold a decent objective discussion about with you. You and your fiance are in your 20's. There should be a separation there that is not there. Why are you and your child listening to the same music when you are different stages of your life, especially when the music that you listen to has adult themes in it? You are different from and 8 year old and an 11 year old. I'm for hip-hop but only in an age approprate context.

Blame hip-hop, blame babies & children, blame disorders, but don't blame the parents. But that's where i think the blame should be placed. Question: Why are kids more afraid of their peers(other kids) than they are of their parents? How hard are parents willing to fight for their children? Are kids now a days worth fighting for? To fight harder than some song?

I AGREE WITH THE HIP-HOP ARTIST THAT WAS THERE, AND WITH SOME ASPECTS OF REVEREND AL SHARPTON, YOU CAN'T GIVE THE BLAME TO HIP-HOP, ALL THIS IS, IS EVOLUTION OF MUSIC, BECAUSE IF YOU LISTEN TO SONGS BACK IN THE DAY, THEY TALKED ABOUT THE SAME THING, EXCEPT IT WAS CODED, YES THIS IS A GENERATION THAT IS WAY DIFFERENT BUT LOOK AT THE SOCIETY ALSO, YES ESPECIALLY IN THE NEWS NEGATIVE ACTS ARE GLORIFIED THAN THE POSITIVE THIS COUNTRY WAS BUILT ON NEGATIVITY. EVERYBODY TAKE RESPONSIBLITY FOR THERE STUFF, PARENTS, ARTIST, CONGRESS, THE GOVERNMENT PERIOD, WHEN YOU LOOK AT BUSH WHEN IT WAS FOUND OUT HE WAS LYING ABOUT THE WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION, PEOPLE STILL VOTED FOR HIM, THEY STILL HAD HIS BACK. EVERY ASPECT NO MATTER IF IT'S MUSIC, CORPORATE, GOVERNMENT, THEY ALL WANT TO MAKE MONEY, IT'S A DOG EAT DOG WORLD. THAT'S THE WAY SOCIETY MADE OUT TO BE, ALL WE NEED TO DO IS BE EDUCATED, EDUCATE OUR CHILDREN THIS, COUNTRY WAS BUILT FOR DRAMA THAT'S WHAT EVERYONE WANTS TO SEE AND HERE ABOUT.

I came acroos this show, and thought it would be interesting, as I began to watch and listen, I came to realize that the Racial problem, white america, seems to be a bigger problem to these artists then the actual problems in America. I'm not from America and I'm not black, however I do embrace black culture as I do every other culture. Listening to these artists talk about "white folk", and "white america", as a barrier for them to cross, is proposterous. Every *8*in person in your country and mine still has the freedom to choose wheter or not they will, join a gang, go to school, sell drugs or get a job.

I agree in a sense with what the artists are saying that their music is a reflection of a life they have lived.  However these hip-hop artists are reaching out all over the world, and have the power to portray a solid positive message, but choose to rap about guns, drugs and all that ***. I used to be an avid hip-hop fan, but choose not to listen to the *** anymore as it's all the same. Selling bricks, robbing places, that part of hip-hop was played out in the 90's yet has not changed.

 How come artists like the Dead Prez, Kweli and so on do not get the same recognization. Because the youth of America have been poisened by the violent side of hip-hop. As was said earlier on the show, Nelly stating about his non-profit organization, how come you never here of this *73*, cause the mother *8*er don't get any $$$$$ from it. They are complaining about their music being portrayed as a negative influence on youth america, when the majority of their albums do not endorse any positive notions.

Rather than writing about guns, drugs, and violence, which we all know happens every where in the world today, use the power of voice, which they have, to send a positive message out. Let people know they do have the freedom to choose. If these artists do not choose to use the power and influence they have, hip-hop will continue to get a negative outlook.

In my youth, I was influnced by the music that these artists represent, and based my choices on them. Guns, drugs, and violence ruled my life. I got tired of the ***, stopped listening to the majority of hip-hop as it is so repetitive and gained a sense of self confidence as I realized that I have the freedom to choose, which is more powerful than anything else in this world.

 

Awaiting the awakening of hip-hop,

hiphopislost

I agree with a lot of what's been said but yet I don't and the reasons are :Because me as a MOTHER I choose what my kid's can and can't watch, Now I love me some Nelly & T.I, But do I let my kid's watch some of their Video's? YES. Do I blame any Music for how life is NO! I blame society and I blame whom ever needs to be blamed counting Myself...,If I am wrong or have done wrong toward my children I take blame and I correct my faults and my flaws(I try to as much as I can). OK lets check out Common & Check out some of Tupac's songs,Common doesn't preach to you but still he leaves you with a message;A good one, Tupac too,Now some of his song's was on the real and sometimes your like WTF,Like When He had beef with Biggie everyone wanted in on it from media to people on the streets, and than my west coast "Friend's" didn't want to talk to me cuz I'm from Bushwick Brooklyn,But I lived& still live in New Mexico but cuz I was born and was brought up in the east coast there became a problem, Did Hip-Hop or media bring that about? I say Media...(that's just me) and small minded people. Media had NWA & Flav on blast,"I called 911 along time ago" well I grew up in the hood and when we did call it was a joke,cuz they never came so Why is Now is it a problem? I'm 30 yrs old and I grew up listening to all kinds of music from the 60 all the way to current music & I like not only hip hop but I like R&B,Soul,Gospel,Rock and I even like Gothic to World music too..., I love all types and my kids listen to alot of what I listen to..,But am I going to go out and kill someone cuz someone on A video told me,Or my Kid's for that matter & Are they going to grow up and go shake they booty cuz they saw it in a video? Naw..., I got an 8yr who can sing "Listen" as good as Beyonce and also "I Am Telling You" just as good as Jennifer Hudson,+other song's Yet My 6yr is into limp biscuit & loves when she hears or see A Saliva Video but she loves SoulJaboy and she also loves and I mean loves Jay-Z, Chicken Noodle soup is their Fav ( btw They're both girl's), There are some Video's & song's I don't let them hear or see ..,When they ask me why, I don't lie and I don't stop them all that much either,I tell them why... i don't trip or make an issue out of it either....,I am what matters to my kid's. Why? Because I instill in them values and I am the one that shows them right from wrong...,TV does have some influence on them but not as much as ME,Friend's& Family have on them and I do explain a lot to them,I wont talk to them like their grown,yet I tell them in a way they understand...., Hip-Hop is a way for people to voice them self and you sometimes got greedy ppl in every genre, who can care less whats on or in their song's &video's.., OK like when cocaine and crank came about you got other ppl all over the world doing it now,But before than it was just a "BLACK" thing& a "BLACK" problem,Once it got to the suburbs,And went mainstream (Like Hip Hop) it became a National problem, same with Aids/HIV when it was "Us" getting it it wasn't much to say in America.., Now white ppl and everyone else is getting it and using drugs,NOW it's a problem,I'm not a racist but lets be real,Hip-Hop wasn't a problem long as it was in the hood now that it's crossing and been crossing over into "White-America" homes and you got the white boys and girls acting"Black" or as some say "Ghetto" it's a problem but lets not for get we did and do have Rappers from all over the world ,Some of the best Rapper's I ever heard are white,Like the Beastie Boys. I see even white girl's well Grown women shaking they booty in video's I've seen them joining classes to learn the dances and even go to stripper classes,The talk and grammar is even changing and OH No we mustn't have that.., That's funny to me cuz it's always been this way,But now Hip-hop is a problem? I used to be a stripper which helped me make my way threw college and I got a different Job now but yet I don't want my kids to go and follow me as a stripper so I work hard and I save money for their future,I don't knock no one for doing what they MUST do. I don't Judge anyone either(well I try not to.) Melyssa Ford is not who I inspire to be but I do admire her,Not cuz I saw her in a Video, It's for what she has accomplished since then..,Just like me she Did what she had to and has moved on and grew as a person from that. So I say it's not Hip Hop vs American, It Us as a whole Vs Our selves, We need to stop putting each other down and change the game, Don't talk about Be about, I write poetry about my my life about woman men you name it,Yet No one talks about how hip Hop has helped some of us pave the way for better artist or for the community as a whole,I fell in love with Hip hop ,I use it sometimes to even help my Girl's with homework, Think about,Hip hop has came and did a lot of good and some times it didn't but For me I am As KRS-ONE say I am Hip-Hop..,We need to look to our-self and work with each other so much more,Instead of knocking ppl for how they got where they are or how they look or act,You ain't black or you ain't this if you're educated or talk different that so&so got this or that she/he thinks he all that cuz yadda yadda.., For me it really does take a Village to help me raise my children! I look to my Grandparent's& they ones before them,and to my relatives, They are in a sense hip Hop too,They told stories about slavery told the song and such they used to get free& they sung rhyme & rap,sung about back in they day and I as well as my children LISTEN! Always me Ayeshah

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Always Me Ayeshah

<BLOCKQUOTE><table width="85%"><tr><td class="txt4"><img src="/Themes/default/images/icon-quote.gif">&nbsp;<strong>brownbrown01 wrote:</strong></td></tr><tr><td class="quoteTable"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="100%" valign="top" class="txt4">Timills i don't agree with your above statement of allowing the children to listen to lil wayne, that's the opposite of what i was talking about. 8 and 11.....and you discuss with both these children who have not reached puberty yet, the adult themes that lil wayne speaks of in his music? Why? There's are reason why 8 and 11 year olds aren't allowed to take out loans, or credit cards, you could explain the terms of that loan/credit card until you are blue in the face and they still wouldn't get it. Because they are CHILDREN. There's are plenty of child rappers that they could listen to with themes that are appropriate for their age group. Drugs, sex, violence are complex themes... too complex for an 8 or 11 year old to be able to sit down and hold a decent objective discussion about with you. You and your fiance are in your 20's. There should be a separation there that is not there. Why are you and your child listening to the same music when you are different stages of your life, especially when the music that you listen to has adult themes in it? You are different from and 8 year old and an 11 year old. I'm for hip-hop but only in an age approprate context.</td></tr></table></td></tr></table></BLOCKQUOTE> Brownbrown01 ,I agree children shouldn't be in an adult conversation or talking to their parents about adult things SOMETIMES(depending on the topic or what the issue is about but how do you know he/she wasn't trying to explain what was going on with the theme and or video, My children are 8 & 6 and I let them watch video's but it depends on the video too, my kids like all types of music just like me and when they say oh I want to be like "Her"For example Lil Momma they want to be like her, I asked my daughter's what you mean and or WHY, one My8yr old said;I want to be a singer and talk about my Dollie's, the other said(6yrs old) I like how she dresses and wants some shoe's like her...., OK that's fine now when they seen Missy Elliot video's, they also said they liked her and wanted to be in her video, Now Missy has kid's in hers that are my kid's age in some of her vids, I see nothing wrong with it, My kids wanted to also grow up and sing like Amy Lee( From Evanescence) alternative rock group, I talk to them and I talk on their level(sometimes I don't),some kids are talked to as if they're grown (i don't know if they undestand I think most times they don't) and I'm not judging but how do you know they don't understand and how do you they do,some kids are that mature even thou ther mind isn;t they comprehend sometmes early on (they're called gifted) but how do you know He/she wasn't explaining it to them in a way that they Can understand it? I am not in no way trying to knock you or what you feel is right or wrong I am just saying that Sometimes you have to voice to your children wha'ts going on, My youngest 6yr old daughter saw a Video and said eww she's shaking her nasty big booty, now I was like whatcha watching and came from the Kicthen to see and than I changed Baba sparks "Miss New Booty" video, I like him and love that song but did I want them to watch it? No, She asked me why and I told her I didn't want her to watch that kind of video's. Mind you my kids some times dance way to grown and Yup they got it from me and my sister and friends shaking our own booty's in front of them so am I being a hypocrite? Ya darn right I am! I let them do thing's in the home I wont let them do on the streets or even in front of other peers & Fam like some of the dances I Sometimes see or catch them doing ,I say you can do that in ya room.,I let them watch some shows that have thing's in it, "some" would say are wrong and sometimes I don't.., I am the Parent and I have the last word, I see my kid's behavior and I see what they watch,I don't censure them all that much either.., I see how they interact with fam & friend's and I know I am doing right by them,I learn from my children as well as I teach them , right from wrong, We can learn a lot from our kids...,It's not always what you say as opposed to what your DOING & showing them. Actions speak way louder than words and My actions shows my kids they are more than their bodies and more than what some guy or anyone says you must be, They see too that you don't have to show off to get attention or be like someone else to enjoy the finer things in life,Why Cuz I,Their MOMMA shows them. I teach them that their minds will get them further in life than anything,That No one is better than they are. They want to be also like Raven Seymon(how ever it's spelled) from "That's So Raven" and I say try 1st to be you and worry about that when your older,cuz you are priceless and she can never be you just like you can never be her...., I asked my 8yr old don't you think your fabulous just as you are, you know what she told me? Yes! lol and I said why is that she said cuz she's beautiful just as Allah/GOD made her. When my kid's get picked on or feel bad we play some of their Hip Hop Cd's and you know what "Dilemma" By Nelly is one of the song's we play or we listen to "Keep Ya Head Up" by Tupac, We Also when we want to act a fool and just DANCE we play Lil Jon,East-side Boys & We play too,Will Smith or Mims even Playaz Circle feat. Lil Wayne, My kids love Music & I wont ever take that away from them..,We get down on Cynthia & Johnny O,Ivy Queen,You name it,We dancing and having fun but they know that when we're at a party or seeing friend's ETC , They know what they can and can't do,How they can& shouldn't act and what they will get in trouble for... It's all up to US as parent's and in saying this think about it was the person you disagreed with doing something so wrong that you had to call him/her out on it or were they as we parents Should be doing,(teaching them right & wrong?) Always me Ayeshah

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Always Me Ayeshah

You know, I am very passionate about this subject. There are creative and positive images in the Hip Culture, and there are negative influences in the culture also. I think a healthy approach to this conversation would be to consider where/ what Hip Hop came from, why it emerged, and how it affects the black society today. How can we conclude that Hip Hop needs to be fixed if we haven't identified the areas of brokeness? We have not traced the orgins of the fracture either. We need to go backwards, and look at this culture, and trace it back to it's roots to find out what (if anything) needs to be done.

One may wonder what the Hip Hop culture has to do with the current blight of blacks. Well, after white American citizens made it clear that they were not happy with the idea that blacks could be equal to and have a cultural image identical to that of whites (through Jim Crow laws and discrimination), Blacks in the United States began building an image within a culture that responded to years of injustice and rejection. Most of these images earned this generation of Blacks a bad reputation in the United States, but America has reaped from Blacks, what they have sown in them. The Hip Hop Culture is the single most recognized culture associated with African Americans currently. The Hip Hop Culture promotes a lifestyle of pursuing material gain and social status without promoting the importance of academic achievement, or good family values. Don't get me wrong, there are some hip hop artist who any of us can name that have taken out time to help in the black community, but the influence of the negative side of the Hip Hop culture is much more prevelant. Hip Hop was started by poor Blacks in the 1970’s in the Bronx, NY. Blacks would get together and make beats with their mouths, and rhythmically rap about life in the ghetto, what they had or wish they had (materials), and vent frustrations about civil injustice. At first glance, it doesn’t seem as if anything is wrong with this picture; but you can not forget that these people still have the same mindsets that were passed down from generation to generation. These people have a “lower class” mindset ( or perception of self) as a result of being molded this way after hundreds of years of being torn down without ever being rebuilt. Now Blacks are in a mode where they are trying to rebuild themselves. Everybody needs an identity, a home, a heritage, a language….something that will make each individual of that society feel like they belong, but the tools blacks had for this task were broken because the tools in their minds were broken, and America did it to us. The United States broke these people by constantly rejecting them on the only land  they know, and never reassembled them. Rapping, break dancing, and graffiti art became an outlet for a poor, academically ignorant group of people….and they found social acceptance for it amongst themselves! They also started making money for the display of this liberating new expression. When you find what works, you always want to stick with it, and Hip Hop worked for African Americans.

            Hip Hop has evolved to its adolescent stage, and it has already made global impact. It makes sense: You get a bunch of poor people together, and they start talking about what they wish they had. They start rapping and talking about how the “White Man” is keeping them down. They look at (perceive) the White Man’s version of success which is a reflection of material gain (money, a house, cars, jewelry, ect.), and decide that this is the definition of success. Everybody has a desire to be successful, but not everyone knows what to do or is willing to do what it takes to become successful. They don’t have an education to become “successful”, so they find work in whatever form they can (hustling), and they will rob another person since life is so unfair for them, and if they are “successful” at gaining the materials that prove “success”; then their lives are fulfilled. Not only do they not have an education (since their mind has been trained to hate reading and books from fear of their master’s whip), but they do not want one since their worth was always validated by how well they performed physical labor, unlike other Americans who get praise for educational achievement. It is no wonder why black rappers only rap about gang life, money and materials, women, and drugs! The people who brought them here did not give them anything else to talk about.

            Hip Hop has played such a role in the life of African Americans. Hip Hop/ Rap music videos and lyrics translate images that portray the type of woman that will have sex with a man who is rich.  Hip Hop music also talks about love (but rarely marriage), money, cars, houses, clothes, drugs, and social status in the ghetto. What is the affect of this type of a culture? A culture where men largely value sex over marriage will breed a generation of women who will become pregnant, but will be without a husband, or father; which will in turn breed a generation of children that will grow up in a single parent, single income home with no real sense of family culture because of their absent father. This goes right back to the statistics surrounding the cycle of single mothers, and children raised in poverty, and the ill affects it has on the physical, and mental health of the child. What types of people come from a culture where you are taught to Get Rich, or Die Trying? (Jackson, C., 2005) What type of men grow up in a culture where fathers are absent or imprisoned? What type of women are produced when they grow up in a culture where women are objects for sexual pleasure? America should look long and hard at the Hip Hop Culture, and fault themselves for not educating and transitioning blacks into society.

 

Hi GiannaAuntie!

I agree with you whole heartedly! You stated that music is influential, and anyone who doesn't acknowledge that just hasn't taken a REAL look around. Go to any school that is prodominantly white. What kind of clothes are they wearing? What type of slang do they use? How do they walk or travel? You will find that most of them are wearing clothes that fit the influence of their favorite rock, country, hip hop, or pop artist. They are speaking in the same slang, and riding skateboards just like their favorite artists are. Go to the black schools. Nobody wore baggy pants until M.C. Hammer did it. Nobody wanted a red, leather jacket until Michael Jackson did it. Nobody wore big chains around their necks until Run D.M.C did it, and now the kids sag their pants because their favorite artists of the 90's sagged. No matter how much we want to water down the effects of Hip Hop music, we have to acknowledge that we do everything we do (no matter who we are or what race we are) because of the influence of those we look up to. Hip Hop artists have propelled the forward motion of a growing Hip Hop culture. I think that many of these artist fail to realize their part of raising a child...because it does take a villiage. People are saying that it is the fault of the parents if their children are acting in a way that the parent does not desire, but in many cases, it is too hard for a parent to compete with the world their children live in. You, as a parent, can't be the ONLY one saying "no" when your child goes to school everyday, goes to play with neighborhood kids everyday, and listens to the music; and watches the videos that says the same thing as everyone else and is influenced by the loud chorus of people (peers) shouting "yes!"  Hip Hop is heavily favored by every other avenue your child encounters in our black society, and it is unfair for Hip Hop artists to say that they have "0" responsibility in the matter.

 

Vaughn Willis

Brown, I feel you, but can not agree fully. Do parents have the largest responsiblity in the upbringing of their children? In theory, yes. But a wise man said that it takes a villiage to RAISE a child. If the most influential people in the "villiage" (I consider your children's school, neighborhood, and other surroundings as the villiage.) are Hip Hop artists, then how much are you, as a parent, really able to control? Sure, you could seclude your child from the world, but we all know that is not a very healthy way to raise your child. I believe that parents are simply trying to balance the scale by asking Hip Hop artists to take responsibility in their role of our children's lives. As I have stated in previous posts, the Hip Hop culture and artists have influenced the youth of our black communities more than any parent, teacher, preacher, cop, judge, or other positive influence....and that's evident in our neighborhoods and schools. Am I wrong or right people?

I was raised in a time when public enemy was saying fight the power and KRS One was asking why is that while Paris on the West coast was spitting versus like "mindless music for the masses makes ya think less of the ones that hates ya!" Everyone I knew was a little conscious of self and was made aware of the universal plight of black people speaking about the injustices handed to us on a silver platter neighborhoods weren't being riddled by bullets and kids didn't care much about money. This was during the 80's when then president Ronald Reagan and his drug cartel introduced the ghetto to crack and this was the beginning of the end Now there are big booty women million dollar plus houses and cars and gangsta personas paraded on videos every waking moment of the day. Young black men whose identities are forged from the likes of 106&Park and MTV are dying hollering thug life while young girls dressed like strippers are calling it sexy and both have developed an insatiable appetite for destruction. Only a fool would think the one has nothing to do with the other. HipHop is not what it use to be because the mind is not what it use to be

Honestly U can't blame rappers for women exploitation in videos.Those women are grown and they know what they doin', ain't nothin sugar coated.If u wanna know why women are being exploited why not ask the women in the videos why they do it.Rappers can't make dem do nothin they don't want 2.HipHop recieves the most harshest criticism of all music types.If you're a parent and u don't want ur kids lookin at it then just use the parental control on the remote.

I love hip hop. But what happen to the educational part of Hip Hop, now all you hear most of is bling bling, 24" rims etc. Yes, alot of rapper talk about the life they lived which may be mom on drug, men in and out the house, father not there, them slanging and bangin which may be true. But, some just fake the *8*. There was something of concern to me, its was said,"its up to the parents to moniter there child". Yes it is, but what about the kids that live that life style now or a part of it and want out, Who teahes them? Some of those same rap artist are very successful now, but still live the same life style as if they did not get a blessing from God to move up out of the life they lived. Its seems as if its a revolving door. How can we make this better?

Micheal Eric Dyson is one of the most verbally intelligent men I've ever heard speak in my life.

THATS TURE SHAW BUT AT THE SAME TIME RAPPERS HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITES TO PUT OUT POSTIVE IMANGE OUT THERE .THEY HAVE CHILDEREN AND THEY HAVE KIDS THAT LOOK UP TO THEM.WHAT THEY WANT TO ASK THEIR FATHERS WHATS A *** AND A *** DADDY. CAN I WEAR THAT THIS AND THAT.YOU DO HAVE KIDS WOULD DO EVERYTHING AND SAY EVERYTHING THEY HEAR AND SEE .