Hear, Hear
In response to the whole Don Imus fiasco, Oprah held 2 townhall meetings this week on her show. Did any of you catch it? Quite frankly, I was not impressed. The theme for her first meeting/show was "What's Next?" and well, I still had the same question after watching her show. While some of the panelists were honest and had some good points regarding misogyny and actions that need to be taken by many in the music industry, the show left much to be desired. It all seemed so contrived and everyone kept beating around the bush to get to their points. Instead of having an active dialogue, at times, I just felt that it was just Oprah and her panelists voicing their beliefs (but bypassing any serious, complex issues such the business side of the industry, the purchasers of the music, the reason some of these women act the way they do in these videos, etc) followed by a round of applause from the audience, with random audience opinions here or there, and mostly all by black people. Cuz, you know, this isn't just a societal issue, it's just a black issue. AHHHHH!!! I just got so aggravated while watching it. Anyway, I'm not saying that there's any simple, single solution to the some of problems in mainstream hip-hop, but I do think that it's much more complex and there's much more that can be done, than what was revealed in these 2 townhall meetings. And, why, dear god, why has it taken Oprah so long to have this conversation on her show??? She should have done this years ago, and her excuse that she "didn't want to fight it alone" was such a cop-out. Well, anyway, the fantastic racialicous has a wonderful post addressing this and one that states how I felt about the shows much more eloquently! Also see my previous post on that wonderful hip-hop documentary that aired on PBS: Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and RhymesLabels: angry rants, Brown, Color-Race-Politics, Music to My Ears
Look through these lens...
Independent Lens that is.
Last night on PBS's Independent Lens, I saw this wonderful documentary, Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes . I really enjoyed watching this documentary. Filmmaker and narrator, Byron Hurt, talked about making conscious hip-hop and confronting issues within hip-hop culture such as misogyny, homophobia, and violence.
I really liked how he interviewed various rappers including Chuck D and Mos Def as well as academics, students, and journalists/pop-culture enthusiasts who cover hip-hop in the media. The diverse perspectives were interesting and particularly, the fans who don't find anything wrong with many of the rappers' lyrics. Also, an amusing moment in the movie occurs when Hurt interviews a white man from Columbus, OH who claims that he too can claim hip-hop music as his own (which is fine)....and it's not just for the "colored folk." Yeah. He seriously said that on air. Hurt responds by saying something like, "Did you just say "colored folk?!" Very funny. And awkward!
While the documentary really didn't give any clear solutions or answers to solve these issues, it did promote a much needed discussion and possibly hope for those of us who are hip-hop fans but are disgruntled with the current direction of mainstream hip-hop music and the social attitudes and stereotypes that some rappers promote.
By the way, I would recommend that you watch Independent Lens in general every Tuesday evening at 10/11 EST. Independent Lens promotes thoughtful, eye-opening, and unique independent film-making. Here's a schedule of their upcoming programs: program guide.
Check it out!
Labels: Color-Race-Politics, Music to My Ears, visual appetizers
Let the "Rainfall"
I'm currently in love with these songs from Nitin Sawhney and I thought since, it's close to V-day and all, I would share some of my lovin' :) Enjoy:RainfallHomeI'm working on inserting the youtube clips for easier viewing. But until then, click away on these links!Labels: Brown, Desi, Land of The Accent, Music to My Ears, visual appetizers
