October 13 2008
Hip hop is not just a mirror of what is, it should also be a reflection of what can be.
I like that Obama recognizes the problem of materialism in contemporary rap music. However, I'm not particularly enamored of the idea that we should invest artists and rappers with such normative powers. Not all poets are (nor should they be) teachers, philosophers, and leaders. As the history of hip hop clearly shows, the most innovative and important rappers are seldom those who go gold or platinum.
The biggest problem for the conscious and positive hip hop that Obama alludes to is that from street level, the future is a lot more clearly visible as a dystopian hell-on earth, akin to the picture painted by Verhoeven in the 1980's. Millions of Americans with a literal belief in the Book of Revelations are dragging their country on its belly towards a brutal armageddon. Immortal Technique is the only rapper I am aware of who even comes close to communicating what is necessary to understand and survive in this environment of pervasive madness and cultural warfare.
This Note
Asides