Critique on Chapter 10: The Hip Hop Wars

Chapter 10: Nobody Talks About the Positives in Hip Hop

            During this chapter, it speaks about how Hip Hop is usually viewed in society. When people think about Hip Hop they usually think: money, females and just expensive things to make them look good. However, that is not the case for all the Hip Hop artist, according to Tricia Rose; she states, “These artists-the more visible ones are Common, Lupe Fiasco, Mos Def, KRS-One, Tribe Called Quest, OutKast, Dead Prez, and Talib Kewli-are often mentioned as notable examples of what is good about hip hop but also often overlooked in the frenzy to condemn all that is associated with hip hop” (pg.202). In other words, these artists are the ones that talk and rap about actual things that happen in life and how we can try to make a difference. These are also the artists that do not get much attention or recognition. Unlike other artists who are viewed as bad role models in society such as Lil’ Wayne and Meek Mills, they speak about violence, drugs, and degrading females by calling them “bitches”. These are the type of artists and rap songs that our listeners like to hear. It is has gotten even harder to change that now because the younger generation prefers to listen to music about discriminating females and about having the best gear. Trying to teach them the positive about Hip Hop, would not be “cool” for them especially if they were to hear a song from Lupe Fiasco, since he talks about the government. Trying to educate their mind is a big challenge because showing them how to use Hip Hop to understand life issues is not that easy to get through to them, especially since they do not see Hip Hop as a learning tool.