I want to keep the thing stirring, now that the ice is broken. ~Sojourner Truth
yes!!! I've been waiting for this! Can we write this in to essence? Luda needs to be called out in as many mediums as possible.
1st read of this blog... well said.
just happened along this page. Very well stated. Luda's feeling himself a bit much. Guess it hasn't affected his sales yet... but he better be careful... I know a few sista's who have cut him off.
Good stuff. I wrote about it on my blog:
http://www.hiphop-blogs.com/
hiph...ah_burrell.html
Well put! Those were my sentiments exactly. (No, it was not cutting your hair! Maybe it's because there's no one else around. Hip Hop is dying...) He needs to be called out as many times as possible. If you have garbage to say, don't be surprised when people fling it back in your face!
The Gods ain't crazy. They've just given up.
(This post is amazing, by the way. I'll be passing it along.)
OK I'm gonna (somewhat) play Devil's Advocate here. Luda is responsible for making girls run away? What about his and other rappers' argument that Oprah won't engage them on her show in a dialogue about their music but will then have Karrine "Superhead" Steffans on as a guest?
I guess salacious tales of celebrity hip hop sex for profit are OK but rhymes by Luda, 50 et al. are not? Isn't Oprah just as culpable as any of the rappers you may deplore when she effectively sends the message that that groupie behavior parlayed for profit is acceptable if not to be encouraged with a primetime slot on her show to plug your product??
ian,
1: The devil doesn't need an advocate.
2: luda's music is not just explicit (which is of little concern to me) it contributes to a culture of misogyny and female objectivation and exploitation which bears down on young women esp. young women of color. shit it bears down on me.
3: Have you ever heard Karinne Steffans speak? Did you read her book? Did you see her on Oprah? Her whole shtick (sincere or not) is that she was young, foolish, damaged, and manipulated and she insists that the books and the public appearances are about catharsis, yes, but also about preventing young women from getting caught up. She is incredibly savvy and can (and does) endear herself to older conservative audiences by repeatedly renouncing her ways. I've seen Melyssa Ford do something similar for an older Black feminist audience.
4. When Oprah does a story on a someone with bad credit is she encouraging reckless spending? If she does a story on a meth addict is she encouraging drug addiction? How then is she culpable when she does a story on Karinne? The Oprah show is a commercial enterprise but it is not a hustle (whereas hip hop for some current rappers is a stated hustle and hustle by definition is exploitation). The show demands that one who is living a life that Oprah/her audience deems problematic or inappopriate to see the error of their ways and commit to change.
5. Why are rappers entitled to be on the Oprah Winphrey show?
There are a lot of false assumptions in your question, which I can only assume are a result of an unfamiliarity with Karinne's public performance and the nature of the Oprah Winphrey show.
It'd be hard to convince me that homegirl isn't doing anything but pushing her hustle the same way any of the "current rappers" you cite are. Granted she's been on Hot 97 (which is where I heard her being interviewed and called on some inconsistencies in her story by former "boyfriend" Kool G. Rap) but going on Oprah doesn't strike me as being the most effective avenue for influencing young womean from "getting caught up." But for pimping your story to her huge auidience of older, moneyed women no doubt.
And rappers might not be "entitled" to go on Oprah's show but if there are some like Luda who are willing to do so, why won't Oprah give them a chance to engagae her in a dialogue about any issues she has with their music. I don't get why you think it's cool for her to bash them w/o actually being willing to meet them in person? Wouldn't it be better for Luda et al. to hear directly from Oprah in person and be able explain/defend himself against charges that his music "contributes to a culture of misogyny and female objectivation and exploitation which bears down on young women esp. young women of color" than not? If not, how do we ever move on from this point??
Word.
As talented as I think Luda is, "Runaway Love", imo, is a shallow attempt at addressing larger structural issues (like patriarchy) that simultaneously absolve him of his own misogynistic attitudes and practices. perhaps a crazy generalization, but i tend to find so-called "introspection" raps by male rappers to get played out over the victimization of a woman's body by some amorphous sexism (luda:" "i just want to runaway too"). its like some heroics type sh*t that depends on the narrative of the suffering of women.
on another note, i currently teach a class on "american music" (one of those catch-all survey courses) and when i asked the class--a bunch of country music loving kids--what they thought of "not ready to make nice", 3/4ths said they preferred to think of it as a love song.
1: The devil doesn't need an advocate.
5. Why are rappers entitled to be on the Oprah Winphrey show?
made my day
Won't front: it's tough to defend Ludacris against this (although the repeated mispelling of 'Aryan' and the generally loony tone in this petition undermines their position somewhat).
speak sis.
thanks for reminding me that i love chris rock and why.
hope all is well.
power to the people.
black power and love to black people.
righton. righton.
Great little post, you made the points, and you made them using few words. I seem to be incapable of doing that. Ever. This isn't only him and it's not only about Sexism either. Jay-Z, among others wont accept any responsibility for pushing selling drugs as a glamorous lifestyle, under any circumstances.
None of them want to accept any responsibility for the negative impact their music has. Watch Dame Dash and Cam'Ron on the O'reilly factor for a really comical and sad example of it. These guys think they can base their whole careers on negativity and make one 'message song' and they've balanced the scales. lol.
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