Critique #4

Hip Hop Is Destroying America's Values

     I found this chapter very interesting. Most of the time I hear about how hip hop deludes American values and destroys all purity in what was once moral and decent. All these values that hip hop is supposedly hurting are all pushed under the same category of family values, in one way or another. People tend to blame hip hop for everything that has gone wrong in our society. Everything negative and violent is somehow geared back to hip hop and the cultural impact it has on our society. One interesting remark which seems to be brought up a lot is this whole idea that hip hop destroyed Western Civilization. With rap music being labeled as the "killer culture" there are main points as to why this is. This chapter also relates to the whole idea that black people and culture are the first association with violence, leading to one of the main points how hip hop is destroying America's values. While this accusation is embedded in our culture, it is only reinforcing a false connection between black people and violence. These two chapters are similar in that they both expose ignorance that people have as far as violence and values goes, since American's tend to always relate the two. I don't understand how something like relating the two will go away, since as said before, this idea that hip hop is so violent is embedded into our social setting, it's not something that just disappears easily.
     What I also found interesting was how the destruction American values because of hip hop is related to changes in economic, political, and social spheres. Because these fears have been so misdirected, and how hip hop has been compared to Islamic terrorism is quite shocking. While I never really listen to much hip hop, I have my fair share, and hearing this kind of relationship is just crazy. The fact that all this hostility and and destruction of our Western Civilization would be compared to terrorism. All these actions lead to the decline of society creating this connection to terrorism. America's values aren't being destroyed because of music. It is the way people interpret and falsify actions.

Critique #3

Hip Hop reflects black dysfunctional ghetto culture

This chapter was very interesting because it pertained to a lot of issues regarding why black culture is dysfunctional today. It is mentioned that this is caused due to problems a long time ago, dating back to slavery. It is because of slavery that African culture was stripped and replaced with this new American wave. One critique about hip hop is that it is highlighting the bad parts of black culture. Rap and Hip hop music likes to discuss the history that pertains to black culture after slavery. Because all the traditional roots were erased from this culture, the only things to talk about were the violence, gangs, problems that black people deal with, and not what their culture actually stemmed from. The themes in the songs and the culture that is being represented is supposed to create a stronger liking for the music, so the theme they talk about, violence, cime, prison, drugs, and all of that, is going to be geared in a mannar that is highlighting and glorifying the situations. However, the traditional roots and struggles that went on before slavery are going to be ignored, the culture that was their history  their beginning, is undermined.