#whataziz

[cher-horowitz]

i'm scrolling through your blog and i'm just like can we be friends pls??????

Of course! My inbox is always open! :)

[the1janitor]

I'm really curious about the portrayal of music defining "black culture", if you will. What are your opinions of John McWhorter's statement, "Politics is work. Hip-hop is music. Wherever hiphop is ever "going," we can be sure it will not be in a constructive direction, anymore than fashions in the color of cars. And it shouldn't "concern" us in the least." (In response to hip-hop being a liberal re-education camp for middle/upper class suburbanites)

the problem is that most of the rap music that is profitable is angry and combative and showy and in general non-constructive from a political or social standpoint. Who's to say that that's how it will always be though? Especially in this internet era? I think rap has already had constructive effects on the world. It has inspired tons of poor kids to indulge their creative impulses and make stuff and perform and write. It has revealed the gritty truth of being a poor minority to those who may not have known otherwise. Maybe rap will continue to do things like this. Maybe it won't. Who know. Hip hop is music, but music is also often work.

[the1janitor]

yooooooo it's 2 am and i'm falling asleep. but i wanted to know what you thought of Aamer Rahman's opinon of black face and (some) white rappers? (if n/a, check it out later and let me know)

i think he has a couple legitimate criticisms, but mostly he's full of shit.

he seems to describe "rap music" as based entirely around the experiences of racism and black people. Firstly, that's not correct, hiphop music came from poverty, and poverty is something that people of all races deal with. Even in the early days of hiphop, there were white dudes breaking and DJing and emceeing right along the other guys in the ghetto. He specifically criticized Iggy Azalea and Kreayshawn, and I don't know anything about Iggy Azalea, but but Kreayshawn is a 100% perfect example of the origins of hiphop. She grew up poor in an urban environment and was involved in sketchy illegal activities because her society made her feel like she had nothing going for her. Fortunately for her she developed her creative abilities and made some important moves in her life. He thinks Kreayshawn is "acting black", but no, she's acting hood, (and honestly not even that much so) because she is. I can't speak on Iggy Azalea, though, she just seems to be outrageous for outrage's sake.

He clearly implies that he thinks there is something wrong with white people enjoying rap music, which is obviously fucking stupid and highly problematic. He clearly implies that he thinks there is something wrong with people rapping about things other than 'the black struggle' (or something like that). Which is also stupid. He thinks white rappers are trying to "redefine" hiphop culture, which is again, stupid and wrong. Hiphop has evolved and expanded, and as much as this guy wants to ignore it, it's about more than Grandmaster Flash and NWA now. Rapping as a medium has been adopted by people of all cultures, not out of mockery, but out of creative impulse and mainstream appeal. Rapping is used by peoples in the suburbs, people at church, for childrens programs, for comedy albums, for pop songs, for rock songs, and the list goes on. And this is good.

[inky-peaches]

whataziz replied to your post: You know what would be cool?

can i come? i’ll be quiet. i won’t even try to kiss you guys when you smoochin

That would be the ideal ending. The real ending is me sitting in front of a laptop, too lazy to make food.

[murdock-rogers]

promo list #4! (favorites bolded)

catstielss

whataziz

30mychemnarglesfalloutatthedisco

saint-lestrange

shirewalker 

[bwvalentines-blog]

Happy Valentine's Day, whataziz!