I believe that hip hop, to this day, is a viable way for the African American community to “keep it real.” In other words, the community can utilize hip hop to pose vocal and poignant social justice statements in situations where all other political appeal methods have failed. I have personally faced a situation where I felt like expressing my frustrations through music was a less strictly ‘policed’ route than speaking of it aloud. Additionally, having my feelings encoded in the ‘universal language of music allows me to connect with those I may have otherwise misunderstood.
I believe that acknowledging the social issues and speaking of them frankly and openly is the first step toward identifying and addressing the problem. In The Hip Hop Wars, Rose (2008) criticizes hip hop for perpetuating “black radicalism” through the hands of corporate idols who create a false representation of “the hood” and only pretend to “keep it real” (p. 9). My stance is to disagree because music is versatile – it may be used for dividing and radicalization or for creating connections. Later on, Rose (2008) talks about the acute need for the black youth to have “honest places” to create “meaningful appreciation and critique” of the culture (p. 11). I argue that hip hop may create such places by delivering the open conversation she calls for if it overcomes “America’s post-civil rights appetite for racially stereotyped entertainment” (Rose, 2008, p. 13). Ultimately, I believe that to embrace the role of hip hop as a bridge, the messaging of ‘keeping it real’ can and should be disconnected from the inherent racial divide.
I would like to demonstrate how the modern-day relevance of hip hop may be incredibly helpful in aiding social justice processes. According to Washington (2018), hip hop music and culture can be incorporated into the therapy sessions with black clients. Specifically, Washington (2018) contends that the rap and hip hop framework allows therapists and patients to explore and address social injustice experiences like hyper-criminalization together. Hence, hip hop’s honest and relatable discussion of invalidation, institutional racism, and oppression may allow for the connection and honest discussion to begin. I would like to close by saying that Rose is ultimately correct in saying that America must rethink the current hip hop production – but I believe it is possible to achieve this without losing the ‘keeping it real’ authenticity.
References
Rose, T. (2008). The hip hop wars: What we talk about when we talk about hip hop – and why it matters. Basic Books.
Washington, A. R. (2018). Integrating hip hop culture and rap music into social justice counseling with black males. Journal of Counseling & Development, 96(1), 97–105. Web.