Posted on 06/09/2003 5:14:22 AM PDT by rhema
Here we have most of the *creations* of the Liberal-Socialist left's artistic arm, in one sweet list.
"To the consternation of Run-DMC's Darryl McDaniels, Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh didn't make the list, which must tell us something about something, but it's hard to imagine what."
Ummmm...I see the "reason" for tanking CD sales; not, MPEGs or files downloaded from the Internet as some would have us believe.
That's *what* it tells me.
"Rap entered the mainstream in 1992 with the release of Dr. Dre's 'gangsta' album, 'The Chronic,' which featured such memorable rhymes as, 'Rat-a-tat and a tat like that/Never hesitate to put a nigga' on his back.' The album is littered with similar lyrics throughout...Rife with the worst of what rap would regurgitate over the next decade, 'The Chronic' was gobbled up by white kids and black kids alike, going platinum several times over on its way to becoming one of rap's all-time biggest albums."
Well?
If it were my express intent to "dumb down" an entire generation of American kids so as to leave 'em useless, hopelessly screwed up & thoroughly trashed when I'd finished??
That'd have been precisely the tack I'd have used to accomplish the task, musically; while, leaving the job of providing any & all *visual* stimuli to my Liberal-Socialist bros, in Hollyweird.
Yup, that's how I'd have done it, alright.
"The album's popularity spawned hundreds of imitators, each one trying to out-gross the other, in record sales as well as attitude and language."
Really.
Who'd a thunk it.
"Many of these imitators are now on VH1's list of rap greats."
C'mon now!
Would Viacom -- the parent company of SeeBS -- ever condone such irresponsible acts of cultural vandalism via their VH1/MTV subsidiaries??
Yea, they sure would & did.
...and Viacom's still doing it, too.
It's not a matter of blaming the music. It's a matter of blaming the glorification of the negativity that is celebrated in the music. The music - rap or otherwise - is simply a symptom of the attitudes.
However, I do lay blame at the feet of the artists when they continue to say it's OK to act like total idiots by continuing to mistreat women, do drugs, and act like thugs themselves.
And it's not a matter of being a "role-model" in form; it's that when they act like that, they themselves become part of that statistical problem.
No, I'm no fan of the music in and of itself. My taste in rap certainly falls into what most call "old school." And moreover, at this point, give me a good Jimmy Smith album, or some vintage Wes Montgomery and I'm just as happy. My tastes run the gamut. But when force-fed a continual diet of negative ideas, is there any wonder when negativity is what results from the listeners?
I mean if you hear "Slap that b*tch" from six different artists, back-to-back, 24 hours a day, how long before you think it's OK to do just that?
Anything - when taken to excess - is bad for you...
Any gardener knows cow dung is better than dog sh*t.
The Top 20 Country-Western Rap Artists
20> SixPac Shakur
19> The Dixie Bizznitches
18> Hay-Z
17> ODV (Ol' Dirty Varmint)
16> Whoa Nelly!
15> Coolio-lay-dee-hooo!
14> Mixmaster Merle
13> N.R.A.
12> C. Twitty
11> Snoop Hounddy Houndd
10> DJ Jazzy Jeb and the Fresh Prince of Cheyenne
9> The Bestiality Boys
8> Ma-Rule
7> Ol' Dirty Haggard
6> 2 Live Chickens
5> Dudicris
4> DJ Dolly P. and Her Notoriously B.I.G. Ones
3> Shaniqua Twizzain
2> Ron's GMC
and Topfive.com's Number 1 Country-Western Rap Artist...
1> 50 Cent Haircut
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[ Copyright 2003 by Chris White ]
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I'm a high school teacher who sees that difference every day, but . . . (see Matthew 15 disclaimer below; there's no evading personal responsibility for one's actions)
God doesn't build kids differently today as opposed to 50 years ago. The inherent ability to be good or bad hasn't changed. Evil, in all of its carnations, has been present since the beginning. The choice to be one thing or another is what defines humanity.
Jesus noted as much in Matthew 15: "But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person."
Sick Things
There's plenty of that already out there. As usual, you have to get away from the radio to find most of it, but it's definitely there.
This music is on radio and in the CD collections of millions of kids. Were my children still at home, I would not allow it in the house. That wouldn't stop them from listening as they drove their cars, at friends homes, and on the school bus.
And yes, I could say "this type of attitude is wrong," and perhaps I would make an impression. Or perhaps not, depending on the strength of peer pressure. And all it takes to ruin a young life is one mistake made by a poor choice when the parents aren't around.
No one knows why some children who are ostracized in school turn out to be great people strengthened by adversity, while the same actions crush others. No one knows why some kids are immune to peer pressure, while others can be convinced to do really stupid things. Children raised in the same household, close in age, given the same parents and the same environment, turn ou worlds apart.
Why does my sister have one son who is an art teacher while the other is an iron worker? Why is my grandson shy while my granddaughter doesn't give a fig for anyone's opinion?
And which children are damaged by this music, directly or tangentially?
Here's the deal: I could keep my kids from listening to it 24/7. I could tell them that this is not the right way to think. I could give all sorts of guidance on behavior.
I could do all of those things, and it won't keep them from being mugged in a high school hallway by someone else's kid who has been allowed to listen to it and has copped a bad attitude.
I don't know the answer. I guess my preference is for the music industry to exert some social reponsibility, pressure the artists to clean up their acts, and promote some other artists who aren't engaged in out-vulgarizing everyone else.
They're making money and we agree that they are animals. Appealing to their "good side" isn't going to work. Parents are allowing the music in the house. I don't see how it can be countered.
Rock, Punk, and the other styles of music that have been proclaimed "subversionist", as far as I know, never told kids that mindless killing is a virtue, and there is no shame in doing time.
Where I live, many of the eleven and twelve year olds are living this paradigm that has been marketed to them. Sure, if your kid smokes a joint or gets a tattoo or drives too fast because he thinks he's James Dean or Ozzy, he probably will come around to his senses in time.
On the other hand, if he's running around with a jailhouse mindset, and he caps someone on the street to prove that he's "down", he's not coming back, Destructor. He's in the System. He has become that which he has learned to admire.
I think the difference in what kids are being taught to admire today as opposed to the "rebel" image of the past needs to be recognized.
In my NOT humble opinion, that is what this garbage is all about. We have the choice of looking at the positive side of the world and human nature or the ugly. What one feeds their mind is what one will ultimately reep.
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