Culture Briefs -- Venomous beats

The Washington Times
www.washingtontimes.com

Culture Briefs

THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published August 19, 2003

Venomous beats

"Many writers and thinkers see a kind of informed political engagement, even a revolutionary potential, in rap and hip-hop. They couldn't be more wrong. By reinforcing the stereotypes that long hindered blacks, and by teaching young blacks that a thuggish adversarial stance is the properly 'authentic' response to a presumptively racist society, rap retards black success.

"The venom that suffuses rap had little place in black popular culture--indeed, in black attitudes--before the 1960s. The hip-hop ethos can trace its genealogy to the emergence in that decade of a black ideology that equated black strength and authentic black identity with a militantly adversarial stance toward American society. ...

"Of course, not all hip-hop is belligerent or profane--entire CDs of gang-bangin', police-baiting, woman-bashing invective would get old fast to most listeners. But it's the nastiest rap that sells best, and the nastiest cuts that make a career. As I write, the top 10 best-selling hip-hop recordings are 50 Cent, ... Bone Crusher, Lil' Kim, Fabolous, Lil' Jon and the East Side Boyz, Cam'ron Presents the Diplomats, Busta Rhymes, Scarface, Mobb Deep, and Eminem. Every one of these groups or performers personifies willful, staged opposition to society ... and every one celebrates the ghetto as 'where it's at.' Thus, the occasional dutiful songs in which a rapper urges men to take responsibility for their kids or laments senseless violence are mere garnish. Keeping the thug front and center has become the quickest and most likely way to become a star."

---John H. McWhorter, writing on "How Hip-Hop Holds Blacks Back," in the summer issue of City Journal

Racing roots

"The champion driver Richard Petty has said that racing began the day the second automobile was made, and he's not far off. In Daytona, in 1903, two vacationing auto manufacturers, Ransom Olds and Alexander Winton, raced their latest creations down the hard sand beaches at 48 mph. ...

"The Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened in 1909, and immediately began attracting large crowds. At the same time, more casual races started taking place across America. ... These rough competitions for local bragging rights were frequently won by bootleggers. As Tim Flock, a Georgia moonshine hauler and two-time NASCAR champion, once said, 'We didn't have no tickets, no safety equipment, no fences, no nothing. Just a bunch of these bootleggers who's been arguing all week about who had the fastest car.'Â "

---Kevin Conley, writing about "NASCAR's New Track," in the Aug. 18-25 issue of the New Yorker

Hooked on horror

"I've seen all the 'Nightmare on Elm Street' movies.

"I've seen almost all of the 'Friday the 13th' movies.

"I've seen all the 'Halloween' movies. ...

"Our parents didn't have Freddy, Jason, and Michael; they were stuck with Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Wolf Man. But it's always been the same idea: The first movie comes along and scares the bejabbers out of everyone. Then come the sequels. And as any horror-movie buff will tell you, sequels are almost never frightening.

"The trouble with the return engagements is that the scary guy becomes your pal. You actually start to root for him. ...

"That's what happened to Freddy (bogeyman of Elm Street), Jason (bogeyman of Camp Crystal Lake), and Michael (bogeyman of Haddonfield, Ill.). ...

"These three franchises have generated over two dozen feature films, and it's hard to remember how genuinely scary these guys were in their debuts. ...

"[T]he fear generated by a good horror picture is a drug, and as any junkie will tell you, you go on chasing the high long after the high is gone."

---Novelist Stephen King, writing on "Always, They Come Back," in the Aug. 22-29 issue of Entertainment Weekly

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