Is Commercialized Hip-Hop The Brainchild of the Government and Prison Industrial Complex?
Hip-Hop is more than a genre of music; it’s a lifestyle. It has grown and evolved, ebbed and flowed, but one thing remains constant: It has always been the soundtrack of “the Hood.”
People can intellectualize, criminalize and/or vilify it, but even if Hip-Hop were to be eradicated from the face of the earth tomorrow, the conditions which spawned it would still be alive and well.
This is why the following letter is so striking.
In a missive currently making the internet rounds, a former music executive claims that he was at a meeting during which industry insiders were brought into the loop on how the private prison industrial complex was directly funded by the government. It was there that he learned that the more bodies that are in cells, the more money the prison complex makes. If, the music execs were allegedly told, they helped to aid and abet criminality through Hip-Hop music, then one day the prison system would eventually go public and they would be able to buy shares.
Our job would be to help make this happen by marketing music which promotes criminal behavior, rap being the music of choice. He assured us that this would be a great situation for us because rap music was becoming an increasingly profitable market for our companies, and as employee, we’d also be able to buy personal stocks in these prisons.
So disgusted with the meeting, Mr. Anonymous claims that he turned into a relative recluse for close to two decades and finally decided to speak out after surveying the devastation around him:
Now that I have a greater understanding of how private prisons operate, things make much more sense than they ever have. I see how the criminalization of rap music played a big part in promoting racial stereotypes and misguided so many impressionable young minds into adopting these glorified criminal behaviors which often lead to incarceration.
While this explanation fits into a tidy box labeled “The Man Made Me Do It,” it also has shades of Willie Lynch sprinkled throughout. Yes, it makes sense, but weren’t black men marginalized and arrested at disproportionate rates before Hip-Hop took a turn for the ignorant? Doesn’t it stretch back to Reagan and Iran-Contran, his wife and “Just Say No”? Doesn’t it go back to public housing and rat mazes? And C-Lo’s Goodie Mob observation “I wonder if the gate was put up to keep crime out or to keep our ass in?”
More importantly, doesn’t it leave room for society to say that the black men unjustly imprisoned – who aren’t influenced by Hip-Hop – must deserve to be locked up for crimes they didn’t commit?
It is clear that the music industry exploits poverty and the stereotypical “Black Male” image, but aren’t they allowed to do so because of the complicity of other black men eager to cash in?
Weigh in Clutchettes: Does this letter ring true or is it just an urban myth?
No, not the brainchild. Initially Hip-Hop/Rap was a avenue for creativity and expression amongst urban america.
NOW, the government and the prison system is taking full advantage of where we’ve allowed hip hop to go. Viacom and Clearchannel are now in the forefront of what gets played and what does not get played, now controlling the image of hip-hop.
It’s kind of like we’ve allowed them to take over our baby just to make a buck and further perpetuate the materialism showcased in the music.
“It is clear that the music industry exploits poverty and the stereotypical “Black Male” image, but aren’t they allowed to do so because of the complicity of other black men eager to cash in?” Yes.
“hip hop” is now a weapon used against black youth…….
This stinks of Urban Myth, I’m constantly getting these ‘false story’ type of emails. However it wouldn’t shock me if I were to learn that their is some true to it…
This story is completely accurate and it’s something I have been saying for years. There is a ton of factual research to back this up but it is no secret among those in the the hip hop industry.
Amazing…it’s always someone else’s fault why black men find themselves in prison!
I think The powers that be want jails filled with blk men but that doesny mean they should engage in behavior that puts them there. They are definitely accountable
Hip-hop is a symptom and not a problem. The conditions you mention go back way farther than Reagan. They go even farther than the Black Power and Civil Rights Movements. You can trace them all the way back to the Middle Passage if we’re being honest here.
If anything, I think the criminalization and vilification of hip-hop has made more police officers and public officials suspicious of young black men, but even that’s a stretch. They’ve been suspicious of them for a long, long time (see Nat Turner or the Scottsboro Boys).
This letter is a hot mess and about as fake as Evelyn Lozada’s tears (and face for that matter).
Not HipHop..maybe rap music though. If it’s not done intentionally then we are self-inflicting ourselves. Nothing useful comes from this music except for the glorification of all that is wrong. Music is very persuasive. I personally do believe something intentional is happening behind the scenes. Our genre of music is the only one that is constantly violent, degrading towards women, and materialistic….it serves no point
…and this is why the current state of jazz saddens me….
I have also always known that something was going on behind the scenes because mainstream rap music is the only genre that promotes criminality and violence at such high levels. If one really listens to what’s being said…pill popping, doing drugs, beating up pu**y…it promotes the destruction of African Americans. Period. When lil wayne and Drake are on black stations they talk of drugs and killin ni**as when on white top 40 stations they sing about “how to love” and “finding love”. Black women get songs about “quickies” and how men “don’t want to be loved”. I don’t know how this isn’t more apparent to people. There will always be one black man or woman eager to do anything for a dollar but blaming them doesn’t get to the root of the problem.
That’s why I enjoyed the GQ article with D’Angelo so much, he spoke on the power of music and art. Music is a very powerful medium and with that comes a responsibility that most shirk or exchange in pursuit of money and fame. It’s great piece for those that didn’t read that article.
It’s very scary. The music is souless and empty. It IS is criminal. The lyrics are empty and negative and the beats are hypnotic. When you add those two elements you get something that is counterproductive.