Talking Points #6

Trisha Rose.

1. "Hip hop is just one moment of long African American history, it is a sign of enormous creativity and hope."

When I heard this quote, I immediately thought of a class I took last semester, Engl207. We watched a program on African American impact of the arts. I thought of things like jazz, poetry, and art. And I believe this quote is most definitely true. African Americans have influenced many different forms of entertainment that we don't notice today.

2. "Gangster, Pimp and Hoe trinity are the images that take over commercial hip hop from the mid 90s, there's a market for it."

This is most definitely true, when hip hop is portrayed on tv, or in the media, almost all the time there is at least one of these images. On tv, when there are music videos the artist is in there with a gaggle of girls and it basically shows their "party lifestyle". Hip hop has a certain image, and it is very much stereotyped.

3. "Vulnerability is the biggest Achilles Heel".

This is something that is always talked about in different hip hop songs, the majority of the songs are flaunting the lifestyle they live, how much money they have and what kind of girl they have. To show that they have a weak spot, is unacceptable and I can't think of a single song where the "gangster or pimp" is shown weak.

This was an interesting video, it is something that you don't see everyday. I feel that hip hop isn't analyzed way too often so when we do get to see/hear something about it it is very interesting. I think that most of what Tricia Rose said was true, and it made me very aware of the things I hadn't noticed before. i.e. the holy trinity.