quantity over quality and its effects

In John McWhorter's article, How Hip-Hop Holds Blacks Back, he discusses the problems with Hip-Hop. He feels that rap "retards black success." He thinks that it reinforces stereotypes, and teaches the youth a way of life that is counter productive to success within society. He argues that the mannerisms that are adopted from the videos that are seen makes future employers wary of the person's attitude towards life. By "glamorizing life in the war zone" Hip-Hop has engrained the message in society that blacks are uncivilized, and makes it hard for people growing up there to remove themselves from that lifestyle. He makes an interesting point that black Americans had more to be frustrated about in the past, but yet the music of the time was hopeful, positive, and affirmative. As of now 5 of the top 10 highest sellers have had incidents with the law. Many of rap's superstar been murdered. Including stars like Tupac, Notorious B.I.G., Big L, and many others. It seems to me that this image of being hardcore comes with the highly violent American media culture. I think that earlier in the timeline of rap the lyrics really showed the conditions of life that certain rappers had grown up in, but I feel things have over exaggerated, and created more for the aspect of making money. Now granted, some of the stories are true, but to what extent are they bedazzled, and to what extent are they all true. Rap may have once been "poetry of the streets," but now it seems like the media has taken over and turned this poetry into a industrialized type of music that creates a negative image for blacks. I love Hip-Hop and will never stop listening to it, but the direction that hip-hop is traveling makes me think less of American Society because it traps people within a type of structural violence that can't been seen by many of the people being oppressed by it. America's need to mass produce takes the quality out of everything from McDonalds burgers, to cars, to the switch from CD's to MP3's, and rap music in general.

John H. McWhorter
How Hip Hop Holds Blacks Back
Violence, Misogyny, and Lawlessness are nothing to sing about
Summer 2003
http://www.city-journal.org/html/13_3_how_hip_hop.html