A major controversy this week in both the music industry and the political arena has been Michelle Obama’s invitation of Common to the White House:
http://www.theroot.com/buzz/commons-white-house-invitation-sparks-conservative-outrage
The invitation was for a poetry slam night this past Wednesday. Before his performance, he helped host rap workshops for local schoolchildren. Other performers at the event included Jill Scott, Bill Collins and Rita Dove. However, Common’s invitation is what sparked outcry from conservatives across the nation. This is because Common has used certain controversial lines in his previous songs, like “burn a Bush,” for example. However, Common is very often referred to as a “conscious rapper”—one who is renowned for writing socially and politically conscious lyrics. So why was this invitation such a controversy?
Jon Stewart defended the invitation against Bill O’Reilly on the O’Reilly Factor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im8WhG-8FGw&feature=player_embedded#at=124
As you can see in the video, one of the main reasons for opposition to Common was his support of a woman involved in a cop killing. However, there wasn’t any opposition to Bush’s invitation for Bono to come to the White House, and Bono has a song (“Native Son”) about an activist who murdered two FBI agents. This seems like a prime example of Reyna, et al. (2009)’s discussion of hip-hop as a proxy for prejudice, and anti-rap attitudes in America.
For your entertainment, below is the video for one of Common’s most famous songs, “The Light.” It’s about love and sex, but, as you can see, it portrays these items in a much more positive and appropriate manner than some of the other rap artists we’ve discussed.
http://imgur.com/6YOSs?full
ReplyDelete