Um yeah…that.
Reports Bossip:
For those that aren’t aware, let’s take a minute to define a “minstrel show”.
Encyclopedia Britannica defines it as:
Minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, an indigenous American theatrical form, popular from the early 19th to the early 20th century, that was founded on the comic enactment of racial stereotypes. The tradition reached its zenith between 1850 and 1870. Although the form gradually disappeared from the professional theatres and became purely a vehicle for amateurs, its influence endured—in vaudeville, radio, and television as well as in the motion-picture and world-music industries of the 20th and 21st centuries.
The earliest minstrel shows were staged by white male minstrels (traveling musicians) who, with their faces painted black, caricatured the singing and dancing of slaves.
Now, take a look at this opinion blog written by Edward McClelland Of NBC.
Via NBC Chicago
Until last Friday, I was going to buy Chief Keef’s new album, Finally Rich. I’m a big fan of Chicago hip-hop. For those of you who think Keef is a guitarist for the Rolling Stones, Chief Keef is the biggest new star in the genre, a 17-year-old from Englewood named Keith Cozart who became famous after his homemade video of the song “I Don’t Like” blew up as a huge hit among Chicago Public Schools students…
…Chief Keef was arrested last year for pointing a gun at a police officer. This year, he filmed a video with the music site Pitchfork in which he fired off a few rounds at the gun range. Police also want to know whether Keef was involved in the in the gang beef that led to the murder of Joseph Coleman, a 16-year-old aspiring rapper who went by the name Lil JoJo. After Coleman was killed, Keef mocked him on Twitter, then claimed his account had been hacked. None of this was enough to cost him his $3 million recording contract with Interscope records.
It should’ve been enough to put me off his music, which, from what I’ve heard of it, is pretty lunkheaded: simplistic rhymes, primitive beats. But it’s also a window into the world that has made Chicago the murder capital of America, and that piqued my curiosity.Since last week’s murders at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, though, I haven’t had the stomach for any violent entertainment. While I was watching this Sunday’s Bears game, ads for the movies Gangster Squad and Django Unchained came on TV. Both ads packed two or three shootings into 30 seconds. I don’t want to see either. A culture that glorifies the sexiness of the man with the gun is one reason we have 300,000,000 guns in America. I also don’t want to pay $14 for the minstrel show of listening to a real live South Side thug. I don’t want to support a scene that makes gangbanging a resume builder for music success.
I see said the blind man. And now…
This is EbenGregory.com…telling you I’m not offended and I don’t see anything racist about it. On another note, truth is not for all men, but only for those who seek it.
I agree with the blogger most if not all mainstream hip hop artists are ignorant.. sorry sad but true… Anything ignorant is a multi billion dollar industry…
If you REALLY want to point the finger at someone. Point it at Jimmy Iovine and EVERYONE powering the Interscope machine. look at their roster in 1995 and NOW. They are purposely signing young dumb kids like Soulja Boy and Chief Keef because they can pimp them and exploit their ignorance.
Awww. The article is wack. It’s full of crap. This dude thinks that he’s doing something special by not listening to Chief Keef? Congrats on your passive assed activism. If this dude is special for that, then call me Mother Teresa, because many of us have passed on crappy music a long as time ago. This tired article talmbout the glorification of violence in the culture? This JUST NOW dawning on you, sir? Columbine wasn’t enough? VT wasn’t enough? All of the young people dying in Chi-Town and in all major and minor cities wasn’t enough? You speak as if n-words haven’t BEEN victims of this B.S. for a long time. If not by your violent culture, then by the one we adopted and adapted from you. Oh no, sir, you don’t get to hit Enter and feel like you’ve done something. You don’t have any business even delving into Hip Hop if you wrote that armpit hair of an article. Thanks for letting us know how you really feel and what will make you “do something”, even if that something is the same thing many people have already done. Long time. No sir. Little Brother literally wrote an album inspired by it…It’s YOUR dominant culture which co-signs this B.S. consistently with your concert ticket purchases and music downloads. You just now figuring this ish out? You finally don’t want to have anything to do with it? You think you fancy, huh? Then all of the readers co-signing and thinking they’re alone in condemning the overall culture…uhm…no. It’s a consistent freakin theme whenever People of Color speak about music long enough. Every hip hop video on Youtube has some kind of comment related to such sentiments, so please, stop believing that you must cosign this late bird when in reality, he’s cosigning YOU… sorry for the rant, but give yourselves some credit.
Excuses build bridges to nowhere. Well written and what appeared to be a heartfelt blog.
This kid is the product of bad parenting and ignorance.
Co- Everyone that posted! Very happy to see that some still have common sense.
The truth is the truth all day…and majority of these artists fall into the same category…this generation is really lost
Of course Interscope would still sign Keef. They make money off him and he encouraging more blacks to kill. Its a win win situation!!!!!
Music is a powerful tool. It can be used to influence the masses. We need to think about what our music influences our youth to do. Some people only know about black people from the depictions in pop culture. Pop culture has us pegged as gun crazy thugs who have no respect for women or our selves. How can we expect people to respect us when we can even give that courtesy to our selves. Why are we supporting this music? Why are we letting our culture go down the crapper? We wonder what drives racism in this country. Its all the stereotypes that mos of our music confirms. When will ever say this is not acceptable? We then wonder what would drive a white man to fire shots into a car of black youth ( not taking sides just trying to make a point). In the position that most of these dudes are in they can make a real positive impact for black culture in the us. But i guess they would rather throw the money we support them with in our faces. They would rather support black on black violence. Where are this generations Malcolm s and Martins. What ever happened to making music that means something?
Until last Friday? I agree with him, but he was going to buy it until last Friday? It didn’t take me until last Friday. I can’t stomach violent music such as keefs, perhaps because I hear life threatening gunshots on a regular basis and have known many effected and affected by gun violence -physically, mentally and emotionally- including myself. His interest was piqued until a different demographic suffered the ails of gun violence? Or what? Before then it was entertainment that he would actually purchase? Again, I agree with his opinion of the “music” but he was going to buy it until last Friday? I could go on but I digress.
What is shameful about all this, is it took a white dude to point it out. These young rappers today are just the attack of the clones, and worse they trying to out do each other for publicity, instead of doing they one thing which should be done, and that is lettting the music speak for itself and for them.
Sorry for the typos
Everyone can’t swallow the pill of truth. I agree with the blogger.
It’s not at all racist. It’s spot on. Those who are butt hurt, you will deal.
Cheif Keef and people like him will chalked up their actions to them being ‘products of their environment’. Id like to ask them, how then can you glamorize that which you just blamed for your mistakes? Call it justifiable exploitation. You want to profit from something that has wronged you. But at what cost? While fully aware of the influence that he has, he is completely ignorant to it. He was given a platform to be a voice of hope for kids who look like him, and instead of encouraging them to change their circumstances, he’s given them all rose-colored glasses in the form of terrible music. I truly detest this young man for that very reason. Hip hop doesn’t need him.
Cosign-Truth.