The last post I put up,"Whites Buying A Lot or Blacks Not Buying Enough?", started a little debate between myself and a reader. I'm actually glad because the point of this blog is to be thought-provoking and have dialogue and get us to think about hip hop in a way we once hadn't.

In stating his opinion, the reader thought that the question of race shouldn't even be mentioned and as long as artists were being supported, it didn't matter who was buying the music. Although the focus of the blog really wasn't about a disdain for white buying records in anyway, he did have some valid points. He felt that a simple conversation about music suddenly turned into a conversation about race and the civil rights movement (because of an analogy I used). You can see the whole thing on the Facebook Page, however, my argument was that in many cases, especially in hip hop, the music is about so much more than music. It is about many of the things I discussed in the last post. It can be about uplifting the people, religion, politics, relationships, street life, the artist's personal life, and so much more. While this can be true for other varying genres of music, hip hop has always been the most direct and controversial when it came to these topics because it was no-holds-barred. However, the other reason that the hip hop culture was so feared was because blacks (and many Latinos) weren't just talking about their problems and hardships, but they were fighting back!

That leads us to the title of this blog. Given the history of hip hop and the fact that it is not only dominated by African-Americans musicians (mainly males), but it was born out of a predominately black (and, once again, Latino) culture, will race always play a role in our discussions and views of hip hop? There are many artists that speak directly to the ills of the black community or about the disgust they have about the oppression of African-Americans at the hands of rich, white lawmakers, politicians, etc. Yet, most artists tend to focus on the "streets" and the people in the streets. While there are people of all races, cultures, and backgrounds in poverty, who tend to be the people that most Americans think about when you say poverty? And what race tends to be the most prominent in hip hop?

We all know that the majority of people living in poverty are people of color. We also know that most hip hop artists are people of color that come out of these communities and talk about their experience from that point of view; as a generalization, poor, black men and women. Even today, there are still many that feel as if "the powers that be", "the man", and "the system" (all of which most of us assume represent white people that don't have the understanding of what it feels like to be poor and/or black in America) is holding them back or setting obstacles in place, making it difficult for them to succeed. If this is the FEELING (racism still exists, but some people tend to just play the race card), and all of these elements are at work, then I think it's fair to assume that race is at least still prevalent in hip hop today. But will it always be (or at least for many years to come)?

I think that as long as there are a disproportionate number of blacks living in poverty and the feeling of neglect among poor communities, race will be a factor. Even with a black President, there are still many issues within government that need to be fixed before African-Americans feel like they are truly being represented and supported by elected officials. Hip Hop has given a voice to those that wouldn't otherwise have one. Those tend to be young, black youths that face, in the words of Talib Kweli, "abnormal normality." Until conditions drastically change and racism/injustice to people of color as a whole becomes even less prominent, race relations will still be a focal point of hip hop.

The other thing that has to happen is that more races and cultures need to be represented in hip hop here in the United States. If you notice, the NBA has put a lot of work to bring more international stars over, and in turn it has really helped the league. Hip Hop could follow this same approach. There are many countries that, in all honesty, are holding down the culture the way we used to. The more exposure they get in the States, the less we will be accustomed to seeing only one type of image for a hip hop artist. We could have a Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, Manu Ginobli, or Yao Ming of hip hop. Having this view and understanding of their world may help us to realize that we are all alike in many more ways than we are different.

I don't think the very main focus of hip hop should be race, racism, or race relations (or any one thing for that matter). That certainly wasn't what the last post was about. However, it is something that exists in today's society and something that hip hop was born out of. It has been here and it may continue to be around for a long time. We certainly shouldn't be scared to discuss it or have different opinions about any particular subject surrounding it. Hip Hop is all about tackling these issues and trying to make them better in the end. Regardless of how long race continues to be a prominent part of the hip hop culture, let's work to improve our interactions among each other. Build with your "own" and help support others. That's all we can really do.

What are your thoughts? Will hip hop always deal with issue of race? Has the issue of race not been as significant the past few years? Is it still unusual to see somebody outside of the African-American or Latino community to gain fame as a rapper? What steps can hip hop take to make sure race isn't an issue? Or should it always be an issue? Leave all your thoughts and comments below. You can also send any e-mails to straightouttahiphop@gmail.com.

Peace.