Average guys wearing two chains pretending to be 2 chainz and girls wearing red hair trying to be Rihanna. When you take a look around the black community, it’s evident that hip hop has had a lot of influence on us. Women only check for men if their attire matches the attire in the latest rap video and men looking for women that are the equivalent of the video models seen on BET. The black community is a far cry away from where we use to be when we marched and created our own standards and values to live by.
In a sense, hip hop’s influence has been used in a positive way. In 2004 Diddy was the lead man for the “Vote or die” campaign which saw young adults hit the polls in record numbers. As a young African-American male, I can appreciate that but I didn’t like the fact that it took hip hop for us to take voting seriously. The thing about hip hop and the entertainment business is that not all the influences are positive. Most of the music out today promotes infidelity and tears down the character of our women, the same women that gave birth to us and raised us. Just think about it, Rick Ross has your b*tch tip toeing on his marbles and all 2 chainz wants is a big booty hoe. I could go on with lyrics that glorifies cheating, disrespect women and violence. Hip hop’s influence on the black community is okay when we went from throwback jerseys to button ups because Jay-Z told us it was cool, or when Kanye West showed the world you can rock pink polo’s and still be manly.
When sixteen year olds start selling drugs and carrying guns because their favorite rapper makes that life appealing, that’s where we need to change. Granted we can’t censor everything our children listen to and if we censor music we have to censor movies and other forms of media sending a similar message.
We are consumers and we are the very reason artists are able to buy the newest Porsche or the latest drop. Since this is the case, we as consumers are able to boycott certain music and other forms of media that destroy our image and what our ancestors before us worked so hard to establish. The influence of hip hop on the black community is welcomed when it encourages growth and sends a positive message, but we can’t continue to let it destroy our image or our children.
Follow us on twitter@hiphopenquirer
