Bounceounce
Member
I've been meaning to make a thread on this for awhile, but that thread on "Separating the Art from the Artist" has made me decide to finally put it into motion, I'm not sure whether I'm getting my thought process across correctly though, so please bare with me, also I should preface this by saying the vast majority of rappers aren't criminals and the genre is multifaceted and should not be stereotyped.
(While I've wanted to make a thread on it for about a month or so, this started off as a reply to that thread so I'll just copy and paste it as is, though in this thread I'm not asking the same question I was in the original and more asking your thoughts on this phenomenon):
"As someone who doesn't really have any issue separating the art from the artist, what are your limits in regards to rapper wrongdoing, considering that many rappers are professed/confirmed criminals at various levels?
I have a conscious bend towards not caring, as I'm a big believer in personal change/absolute non-judgement, plus my biological mother was a drug dealer and while I'm pretty much ambivalent towards her it's lead to me being pretty blah towards dealing as a crime, and my older sister has committed crimes/been jailed/is a wannabe gangbanger, so it's made me aware of how it's easy for young people to get sucked into that matrix and make mistakes but that it doesn't encompass the full breadth of their character, plus I've always been naturally forgiving/it's my natural disposition.
Which is why I've always been interested in whether rap consumption leads towards people mentally leaning towards rehabilitative justice/changing people's perception on those usually maligned by society, or whether rap listeners are truly absorbing the fact that they're listening to admitted/confirmed killers/home invaders/dealers/"wrongdoers" on various levels and not just taking them as the exception to their perception of criminals or simply ignoring it.
I'd imagine that we'd see a lot more people bitter at the fact that many of these rappers have gone on to see great success while those left in the wake of their previous actions are still dealing with the effects of it, and said artists might not have even seen jail time which triggers some and even if they did many people have a strange level of hatred/jealously towards prisoners especially when they use prison services/get their life together.
(I'm not sure if bringing up actual rappers/drudging up their past is an appropriate thing to do, but for the sake of the discussion I'll just list names)
Rappers from the 21 Savages, Young Thug's, Migos's, Gucci Manes, to the Wu Tangs, Jay Z's, Snoop Doggs, 50 Cent's, T.I's, to the Lupe Fiasco's, Schoolboy Q's, hell let's use Max B as a recent example since he's been turned into a meme.
Do people just fetishize their lives/their "Hood Conan Tales" and brush the rest under the rug, do they pass judgement on them while getting off on their criminal stories, is there conscious reexamining of sociological perspective on the listeners part?
Does it lead to introspection on morality?
Does this encourage leftist perspectives towards criminal justice/societal reform?
Is it strange that while many people don't look past character issues with artists in terms of not liking their personalities, they're willing to look past criminal/violent acts?
Why are some seemingly "allowed" to meld with "regular" society seemingly without issue, like a 50 Cent hopping on Rachael Ray's show or really Jay's entire career.
Does it matter at all?
Obviously other genre's aren't full of angels, It's just that they don't have the same relationship with this specific phenomenon in the way that Hip Hop does.
Hope this came out correctly/not jumbled, and I'm not trying to wrap these people's whole person up under the label of "criminal".
(While I've wanted to make a thread on it for about a month or so, this started off as a reply to that thread so I'll just copy and paste it as is, though in this thread I'm not asking the same question I was in the original and more asking your thoughts on this phenomenon):
"As someone who doesn't really have any issue separating the art from the artist, what are your limits in regards to rapper wrongdoing, considering that many rappers are professed/confirmed criminals at various levels?
I have a conscious bend towards not caring, as I'm a big believer in personal change/absolute non-judgement, plus my biological mother was a drug dealer and while I'm pretty much ambivalent towards her it's lead to me being pretty blah towards dealing as a crime, and my older sister has committed crimes/been jailed/is a wannabe gangbanger, so it's made me aware of how it's easy for young people to get sucked into that matrix and make mistakes but that it doesn't encompass the full breadth of their character, plus I've always been naturally forgiving/it's my natural disposition.
Which is why I've always been interested in whether rap consumption leads towards people mentally leaning towards rehabilitative justice/changing people's perception on those usually maligned by society, or whether rap listeners are truly absorbing the fact that they're listening to admitted/confirmed killers/home invaders/dealers/"wrongdoers" on various levels and not just taking them as the exception to their perception of criminals or simply ignoring it.
I'd imagine that we'd see a lot more people bitter at the fact that many of these rappers have gone on to see great success while those left in the wake of their previous actions are still dealing with the effects of it, and said artists might not have even seen jail time which triggers some and even if they did many people have a strange level of hatred/jealously towards prisoners especially when they use prison services/get their life together.
(I'm not sure if bringing up actual rappers/drudging up their past is an appropriate thing to do, but for the sake of the discussion I'll just list names)
Rappers from the 21 Savages, Young Thug's, Migos's, Gucci Manes, to the Wu Tangs, Jay Z's, Snoop Doggs, 50 Cent's, T.I's, to the Lupe Fiasco's, Schoolboy Q's, hell let's use Max B as a recent example since he's been turned into a meme.
Do people just fetishize their lives/their "Hood Conan Tales" and brush the rest under the rug, do they pass judgement on them while getting off on their criminal stories, is there conscious reexamining of sociological perspective on the listeners part?
Does it lead to introspection on morality?
Does this encourage leftist perspectives towards criminal justice/societal reform?
Is it strange that while many people don't look past character issues with artists in terms of not liking their personalities, they're willing to look past criminal/violent acts?
Why are some seemingly "allowed" to meld with "regular" society seemingly without issue, like a 50 Cent hopping on Rachael Ray's show or really Jay's entire career.
Does it matter at all?
Obviously other genre's aren't full of angels, It's just that they don't have the same relationship with this specific phenomenon in the way that Hip Hop does.
Hope this came out correctly/not jumbled, and I'm not trying to wrap these people's whole person up under the label of "criminal".
