Hip Hop Controversies-- Tricia Rose

Type: Freely

Tricia Rose, born and raised in New York City, is a scholar of the post civil rights era black U.S. culture, popular music, social issues, and gender and sexuality.  She is most known for her book called Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America.  This book, is considered an important text for the study of hip hop, which is now an entire field of study.  Tricia Rose also has written a book called The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop-And Why It Matters.  In this book, Rose discusses the role hip hop artists have in shaping racial images, along with gender images.  In addition, she also explores whether or not hip hop causes violence and whether or not it is sexist. The biggest concept she discusses is whether black culture in hip hop undermines black advancement.  Rose doesn't only discuss the negatives of the current state of hip hop, but also discusses the positive.  She believes that hip hop should reflect a more meaningful culture, politics, anger, and sex, than the way it is portrayed now in sound and video.  What interested me about Tricia Rose's discussion of hip hop was how today, hip hop is created for the mere purpose of selling albums.  She comments that Jay-Z has "dumbed his music down" in order to sell record.  The content of hip hop is surrounded by  economical profits.  Similar to the article Cinderella Ate My Daughter, the market behind princesses is one in which companies have taken advantage of in order to make sure it is sold to young girls.  Hip hop music in general is created in a similar fashion to make sure it is also sold.  In today's market, companies are not concerned with stepping out of the box, but are concerned with whatever can be sold for economical profit.  My question is, what does this say about society?