Isn't Hip Hop over yet?
I'm being serious, and not trying to start a flame war or anything...but how relevant is "Hip Hop" anymore?
I can't remember what this was for, but I'm on the school board for my
district and we were looking at some kind of proposal to bring in some kind
of musical/theater group to teach kids about health issues. It looked like a
lot of fun and it's something that's still being considered...it has puppets
and things and they sing songs and learn about nutrition and saying no to
drugs and how to fight obesity and exercise.
Well, in the teacher's guide they gave us to look at one of the activities
made all of us laugh out loud: it was an activity plan where they students
would have to "write a rap song" about nutrition and it showed the teacher
how to teach the kids how "to write a rap song". I wish I still had this so I
could scan it and show you all, but it had these very cartoonish, child-like
drawings next to the activity box and the figures were "rapping" with a big
boom box like it was 1985 and they were big RMDC fans. Hilarious.
It's my personal opinion that something is no longer "hip" if it's being
featured in a children's activity book...or if a very slow-moving and
zealously cautious organization like Disney embraces it. Seeing "rap" or "hip
hop" in anything related to children tells me that the "coolness" expiration
date on these musical genres has expired.
I do not follow the music industry very much but if I'm correct "rap" and
"hip hop" are supposed to be "edgy", and nothing is the opposite of "edgy"
more than Disney.
And this is a lifetime Disney fan saying that, who loves Disney for what it
is...but the home of "edginess" it most certainly is not.