2/23/07
Lynn Gross
Burlington New Jersey
Wow! I can believe that there is another brother that is as passionate about the disrespect and negative imagine that Hip Hop presents. I asked now, how can we get involved in this war that has to be raged. I am a black male in my 40's. I have money and the desire to put forth effort but we need a cause to rally around. The only thing I can say about the movie is BRAVO!
2/23/07
Baltimore, MD
Beyond Beats and Rhymes has brought light to HIP HOP music and how it is destroying our young black men and women. I'm not a listener of Hip Hop because I find it to be very degrading to the black race. BET shows videos all afternoon of black men degrading women and flashing money, and materialistic items. This is an influence on the black community, especially our children. BET should be more for Black Entertainment not Black Death. These kids listen to the Hip Hop and do exactly what the lyrics are saying. After listening to lyric with the word Nigga...a word we fought not to be called but we use it ourselves, and shot this kill that, kids become exactly what they see and hear. It's sad that our young black men and women are selling their souls for million dollar contracts to degrade their race. I haven't seen many positive representations of masculinity because we are teaching our young black men what masculinity really involves. I believe if we take a stand on HIP HOP music then things can change. I feel what Dr. King and others fought for is going down the drain. Thanks for the documentary.
2/23/07
Brian
Central, PA
I just saw this documentary on PBS. I grew up listening to the old school stuff back in the 80's and have heard/seen the change it has taken over the years. I believe that it is the mass media that promote this sort of rap/ hip hop. Like the one segment touches on how a corporate radio station plays the same 10 or 20 songs over and over. I feel that the radio stations can make or break a song. If it is true what a lot of young people say about the rap and hip hop they listen to than a song with the same beat and background tracks with a positive message should be able to make it big if the radio stations would just play it. I am now 38 years old and have a niece that is 18, I have tested this theory by buying her Christian rap and Hip hop music, but unless I am there to play it over and over she doesn't listen to it. It is simply because she doesn't hear it every day on the radio and TV or even more her friends don't either. They say they just don't know the words which contradicts what they say about just listing for the beat. The Christian stuff I listen to now has the same beats, base lines and rhyming as mainstream but with a positive spin. I know what some of you are thinking but it is not all preachy and God being jammed down your throat. This one rapper named T-Bone raps about "Hurt & Pain" and "Kill Tha Lies" and Raps about his life in a gang that almost got him killed. Another album I got my niece was called Hip Hope which is various artists and has more of a dance vibe to it. But anyways my point is if the good stuff could just get out and "be Hip and Cool or In" to listen to than that would be the money maker for the corporations. I am not trying to push religion but why can't mainstream hip hop be about positive things like making business deals or driving your car or going to the zoo. Anything can be put into that style of music. Just look at Weird Al and other parody bands, that stuff is the exact music, just with different lyrics. Well Thanks for making this Documentary and I hope and pray it makes a difference.
2/23/07
Donna Marie Williams
Just saw the excellent video and wanted to mention www.hiphophypocrisy.blogspot.com and the book "Hip Hop Hypocrisy: When Lies Sound Like the Truth" by Alfred "Coach" Powell. The author deals specifically with the impact of gangsta rap on children's behavior, academics, development. Finally the word is getting out. Thank God!
2/23/07
"Forced environments"? Please. I witness how this junk destroys our world everyday. There is nothing "forced" about it. If "families" that cultivate this kind of ignorance, would just step back and accept the things that they have done to themselves, maybe there would be more respectable acceptance of African American culture. For all of the angry posturing that these people do about how they are kept down or angry at there position in life, it seems there is very little done to repair the situation internally. Instead, obtuseness abounds, the right values are never heard, and a folded fist will forever symbolize the stagnation that you create.
2/23/07
Indianapolis, IN
Flicking through the channels tonight I stopped at an image of of young (well, some of them, anyway) women being spoken to and approached in an in-appropriate fashion at 'Daytona Spring Break'...I found myself watching a show about how 'women/gay men are not represented correctly' in hip-hop culture, and how this reflected on how hip-hop culture was not doing the right thing with this issue. There was a big problem with the message that I took away from this show. While there seems to be a real problem with respect to the perception/depiction of women and gays/lesbians, my issue is related to what masculinity is, and what it's connection to power, violence, domination is. There is no question to me about what it means to be a man:
(1) A man takes care of himself.
(2) A man take care of the people he loves.
(3) A man does not need to bring somebody else down to make him better.
(4) If you do not follow these rules you are not a man...
2/23/07
Indianapolis, IN
You know, I really starting believing that I was just getting old or out of touch. Over the past 10 years, I have found myself moving further and further away from hip hop or at least the industry it has become. I understand there are many different voices within our communities across the US. Unfortunately, that is only reflected when it has some sort of negative connotation. True, the world is not always fair or kind. But if we don't recognize and change these "realities" we are telling our daughters and sons, we are going to perpetuate the low self-esteem / "crabs in a barrel" mentality. Let's stop pulling each other down. Thank you for showing young people that we are more than what the industry portrays.
2/23/07
Alberto Morales
Portland, Maine
I am a 30 something Puerto Rican mail who grew up on the lower east side of Puerto Rico. You made reference to wild style the film in your film and that brought me back. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I thought your film was excellent. My only complaint was that it was so short. The topics you brought up could all have been explored for several hours and it is a compliment to your film that I wished it would have been a few hours longer. In fact, I think there is a need for it. I am a high school teacher and I instantly found myself hatching ways to pass on the lessons and thought provoking issues you raised to my students. The parts that were most interesting and thought provoking to me was the reaction that you met about the homophobia question, and the images of the young men sexual harassing/molesting the women in the streets and the completely fed up paradigm of their (for the most part) acceptance of these roles. The sad part is that the rappers for the most part are these cogs, these products of the system that are completely unaware and also very severely undereducated and not very well read. Jadakiss in particular seemed so sadly uneducated it was almost painful to watch. Sad really. It was also truly disgusting to see the BET executives behavior. What a jerk. On the other hand, Chuck D. was very articulate and impressive. Thank god for him. Again, I wish there was more. Thank you for a great film.
2/23/07
Alberto Morales
Portland, Maine
I am a 30 something Puerto Rican mail who grew up on the lower east side of Puerto Rico. You made reference to wild style the film in your film and that brought me back. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I thought your film was excellent. My only complaint was that it was so short. The topics you brought up could all have been explored for several hours and it is a compliment to your film that I wished it would have been a few hours longer. In fact, I think there is a need for it. I am a high school teacher and I instantly found myself hatching ways to pass on the lessons and thought provoking issues you raised to my students. The parts that were most interesting and thought provoking to me was the reaction that you met about the homophobia question, and the images of the young men sexual harassing/molesting the women in the streets and the completely fed up paradigm of their (for the most part) acceptance of these roles. The sad part is that the rappers for the most part are these cogs, these products of the system that are completely unaware and also very severely undereducated and not very well read. Jadakiss in particular seemed so sadly uneducated it was almost painful to watch. Sad really. It was also truly disgusting to see the BET executives behavior. What a jerk. On the other hand, Chuck D. was very articulate and impressive. Thank god for him. Again, I wish there was more. Thank you for a great film.
2/23/07
Grace
NY
I work with adolescents and see the impact that such music has on their developing identities. I see boys that believe it is acceptable to treat girls as objects to use, abuse, and pass on to their friends. I see girls that dress like these women in videos and although they are hurt by the mistreatment experienced by their male counterparts, feel that this is normal for a relationship. This is not just an issue for black youth either. Any youth that identifies with this music and normalizes this behavior is impacted. Youth often quote to me the music they hear; they talk about casual drug use, casual sex, and casual relationships with people that are dispensable. I can't blame music for all of these issues, as the music is reflecting trends in our society. However, it certainly perpetuates the stereotypes and negative behaviors displayed in the songs and videos. Thank you for this insightful film. I plan to show it not only to the adolescents with whom I work, but also present it to the college students that I teach.
2/23/07
Kai Hall
Odenton, MD
First of all, inspirational documentary about Hip-Hop and what it really has been saying for generations. After seeing it, I was touched but yet, sadden because I too listen to almost all the Hip-Hop out there as well my eight year-old brother. I‚m now going to teach him what he is really listening to and make sure he understands where I‚m coming from. What I really enjoyed about your documentary was that you asked famous and trying to become famous rap (on the streets passing out demos) artiest about what they are saying in there songs and freestyles and how they feel about it. Many of them gave the same answers about that people don‚t want to hear that or that sex sells. And then you asked Busta about something relating to „gay‰ and wouldn‚'t talk about. To answer your question(s), the only positive representations of masculinity I‚ve seen on the media aspect would be on CSPAN where they had many black activists like Cornell West, Al Sharpen, Jesse Jackson, and plenty more talking about issues with are society, culture, politics, and more. But in R&B, I have seen positive masculinity, for example John Legend, Earth Wind and Fire, and all the old hits that talked bout love for one another. The Negative aspects of masculinity have been covered by your documentary and maybe the voting issue that males(and blacks as an hole) don‚t exercise and taking care of there accident pregnancies. And about the diverse videos to have room to be played well would have to put your documentary on BET during the peak watching hour (maybe the show 106 and park) and to ask for more help the listeners to really look at what they are listening because the people made music what it is today not the „white guys in suits‰. It‚s going to be a rough long battle but by the time my children start to listen to music maybe it will be the positive message we want to send. Thank You
2/23/07
DCSuperSid
Washington, DC
The documentary makes some good points but much of it is information readily available. Minister Farrakhan has been saying similar themes for the last 20 years about how Hip-Hop music disrespects women. It seems the documentary wasn't presented in a balanced manner. For example, he asked the Clipse a question but never allowed them to answer. Also, he asked Russell Simmons a question but didn't talk about his Hip-Hop Action Summit organization. He repeatedly bashed Nelly but didn't mention how many lived may have been saved by his bone marrow registration drives. Like I said it was information already "out there", 50 Cent will tell you himself a white man is signing his checks. Go on any Hip-Hop website and they'll tell you white kids are buying most of the CD's. Was it really surprising that gays find pictures of LL Cool J appealing? When he was talking about homo eroticism why didn't he show footage of a Que Step Show and show them dudes jumping all over each other?
2/23/07
Brandon Hutchinson
Chicago, IL
I am typing this out as I am watching the doc. I cannot say how excited I am to see this. To see how you wouldn't let Russell Simmons and Busta slide. To see how you really, really made the people you interviewed consider the issues you wanted to raise. I have a string of questions that cannot wait. Everyone says "no one wants to hear that anymore" (talking about "conscious" rap) but is it possible that the same number of people want to hear it, but the stakes have just been raised by record companies? I mean how many units did Self-Destruction sell? How many people actually heard Self-Destruction? Does it mean labels won't put out albums that don't have the potential to go platinum? Can't an artist reach just as many people today via the internet as KRS did back in 1989? KRS had something to say, and he could have sold it out for a dollar too, but he didn't. Does that mean that wanna be emcees are just selling their souls for a deal they will probably never get? And how much money did KRS-One make off of Self-Destruction anyway? Anyway. As a white boy who has his own opinions about hip hop and his own affection for the form (the first album I bought was a cassette tape of Kool Moe Dee's Knowledge is King, followed closely by Ice-T's Drama) I can appreciate your documentary on so many levels.
2/23/07
JP
Memphis, Tennessee
In response to the question about what can be done to make room for more diverse types of music: I live in Memphis, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated for peacefully pushing the edges of the box. There is already a movement in process for the continuation of his dream. Programs like this are a GREAT way to get us all talking about the things that need to be talked about. Thank you! Also, I went to something here in Memphis called the Concert to End Slavery a few nights ago and the music there was all kinds of out the box!!! Not only that but there was a petition everyone was signing to end modern day slavery here and in other countries. Find out about it and join the fight. I think that since these big corporations won't sell anything but the killing, drugs, thugs and pimps music... the revolution's gonna have to be grass roots like this program and the concert I went to. Peaceful and Powerful... it's time.
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