Thug Life Army

Rap not so Macho - Hip Hop Beyond Beats & Rhymes by Davey D

In this audio interview from hip hop historian, activist and radio personality Davey D and Byron Hurt, hip hop is explored and the direction of hip hop is discussed. Byron Hurt’s Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes is explored and discussed.

Read the full article by Eric K. Arnold and then listen to the audio interview with Davey D and get the full insight from Byron Hurt and Davey D.

A new PBS special takes an in-depth look at hip-hop’s taboo topics. By Eric K. Arnold

Rampant violence, homophobia, and misogyny have been prevalent for quite some time in hip-hop — even KRS-One once said, “Roxanne Shante is only good for steady fucking” — yet, curiously, no one’s really bothered to frame these issues together in a social context until Byron Hurt’s Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes. The documentary, which airs Tuesday, February 20 on PBS, qualifies as recommended viewing for all hip-hop fans, and just about everyone else — especially parents and their kids.

Hurt an ex-football player who used to get pumped up before games to LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out,” became aware of gender and identity issues when he was hired as a sexual violence counselor, which led him to become a filmmaker. Over the phone from Los Angeles, he explains that he made the documentary over a six-year period, compiling 250 hours of footage into a poignant sixty minutes. “People have been talking about these issues, but not from this perspective,” he says. Thus far, after preview screenings across the country, he adds, “My experience has been, people are embracing this film.” A common refrain, he says, is, “It’s about time somebody did this.”

The movie stitches together some of the themes raised by authors Jeff Chang (Can’t Stop Won’t Stop) and Tricia Rose (Black Noise), and filmmaker Rachel Ramist (Nobody Knows My Name), but ups the ante by directly addressing the genre’s homophobia, along with its inherent homoeroticism. Hurt does this by examining African-American manhood, and its relation to society and pop culture, through several illustrative scenes and numerous interviews with fans, artists, academics, and industry executives…

Even so, Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes comes off as a love letter to hip-hop in spite of its pointed critique. As the director explained, “I don’t scapegoat hip-hop. The same things you see in hip-hop, you can see all over.” It’s unfair, he says, “to just call hip-hop out,” even with all its seeming contradictions, ignorant attitudes, and lack of relevant dialogue on a widespread level.

Read the full article by Eric K. Arnold at http://eastbayexpress.com/2007-02-14/music/rap-not-so-macho and then listen to the audio interview below.