HIP-HOP, YA DON'T STOP!

I must confess that I am flummoxed by the current generation and its attendant culture. The tattoos, the music, the fashions, the way of speaking, etc - it's all a mystery to me.

I have two teenagers and I don't know what to make of the things that they seem to find important and relevant. I try hard to differentiate between what is just something that I don't understand as a middle-aged man, in much the same way my parents didn't understand me and my generation, and some of the things that I feel are a real problem.

The fashions, except when those so-called "fashions" are a bit too revealing for anyone that isn't in the business of flesh-peddling, are something that I am learning too accept. When I was a teen we tried to wear our jeans as tight as humanly possible. My son's generation wants to wear them so loose that it is a miracle of gravity that they aren't slumped down around his ankles. As it is, the closer to that point that they are, the better, in his estimation. My wife is constantly reminding him that we have no desire to see what kind of underwear he is wearing and I have sent my daughter back to her room many times to wear a shirt that isn't so heavy on the cleavage-bearing.

There are, however, other aspects of their culture that I cannot stomach. Number one is the music. For those of you that claim music does not have the power to seriously influence the listener, I say, "Balderdash!" A steady diet of any kind of suggestion is going to have an effect. That is why in many 12-step programs, members are advised to look themselves in the mirror and repeat positive affirmations to themselves.

If you listen to music all day, every day, that demeans women, advocates violence and a general disregard for others, it is going to effect you to some degree, particularly if you are young and impressionable. If the message of the music did not appeal to you or if you found it objectionable, you wouldn't listen to it. I've heard the rigmarole about how the allure is just the music or, as kids call it now, the "beats." Again - Balderdash! (Yes. My tongue is in my cheek as I use that term. Can't say, "B.S." now, could I. Make me come off a bit hypocritical, would it not?) I knew a guy who used to do hold-ups. He told me that he used to listen to "gangsta rap" to get him all revved-up when he about to ply his trade.

I, myself, used to listen to rap. I have owned albums by Dr. Dre, Snoop, Biggie, Wu-Tang, Nas, as well as Public Enemy, KRS-1, De La Soul and many others. Understand that I am not labeling all of those acts as the same sub-genre. Rap is probably the most original form of American music since jazz. It is vibrant, inventive and, at it's best, inspirational. There are many kinds of rap music just as there are many kinds of jazz and rock n' roll. The problem is that, increasingly, the rap that receives the most exposure is the most harmful to our impressionable youth.

Kudos to Percy Miller aka Master P for announcing that he will no longer be making music that can harm our impressionable youth. I suspected, as I'm sure many did, that this might be as much a marketing ploy as a sincere attempt to do good. He has been heading in the family-friendly direction for a while now after he became almost completely irrelevant and passe in popular rap. The thing is, I don't care why he's doing it, I'm just glad that he is! More power to him!

Then you have Mr. Cent aka Mr. Jackson or, better yet Beelzebub. This man seems to be doing everything that he can to destroy whatever is left of the morals and values that children have. The best thing that I can say about him is that, if he keeps picking fights with every other rapper, what he's constantly reaping will eventually be sown and somebody's gonna finish the job that someone else botched a few years back! I'm just kidding. I don't wish that on anyone. What I do wish for Fiddy is that he sees the error of his ways and uses his influence for good before he, too, becomes irrelevant. Imagine if he were to decide to encourage kids to go to school, respect their elders and peers, do well in school, etc.... He would probably figure that it would mean the kiss of death for his career, and he might be right, but some things are more important than money. Besides, how much money does one person need? I just read that this guy made 400 million from his involvement that water company! Doesn't seem right does it?

Tupac Shakur (who Mr. Cent seems to have taken some of his blueprint from) epitomized, to me, the power, for good and otherwise, that rap and its artists hold. This was a man that was highly intelligent and talented. He was well-read and inclined toward analytical and philosophical thought. He was raised by a mother steeped in activism via the Black Panthers and he seemed sincerely concerned, particularly early in his career, with doing what he could to empower black folks. Then he came up with the idea of Thug Life. This was an acronym for The Hate That U Give Little Infants F___s Everyone, if I remember correctly. Good intentions? Probably. Bad idea? Definitely. I don't think that the majority of his fans were checking for the underlying message. All most of them heard was "Thug Life!" Being a thug became a good thing.

If you talk to serious rap fans you'll find that most of them revere Tupac. People "felt" him. He wore his emotions and his feelings right up front for everyone to see and fans responded to his brutal honesty. Tupac has become the rap generations' John Lennon, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Elvis all rolled up into one. I like to imagine that, had he not been murdered, he might have worked out the obvious warring forces fighting in his being and become a force for real good amongst our youth.

Though we have not seen a rapper with the visceral and emotional impact on his fans that Tupac has, I still cling to hope that someone with the respect and ear of the youth will make the decision that Master P has made. More likely though, it is going to take several rappers. If Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, T.I. and others decided that they are tired of seeing black kids literally and figuratively eliminating any future for themselves, they might decide that their own self-glorification and bankbooks are not important than the survival of their entire race.

Oh! What a glorious day that would be!