Hip-Hop Planet Response

Nicolette Van Duysen

September 20, 2014

English 1100

Response to “Hip Hop Planet”

Evidently, in the passage “Hip Hop Planet,” by James McBride, his perspective on the music genre of Hip Hop drastically changes from the beginning throughout the piece. He starts off with a negative perception of that kind of music with the imagery of what a horror it would be for his daughter to walk in with a rapper and claim their marriage, and the mind-boggling thought of any offspring occurring from that relationship. McBride almost makes it seem as if he lives in a world of hip-hop that he cannot escape from. As the imagery switches over to a past experience when he first had heard hip-hop in the kitchen of a party and recalled the battles between the turntables and the vibe of the atmosphere and he thought, “… it was the most ridiculous thing I’d ever heard.” (McBride). After that flashback occurs McBride goes to explain how hip-hop became a significant part of his life shaping his identity. He unfortunately stated in the passage that he had missed the most essential part of his cultural event because, the music brought him everything that he wanted to leave behind. However, facing this he realizes that the history and struggles of these versus and songs shape him into who he is especially relating to his culture. Not only was it a good tune to head bop along to at a party but also he realized the realities of these songs that he was running away from. He comes to understanding that, “To many of my generation, despite all attempts to exploit it, belittle it, numb it, classify it, and analyze it, hip-hop remains an enigma, a clarion call, a cry of ‘ I am’ from the youth of the world. We’d be wise, I suppose to start paying attention.” (McBride).

The author goes on to talk about how hip-hop is a representation of identity. It is an identity for artists themselves and their different styles, “… spread the word ‘I’ because the music was all about identity: I am the best.”(McBride). Every graffiti artist wanted to be known to buy their music because, they could reach out and understand people the best. McBride realized that it applied to young teenagers and how “the music represents an old dream” and gives motivation  to go out and be somebody even if it is a little far fetched. It helps adults like him, to see and understand the problems that kids are going through, and it could relate to themselves as well(such as their job struggles). McBride states, “ But rap music represents a deeper dream: a better life. ‘We want money to help our parents,’ Assane says over dinner. ‘We watch our mothers boil water to cook and have nothing to put in the pot.” (McBride). McBride has grown to love the music because, it is an identity for him and emphasizing on his culture with job struggles, everyday struggles, hopeless dreams, violence, and everything else that became a reality for him; he was just not opened to it at first because he was not ready to accept them.