People Outside of the "HipHop Community" / "Black Community" Can't Have a Valid Opinion on HipHop

[nako xl]

I've seen this implied (and explicitly stated) several times in some of the album review threads lately.

Someone's even gone as far as to say HipHop is "this thing of ours" a reference to the mafia/secret societies.

How do you guys feel about this?

Is this true in other genres or only believed to be so in hiphop?

 

[illphillip]

HipHop Community and Black Community are not the same.

I'm not Black. I'm also not White. But I know HipHop.

The best opinion of all is an educated opinion. Whether others agree with it or not.

So if you're going to have an opinion on HipHop, the more you know about it, the more educated your opinion will likely be.

Either way.....they're opinions. Who cares?

 

[nako xl]

I agree illphil (repped)

But I just raise the question because these are statements I've been seeing pop up more and more in various threads to discredit others who question the musicality or creativeness of rap.

"You're not Black so you wouldn't understand."  "You're not Black so it's not meant for you."

"Who are these people? Why should I care about they're opinion? They're not hiphop."

"Dude's a tv blogger?  Why should I care what he has to say about hip hop?"

There's a level of elitism in those statements that raises the question, "Well, then, when CAN you have an opinion on hip hop?"

If not Black do you have to be from the hood?  are those the two requirements?  You have to either be a minority or "urban"?  You have to have dedicated years of your life to listening to hip hop?  How many years of study is enough?

I'm just throwing these questions out there.  I don't necessarily have answers to any of them.

 

[the antihype]

WTF???

How old are you.

Forget it, just lock this up already.

 

[nawghtyhare]

I mean would u trust a mechanic to give u a valid opinion about a rash u have on ur penis????
If u know nothing about it I feel that ur opinion is invalid or of lesser importance than someone who is knowledgable of hip hop regardless of race

 

[the antihype]

Its MUSIC. There are no requirements. Sound has no color.

 

[nawghtyhare]

I agree illphil (repped)

But I just raise the question because these are statements I've been seeing pop up more and more in various threads to discredit others who question the musicality or creativeness of rap.

"You're not Black so you wouldn't understand."  "You're not Black so it's not meant for you."

"Who are these people? Why should I care about they're opinion? They're not hiphop."

"Dude's a tv blogger?  Why should I care what he has to say about hip hop?"

There's a level of elitism in those statements that raises the question, "Well, then, when CAN you have an opinion on hip hop?"

If not Black do you have to be from the hood?  are those the two requirements?  You have to either be a minority or "urban"?  You have to have dedicated years of your life to listening to hip hop?  How many years of study is enough?

I'm just throwing these questions out there.  I don't necessarily have answers to any of them.

Hmmm I see ur point but honestly who cares? if ulike something like it not cause of someone else's opinion on it.

 

[dathbgboy]

I for one feel that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, however, it's foolish to form an opinion on a genre of music or anything for that matter, that you know nothing about. I'm not into rock music too much so I wouldn't form an opinion about how it sounds because I really don't know. The chords played could be something that's always been done, etc.

Hip-Hop isn't just limited to a race,gender, ethnicity or whatever, it's just predominately the favorite genre to Blacks and those from urban neighborhoods that can relate to the music, the same way country is to most southern folk

 

[the antihype]

I know it will vary for every region, but from the the perspective of the L.A. area/West Coast, at most hip-hop shows/concerts/festivals I would say as high as 90% of the audience is NOT black.

 

[CUNNiNGH4M]

you rap... you arent supposed to have opinions on hiphop anyway

 

[nako xl]

you rap... you arent supposed to have opinions on hiphop anyway

I know 

 

[jthagreat]

HipHop Community and Black Community are not the same.

I'm not Black. I'm also not White. But I know HipHop.

The best opinion of all is an educated opinion. Whether others agree with it or not.

So if you're going to have an opinion on HipHop, the more you know about it, the more educated your opinion will likely be.

Either way.....they're opinions. Who cares?

Truth...for a change

 

[ill legal operation]

More of a hood/lifestyle thing than a race thing IMO...

...I remember when that lame from the Needle Drop reviewed "House of Balloons."

I'm sittin there like, "Man, you just don't get it at ALL" - then I actually took the time to look at that nerd in his face paused on my YouTube screen - I then think to myself, "Odds are this guy has had less than 3 sexual partners in his entire life and was never invited to too many parties (let alone throw 'em), how in the hell could he relate to anything my dude is singing about?" That's just one example, but we all know that happens quite often in the realm of hip hop reviews...

...there are plenty critics that take the music for face value and have no knowledge of the underlying culture - more often than not, those critics are white - that's where the "It's a Black thing, you wouldn't understand" comes in, but we say that only out of frustration.

I gotta couple white homies that know hip hop better than the majority of people who post here, so even though race does play a role sometimes, like I said, I personally think it's more of a culture/lifestyle issue...

 

[sfc415]

Who cares about what those clowns think? It's music. People who say that have no valuable knowledge about anything else, so they act like hip hop is some sacred, exclusive art form.

A lot of black people I went to school with would be pretty mad if others told them hip hop is an important part of black history and culture, when there's faaar more important things that should be appreciated and brought back

 

[niquefreak94]

for the love of NT please take Black Community out. it literally has 0 to do w/ race, but has a lot to do w/ knowing hip hop.

i have had some incredible discussions about hip-hop w/ people of all races.

i do agree about knowing hip-hop to judge it. i mean you can still have an opinion but i really don't want to discuss it w/ you if you don't know hip-hop.

it's like me and grunge. i don't know grunge...if i hear a grunge song and say this is the worst song i ever heard that's my opinion

and it's true to me but it would be silly for a grunge fan to give that opinion any validity by

discussing it with me because i don't know grunge. there's history and nuances and stuff about the culture of every genre that if you don't get, you just don't get

 

[freddie black]

it's like me and grunge. i don't know grunge...if i hear a grunge song and say this is the worst song i ever heard that's my opinion

and it's true to me but it would be silly for a grunge fan to give that opinion any validity by

discussing it with me because i don't know grunge. there's history and nuances and stuff about the culture of every genre that if you don't get, you just don't get

Good analogy.

There was a Vice article published a few weeks ago that kind of reiterates that same sentiment.

And before people go and start taking things from said article out of context or perpetrating logical fallacies, I interpreted the underlying message to be - "I just don't like him but other people can and that's perfectly fine because I'm not stuck up enough to think I have an objective view point on music".

 

[nako xl]

The Black thing has been said in several threads.  People dooo feel that way.  Gotta leave it in the title in the hopes that they're willing to voice and explain their opinion and not just sidestep it now that it's out there on front street.

 

[miketysonthekiller]

I see what you're saying OP and I've also seen it in threads in here. I'll always think it was silly. I got mad when some cat tried to say only black people know jazz or some dumb **** like that. Some nt'ers will come and here and tell you they agree with you, then turn around and preach that its their music and so on and so forth without taking into account the transgression the music has had over the past decades due to the influence of other ethnic groups, and most of all, different perspectives. You're not black, you wouldn't understand. I don't think it's much about being black, but more so about the lifestyle the rappers had. A different minority can relate to the black man rapping because of their similar life style.

No lifestyle, emotion, or feeling can be exclusive to just one group of people. No matter how you put it. It can be foreign to some, but not to everyone. Just because he isn't black doesn't mean his opinion is less validated than yours, specially an educated one.

 

[ill legal operation]

Generally speaking in terms of music, we can't act like race never plays a role...

...not saying I'm not allowed to enjoy the song, but when Pun made "100%", he wasn't makin' it for me...

...when James is screamin' "Say it loud!!!" - he didn't make that song for a guy named Rizzo...

...Rizzo is free to enjoy "Say It Loud" along with everybody else, but can he relate to the song in it's entirety an encompass all of the emotions James was aiming to convey like I can? No.

Did I slap the hell outta "100%" when it dropped? Ya damn skippy - but can I relate to it all the way illphil can? No...

...granted those are two extremes, but that's all I mean when I say race plays a role sometimes.

We just gonna act like "New Slaves" was made for Abigail in Spokane?

Sure she's allowed to listen and form her own opinion, but........................

 

[tigerintherain]

Generally speaking in terms of music, we can't act like race never plays a role...

...not saying I'm not allowed to enjoy the song, but when Pun made "100%", he wasn't makin' it for me...

...when James is screamin' "Say it loud!!!" - he didn't make that song for a guy named Rizzo...

...Rizzo is free to enjoy "Say It Loud" along with everybody else, but can he relate to the song in it's entirety an encompass all of the emotions James was aiming to convey like I can? No.

Did I slap the hell outta "100%" when it dropped? Ya damn skippy - but can I relate to it all the way illphil can? No...

...granted those are two extremes, but that's all I mean when I say race plays a role sometimes.

We just gonna act like "New Slaves" was made for Abigail in Spokane?

Sure she's allowed to listen and form her own opinion, but........................

this

 

[roc boy jada]

Generally speaking in terms of music, we can't act like race never plays a role...

...not saying I'm not allowed to enjoy the song, but when Pun made "100%", he wasn't makin' it for me...

...when James is screamin' "Say it loud!!!" - he didn't make that song for a guy named Rizzo...

...Rizzo is free to enjoy "Say It Loud" along with everybody else, but can he relate to the song in it's entirety an encompass all of the emotions James was aiming to convey like I can? No.

Did I slap the hell outta "100%" when it dropped? Ya damn skippy - but can I relate to it all the way illphil can? No...

...granted those are two extremes, but that's all I mean when I say race plays a role sometimes.

We just gonna act like "New Slaves" was made for Abigail in Spokane?

Sure she's allowed to listen and form her own opinion, but........................

Well put.

Lyrics chanting "**** the police" or a song like Murder to Excellence is more likely to strike a chord with an inner city black hip-hop fan who has a vivid grasp of what's being said, due to what they've seen in their neighborhood. I can see why they'd be a bit offended when someone who isn't a target to authority, or affected by any other systematic injustices, is being highly critical of a great song they can really relate to.

I think that's what people may be alluding to when they make such statements OP is referencing. Mainly lyrics that are made from the rapper's experience of being black in America; not just the lyrics about injustice, though.

My guess is that those who are offended feel people may be "jumping in" the hip-hop culture, or using it to garner attention and capitalize off it, because of its popularity.

 

[Master Zik]

I'm ignoring the black community part of the statement cuz it factually nonsensical but for hip hop community it's just about right.

I wouldn't really expect the country music community to think my opinions on that music are valid cuz I'm not apart of it like that. It's just an opinion. Validity varies.

The only exception I can think of is if the person who is just an outright connoisseur of music and consistently keeps tabs on all genres where they can step in and have an opinion despite not being apart of the larger community of that genre.

 

[deleted]

...when James is screamin' "Say it loud!!!" - he didn't make that song for a guy named Rizzo...

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[bogusreality]

What about the hip-hop that's dealt with being incarcerated?

Have you done time?

Well, outside of going through that process, you shouldn't have much to say.