Art && Hip-Hop (Midterm) Post 2.

When a person thinks of the word art, what comes to mind? Does a person think of an art gallery filled with paintings and sculptures from well known artists? Is a poem written by Maya Angelou or Langstan Hughes art? Does a person think of dance? Can this picture be considered art? There are many forms of art. My perception of art may be different from the next person. However, can we not agree that the world is filled with art? Music is a form of art, and since hip-hop is a type of music, it can be considered a form of art.

Art plays a versatile role within society. It can inspire, help relieve stress, relay truth, and expose someone to something unknown. Nevertheless, philosophers Socrates and Plato believe, "Art did not convey true knowledge; nor did it improve one's character and ethical behavior (page 54)." To Socrates and Plato, art inaccurately misleads reality, causes violent passions, corrupts the soul and leads people ethically astray (page 54). Furthermore, Plato feels true reality is pure and permanent, but hip-hop is constantly changing. Hip-hop is not the only thing in life that changes. Hairstyles, clothing choices, political views, art and etc also change. So their opinions do not hold true in all cases.

Philosophers William James and John Dewey share something in common with hip-hop. They share pragmatism. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, pragmastion is a practical approach to problems and affairs. Hip-Hop and pragmatism did not believe there are divisions between art and reality, body and soul, and culture and politics (page 56). Within hip-hop and pragmatism, art is an activity that comes from natural wants and needs. There is a quote in the book, Hip Hop and Philosophy. The quote says, "... art is desired and desirable because it enhances life, by making life more meaningful, more pleasurable, more worth living. Art intensifies experience by engaging reality and giving espression to the most powerful human drives (page 56)."

Hip-Hop is an art that reveals all kinds of truth about life for African Americans and Americans period. Artists use their words and lyrics to reveal the truth about the struggle to achieve greater economic, social, political, and cultural power. In Drake's song, Look What You've Done, he tells how is to grow up in a single mother home. Drake says, "And my father living in Memphis now he can't come this way/ Over some minor charges and child support that just wasn't paid/ Damn, boo-hoo, sad story, black american dad story." ( here's the link for this song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23ederDhWp4) For the lucky people who get to grow up living in the same house with both parents may not understand how it feels only living with one parent. I am an example. My parents were never married, and I lived with my mother. My father barely came around. He did not see me as one of his priorities. Therefore, I can relate to Drake's song. Furthermore, in the song, Keep Ya Head Up by Tupac, he tells how people should keep their heads up despite their harsh realities. His lyrics say, "And when he tells you you ain't nuttin don't believe him/ And if he can't learn to love you you should leave him/ Cause sista you don't need him." (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFeHZCzaxZ4) Abusive relationships is a reality for some people. Whether their significant other is physically or verbally abusing them, its still abuse. And sometimes a person does not know when to leave. Tupac acknowledges, YOU DON'T NEED HIM!

I have known violence and things of that nature to be associated with hip-hop. Artists
talk about life in the ghetto, being shot, selling or doing drugs, and etc. Let's try not to always think of these things as negative. They are realities to some people, and often the best way to deal with a problem is to address it. People do all sort of things in order to relieve the stress reality has placed on them. They dance. They sing. They paint. They rap. All these forms of art express different realities and tell the truths about the world. Hip-Hop has showed the world about the problems African Americans face. We have dealt with racism, riot, poverty, jail and so on. I am not saying black people are the only people that deal with these things. I'm sure every race has. But hip-hop is the art that relays the reality of being black.