Concertgoers scrambled for safety when violence erupted at rapper T.I.’s concert at Manhattan’s Irving Plaza on May 25. One man was killed and three others were wounded in the violence. Among those arrested was Brooklyn rapper Troy Ave, who had a central role in the shooting.
In response, the New York Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton condemned “the crazy world of these so-called rap artists who are basically thugs that basically celebrate violence they did all their lives” on CBS New York.
We ought to join Bratton’s general sentiment in condemning the senseless violence that unfolded that night. Ostensibly, Bratton’s assessment might be a reasonable reaction.
However, it takes closer examination to understand that rap music, at its core, does far from celebrate the violence it sometimes appears to beget.
People perceive what is purely intended as an entertainment form as a ringing endorsement of hard drug use, gang activity and the use of senseless violence as a display of machismo. By and large, the root problem lies not in the artists, or even the music, but rather flawed perceptions.
Gary, Indiana, rapper Freddie Gibbs said it best when asked during a Reddit Q&A if he’d let his daughter listen to his music, which draws stylistic comparisons to the graphically violent 1990’s Mafioso rap subgenre.
“She can listen to my music,” Gibbs said. “I just got to explain to her what it is. It’s like watching an action movie, just gotta explain that it’s entertainment.”
Obviously, artists at the extreme end of the spectrum might discuss themes of violence in a more positive seeming light and a few might even unabashedly condone it.
These are the artists that are able to influence more impressionable, impoverished and vulnerable youth to mimic what they hear, but it is important that we are cautious in using the examples set by these artists to classify an entire genre, as Bratton’s blanket evaluation effectively did.
Our law enforcement officers should know better than anyone the dangers of these types of oversimplifications. The actions of a small percentage of big-headed, trigger-happy cops, who might be accurately referred to as thugs themselves, have helped propagate a hatred of all cops.
The vast majority of police are solid individuals intent on protecting the public good, just as the vast majority of hip-hop artists are not out to incite killings.
Instead of finger-pointing and name-calling, last Wednesday’s tragedy should implore us to consider what we consume as entertainment as just that. A keener understanding of the art form of hip-hop music will help ensure a tragedy like this does not occur in the future.
dkilcull@umail.iu.edu
@daniel_kilc
