I am writing in response to Stefania Marghitu’s April 2 column titled “Hip-Hop Is (not) Dead.” Not only is Ms. Marghitu dead wrong about the current state of hip-hop, but the column is about as consistent as Shaquille O’Neal at the free-throw line.
I take offense at Ms. Marghitu’s diss of Indiana hip-hop fans as she states, “As someone who lived in the dirty south of Alabama for 12 years, the first blatant distinction I noticed in Indiana is the lack of hip-hop culture influence in daily life.”
Since when is Alabama the mecca of hip-hop culture and influence (or anything else, for that matter)? And what the hell is “ghetto vernacular”? “Crunk”? “Ballin”? Is it just your house? Well, probably yes, because those words (they’re not names) were dumb to begin with and are played-out now.
While the “revolutionary impact” of hip-hop was once prevalent in the music and culture, the commercialization and mainstream acceptance of hip-hop has effectively castrated mainstream hip-hop music as a catalyst for knowledge, education and social change. Since an artist like Nas didn’t spend his whole CD rapping about “money, cars, rims, hos and clothes” with an R&B singer on the hook, his CD is a disappointment, right? This mentality is exactly why if hip-hop isn’t dead, it’s damn sure on life support.
And finally, please don’t ever mention Rich Boy in a column with the other MCs you named. They all have, at a minimum, one classic album; Rich Boy has one catchy single where he’s talking about selling dope and buying a damn car. If this is hip-hop “thriving,” as Ms. Marghitu states, then I must recant the statement made in my last paragraph. Hip-hop is dead.
Eugene Johnson III
Graduate student
