A reader quotes another:
I’m not saying the white boy you posted doesn’t have skills, but the alphabet rapping concept, including progressive acceleration, was done a long time ago by Blackalcious [see above]. I’m more okay with white boys having their place in hip hop if they bring their own perspective and style to the table, like The Streets for example.
In sum: Once “Alphabet Aerobics” hit in 1999, a white person can’t make a rap with the alphabet and still be considered original. White rappers having their own perspective and style means they can’t revisit a concept done by a black artist, even if it was done 15 years ago. Obviously this is artistic elitist bullshit. While having predominantly black artists in hip hop made for amazing music, as it was a medium for artistic outsiders willing to do something new, it got mired in cliches and authenticity-by-skin-color, leading to a lot of forgettable, stale music. The reader who you quoted is still stuck in looking to skin color for authentic music, and it’s racist. Not nearly as degrading or dehumanizing as institutional slavery, Jim Crow, or unjust as white privilege that still exists today. But it’s racist nonetheless, and he/she probably excuses it because it’s focused against whites.
On a very different note:
I almost wrote you a letter during the Dylan Farrow discussion, but I never quite found quite got to it. But now you’ve brought Brother Ali into it. Brother Ali is not just a talented freestyle rapper. He’s also a touching and personal lyricist. A few years ago, our family was shattered by the discovery that a very young relative was the victim of molestation by her father.
We immediately took in their family (minus one person who, with any luck, will never leave the loving embrace of our state’s prison system.) They’ve been living with us for several years as their mother puts her life back together, brick by brick. The daily challenges go beyond the scope of a letter to a popular blogger.
As the victim is still a child, it partly feels like a waiting game. What will she remember? Will she feel isolated by her past? As a teenager, will she be overcome by anger? Will she be able to find love and comfort as an adult, or will she be constantly haunted? Will she feel the need to take some form of revenge, as Dylan Farrow did? Was Farrow’s letter cathartic? If so, will she ever get a chance to do something like that herself?
I’m predisposed to believe Farrow. True or not, whatever happened in that family, she’s clearly in a tremendous amount of pain. I hope that she can release her anger. I hope that she can find peace and love in her life. Hell, I hope I can release my anger some day.
I first heard Brother Ali’s song Babygirl right about the time this all went down, which was amazing timing. Brother Ali discusses it after performing it in this video (around minute 5):
Hearing it then was touching. I applaud him for writing it. It can’t be easy to open up your family’s life for art like that.
On a side note, in the middle of all of this, my mother became very ill with c. diff collitis. She spent nearly five months of a year in hospitals, coming very close to the end several times. She eventually received a fecal transplant. After that, her health took a nearly unbelievable turn for the better. With the c. diff no longer killing her, other systems were allowed to come back to normal. So, that’s a Dish Trifecta for me. Stop stalking me!
And thanks for reading.
Thanks for sharing.
The Dish 