I'M OLD SCHOOL

by Kenny Casanova

Rap has always as a rule targeted a demographic that is inner city American youth, mostly black, but not entirely. But currently the message has transformed, it has de-evolved on the large part to shock and captivate its audience. Rap no longer sends out now holistically a "you can make it no matter who you are or where you come from" message, but rather you can make it by being a "Bad Boy". Rap lyrics of our time glorify crime, the demeaning of women and drug use. And when your target is often a mixed up teenager without two parents to tell them what is right and wrong, this becomes inexorably problematic for kids who listen to it.

At a ceremony two weeks ago commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision (outlawing "separate but equal" schools) guest speaker Bill Cosby's remarks upset the audience and the general public as well. Cosby said, "...people are not parenting. They are buying things for their kids - $500 sneakers for what? And won't spend $200 for 'Hooked on Phonics.'...They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English. I can't even talk the way these people talk: Why you ain't,' Where you is'...And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk...Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads...You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth."  

Cosby may of been harsh, but I believe there is some truth to what he said and he said it because he cares. He is one of the few people out there today in the Hollywood spotlight that isn't afraid to take a shot at this growing problem. Couple the lack of parenting with the negative message that rap has today and it is not hard to understand some of the crime problems we see from the inner city.

And you can call him racist all you want, but I believe that radio host Bill O'Reilly has his heart in the right place. For those of you don't know what "The No Spin Zone" (a daily radio talk show) is doing, host O'Reilly was his listeners back the boycotting of products front-manned by "gangsta rappers" like Ludacris who represent moral decline. In a matter of hours learning that Pepsi was signing Ludacris, O'Reilly was able to open the eyes of Pepsi and had the deal broken. I say hats off to people like Cosby and O'Reilly for thinking about what kind of values kids are assimilating through their heroes.

So who should kids today listen to? While parents may not have the time to do much homework on the subject, they should try their best and keep their ears open. Though there are not many many great choices, as it is very popular to push the envelope, I recommend rappers like Will Smith. My students say he is too white bread. And he is, when you put him next to the thugs that are in the limelight today. But I firmly think that he is a great role-model and should be rewarded for his maintaning the clean image that he has to date.

The media should embrace new talent out there like him and push them over new rappers who will be the future of the genre. Producers should back new rappers who demonstrate skills while displaying the same positive message and lack of violent and crime-related content that Will Smith has held onto. Agreed, it is to be a tough battle to scale back, because, lets face it - sex sells, but it can be done with a little time and effort and the will to deprogram the ailing genre.

There are ways to convey political messages in music and stay positive. Let' go back in time for a moment and look at one of the forefathers of rap, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five. In a song aptly titled "The Message" Flash discusses the problems that he sees, but makes it a point to say he is "trying hard not to lose his head." Another track "Beat Street", Flash discusses the problems in poverty-striken areas, but offers a solution. "...Beat street is a lesson too, you can't let the streets beat you." Negative commentary on things that need to be changed should be offered with options of solution. This is how positivity thrives and correction occurs. Little subtleties like these lines by The Grandmaster are often lost in new songs by Chingy, P. Diddy, Nelly and the like. (I just bought a GRANDMASTER FLASH 3-CD Box set off of Half.com after missing a cheap bid on eBay. And I can't wait to get it...)

Ebay is a great source for out-of-print old school CDs including Big Daddy Kane, Doug E Fresh, Biz Markie, Kool Moe Dee and others of the same ilk. You just have to stay on top of the CD that you want. To any of you eBayers out there, have you ever waited until last minute to try and win something cheaper and then forget? You will notice that when you do this, IT HAS SOLD FOR SOME RIDICULOUSLY CHEAP PRICE. It never fails.

Alas, forcing old school on your child is not the answer, but exposing them to some of it could be part of the solution. But remember, you can't just throw anything at them with a 1993 date or earlier! You have to monitor what they are listening to. One can argue that there are some old schoolers that could be bad influences on youth as well, see 2 Live Crew... And the argument is right. There are. In fact, I just won THE BEST OF TAG TEAM - Whoomp There It is. ( Remember that old tune?) Well, do you you know the history of the title of that track? I guess in some inner city public pools, some kids were swimming underwater up on girls and ripping their tops off of them - then they would yell "Whoomp There it!" is as the girls would chase after them topless flopping out of the water. I guess it even got to the point where they had to put do not Whoomp There it is Signs saying stuff like "Whoomp There it isn't at our pool."  The argument I have against some rap tracks today is that it is now more in the forefront then ever before. These songs are pushed to becoming #1 hits and radio stations don't even attempt to bleep out four letter words. Have you noticed that beeps do not cover the entire word anymore? They did when I was young. What happened?

As you can see, I have recently got into a big old school kick again and recommend it to all. Maybe I am out of control. I dropped a line to DJ Jazzy Jeff at JazzyJeff.com and told him that since he is a DJ with no rapper (Will Smith went solo) and since RUN-DMC has no DJ (God Bless the soul of Jam Master Jay) that they should hook up.