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[drfreezephdizzle-blog]

Eric Bentz

The Oxymoron of Black Pop Culture.

 Question to write about: Who controls black pop culture?

             Honestly, I found this question quite rhetorical. No matter what angle I tried to use in dialing in on the controllers of black pop culture, I could not seem to find an answer. No single sportsperson, actor, or any other celebrity seemed to have absolute or indefinite rule of the general term of black pop culture. This is when I decided to ask myself what proved to be a very crucial question in my thinking: Is black pop culture a real thing? What I am really pondering about by this question, is the notion that there is a difference between pop culture and black culture. I by no means am attempting to offend or oppress anyone or anything represented by the black culture. Black culture is rich in many ways. From the food to the music and dancing and athletics; there is much to be offered. I am saying the overall population of the country takes select bits and pieces of African American culture as they see fit, and began to practice these things without any recognition to the black community. It is as if a part of black culture no longer was black culture, but now belonged to the general pop culture of the country. While crossing over multiple platforms of social culture, I will decipher how once black culture becomes “Pop,” it is no longer controlled by the African Americans who once created these themes to life. Let us first look at one of the most famous creations of African Americans: Rap music.

           Rooted deep in blues and rich in history, Rap has become one of the largest outlets of Black understanding. In 2014 Macklemore and Ryan Lewis took home four Grammys within the category of Rap music. While three of those four awards can be argued as valid, the last stands out as an anomaly. This was the award for the best rap album, who’s contenders included Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z, and Kanye West. The five artists up for the award narrowed down to just two leading contenders, Macklemore’s The Heist and Lamar’s Good Kid M.A.A.D. City. Eventually, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis took home the gold. But this wasn’t quite how anyone imagined things to go down. Kendrick Lamar’s countless real horror stories that he speaks of can send chills down the spine of the most privileged man. Everything from drive-bys to drug deals and murders are effectively twined into his lyrics with each passing song, giving an even stronger impact as the record spins. But let’s take a look as to why such a critically acclaimed record fell to what some say was an unworthy act. White people make up a majority of the population in the United States and, therefore, have strength in numbers. Rap itself was originally found in African American homes almost exclusively until the uprising of hip-hop as a genre in the late 80s and early 90s. With more rap artists getting more air play and TV play, hip-hop was being turned into a part of “pop” culture. Similarly to the creation of Elvis Presley, hip-hop needed a white person to sell the genre to every person possible. This was the thinking of an older generation clashed with the tenacity of youthful revolt. This is precisely where hip-hop skews into two directions: One is the historical lyrical analysis and events surrounding black youths, and the other path is that of placement in society. What I mean by this placement in society is exactly what happened when Macklemore took home best rap album. It isn’t just in my opinion that Lamar’s album was far more authentic rap, Macklemore even shared a picture of a text to Kendrick saying “You got robbed. I wanted you to win. You should have.” Even the winning artist, in the midst of what should be his happiest night on earth, knew deep down what had happened. Macklemore’s somewhat silly swag of Thrift Shop was played far more in any white household than any of Kendrick’s hardened or raw records. And as we discussed earlier, the white people represent the majority, therefor offering some explanation to the surprising results of said Grammys. Aside from this very specific example, there are other countless questions that can rise from this. Would there be Eminem without Dr. Dre? Would there be a Justin Bieber without Usher? Both of those examples can be argued either way but it is easy to see that the mentorship passed down did add to the success of Eminem and Bieber. Now, stretching a little out of the realm of simple rap music, it is crucial that we examine a slight derivative; dancing.

           Dancing has always been a communal way of relieving stress, regardless of the community that people came from. In response to the Dick Clarke show, Soul Train was born. For over 30 years, Don Cornelius ruled all that was hip and cool. Every single Saturday morning, black kids everywhere were tuning into see the latest dance craze, as well as the many guest performers such as Stevie Wonder and other black musicians alike. Eventually, as the show gained popularity, white folks around the country were tuning in as well. This was probably the first moment where masses of white people were trying to emulate a part of black culture in a positive light. Soul Train was the ultimate anti-minstrel show because it shed light on the rhythmic and beautiful side of African Americans that original minstrel shows had covered up. For years during and after Soul Train, the white population was hooked on black dancing. From twisting and shouting to dabbing and twerking is the reality that we find ourselves in. Migos brought upon us the sensation sweeping the nation known as “dabbing,” and this was a bombshell to hit pop culture in the United States. Not long after Migos first demonstrated the “dab” in one of his videos, people everywhere were dabbing. Not just everywhere this was going on, but nearly everyone was partaking. This is a perfect example of pop culture taking a part of black culture, leaving little credit to the originator. Logan Paul, a white internet celebrity, “dabbed” on every single event of the 2016 Olympic games in Rio. Even a recent senator’s son was seen dabbing on live TV as his father was sworn in. In addition to the phenomenon of dabbing, twerking became a popular dance craze as well. It’s honestly kind of hard to describe twerking to someone who is unaware the dance. Aside from the physical movement itself, the term twerking was not a household name until Miley Cyrus attempted to twerk on stage. The media ate this up and spread the news, prompting many older folks to question, “well what is twerking?” Effectively, Miley Cyrus introduced twerking to an unaware white audience. The audience was unaware dancing in this form was a trend, despite having countless famous acts such as Beyonce or Rhianna having done them before. Twerking was now a household term not because of the originators, but because a famous white celebrity utilized it on live television. Now it’s hard to go to a party or concert and not witness people twerking either seriously/sexually or merely as a joke. This was because the masses, the numbers, the white people found an interest in part of black culture and to a certain degree engulfed it whole.