Beats & Rhymes

       Bryon Hurt describes his compelling documentary Beyond Beats & Rhymes as a “loving critique” of Hip-Hop music. Hurt labeled his film as a “loving critique” because he genuinely loves Hip-Hop; being that he grew up with it and watched it evolved through time. However, Hurt has major issues with the fact that most Hip-Hop music contains sexist, homophobic, and violent material, and in a way spreads their violent behavior and ideology to others.  Hurt states in his piece that Hip-Hop in a way set a certain standard for African- American males for instance, a black male must be strong, tough, have money, be a player, have a gun, get a lot of girls, and be in control of other men in order be a masculine man. Hip- Hop also connects masculinity with the degrading of women especially women of color. For, in order to be a man, a “boss”, or “sexually dominate” being, a male must project women as property who do not matter, and are just a physical objects used for sexual gratification. Since Hip- Hop is a popular genre, Hurts primary concern is that the American culture will become increasingly desensitized to the misogyny, sexism, homophobia and violence portrayed by Hip-Hop music.

       Conversely, James McBride describes Hip-Hop as coping mechanism originated by West African slaves; a technique derived used to tell stories of the past, socioeconomic struggles, racial discrimination ambiguous futures, and scars from the “legacy of slavery”.

     For a long time, I viewed Hip-Hop through James McBride’s eyes. Therefore, watching the Byron Hurt’s documentary opened my eyes to the message Hip-Hop is depicting. This video caused me to realize that I have been so desensitized by the media and the “Brooklyn lifestyle” that I haven’t realized Hip-Hop is homophobic, violent, and sexist. After watching Beyond Beats & Rhymes, I began to look at the people I know in Brooklyn, the aspiring rappers and the “thugs” whose life is based on violence, drugs, and getting a lot of girls. I realize that they are the way they are because the Hip-Hop culture they love has given them a standard to live by, a standard that define a masculine man. As a result, I will no longer just listen to Beats & Rhymes; I will go beyond, and listen to the lyrics.