The whole form of this exact rap in this video just feels angry and violent. This is not De La Soul or one of KRS-One's more mellow songs.
But yes, I do realize tgstvyou have to meet people wgere they are. But lots of whites look at rap as a fun way to have an energetic version of musical isometrics and don't let it effect their outlook and behaviour - to use a dated reference sort of like how I used to go absolutlely savagely berserk like Joe Cocker on meth while listening to Led Zeppelin's in My Time of Dying. But for too many blacks this rap is too much of their identity. Fucking sad.
These blacks need a Robert Bly. Hell, a healthy fraction of white subcultures need another Robert Bly again to be able to be masculine without looking like they are ready to engage in a life or death battle.
My opinion is purely anecdotal and does not account for all black people, especially those that successful earned millions &/or opened up schools and fund/participate in programs to improve the black communities.
If there was a Robert Bly version of rap, most black people I know would say, "that's dope" then proceed to drive down the street blasting their usual sex, drug & violence music. They'd be too ashamed to even admit they enjoy music like that. This is not all black people just the ones I know. It's the ole typical cultural rubbish. Their are rappers today that go against the winds but even they have one or two songs at times that I can't get behind but at least they try I guess. For example Joyner Lucas & Locksmith are two black rappers I have the patience to listen to these days. My favorite at this moment is Aesop Rock (not Aesop Rocky). But Aesop Rock is white, his lyrics are too complex & he is seen as an outsider (to the folks I know).
Nowadays, I'm just not into the ole enlighten my people nonsense anymore.
They are too focused on the "we are treated differently because we are black" thing. What I mean by that is, they don't know (or couldn't imagine) a world where all there are is black people around them. What would it be like? What would you be like? Would you be concerned about being treated differently based on the color of your skin? Do you not know that upon accepting you're being treated differently and changing to counter said treatment; that they've altered you in some way? At this point the usual response is I'm asking them to forget the past or turn a blind eye & that they do what they do because "the man" forces them to do it. So infuriating. If they can just stop and look at how they (we) got here today, they'd see how much of what we are doing now is not us. It may not stop it completely, but I believe it will substantially decrease the violence as well as the glorification of said violence.
This influence is an echo chamber of sorts bouncing back and forth between all communities in America & Half-Life is one of the results (not intended to be an insult). If the black people you've grown to dislike did not exist would you have opened this thread?
That's my poorly written and not well thought out opinion again.