Comments on The Mildly Annoyed Canadian: Pull Up Your Pants!

Ever heard Frank Sinatra sing "Mac the Knife"? It'...

2004-11-29T10:51:30.953-05:00

Ever heard Frank Sinatra sing "Mac the Knife"? It's an upbeat little tune about a guy who happily stabs and slits people. Oops, sorry -- you're right -- the song's not about drive-bys. Must be less serious.

To compare Frank Sinatra's mob ties and John Wayne...

2004-11-23T08:29:36.490-05:00

To compare Frank Sinatra's mob ties and John Wayne's portrayal of gun slinging to today's violent hip hop lyrics is, well, pretty ridiculous. First of all, Sinatra never sang about doing drive bys, slapping bitches and selling drugs. I'm not a big fan of John Wayne; however, the roles he played were always that of the hero, and the use of violence always served some sort of greater good. (The depiction of this "greater good" is easily debatable.) To say that this comes even close to the senseless of most of today's hip hop lyrics is sophomoric at best.

Having said all that, I do agree that the contents of hip hop lyrics weren't even an issue until white kids started pointing their pistols at each other, and gang acitivity wasn't a concern until these same kids from the suburbs started giving themselves gang-like monikers.

Good to know these things can be seen in Canada to...

2004-11-19T13:45:46.006-05:00

Good to know these things can be seen in Canada too! ;-)

Amen!

2004-11-17T21:00:34.800-05:00

Amen!

I'm not bothered so much by the ridiculous way the...

2004-11-17T16:17:42.096-05:00

I'm not bothered so much by the ridiculous way they wear their clothes as I am that they are "wannabes". Are their parents not teaching them to be individuals? With their own way of doing things? And not merely sheep to follow others?

(shrugs)

Good comments Xavier - you have a great style. I d...

2004-11-17T10:46:17.956-05:00

Good comments Xavier - you have a great style. I don't think that we disagree to strongly - I wasn't suggesting that HipHop culture was determined by gangs - only that they seem to promote that lifestyle today.

I think both the Rap and HipHop scene are filled with many talented folks and I enjoy many of these artists' work - my dismay was projected at the negative message they seem to be communicating.

I also understand that this is not a new phenomenon - pop culture has influenced youth for decades - I just wish that they would understand the impact they have and act responsibly (I have just as big a problem with slasher movies).

I should also clarify my position on the dress - it's not the baggy look that bothers me, it's the association with the gang culture. I also agree that it's not just black youth - in my building I see kids from all races and religions dressing like this.

Lastly, you are right that these comments could easily have gotten you shot in the 80's as today - it's unfortunately a sad commentary on our society.

Send me a link to your blog - I'd enjoy reading your thoughts.

A couple of points: Hip Hop culture was not deter...

2004-11-17T10:19:10.456-05:00

A couple of points:

Hip Hop culture was not determined by gangs. Gangs in the early 90's when rap was labeled as 'gangsta' (something I have a problem with) music actually wore fairly tight jeans and regular clothes. Baggy clothes as a trend started in hip hop, not from gangs. In essence, gangs are dressing in a hip hop uniform.

Secondly, if parents are letting their kids be that influenced by a rapper, then there's something wrong with the parenting. I grew up listening to hip hop since the early 80's through the 90's on until today. I also knew that it was only music much like I knew TV was only TV because my parents taught me as much. Don't blame these artists. And to take that a bit further, hip hop was actually pretty positive in its early less pop culture days but it didn't become big to the mainstream until it went into a more negative direction. Then suddenly rebelling teenagers from the 'burbs found it useful as a tool to scare/annoy/alarm their parents and suddenly rap\hip hop is driving pop culture. As far as a gangsta culture, the mob was pretty fond of Frank Sinatra.....does that make Frank Sinatra 'gangsta music'. John Wayne never acted in a movie that didn't involve a gun, is he gangsta? Are cowboys gangsta because technically they invented the drive by? Catch my drift?

Lastly, who determines what is dressing properly. Just because you don't like the way it looks doesn't make it improper. I can't stand boat shoes that people wear. Doesn't mean it's improper.

And lastly (again ;)), comments to the wrong person could get you killed in years in the 80's just as quick as they could nowadays. As I mentioned before, the largest demographic buying hip hop cd's is not black people or black teens, it is the teenage white kids in the suburbs.