This ill-stated message has recently been plastered across billboards in the Urbana-Champaign area where we live. You can tell that I don't like it merely because I put it in quotation marks (which are very often equally ill-used. Some examples from these past two weeks: Merry "Christmas"; Thank you for "not smoking." What do these words mean?) and also because it is stupid. Underneath the message itself is an advertisement for the people who brought said message to the public - the Coalition of Responsible Attentive Parents (or CRAP, as one friend pointed out).
So I have been mulling over a few points of why this message has made me so incensed. I have listed them here in no particular order, but I hope that perhaps, if you agreed with the statment in the first place, you find that it is not entirely a valid one.
1. "Hip Hop" is a pretty vague category. What many unversed in popular music consider "rap," hip hop is in fact the genre of music in which rapping (a form of lyrical conveyance) in included. Others consider rap to be a separate form, but that is neither here nor there for this arguement. The point is, hip hop encompasses a wide range of styles, and an equally wide range of messages. In fact, within modern-day hip hop, there are two main camps: mainstream and conscious (maybe even more, but let's not get too picky here). So to state that ALL varieties of Hip Hop rot one's brain is like saying that ALL white people are blonde.
2. "Rots your brain"? I mean, give me a break. I understand that the message is not that there is a literal rotting of the brain, like one would experience using concaine or herion (why isn't the Coalition of Responsible Attentive Parents concerned with drug use, anyhow, as it has a much more widespread audience than hip hop). That being the case, the phrase "rots your brain" is used in an emotional context, in order to evoke visions of destruction akin to the aforementioned drug use. To say that listening to hip hop is as destructive as shooting heroin is silly, to say the least.
3. The most evocative point, however, is hip hop itself. Turn off the MTV and go out and buy some good hip hop albums, like Blackalicious, KRS1, Talib Kweli, or Lauryn Hill. What you find may surprise you. Instead of half-naked women pouring ridiculously expensive alcohol over their bodies while sitting on Bentleys which are parked next to other scantily-clad women who are gyrating their pelvises into the main character of the video who is draped in jewels that he's rented for the day, you will find conscious and informed lyrics, which promote non-violence, a vegetarian lifestyle, the empowerment of the downtrodden, and living a spiritual life. Go figure. Don't believe everything you see on television.
The fact is, these so-called "Responsible Attentive Parents" are neither responsible nor attentive. If they were the latter, they would look beyond the garbage spewed out by their television sets, and into the heart of hip hop, which is, at its core, an enlightened and progressive realm. If they were the former, they wouldn't be plastering our fair skyline with such slander. They could at least alter the statement to read "Some manifestations of HIP HOP such as those promoted by music television has the potential to ROT YOUR BRAIN."
So let me know about your favourite hip hop - and remember - I AM HIP HOP (and so are you). It's a revolution, baby.
FIN.
love,
~liz
Posted by lizington at January 4, 2005 08:17 PMK-Os
Xecutioners
Floetry
Q-Tip
Tribe
Lauryn Hill
Fugees
The Roots
Common
Mos
Kweli
Black Star
I hunger for more names.
Posted by: nathan at January 10, 2005 04:06 PMI would just like to say, Thank GOD we live in a democratic country where my children can CHOOSE what music they listen to. If the ad is bogus, I still find it very offensive that someone would waste such a large amount of money on such a billboard campaign. They should have saved for Hurricane victims, which thousands are still without homes or better yet tsunami victims which is just one of the most recent disasters.
Posted by: dee at January 9, 2005 09:21 AMWow, this has generated quite the discussion. Liz's blog has gone pretty public, or so it seems. I might feel a bit funny about that if this were my site...funny, or proud, I dunno which. Anyway, good on ya Liz!
Posted by: J at January 7, 2005 02:01 PMBack to your original question, Liz, which i think is a fun one no matter what this billboard issue is about:
When I was a senior in high school, I discovered Queen Latifah and MC Lyte and that introduction to hip hop saved my sanity. I had come back from a year of service to finish high school and there was very little about that fact that was happy, but Queen Latifah got me through it.
Brandy, try to use some common sense here...the Coalition for Responsible and Attentive Parents or C.R.A.P
Put 2 and 2 together and things start to seem odd...question the source, always.
Posted by: Josh at January 6, 2005 11:21 PMThis billboard "Hip-hop rotts your brain" is extremly affensive. Its like saying "country music rotts your brain". (or any music type) I am a music lover and this is descriminating.. Whether its a song about being in love or Eminem's issues with his mother, its our right to chose what we play. I am willing to back someone serious about getting these removed.
Thanks Brandy
Has it been officially determined who is behind this marketing ploy? Just curious?
And, I could have sworn I heard one of the DJs on WPGU us this same acronym, C.R.A.P, in a bit he did about Ricky Martin on Tuesday evening.
Posted by: Josh at January 6, 2005 03:42 PMyeah, fine, its a ploy ... and well done, i might add .... but isnt there enough crap that we have to look at every day that we could do jsut as well without? doesn't this make anyone else feel a little bit like a guinea pig? can i sue for being experimented on mentally without my permission? even the U of I requires you to sign all kinds of waivers and whatnot before being allowed to take part in an experiment at the Psych dept. ..... all i'm saying is, if its a real group, you know 'em by their black boots and brown shirts (that being a Nazi reference, try to keep up) .... and if its an advertising campaign, its not really even that original. if, however, its some ploy to get us to "talk" about issues, then while thats all well and good, if i really wanna study and discuss the effects of music on whoever, i'll do it on my own time.
point being, i'm not interested in being part of the discussion. don't make me look at this c.r.a.p. while i'm stuck at a light, or behind some retard who cant drive and doesnt need said distractions anyway, just trying to get to work in a timely manner.
go do something worthwhile, like reading Adbusters.
Posted by: the devil at January 6, 2005 10:35 AMThanks for helping to clear this up, everyone. It turns out that in fact the billboards were put up in order to generate conversation - which we did!
love,
~liz
Posted by: liz at January 6, 2005 09:13 AMI saw a reference to these billboards in the News-Gazette that seemed to indicate there is a hidden agenda: the acronym is intended as a comment on other parents' groups and their blanket judgments against certain genres of music and other arts. I agree w/you, Lizzy. Old fogey that I am, hip-hop is a new thing to me, but I've heard some songs that are inspiring and very positive. Plus: spoken word is probably the oldest art form on the planet. How can you argue with that?
Its not a joke, its an advertising scheme by some group named up-a-notch-records. The group that did it is well aware of the acronym and you might notice grafitti on some of the signs, which was placed there on purpose. There will also probably a followup by the group. Go here for more info http://www.uchiphop.com/node/106
Posted by: Sam at January 5, 2005 10:19 PMYou know, I'll bet these ads are a joke. Or calculated to upset people. What else could they be? An expensive joke, but I am sure that the Coalition of Responsible Attentive Parents is aware of its acronym ...
Ooh, here's a link to a discussion of them with some informed-sounding comments:
http://www.livejournal.com/community/chambana/819244.html
Posted by: Billy at January 4, 2005 11:05 PMI am soooooooo glad that you posted on this because I had the same exact reaction to those signs when I was down there for Katie's wedding!!! It was like, "Whaaaaaaaaaat?! Are they kidding?!" I couldn't believe it. We had quite the discussion in our car about those signs indeed. Aiyeee. I think I shall go pray for detachment for those CRAP-peoples so that they can be more open minded! 'Night!
Posted by: Heather at January 4, 2005 10:47 PMFavorite Hip Hop:
Blackalicious/Gift of Gab (I hear GGs new album is better than all the previous Blackalicious albums)
Zap Mama
Handsome Boy Modeling School
Mos Def
KRS1
Aceyalone/Project Blown
Half Caste! ;)
The moving of Amia, Suzanne, and Husayn to Chicago is getting me re-super excited about ya'lls move...WAH!
Posted by: J at January 4, 2005 09:12 PM