As near as I can tell, the reason BET is running the video at all is because someone down there thinks there's a segment of the black population that needs to hear the song and see the video. Bomani Armah (D'Mite) is well-respected on the D.C. scene, to the point that he performed with protege Chris Bacon and the Urban Nation HIP-HOP Choir at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration at the Washington National Cathedral.
Frankly, I'm a little surprised that people can't tell the difference.
Start with a very simple idea: "Nobody gets to rip on my family but
me." Seriously, siblings who have only venom for one another at home will fight each for the other if
someone else crosses the line. That's the first thing.
Secondly, it comes down to something I've been harping on lately:
good faith. Is this really a foreign concept? His target audience will actually respond to the caricatures in the video, and will actually respond to the searing criticism. Consider an article from the
Washington Post covering the MLK celebration at the Cathedral:
The choir was created by Black Entertainment Television co-founder Sheila Johnson "to counterbalance what we were doing with the TV station," which became known for featuring sex and gang activity. Johnson, who no longer owns the station, says the music is "not positive" and "just not healthy."
Which is what Armah hopes to counterbalance, too. He is 28, grew up in Mitchellville and has spent the years since graduating from the University of Maryland working on "positive rap" -- a goopy-sounding term that nonetheless is fiercely based in reality.
When he does music programs with students, he mentions that, in the hip-hop world, seven of the top 10 artists will be gangbangers or drug dealers. He'll ask the kids, "Are seven out of every 10 of the people you know gangbangers or drug dealers?"
No, he says they answer. But when those same kids start making music for him -- though they may have just been talking about going to medical school -- when they start rapping, it's: "I'm gonna get a gun, and I'm gonna shoot you."
As he leans over the mixing board in his recording studio off Georgia Avenue, Armah narrows his eyes. "Why does it have to be that way?" (
Johnson)
In the first place, there is a difference between a black man aiming at black youth in an effort to create a positive vibe, and a racist aiming at black youth because he enjoys giving shit. Secondly, it seems weird that in an age when many people from the backwater white dolt on up to Bill Cosby are complaining about a lack of positive attitudes in black youth culture that people should so absolutely miss the point when someone steps up. When it's a black man telling black youth it's okay to not be gangstas, the target audience will respond well. When it's some moron telling the niggers this is all they'll ever be worth, the effect isn't the same.
If we insist on defining what we see according solely to our own eyes, we will miss a tremendous portion of the art put before us. While audience perception is vital to almost any art, it is not the whole of the artistic experience. Refusing to give the artist his voice in any particular work reduces the function of art to silence.
As bizarre as the song and video seems, it certainly falls into context if we give D'Mite his due. Check the
website if you haven't. The featured audio tracks range between "doesn't suck" and good. The video for "The Hustle" is ... well, it is what it is. But the actual song "The Hustle" is amazing. It sounds clean as hell and is completely unpretentious. Well, okay. There's the "priceless" bit, but I'll forgive that.
It would seem that what BET is doing airing this video is trying to salvage some of its own damaged credibility. Comparing this to Imus is cruel and ignorant, just like Imus.
Think for a minute of the heavy metal fights in the 1980s, when the censors had metalheads in the crosshairs. Anthrax crucified Tipper Gore and Susan Baker in an absolutely profane and hilarious song. Twisted Sister made the point as clearly as possible: "I don't curse; well, just a bit. Somehow 'gee whiz' and 'golly' don't cut it." Sometimes you do, in fact, need to get in people's faces to make sure you have their attention. And there
is a lot on the line. 2 Live had the right to be as nasty as they wanted, and I was glad they made a point of it because it not only took the heat off the metalheads, but also passed out the hammers and nails.
It's not about "fame by the way of shock". It's more about, "Hey! Do I have your freakin' attention, yet?"
And this time it's not just about self-indulgent art and speech. This time, the stakes are much greater. This is the sort of thing that deserves the community's support. The guy has my attention. Too bad he couldn't hold onto yours.
_____________________
Notes:
