Sunday, January 31, 2021
Death to Mumble Rap
“Many of you are educated/open your mouths and speak”
Still # 1 — Boogie Down Productions
It was billed as the largest black rally in history, as over two million people gathered in Washington DC to express their outrage over George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. The keynote speaker was Ty Codeine who was supposed to give the crowd their marching others to execute the next phase of the revolution. However, after a long rambling rant by the rapper, the confused men in the crowd started swingin’ on each other and the women took out their smart phones and started doing the Bussit Challenge…
Believe it or not, there was a time when you could ,actually , understand the words that were coming out of your favorite rapper’s mouth. But times have , definitely, changed . Now, after hearing the latest mumble rap, you don’t know whether to fight, head for the nearest exit, or hit the floor and commence to twerkin’.
While some may just write this off as overly nostalgic hatin’ by someone still stuck in the 80’s, an AARP card ain’t got nothin’ to do with this discussion.
We must remember that even in the earliest days of Hip Hop, the 16 year old rappers were more articulate than the rappers today who are pushing 30. If you go back and listen to any record by the young Funky Four Plus One More you can understand every single word they are articulating without the use of an urban dictionary.
We can never forget the conscious rap era of the late 80’s when rappers in their early 20’s were breakin’ down complex social and political ideologies with crystal clear clarity . But today, even following a year of the most political unrest in American history, the average rapper is still talking about swipin’ his grandma’s sleeping pills and chasing them down with cough syrup.
Aside from rap, remember that Lil Bobby Hutton of the Black Panther Party was only 17 when he was murdered by the cops and Fred Hampton was only 21.
So, this has absolutely, nothing to do with age but everything to do with a certain mentality.
But let’s be clear ,as Dead Prez would say, “It’s bigger than Hip Hop.
When we are talking about “mumble rap” we are not just talking about music. We are talking about the whole drugged out, degrading culture that rides with it which is darn near every challenge you see on Instagram these days.
Now, how did we get here?
You can blame my generation for selling Hip Hop out to the corporations for the mighty dollar.
Facts.
You can blame Hollywood for dumbing down a whole generation and making black ignorance a social norm.
Facts.
You can even blame an educational system that has systematically orchestrated a curriculum that has us exactly where we are today.
Facts.
All these thingd are true. But the bigger question is how do we fix it ?
This is ,perhaps, the most important Black History Month that we will ever encounter. Black culture is at a crossroad and this February is either going to make us or break us. Therefore , we are calling for a Black Cultural Revolution. We must use social media to counter every negative image that we see on Facebook, Twitter , Tic Toc, IG, etc with something positive. In other words when you see someone cutting the fool on Facebook instead of putting a smiley face emoji in the comments , suggest a good documentary to watch about black culture. Rather than slippin’ in the DM of a sista doing the Bussit Challenge trying to shoot your best shot, tell her she’s a queen and give her a blast of knowledge and a self esteem boost. And when your favorite mumble rapper tweets out his next single, respond with a book he should read instead of retweet.
This is how we turn a negative into a positive and not only celebrate Black History Month but fight for a brighter Black Future…
Oh yeah..one more thing… #deathtomumblerap
Min. Paul Scott is the founder of the Black Messiah Movement. He can be reached at minpaulscott@yahoo.com or (919) 972–8305
Website BlackMessiahMovement.com
