Miami Splice

Peter Suderman writes:

Outside of a few independent artists, I don’t typically care too much for rap and hip-hop. This Denver Post write-up, though, makes this PBS documentary about hip-hop and masculinity look pretty interesting. Certainly, there’s a strong connection between rap culture and macho masculinity. Where else in modern pop culture is pure aggression so highly prized?

I think there’s more to it, though, especially amongst the middle and upper middle class suburban kids who’ve popularized rap and its various derivative subgenres. A lot of it has to do with the fact that, in an odd way, it’s rebellion music. Now that rock has become the domain of aging boomers and sensitive emo nerds, rap one of the few musical genre that has any hint of danger left in it. Now, in its MTV form, pureed and watered down for mass consumption, it’s not too dangerous