Hip Hop, Mass Media and 21st Century Colonization

Hip Hop, Mass Media and 21 Century Colonization was the topic of Dr Jared Bell's statement on Hip Hop and how he feels it is colonzied.

In this reading, some things I understood is how Bell perceived anything that is "popular" as a fraudulent. He goes on to say that Black America is colonized and Hip Hop keeps the people colonized and is a result of it. He goes on to give three points. The first point he made was that in the Black America, black people are held living in the projects. Secondly, black people are held to live in these conditions to show the country's source of cheap labor which leads to the third point being raw materials, specifically hip hop. In this situation there are often cases of violence and bad judgement towards women which is often portrayed in the music videos. "Understood properly we would note that corporations are themselves legal entities that give sanction and anonymity to those involved in the process of protecting the ruling elite. Therefore, their ability to sign (via contract), promote, disseminate, etc. the cultural expression of the colonized allows them to determine the direction or content in most popular hip-hop."

Bell goes on to say that today's media is more "pervasive, powerful and is capable of maintenace of colonialism than at any other time in world history". He also goes on to say that in a society where a culture is used a primary component and then becomes considered as a "pop culture" is fraudulent. He goes into saying that with the popularity of hip hop today it still has done nothing to improve Black America's wealth, health care, education or even imprisonment. "In fact, the popularity of hip-hop is used to deny these conditions or explain them as natural to the conditions of African America. It is not to the people that these conditions are natural but, instead, to the condition of being colonized."

Here are two videos on Hip Hop and America, there are other parts but here are some I found interesting.