Racism+-+'From+Fly+Girls+tp+Bitches+and+Hos'

Racism: "From Fly Girls to Bitches and Hos" I have to admit, Morgan's word choice and use of voice was definitely interesting. It was definitely written in what I would simply call the black dialect, or at least slighty, it wasn't enough to really detract from the reading itself, using the words "sista", "brother", and other black slang. I doubt that Morgan unconciously wrote the piece in the black dialect and just decided to leave it; I think, based on her analysis of lyrics and the rest of her word choice, that Morgan is definitely capable of writing the same piece in a much more formal tone, but that would just detract from it. As is, the piece feels as though it's not only an analysis of Rap songs and the role women have in the "gansta" lifestyle, there's also an appeal in to other black women in the article to "confront the ways we're [black women] complicit in our own oppression" (543). The use of the black dialect makes the article feel less like a scholarly work, which would make the piece less effective, and more like an actual, straight off the street speech, which is assumed to more effective. The style the article is written in also works for itself because much of what Morgan is writing already uses black slang, and it's easier to use the slang than try to describe them in fancier terms.

I've never been one for rap music, which puts me opposite of Morgan. I understand that rap came about as a way for rappers "are allowed to express their pain" (541) and "to describe their "reality" in any way they see fit" (544), but I think Morgan gives a little too much credit to the genre. It's definitely a culturally important music genre, but I don't think it's as wide-spread in its absolute integrity. Let's face it, like or not, rap and hip-hop sells well, which means that record companies will want to sell as much of it as possible. This means that instead of writing honest songs, some rappers may very well just be coming up with lyrics based on what the genre is suppose to look like. This doesn't mean that Morgan's analyses is completely worthless; if the music stays true to the idea of the genre, it will be up for analysis. As for the actual analyses themselves, I honestly don't know that I can say; I don't really listen to rap or hip-hop music, and I wouldn't know where to begin to argue or support Morgan's claims, so for all purposes, I'll assume they're good.

The most important part of the article, is Morgan's call to help the poor men who are stuck in the rap-depression, "continue to give up the love but //from a distance that's safe//." (542). If Morgan weren't making an appeal of somesort, I doubt the article would be written in the style that it is, so it makes sense that her article's core is a type of persuasion. Morgan's analysis of rap music leads her to believe that "many brothers see themselves as powerless when it comes to facing the evils of the larger societym accepting responsibility for their lives, or for the lives of their children" (542). Her interpretation of rap music, combined with her desire to preserve black-on-black couples and feminism, Morgan is then lead to the conclusion that getting out of the depression rappers seem to be in is "too great a responsiblity to leave to men" (543). Morgan sees that women have an important role to play, but she doesn't want them to get hurt in the process. This was kind of a hard article to get into because I don't listen to rap and never really gave the genre much thought. My biggest question is that if rap and hip hop really are expressing the troubles of the black community for males, why is it that the genre is popular among others too?