Is Hip-Hop Just Entertainment?

I’m watching this entire meeting via Youtube right now, but this one stuck out to me because I was surprised to see that cop-out being used. AllHipHop.com CEO, Chuck Creekmur (in the red v-neck sweater vest) attempts to correct this statement, but doesn’t really go as far as he could have.

Hip-hop is not just entertainment in my opinion. If you say that, then you give a green light for artists to never have to care about what they say. For some people, this actually means something. For some people, hip-hop is a culture and this music should be the flagship that represents it.

At the end of the day, hip hop is us both celebrating and also marketing our culture. Why wouldn’t we want it to be a true, full, honest, and simultaneously uplifting picture of our people.

Words by Nahshon | Posted on Saturday, July 11th, 2009 at 11:30 am and is filed under hip-hop media.

5 Responses

Pat Says:
July 11th, 2009 at 1:17 pm

Amen. There is some effed behavior being glamourized by hip hop. Most people in their 20’s or 30’s can differentiate between real life and fictional storytelling, but the young kids listening to it take it as instructions on how to act. If hip hop is just entertainment, it needs to stop being promoted as reality, because kids get stuck with a warped and dangerous perception of reality that jeopardizes their future potential.

Chuck "Jigsaw" Creekmur Says:
July 11th, 2009 at 4:40 pm

I just happened to stumble over this while checking the site out. FYI, I didn’t want to get all Chuck D in that and completely counter my friend Rick Edwards, but I definitely think rappers are role models to kids in particular and also some infantile adults.There is no policing factor in Hip-Hop anymore and nobody holds anybody accountable or they are branded a hater. artists are not compelled to be socially responsible in any way now. Thanks.

moneda Says:
July 11th, 2009 at 6:30 pm

“Hip-Hop is just entertainment” is such a simplistic view. Mostly because when it’s said it’s referencing only the music. There are other facets to this culture that couldn’t be packaged, marketed and sold and so they’ve been overshadowed and damn-near forgotten; but they’re still out there, influencing people and helping to spread the kind of message our music needs to help spread. As long as we keep celebrating the careers of those “artists” who really don’t give a damn about the culture of Hip-Hop, though, the message will stay obscured.

CathrynMarie Says:
July 12th, 2009 at 10:20 am

Chuck Creekmur for President

J to the AAP Says:
July 13th, 2009 at 2:15 am

Like any cultural expression that’s been aroud this long HipHop can be anything from a blatant cash-grab to sincere introspective art and everything in between. If you take any form of art seriously you should be able to criticize it. Saying HipHop is ‘just entertainment’ is disrespectful to any artist that has ever poured his soul into his beats and/or rhymes. It’s as idiotic as stating paintings are ‘just entertainment’, or movies, or literature, or any other medium or genre of music.

Is Hip-Hop Just Entertainment?

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1.	Pat Says: July 11th, 2009 at 1:17 pm Amen. There is some effed behavior being glamourized by hip hop. Most people in their 20’s or 30’s can differentiate between real life and fictional storytelling, but the young kids listening to it take it as instructions on how to act. If hip hop is just entertainment, it needs to stop being promoted as reality, because kids get stuck with a warped and dangerous perception of reality that jeopardizes their future potential.
2.	Chuck "Jigsaw" Creekmur Says: July 11th, 2009 at 4:40 pm I just happened to stumble over this while checking the site out. FYI, I didn’t want to get all Chuck D in that and completely counter my friend Rick Edwards, but I definitely think rappers are role models to kids in particular and also some infantile adults.There is no policing factor in Hip-Hop anymore and nobody holds anybody accountable or they are branded a hater. artists are not compelled to be socially responsible in any way now. Thanks.
3.	moneda Says: July 11th, 2009 at 6:30 pm “Hip-Hop is just entertainment” is such a simplistic view. Mostly because when it’s said it’s referencing only the music. There are other facets to this culture that couldn’t be packaged, marketed and sold and so they’ve been overshadowed and damn-near forgotten; but they’re still out there, influencing people and helping to spread the kind of message our music needs to help spread. As long as we keep celebrating the careers of those “artists” who really don’t give a damn about the culture of Hip-Hop, though, the message will stay obscured.
4.	CathrynMarie Says: July 12th, 2009 at 10:20 am Chuck Creekmur for President
5.	J to the AAP Says: July 13th, 2009 at 2:15 am Like any cultural expression that’s been aroud this long HipHop can be anything from a blatant cash-grab to sincere introspective art and everything in between. If you take any form of art seriously you should be able to criticize it. Saying HipHop is ‘just entertainment’ is disrespectful to any artist that has ever poured his soul into his beats and/or rhymes. It’s as idiotic as stating paintings are ‘just entertainment’, or movies, or literature, or any other medium or genre of music.