Michael Eric Dyson speaking to the New York Times about Big Boi’s upcoming hip-hop ballet showcase:

“My gut reaction is ‘bravo,’ ” said Michael Eric Dyson, a professor at Georgetown University and the author of, most recently, “Know What I Mean?,” a critical examination of hip-hop music. He said with a chuckle, “Even if it falls on its face.”

Professor Dyson, echoing several young Atlanta artists who weighed in on the project, sees in “big” an opportunity for hip-hop to re-examine some of its more self-destructive tendencies, including violence and “the blitzkrieg of misogyny that passes for commentary on gender.” If anyone could get hip-hop to open up, he said, it would be one of the adventurous stars of OutKast.

Dyson has a strong point. But is this really a good look for hip-hop?