Comparison Of The Film Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes?

The film Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes is directed by filmmaker Byron Hurt. The film was released on January 24th, 2006. Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes is a documentary that looks at issues within hip-hop issues such as masculinity, sexism, violence, and homophobia. The problem I see in hip-hop/rap culture is the promotion of violence, sexism, and homophobia. Most artists don’t practice what they preach or rap about. They might rap on a track promoting gun violence to teens but the same rapper never touched a gun and he has a degree. Many artists also down play the effects their lyrics have on the youth. Byron Hurt is a lifelong hip-hop fan. What he noticed, which eventually drove him to make this documentary was the same recurring themes

I say this because it better informed me on issues that I have known were present in the hip hop/rap culture. One of the main points in the film was the manhood in hip-hop culture. Before I dig into this topic one thing to understand is that hip-hop was created in the slums of New York. People grew up in very tough times; poverty was the norm, violence was high, and drugs influenced people’s lives. As you watch the film you can clearly see that all of the artists portray a tough “don’t mess with me” image. When asked why Hip-Hop promotes these images artists responded almost unanimously. They said that when you grow up in tough conditions you can’t be a punk. People see anything that’s not toughness weak. Anybody who isn’t perceived as tough is looked at like a bitch. Another big topic in the film was the way hip-hop victimizes women, and African American women in particular. The culture of Hip-Hop reduces women to sex objects. They’re half naked or more in the music videos and dancing explicitly. An issue in the film was when popular rapper Nelly swiped his credit card down a woman’s butt cheeks in a music video. This lead Nelly to cancel a bone marrow donation event at Spellman College after students said they were going to protest. Another issue in the film was homophobia. When a rapper named of Busta Rhymes was asked about homophobia he didn’t even respond to the question he completely walked off set. That

In the conflict perspective organizations promote inequality that benefits elites and not workers. Near the end of the film there was a segment on how white men in suits who know nothing about hip-hop culture are the executives in the industry. At any point in time they could say to their top hip-hop artists “hey guys let’s stop this violent, sexist, and homophobic behavior that you portray in your songs”. They could tell their artist to send a positive message that uplifts minorities but they don’t because they’re profiting millions of their violent, sexist, and homophobic behavior. At the same time they’re profiting millions, they’re also oppressing millions of African American youth because the negative message is getting to them from the rappers and artists. This then leads to violence, murders, single mothers, sexual assaults, and homophobic attitudes. As a sociological thinker, one must look at who benefits. Although the artist do benefit from their music, the executives who don’t care about what’s morally right hold the true power and