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Today's hip-hop music industry has come under fire with the content that artists use in
their lyrics. When rap and hip-hop began, most artists talked about the issues that were
plaguing the community and the hardships of their world. Today, most artists rely on superficial
issues and focus on degrading women, negative images of other cultures, and presenting negative
views of pivotal moments in history. Activism is the act of bringing about change. Within
the Spelman community, students and faculty have protested and campaigned in various ways
over a variety of social and global issues. In particular, the Spelman community came
together to protest the negative image of women portrayed in the recording artist Nelly
and his music video "Tip Drill". The school's activism brought change: both negative and
positive. Ultimately, this event showed how Spelman comes together as a collective over
a serious situation. With the continuous decline of hip-hop lyrical
content, I wonder has activism within Spelman changed? And for the better? It seems that
more students of the college are passive towards music and the degradation that is placed on
women. It seems that individuals do not understand the severity of what artists are stating and
how this affects the community at large. Activism does not have to involve physical tactics
and such as protesting and sit ins, to be effective. It seems that today's students
feel that certain causes are not important enough to fight for justice or see it as a
wasted cause. Specifically, with today's lyrical content in music, the student body is disinterested
in what is being said about women. For example, this past month artist Rick Ross came
under fire with demeaning and hurtful lyrics that suggest him raping a women that was drugged.
The news of the hurtful lines spread through the media as well as the Spelman Community. Some
students were appalled and prompted an online petition with a purpose of banning the song
and other music that solicit hurtful and hateful images to the masses. Other students responded
with total opposite views on the matter via Twitter. This topic was in heated debate for
over a week on Twitter within the AUC community.
With that said, do you feel the Spelman community become a place where there is much contradiction to the beliefs that the school portrays and
exudes? Personally, I feel that we as young individuals
have lost sight in what is morally right and not acceptable. If it has not personally affected
us we don't act. But the growing culture of defamatory language towards different group
of people has a major effect on the younger generations.