I remember the Malaysian one because it kinda came off weird to me too, but I didn't remember the whole thread critiquing hip hop.


And at MicShazam, it would be problematic, yes, but doesn't strike nearly as much as a nerve as when it happens to POC because of how they are viewed and treated in this country. But to me, as you should already know, it rubs me the wrong way when anybody views hip hop culture in a condescending way.

I hear Europeans think Americans think about race too much, but I think Europeans have long lived in a bubble that encouraged them to think about race too little (especially considering their history of uneven power dynamics with other races). Race is a crazy subtle thing to think about so being immersed in centuries of atrocity in a certain view has been a boon to our cultural evolution.

Also, our focus on race is endorsed by the Russians who in their 1997 book, The Foundations of Geopolitics: The Geopolitical Future of Russia, written by Aleksandr Dugin, explains that they want to use race relations to cause a cultural shift in America to destabilize our political process.

I know it's important to you, so I get that. As you know, I'm not really a fan of hip hop. But I don't disrespect the artistry of those that are good at what they do.

There's been loads of immigrants from Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and other Middle Eastern countries in Denmark since the 60's or 70's. Lot's of bigoted attitudes still going their way in 2018, at least if you look for it. "Perker" is the go-to slur, but there are others. No, not a lot of black people in most North European countries, but plenty of immigrants with colored skin that people can treat like lesser humans.
But things are going in the right direction. Young people make me feel hopeful when it comes to the future of racism in Denmark.

I've seen pieces of European racism towards the middle east because my 'friend's wife is from the UK. She's never said anything herself, (she found it strange that so many white people, especially her husband, say nigga so frequently in our social group) but her husband seems to reflect a bigoted sentiment that I feel like she feeds him in privacy. Their attitude towards hip hop has always came off as wonky to me. The way he tells me he doesn't like most hip hop because it mostly glorifies superficial materialism, sex and violence is laughable to me when his genre of choice is ****ing aggrotech. A genre that is so superficial that it's deepest lyrics are "WHY! DO WE CRY!"

That's a few decades of immigration verses a few centuries of absolutely brutal oppression that dwarfs the Nazis. We've been hazed to the point that we can't even take it but it still gets through and forces us to deal with racial issues so intense that we can't help but make leaps at times. If there's a country where race could become a non-issue then I honestly think it could be America. It's just such an issue that seeing the light at the end of the tunnel feels like a betrayal of what we're even feeling at the moment.

People wonder at the materialism of hip hop. It comes from a culture who half a century ago couldn't drink from our water fountains, where a century and a half ago couldn't not work for free for white folk for fear of death. Of course they want money.

People wonder at the "low culture" of hip hop. It comes from a culture where they've been denied education, adequate housing, and wealth. Why shouldn't they want heroes who don't "talk or act white" but still succeed and give the people hope that they can be themselves and still not starve?

To the modern black person hip hop is hope that they can retain their identity without having to remain destitute. Yeah it's become a trope but at its core it's the beating heart and soul of resistance.

To a lot of people coming from a place where you are consistently told you'd be nothing and seeing people flaunt their success is one of the most inspiring things. It's a middle finger to the oppressors. And it's important. Not just in a braggadocios way, but hip hop is becoming the out and the industry that is black owned and giving minorities opportunities that they never had prior.

Even at that, it's no less superficial or materialistic than the cyber goths who dress up in expensive and extravagant costumes. It's just more honest about it. Materialism isn't just about gold chains, that little fetish for Halloween decorations is materialism too.

*Fetish level +10*

This is the TMB thread, it seems