Hip-hop culture is one of the most misunderstood movements in the world, polarizing enough that fans can be uncertain as to where to draw the line — the difference between conscientious contributions and straight up appropriation.
Such is the conversation now regarding a recent incident at Mountain View High School in Stafford, Virginia, where two white students thought it was acceptable to sport a costume with a popular Drake verse from Soulja Boy collab, “We Made It,” swapping the number 16 in the genre’s most infamous racial epithet to create the slogan: “N16ga We Made It.”
The reaction was predictable, a combination of indifference and fleeting outrage. It appears that popular culture has grown accustomed to this sort of asinine behavior. The machine has made the usage of the word so mainstream that every asshole who listens to rap now feels that they can turn their hat backwards and throw around racial epitaphs like it were second nature. All without understanding the gravity of the situation.
The mainstream media is the cornerstone of this cultural confusion. The amount of mediocre rap out there is a constant assault on the senses, a style whose sole purpose is to objectify women, over sexualize men and make every cardinal sin the norm. It’s a mockery of the genre and a system of oppression that turns both black men and women into caricatures of themselves.
The fans of sub-rap are just as much to blame like a heard of ravenous zombies who’ll eat whatever is in front of them only to regurgitate it later. This is an example of such mindless consumerism, and the lesson here is simple: understand your creative diet otherwise whatever crap you eat will come to define you.
