{"id":3148,"date":"2015-11-03T10:19:46","date_gmt":"2015-11-03T15:19:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/raplens.wordpress.com\/?p=41"},"modified":"2015-11-12T11:19:21","modified_gmt":"2015-11-12T16:19:21","slug":"allow-me-to-reintroduce-myself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/wrpg211\/2015\/11\/03\/allow-me-to-reintroduce-myself\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cAllow Me to Reintroduce Myself\u2026\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"I'm<\/a>
I’m the one with the strong bandana game.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Name: Nick Toole<\/a><\/p>\n

Age: 21<\/p>\n

Height: 5′ 10″<\/p>\n

Weight: 180lb<\/p>\n

Hair Color: Brown (balding)<\/p>\n

Ethnicity: Caucasian<\/p>\n

Origin: Brunswick, Maine, USA.<\/p>\n

Favorite Rap Song: Gone – Kanye West ft. Cam’ron and Consequence<\/a><\/p>\n

Favorite Rapper Under 25: Chance the Rapper (Vince Staples is a close runner-up)<\/p>\n

This blog is an attempt to start a broader conversation about hip-hop, and more succinctly rap music, in terms of the social implications of the genre. This means exploring issues of social justice (racism, sexism, homophobia) and social commentary. I find these topics to be incredibly difficult to approach, yet necessary to discuss. As a fairly privileged white male, I am not immediately involved with many of the communities about which I will be writing, and so I will proceed with this blog with respect and sensitivity, while still staying true to my own ideas and perceptions.<\/p>\n

That said, perceptions and ideas change, and that may be reflected later on in the blog. Given that, it should not be expected that this blog will remain a concrete entity, and instead is subject to change in minute and grand ways.<\/p>\n

My interest in hip-hop is simple; it is an eclectic and vibrant genre that breaks from its own mold over and over again. At times it is simply spoken word over a simple beat. Sometimes it is a wonderful web of samples that an artist reconfigures to make a whole new song. At other times it is more singing than rapping, with heavy bass and snare triplets. It is the most collaborative and the most wide-reaching genre of the past quarter-century. Its story is one of struggle and triumph, and the cyclical nature of the two. For these reasons it is engaging and entertaining.<\/p>\n

Thus, I write to explore this genre as one of immense social power. It grew out of activism. It has a nasty history of misogyny and homophobia. It is violent and peace-making. How, then, might we approach this genre from a scholarly angle, to understand its power and its oxymoronic nature? My approach is two fold; seeking to promote its power and also to critique its failings. I hope to do this in a way that is both inclusive and thought-provoking. Let me know if I do that well.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Name: Nick Toole Age: 21 Height: 5′ 10″ Weight: 180lb Hair Color: Brown (balding) Ethnicity: Caucasian Origin: Brunswick, Maine, USA.… Read more “Allow Me to Reintroduce Myself…”<\/span><\/a>\"\" Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2886,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"about-me","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[110480],"tags":[109703],"class_list":["post-3148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-about-me","hentry","category-student-blog-project-2015","tag-syndicated","post_format-about-me","post_format-hip-hop","post_format-homophobia","post_format-rap","post_format-social-commentary","post_format-social-justice","post_format-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/wrpg211\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/wrpg211\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/wrpg211\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/wrpg211\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2886"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/wrpg211\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/wrpg211\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3148\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/wrpg211\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/wrpg211\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/wrpg211\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}