KQ vs. Yo!: What do you think?
Posted on August 18th, 2006 – 1:31 PMBy Chris Riemenschneider
The e-mails and phone calls started at about 6 a.m. (not that I washere to get them).Peopleare either firmly in support oftoday’s column on the KQRS bashing of the Twin Cities Celebration of Hip-Hop, or they either told me to get a life, find a new job, down with hip-hop, etc.
Do you think the KQRS morning crew were justified in putting down this weekend’s Twin Cities Celebration of Hip-Hop? Post your comments here.
86 Responses to "KQ vs. Yo!: What do you think?"
Chris-
You hit it right on the head. KQ’s is the only station and/or people who
associate violence with Hip Hop.
I am sure that all the act’s in your little party are all hard working
law abiding people who’s music glorifies the goodness of women and hard
work. One other thing, you didn’t come off at all like a little school
yard girl who’s feelings were hurt with your mullet bashing comments.
Real top shelf writing my friend.
Thanks for the great laugh this morning,
Hip Hop for the Future!
Chris is a genius! May his carrer soar with the Hip Hop Gods! Somewhere near the 80’s hair bands careers!
I used to be a morning show listener, but since 9/11 and program director changes, that station has become increasingly annoying. To me it is Redneck Radio.
As for the hip hop shows, I have been to many at Triple Rock and First Ave, and they all have had positive vibes. Minneapolis is part of a changing trend in hip hop - it is thoughtful, political and honest.
It goes to show ignorance knows no color, social or economic standing.
Good article about Twin Cities Celebration - though I’m happier about the
negative exposure it gave to the KQ Morning Show and Tom Barnard in
particular. I haven’t listened to one second of KQRS programming since Mr.
Barnard called the murder of a newborn Hmong baby many years ago by its
teenage mother in Eau Claire “a good thing since there were too many of
them (Hmongs) anyway.” People always seem to give him a free pass on his
hate speech because he’s supposed to be an entertainer on a morning show,
but his kind of hate and ignorance can be very damaging. I hope that more
people see this article and decide that they can find programming outside
of KQRS that better suits them.
I’m much more a Tapes ‘N’ Tapes guy than a Toki Wright guy, but it sounds
like the Twin Cities Celebration of Hip-Hop will be a great event. Thanks
to Chris letting us know about it.
Whether you are a KQ fan or not, it is tough to deny that bad things seem to happen whenever people assemble as a group to “celebrate” this hip-hop genre. People get shot at concerts. Brawls and gunfire break out at national award events. The “artists” assassinate one another. I don’t recall anyone being shot the last thime John Mellencamp or ACDC or whatever is left of Lynyrd Skynyrd came to town.
Detroit Lakes just got done with their annual country music WE-Fest, where I read there were in excess of 45,000 people partying/camping for 3 days. I also read a report with a local cop stating that there were not arrests.
There is your challenge, Hip-Hop Nation. I want to see 45,000 hip-hop fans “hang” together (just not in my town) for 3 days without a single arrest. Personally, if KQ predicted 9 shootings…..I’ll take the “over.”
NOTORIOUS BIG doesnt your name say it all? A lot of people associate hip hop with violence. Jay Leno does a joke almost nightly on it, and hes one of the least redneck people you will find. Mad TV,SNL and a lot of other people as well. Why arent we outraged at thaT? From stabbings at the BET awards too the shooting outside of ATL a movie based on rap, its easy to see why people associate hip hop with violence. Also isnt a lot of their lyrics in their songs talking about gang life and violence, so why wouldnt an average listener associate it with violence if thats what the lyrics are talking about? I’m not racist, but because I associate rap which a primarly African American music genre (with exceptions) with violence or I dont like it people will assume I am. Quite frankly this had nothing to do with the writer of the article (who’m i respect a lot and agree with most his columns and enjoy reading them.) This was a writer looking for a story and looking to help his employers sell newspapers, cant blame him, its his job, but smearing a very popular KQRS Morning Show, easily the most listened to morning show in the Twin Cities just to start controversy is pointless. This is no different from when FOX 9 news so desperate for a story they went and tried to get Gopher Hockey players in trouble and are now hated by the University. The heads of this event can defend themselves, there was no need for the writer to get involved with something that by no means involved him. But what do I know, I’m just a crazy conservative redneck cause I listen to KQ Morning show, even though I voted for Kerry and the KQRS morning show has Philip Wise..(Yeah hes real redneck).
NOTORIOUS B.I.G.- Don’t worry, man. I got the joke. Apparently our friend Kent here has a tough time recognizing sarcasm when he sees it.
I love the way the Twin Cities media has figured out that if they want to promote some obscure, crappy, cause….just smear Tom Barnard and all the goof-balls come out of the woodwork to join in the mindless banter. That’s proof enough for me that this little Yo! party doesn’t have enough substance or merit to stand alone in a newspaper article.
There’s good and bad in hip-hop and in other kinds of music. Remember Altamont? Remember the Rolling Stones concert in Saint Paul in 1982? Ever wonder why there’s no General Admission seating (and lots of security) at local arena rock concerts?
The KQ Morning Show Crew have managed to offend pretty much everyone except middle class whites over the years - and I say that as a middle class white guy myself.
The real tragedy is that they (the KQ Morning Crew) have such a large following. I guess the reason people cater to the lowest common denominator is that’s the best way to capture a large audience.
I live in Peru but was in Minnesota and listening to KQ when they
started bashing the event and butchering the names. The short segment
confirmed my distaste for Tom and Company. Thanks for holding their feet to
the fire in regard to their juvenile, jingoistic antics. I’m sure their 18 to 30
year old male, beer drinking, pickup truck driving, Jessie Ventura
supporting audience ate up the trash talking but it sure didn’t sit well
with me.
As a disclaimer, the only reason the station was playing was because
someone else had used my car and the dial was set at KQ. Took me that
short segment to change the station but it did make me think that this
sort of talk does nothing but polarize a city or country.
Your piece was understated and focused on the positives of the
festival and, from my perspective, hit the KQ crowd harder than a frontal
attack. Slick journalism.
it’s nice to have hip-hop defended in the paper by someone who isn’t organizing, performing or otherwise connected to the event. organizers like yo! have so much real work to do in the streets that they don’t need to go head to head with redneck radio jocks or anyone else in this community.
hip-hop has proven to be a motivator for youth. hip-hop has proven to be an empowering tool for many in the classroom. hip-hop has proven to be a multi-faceted, multi-ethnic, multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-generational space which includes many (except racist rednecks who don’t know their history).
chris, thanks for the lessons for the twin cities reading audience. see you at the celebration!
TO VLAD: point-of-fact….Altamont was a bunch of Hell’s Angles beating the snot out of some dude. And although I hate to keep throwing the WE-Fest country music festival out there as an example- it IS in fact, festival seating (yes, the same festival seating that The Who had in Cincinnatti). There have certainly been problems at concerts as long as there have been concerts. My point is that there is a disproportionately LARGE amount at hip-hop events…..and for whatever reason, it always seems to involve gun-play.
Ok, I slowed down and read it, my apologies B.I.G., I was writing my opinion and talking to someone got distracted didnt see the sarcasm at first, It’s Friday, I’m tired and want to go home, give me a break. Also I find it funny everyone is bashing Tommy for stereotyping, well you all are doing the same thing, when you say “redneck” audience. But its ok I guess to stereotype rednecks just not African Americans. Tom Bernard grew up in North Minneapolis, dad left him when he was young, working class kid who has worked hard to get where he is, I myself as a big time liberal anti-Bush respect him a lot, and hes definitely not a redneck cause he dont like rap.
You are way off base. So they made fun of something. You people at the Star Tribune have no sense of humor, and, if everyone isn’t celebrating
diversity, we are racists. What a bunch of crap! Hip hop is not
music it is a celebration of violence against women, drugs and murder.
Maybe this event wasn’t that, and just maybe it was trying to do some good. So KQ made fun of it. Maybe you should write an article about how many gang bang murders there were, or how the black guy with a plunger up his rear never really happened, and no apology to the police was ever made. How about babies dying because of drug addict mothers
with no fathers around, and let’s not forget the Meth problem. Maybe
you should concentrate your efforts on more important things than the children at KQ.
The KQ morning show has many followers, me included. I don’t necessarily like everything they talk about and get tired of the high school ways, but if I thought about all of the crap in the world going on, KQ’s comments don’t even come close to being a world problem. But I do like to laugh and be happy, and the KQ show allows me that in the morning.
Julie E
Sure, most performers and fans are honest, hard working people. But it doesn’t help to pretend the problems that continually follow Hip-Hop music are non-existent.
OK, all rap and I mean ALL rap and ALL hip hop just plain SUCKS! It show how absolutely IGNORANT that music is by it’s followers, and how ignorant they are, they can’t speak proper english, and they glorify violence against women and people in general.
Yeah, real good role models those rappers and hip hopper’s are!!
Sounds like jealously to me, they know KQ is number one, always has been and always will be. Just out of curiosity, where are the hip hop and rap stations in the radio ratings? Probably at the bottom where they belong, bottom feeders they are.
Regarding Mr. or Mrs. afar’s comment: “I’m sure their 18 to 30
year old male, beer drinking, pickup truck driving, Jessie Ventura
supporting audience ate up the trash talking”
Gee….now who’s generalizing??
I did enough rambling/rumbling in the original column, but…
Apparently some of you didn’t read far enough into the column to see that I, too, agree there are way too many bad apples in mainstream hip-hop. I wanted to stress that the performers/organizers/fans at the TC Celebration of Hip-Hop are working to correct that.
Also, anybody notice that the guy a couple posts back who says all rappers “can’t speak proper English” made several grammar errors?
We seem to be talking about generalizations and stereo-types as thought they are wrong. For the record, I am nearly an 18-30 year old male (I’m 31). I used to drive a pickup truck, I love to drink beer….lots of beer. I DID vote for Jesse, also still proudly DO sport a mullet.
And what do you know- I do listen to the KQ Morning Show sometimes. And I like it.
I also know a lot of people just like me who are fans, so its very fair to say that the generalizations that some of you have used are valid. Granted not 100% of the KQ audience falls under this category; but for the sake of argument, let’s say 20-25% do. By that logic, 20-25% of the people at hip-hop venues are probably gun-packing, murdering, gang-banging thugs.
Still want to go to that Yo! festival?
Hey Big J, Are you familiar with the saying “Get off my side”? You are not helping the cause. The 80’s are dead man. They were 2 decades ago (a decade is 10 years). You need to just let it go. Spend the $9.99, head down to Cost Cutters and buy yourself some self respect. Now when you are speaking of Stereotypes, truck drivin’, beer drinkin’, and Jesse Votin’ are all redundent when you use the term Proud Mullet Wearin’. The term Unmarried would also be redundent.
You forgot the other obvious stereotype regarding yourself. SINGLE. Maybe dont be so proud of a
KQ fan and Kent fan made a typing error, theres a big difference between that and not knowing how to speak proper english. Most of us are probably blogging at work, so we are typing fast to get back to our duties, dont have time to check grammer. If rap is music, why cant I understand anything they are saying? If talking really fast is music, then I guess Boomhauer from King Of The Hill would be a great rapper and should win a grammy. The YO festival, a bunch of people who sound like Boomhauer from king of the hill, sounds like good music.
I was wondering what a guy needed to do to draw some attack responses from the crowd! To my new friend Cindy Lou Who….sorry to disappoint you sweetheart, but I haven’t been single in quite some time. Nor have I ever been divorced, if that was your next guess! Happily married w/ 2 kids and yes, the boy has long hair too. The 80’s were a long time ago, but fortunately for me: I am not a trend-follower. I’ve had the same haircut since 1975 and have no intention of changing that or anything else about myself.
Gotta hit the road out of downtown Mpls (before all the gang-bangers come out to play)and head back to my little piece of white-trash heaven. If it matters to you……I’ve just never been able to become a NASCAR fan (?). Maybe that will count for something in your book.
Cartwa, have you ever been to a local hip-hop show? Have you ever listened to any hip-hop outside of the bits and pieces you may have heard on the radio or television? If not then you are seriously out touch with your own words. How you could ever possibly judge these people when you have absolutley NO first hand expierience with the subject? This event has flawlessly been run for 5 years straight by a non-profit youth based orginazation promoting social justice and peaceful change with NO incidents. The depth of your fear is only a product of your own ignorance and misinformation. I challange you to attend the event with your kids, I guarantee you will take a second look at this positive movement.
Nothing but name-calling and put-downs from both sides. Anybody have an intellegent response?
There is a lot of Hip-hop that is good, you just have to open your eyes to it. Yes, there is a lot that is bad and is part of bigger social problems. Hip-hop needs to acknowledge that and work to correct it and quite denying it or blaming others. When I was a kid, my parents didn’t like me listening to satanic bands (Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult) or rock bands that glorified outlaw behaviour (Lynyrd Skynrd, Allman Brothers, etc). Looks like deja-vu all over again.
I let my kids listen to Hip-hop, but not when I hear lyrics that glorify crime and hate. I point it out and explain why. I also don’t let my kids play Grand Theft Auto. Sure they’ve played it at friends homes, but I make it clear why it is not permitted in ours.
By the way, I’m 45, white and the father of three boys.
Yo Vlad. Either you listen to KQ and you can speak to it or you don’t listen and therefore can’t comment. Which is it? From what you write, you would be a big idiot and a total hypocrite to actually listen. So, how is it then that you can make such accusations? I am curious? How do you know they offend people? Is it because someone told you so? Look genius, you can’t spew how bad they suck unless you are a listener. And, you obviously can’t proclaim something so strongly based on something someone told you. Heck, I know a guy that thinks all guys named Vlad are child molesters. That would be silly for me to proclaim unless I knew it was a fact. Now, I don’t like mushrooms. I think they are smelly and look gross. I have never actually tried a mushroom. So, I obviously can’t proclaim that mushrooms taste crappy. I could say they look like they would taste crappy or I think they might taste crappy but I can’t proclaim them to taste crappy. So, which is it? Either you listen to KQ, know they offend, and are the biggest hypocrite ever, or you don’t listen to KQ, and just make stuff up because it makes you feel cool.
For the record, I occasionally listen to KQ. What KQ seems to be preaching is what this world needs – accountability. Accountability is a scary word to bleeding heart liberals, like you. People like you need to be able to pass the blame on someone else. You can pretend all you want that rap concerts are safe but the FACTS prove that rap concerts record the highest number of violent acts. Now you can be mad at KQ because that somehow offends you or you can accept the fact and think that it is a shame because you like the music and are an Eminem wannabe. Instead of getting mad at KQ, try doing something to educate rappers that you don’t need to bring a gun to listen to music. Do something to change the perception. Be accountable.
DJ Green, I appreciate your invitation and I do not argue that you have had perfect attendance, however, this is not a church choir we are talking about. This is a rap concert. Pretend all you want but rap = violence. And, I just think that Chris Riemenschneider is taking a chance writing about a near guarantee of a violence free event before it happens. Maybe he would have been better served for you and himself by writing about it AFTER this violence free event occured. Then he could definitely cram Barnards words down his throat. I hope that your event is crime free. I hope it is well attended. I tell you what, you can post an “i told you so” message after the event. You will be happy with the results, I will be happy for you. However, only God can guarantee my kids safety. I will let them read about the event in the paper, from the safety of my home.
DJ Green hit it right on the head. I am a local artist, and have done 40-50 shows in the last year, and have not seen more than a handful of altercations occur for that entire year. Going back 11 yrs of going to local hip hop events I have NEVER been to a show where there has been gun violence in the club. The only time you ever see this is when mainstream artists that cater to all of your negative stereotypes come to town. Our local hip hop scene here is very different than the mainstream, and has a majority of artists that send out positive messages to our community. Everything Chris said about YO is completely true, and those of you that codemn him have only your newspapers, TV, and radio to reference as your source of opinion. I have been to many rock shows(I love rock too) that are way more violent than any local hip hop show I have been to. Have you ever seen how many people get carried out of mosh pits on stretchers? I guarentee you the hospital bills that get racked up at local rock shows far exceeds those at local hip hop events. Whoever took the over on this weekends festival should put there money where their mouth is, and I would be willing to bet the bank on them losing that bet. Peace n respect to Chris, and the Star Tribune for having the guts to stand up to thinly veiled racism expressed by Tom and his fellow klansmen.
Posted by Vlad is Confused, “You can pretend all you want that rap concerts are safe but the FACTS prove that rap concerts record the highest number of violent acts.”
I would like to know where you got this statistic, because I highly doubt it’s authenticity.
Some years ago the KQ crew had renowned primatologist Jane Goodall on the air. They plainly didn’t know who she was, and after the interview was over they spent some time speculating whether Ms. Goodall resembled one of the chimpanzees she studies.
Aside from the obvious racial overtones of the show, those are some just plain spleeny, peurile, ignorant jerks on that show. Tommy B., in particular, long ago got lost in the echo chamber of his own marginal fame.
“Vlad is confused” — The KQ crew “preaches accountability” in the same sense that “Garage Logic” does — by endlessly whining about stuff that scares them for one reason or another. It’s discourse on the level of Mallard Fillmore — a perpetual sour-stomached kvetch, propping up straw man opposition and ridiculing it bitterly.
Nope, one doesn’t have to listen to KQ, or Rush Limbaugh, religiously in order to know that they’re pandering to people’s least appealing and “accountable” sides. I’ve heard KQ now and again, starting back in 1987 when the Twins were on their first World Series run. They’ve gotten far, far more negative and irritating over the years. They used to actually have a sense of humor between the lot of them, you know?
The comments of most people defending KQ make your average rapper sound like a rocket scientist. In general, I find rap music to be no more violent, misogynistic, drug and sex-obsessed than a lot of rock-n-roll. And further, you rarely hear themes of alienation, suicide or satanism in rap as you do in rock music. On the other hand, the rappers seem to like money and material wealth (i.e., “bling”) far more than their rock counterparts. Suffice to say, I prefer hip-hop.
What some of you need to do is go back and read the article, because you really missed the point. Chris is trying to tell you that not all hip-hop is about violence, misogyny, material crap, etc. Believe it or not, there actually is GOOD hip-hop. Some of you speaking negatively of hip-hop know almost nothing about it. You can’t judge ALL hip-hop based on the Lil Wayne concert shooting, the Source awards, mainstream radio, BET, and MTV. This kind of hip-hop is garbage. If you want to hear GOOD hip-hop go to the Yo! show and check out some of these artists. I guarantee Brother Ali will blow your mind.
Again, go back and read the article. Let it soak into your brain. Then, do yourself a great favor and check out some of these amazing hip-hop artists that we have in the Twin Cities:
Brother Ali
P.O.S
Atmosphere
Heiruspecs
Sims
Mictlan
Cecil Otter
Dessa
Eyedea and Abilities
Leroy Smokes
Manifest
Toki Wright
Abzorbr
This is a very short list but it should get you started. You can find amazing hip-hop artists like this all over the world, not just the Twin Cities. I guarantee these artists will change your previous misconceptions about hip-hop. Enjoy.
Also, Mike from Savage:
READ THE ARTICLE AGAIN. Chris, in his article, and many people on this blog have repeatedly stated that the artists at the Yo! celebration DO have and always had artists with good messages.
Look, Scott, I get the point CR and you are making. But the assertion that ALL so-called “mainstream” hip-hip is garbage is just as erroneous as saying ALL hip-hop is violent and so on. Some of the best hip-hop ever recorded was done by artists you and CR would consider “mainstream,” such as 2Pac, Dr. Dre, Biggie, Jay-Z, Kanye West, and the latest star, T.I., to name just a few. And it’s particularly annoying that a music critic would take that stance because he should know better, but unfortunately does not. Instead, he takes the intellectually lazy way out by dismissing all “mainstream” hip-hop out hand. The bottom line is, when it comes to hip-hop, CR is a total hack.
Brian, I don’t think ALL mainstream hip hop is garbage. The first blog I wrote was lost after I hit the Back button on my browser. In that blog I said MOST mainstream hip-hop is garbage. I had to rewrite a whole new one. Also, I don’t think Chris R meant that ALL mainstream hip-hop is garbage.
“Mainstream hip-hop is once again loaded with dim-witted thug rappers who glorify violence, or at least don’t do much to denounce it.”
I also think he writes some great hip-hop pieces. Check out his article on I Self Devine.
Also, T.I. would get lyrically demolished by any of the artists I mentioned before. He’s mediocre at best (and that’s being nice). You should’ve thrown Nas in there instead.
If you haven’t, be sure to check out the artists I listed above. Don’t stop at that either. There’s so much more hip-hop for you to discover out there.
I dig plenty of non-mainstream hip-hop, such as Mos Def, Dead Prez, Talib Kweli, Common, K-Salaam, Strange Fruit Project, Daara J (from Senegal), Emamanuel Jal (from Sudan now living in Kenya), as well as loads of Dancehall, Grime and Baille Funk. Out of the acts you listed above, I’ve heard only the first four and, well, I guess you could call it hip-hop. Sorry, not impressed, especially with Atmosphere, who gets the most ink out of all those guys. It’s like, if you’re from Minnesota, you rap and are inoffensive to white people, you’re automatically great. I prefer Southern hip-hop at the moment, but thanks.
I would be curious to know specific musical groups that some of the hip hop “haters”(lol)like to listen too.
This whole blog section leaves me with so many things to say - but I feel as though I would be beating a dead horse.
For the local artists who have spoken here - we know what we are doing and how much this music means to our culture. So all I can say to everyone else is please, don’t bash something because you are afraid of it. That would be all too American of you to do, instead, walk outside your box for 5 mins. and see what conclusions you come to.
If it wasnt for hip-hop i would have killed some one a long time ago
Hip-Hop has saved my life
Why does CR appear to require that in order to be good, hip-hop should not make reference to, or “glorify” in his words, violence unless it is specifically “denoucning” it? Does CR place these same type of expectations or requirements upon other genres of music? For instance, that country artists address the evils of alcoholism or infidelity, goth/metal/punk acts the problems of teen suicide and high school shooting sprees, techno acts the dangers of exstacy and promiscuity? Of course not. Instead, he singles out “mainstream” hip-hop for failing to address the various ills of society. In reality this is just a convenient excuse for CR to crawl back into his safe little indie-rock/alt.country cocoon. And as an added bonus, he doesn’t have to trek all the way out to Myth to cover a show that potential readers might be interested in.
Oh, yeah, I forgot, he digs indie-rap, too.
3 nights of peaceful music…old, angry dudes at KQ had it wrong..
Just as their parents had it wrong with Sabbath..
Ignorance is NOT bliss!
How about we all try to find some peace and get along. It makes sleeeping easier.
No arrests at WEFest? BS! I was working there and there were plenty of assaults - some sexual. But I would never say that country made ‘em do it - drugs/alcohol, disrespect and immaturity did. Just as ANY assault no matter what kind of music.
Thugs come in all races. Go Uptown and see how many middle/upper class men get into fights after bar.
I also worked a hip-hop festival in Geneva, MN. That was a great, peaceful show as well as this weekends events.
Hats off to First Ave who have few, if any incidents at their club and they don’t need to hire 100 extra policement to pull it off.
Thier has been a lot of finger pointing & saying so & so is wrong..
1 thing i would like to mention from reading Kent’s post about turntables not being an instrument, i believe they are a form of an instrument. Maybe not your standard guitar, bass or skin flute but it is an instrument.
in fact anything can be used as an instrument, me tapping my pen on my desk in a 4/4 count to create a beat.. thier my pen is no an instrument.
But waht KQ said is rational & thier opinion. Most people of thier age generation are closed minded. Esp to hip hop muzik not in a negative way but that’s just the way they were raised & thier parents before them. It is iggnorant, but we all are in our own way, shape & form. My dad is the same way he hates the fact that when i dj i play hip hop, & he wont go to any of my show’s because of that, I remember a conversation i had with him once, dont recall how it got on that subject but he had asked me how i can grow up on muzik such as Floyd, Zepplin, Beatles, Hendrix, Pantera, Motely Crew, Slayer, & then spend thousands of dollars on hip hop records.. I said dad how can you listedn to Floyd & Zepp & all the other 60’s & 70’s Bands when you grew up on your dad’s muzik?? No response….It’s just diffrent. No it’s just a diffrent generation of muzik, & it wont be… Cant be stopped, just cause i like Mos Def doesnt mean i wont jam out to Misty Mountain Hop.. Hell i own the whole Zepplin collection. So thank you KQRS & the old short fat guy at park place Last saterday night who was furious that had only “Jiggabo” muzic & i wouldnt play “Sweet Home Alabama” it’s your negative attention that helps us grow!!!!!
No disrespect to anyone… Letz all get along!!!
to respond to Kent - I have to disagree….a beat is music. That where music started from. A beat, A heart beat. A drum beat. Many many cultures use drums as music.
And I can say that I know many hip hop artists who can and do play musical instruments…so, I once again say that you can’t lump them all into one catagory when you are not educated on the topic.
And I would also argue that the turntable can be used as a musical instrument. A friend of mine named Walter Kitundu has actually desgined a turn table that has strings like a guitar and other elements that he plays while spinning records. Walter is also a musician who plays other instruments.
Times change and instruments evolve. The definition of music also changes. You don’t have to accept the change. You don’t have to like it.
Mainstream hip hop is not the whole of hip hop. It’s what they market to the people.
And also Kent….”if you’re not African American, don’t listen to rap…”
Well, we better stop listening to rock and roll, blues and jazz…because guess what, African American People birthed American music.
Wow. Some of the most uneducated, closed minds who “have a point” have been posting on here, speaking against hip-hop, when they have no idea what they are talking about.
Kent, you should just quit now, cause you are digging yourself deeper and deeper into a hole. I attended this event on Friday night, which was one of the most peaceful events I’ve been to at First Ave. in a long time. At least 2-3 groups that I can remember seeing had a backing band. “WOW! Instruments in hip-hop?!?”
You need to realize the difference between a lot of the underground hip-hop (like the music at this event) and the bling bling (c)rap you hear on the radio. That is the reason events like this are put on. To show that there is good hip-hop out there, made by people who were brought up listening to everything from punk, to jazz, to the classic rock that KKKQRS plays. Just because there are gangbangers out there making that rap garbage doesn’t give you the right to assume that all events are like that.
YO! the Movement is a GREAT organization and has flawlessly put this event on for 5 years, to entertain and help raise awareness and hopefully strengthen communities and people, unlike some of the people who posted on here and Tom Bernard, who would rather stereotype and keep the violence and hatred flowing.
I have seen many local events by the likes of Rhymesayers, Doomtree, Hecatomb, Loonatix Productions, Fill in the Breaks, which were way less violent than any rock concerts I’ve been to.
I have seen many shows in the cities and in the suburbs, and hip hop is not about being black or from the ghetto, which has to be one of the dumbest comments ever made by a human.
I agree that dumb little kids who look the way you described and act that way do look stupid, but it doesn’t mean that people from the suburbs, no matter what color can’t listen to music they enjoy.
*EDIT*You also need to remember that Terry(sp?) asked if it were okay if there were to be an “all white festival?”, implying that the TCHHF was an all black event and that no one else was welcom */EDIT*
Any good hip hop has not boundaries to race, religion or location.
I think you shouldn’t be angry at hip hop, you should be angry at your ignorance.
And I used to love the KQ morning show…till it went from funny to a klan meeting, at least a few years back. Tom Bernard is just mad cause he wants to be Howard Stern…but thats a whole other topic.
VLAD-EVER NOTICE PHILIP WISE IS AFRICAN AMERICAN? HE GETS IT, HE KNOWS THEIR JUST KIDDING AROUND, HE CALLS WHITE PEOPLE HONKYS AND TOMMY LAUGHS, THEY MAKE FUN OF EVERYONE ON THEIR, BUT WHEN THEY DO IT TO BLACKS AND RAP, THERES SOME BIG UPROAR, I DONT GET IT, WHY DONT WE BAN SOUTH PARK, OR FAMILY GUY, WHY IS IT OK FOR THEM TO SAY THESE THINGS BUT NOT TOMMY AND THE MORNING SHOW?
There’s a problem Kent, when you say, “And theres a difference, Rap embraces a large African American lifestyle these days, most rappers today are African American, most rockers are white, and yes I do like jazz, but that doesnt embrace a “ghetto
Desdamona-this is the last thing I will say on here, that I dont mean that other word, your racist for thinking I mean that other word, when most my black friends dont think i mean that other word, i just mean white person acting black, thats all,but you can read my mind, so I’ll back off. Also the festival was called YO!- enough said.
I would not say pulling a black man over with probable cause is profiling. I would call it profiling to pull a black man over to ask him where he’s going, or what he is doing, which I have seen happen plenty of times. Point in fact the other emcee in my band(yes we have instuments including but not limited to turntables) was late for practice one night. He happens to be half Nigerian. Turns out a black man in the area he was driving in had commited a crime, and the police wanted to “make sure” it wasn’t him. He ended up sitting there for an hour before sending him on his way, because they had located their “suspect”. That to me is profiling, and I would challenge you to discredit that. I know where Colombia Heights is, and it’s baffling to me to see you continue to generalize when you have obviously experienced multiculturalism. Not all white kids that like rap model themselves after Eminen, and contrary to most of the uneducated’s belief Eminem was not the first successful white rapper. Not all rap is about violence, bling bling, and mysoginy. Educate yourselfs, and then speak to those of us that have experienced volumes more than you in a tone more respectful of the things we value in our community.
racist isn’t a thought.
predjudice is.
whigger means white nigger. right? right. There’s no other definition for it. And as far as I know, no one can “act black”.
I never said I could read your mind…but since you said I can, maybe I’ll try. This should be fun.
You’re thinking, “I wonder if Desdamona is a whigger?”
No one is making you try to listen to rap Kent.
We’re just pointing out that you are ignorant.
Not every white person that listens to rap or hip hop is “trying to be black”.
I know what kind of kids you are trying to speak on, the “Malibu’s Most Wanted” type, but you need to realize that not every hip hop fan is like that and not all hip hop is that garbage on tv and the radio.
I don’t know how many times it needs to be repeated.
So were any African Americans that were at the most recent Slayer concert “trying to be white”?
And what about Native Americans or Latinos at hip hop concerts, are they “trying to be black”?
Or at Slayer or any other rock concert, are they “trying to be white”?
I think people are just being people and they like the music…
Much respect to Desdamona and Bona Phide for having valid comments and keeping the truth alive on this topic.
Also much respect to CR for this article, it pointed out some truth in a world of media that likes to often bend it.
p.s. The event was called the 5th Annual Twin Cities Celebration of Hip Hop.
You still don’t know what you’re talking about.
V is on point, and has my respect for also expressing very valid thoughts! Desdamona much love to you as well as always. You continually live up to your aka…”The Voice of Reason”.
A HUGE thanks to CR for taking a stance on this issue when many establishment types would consider it contraversial. The media needs more people cast from your mold.
[…] We all know that Tom Bernard is big idiot, but what is even more amazing is some of the comments on Riemenschneider’s blog this week, and the amount of people that don’t see the difference between an event like this, and the rap shows where stabbings and shootings have unfortunately occurred. To them, all rap music is bad, and everyone associated with rap music is thug. Comments from the blog […]
I’m more worried about getting killed in a moshpit than I am about getting shot at a local Hip-hop show.
THE CELEBRATION OF HIP HOP HAS NEVER HAD A SINGLE INCIDENT OF VIOLENCE IN 5 YEARS…NOT ONE!
YO! HAS NEVER HAD AN INCIDENT IN IT’S ENTIRE HISTORY…(approx 10 years i think)…NOT ONE!
Is this a wordpress blog? or some other software?
I suspect that’s thereason general public want to read blog….Internet visitors generally create blogs to declare themselves or their secret views. Blog grant them same matter on the monitor screen what they specifically needed,so as the above stuffs declared it.
Hey Chris, why don’t you take it up directly with Tom & call the show ?
I would imagine your tail is between your legs though.
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