Blog Week 10

Artist: Shad
Song: Brother
Lyrics: http://www.onlylyrics.com/hits.php?grid=3&id1026738
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87QRiAQ2sqO

I don't really have a favorite song in any of these genres. I know that hip hop music is very rich in cultural and political statements. I found this song, Brother, by the artist Shad. I really enjoyed the lyrics and music. This an excerpt of some of the lyrics:

"Many actions excused In the name of getting cash That's adversely impactin our youth With mental slavery, the shackles is loose And it's hard to cut chains when they attached at the roots So what the new black activists do For our freedom is just being them Do what you're passionate to Not confined by a sense that you have to disprove Any stereotypes, so-called facts to refute Or match any image of blackness They've established as true Perhaps we'll break thru the glass ceilings Shatter the roof and emerge From these boxes that they have us in cooped And grow to smash the bold that they casted of you I'll keep watching..."

These lyrics address the limited access for many black youth to economic freedom. Because of stereotype and perception of "blackness" many African/American youth are discouraged from pursuing academic pursuits. As Shad says, "it's either makin tracks or it's hoops." While African/American athletes seem to be the most successful and talented in the NBA and the NFL and many are successful musicians what is really obscured is that these may be the only arenas percieved as spaces for success.