Wesley Viola Expository Writing 11/4/12 Essay No.

4 In Hip-Hop Planet, McBride argues that hip-hop can be loved as a whole while being hated for its violent, morally repugnant parts. No different than the violence in the Star-Spangled Banner, the violence of hip-hop should not prevent one from appreciating or celebrating it. Both deserve to be loved because they capture a significant part of our cultures identity: the Star-Spangled Banner represents the birth of the United States while hip-hop represents its current condition. While the violence that both contain can be hated for the suffering and the loss of life that it entails, violence was and is nevertheless a part of this culture. As art, one of hip-hops primary roles is to reflect the condition of modern society, however ugly that reflection may be. If it achieves this and captures a part of our cultures identity, it is worthy of being loved and celebrated. Modern society is characterized by a sharply unequal distribution of wealth, creating a widespread culture of have-nots that is frequently marked with much crime and violence. As McBride writes, Forty percent of New York Citys black males are jobless. One in three black males born in 2001 will end up in prison(472). Hip-hop and the sub genre of gangsta rap reflect the lifestyles of those living in this have-not, crime-ridden culture. Rappers like Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur who grew up in such environments did not rap about violence and

crime so much as they rapped about their own personal experiences. Their lyrics deal with what they saw and how they learned to act in the Brooklyn and Los Angeles ghettoes. In these places, they make visible the criminal and violent lifestyles, the empty moral cupboard that is our generations legacy(472). The music of Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur and other rappers captures this real, defining part of American culture by offering a glimpse into the experiences of those living in the widespread have-not world. The Star-Spangled Banner also represents a part of American identity by capturing the moment of the countrys birth. The reality of these events included violence and bombs bursting in air, unpleasant elements of a larger story that tells of Americas origin. Just as hip-hop represents ugly yet true and defining characteristics of America, so does The Star Spangled Banner. Both can be loved and celebrated for the aestheticizing of parts of this cultures identity. One can hate violence yet love hip-hop because, though it contains violence, it is a reflection of the have-not culture, which is a defining part of American culture. To ignore hip-hop and what the genre represents, as McBride did for 26 years, would be to ignore the reality of so many individuals in the socioeconomically poor cultures in America and around the world. To embrace hip-hop is to become aware of and appreciate this widespread condition of modern society.