Hip Hop Wars Chapter 10 "Nobody Talks About the Positive in Hip Hop"

Rose states that many people believe that a lot of attention paid to rap artists in on the negatives; and there is a lack of acknowledgement of the good things they do. She also states that the negative images that are associated are largely self-made. Many defenders of hip hop are angered that less attention is paid to progressive rappers like Common and Lupe Fiasco. These artist are overlooked because they are often lumped into the overall genre that is hip hop; which is widely negatively viewed by society. Many teachers and activists try to use hip hop as a tool to teach youth about expressing themselves and teaching them literature. These efforts are largely unrecognized and poorly funded. Rose states that the good done by hip hop artists is rarely reported on; instead negative actions and news is what gets reported because it's what is more popular. She says especially for black people this is true; "...the shortage of affirmative coverage for already wildly popular black celebrities contributes to an overemphasis on negative black actions, conflicts, and misdeeds". Rose also states that some of these good deeds and actions might just be a public relations or marketing effort for some high profile rappers. They may just want to generate sales and promote themselves and philanthropy is a good way to do this. Philanthropy is a powerful public relations tool, however it is hard to believe that this is the only reason someone would perform these actions. Giving back is not a new idea; it has been a long standing tradition in African-American communities. She gives many examples of rappers, especially high profile rappers like Jay-Z, 50 Cent and Jermaine Dupri, who have made great efforts to give back to communities. Rose posses many questions, about how the rappers rap about demeaning women and glorify their bodies. The money they get from these songs, is donated to charities and they give back to the community. Isn't there a problem with that? They make money by promoting bad images then use this money to help the same people their songs are hurting. Rose states "The monies 'given back' cannot begin to compensate for the damage to spirit, social relations, and self-image that most of commercial hip hop has wrought". Rose also states that charity wedded with justice is what is needed, it demands accountability and has the potential to create social change.