THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 13, 1997 TAG: 9702130301
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 77 lines
Hip-hop culture respects rappers who keep it real, whether they're rapping about sex or capitalism's bottom line.
For others - particularly those who better relate to the traditions of the black Baptist church - the rappers' goal should be keeping it right by toning down many of the lyrics and dropping the attitude.
But as dissimilar as the world of hip-hop and that of the traditional black church may seem, common ground exists between them, professor and author Michael E. Dyson pointed out Wednesday in a speech at Norfolk State University.
Like the black church, rap music - and the hard-core gangsta variety, in particular - strives to foster a stronger sense of community and self-awareness among African Americans, he said.
And, he added, both the church and hip-hop culture try to join scholarship and style - brain power and ``stylistic and cultural expression.''
Trouble is, the two often have their backs turned away from each other instead of coming together on key issues of black cultural expression, he said.
``What's important . . . is to understand that all of us are down here trying to figure out the best way to make a community cohere around mutual respect for one another,'' he said.
Dyson's lecture, ``From God to Gangsta Rap: Notes on Black Culture,'' attracted nearly 500 students and others interested in hearing a man who has been praised for his ability to dissect youth culture and, in other quarters, dismissed as trite.
A communications professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Dyson, 38, is an ordained Baptist minister and author of four books.
He has latched on to hip-hop - which encompasses everything from baggy pants parents hate to rap music to basic youthful rebellion.
And he's known for telling it like it is - whether he's criticizing the black church as sexist for the secondary roles it often gives females, or demonizing some of the black intelligentsia for slamming hard-core gangsta rap when they were previously silent about rap's more positive and politically insightful varieties.
He left practically no stone unturned Wednesday.
He characterized O.J. Simpson as a sell-out.
The government, he said, often turns a blind eye to bleak conditions in inner cities.
And he showed just how down he really is by skillfully reciting a rap lyric here and there, or mimicking rappers who refer to a woman as a ``ho.''
But Dyson's explanations of rap music's New York City origins and the socioeconomic deprivation that created the West Coast gangsta strain struck the most responsive chord.
Gangsta rap, he said, is frequently sexist, homophobic and obsessed with violence.
But he also said gangsta rap itself did not create those problems.
Moreover, the music is an outgrowth of tough times, he said.
``Gangsta rap is very problematic precisely because it forces us to deal with stuff we don't want to hear,'' he said.
``The real vulgarity ain't the language they use, it's the vulgar conditions that produce the need for them to be vulgar from the beginning.''
Dyson seems most interested in relating to young people in a respectful way - with the goal of bringing them around.
He said he had chosen to use hip-hop as a way to reach ``young black people in order to transform them, bring them a different perspective.''
Likewise, the black church and middle-class blacks might have more success reaching today's youths if they relied on a more caring and understanding approach, he said.
``So many people,'' he said, ``don't concede that these young people are human beings.''
Shewanna Jones, an NSU freshman, said the message was timely.
``He pointed out very good issues concerning the black community understanding each other,'' she said.
``In order to unite, you have to understand that everyone doesn't come from the same economic background.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
Michael Dyson: ``All of us are down here trying to figure out the
best way to make a community cohere.''