Breaking it down through dance and discussion Students use hip hop music as a means to tackle destructive media images

Author: Aylie Baker

"It was outside. 10 p.m. They were making beats, listening to the music, tapping the poles…that," smiles Morgane Richardson '08, "was hip hop." This past Friday, Richardson had a chance to lead a discussion which utilized the musical form of hip hop as a springboard through which to discuss larger, more poignant social issues. For Richardson, this symposium helped bring to the forefront what it means to be a woman of color today while simultaneously encouraging students to constantly question the media they are consuming.

The clash between commercial hip hop and underground hip hop was a major focal point in the discussion Friday afternoon. Commercial hip hop ­­- produced by Universal Studios and MGM in music videos and for popular culture - differs greatly from underground hip hop - the musical art form which doused the streets of Chicago and Harlem during the 80s and still lingers less prominently in the industry today. As was revealed in the dialogue, there exists a marked difference between the more material, degrading form of hip hop - which likens women to ATM machines, for example, in music videos, and the true, unadulterated hip hop - which Richardson eloquently described as a fusion of "art and culture."

Due to the fact that they showed a great reverence for hip hop as a true art form, the student performances held on Friday night were very well-received. The performances, described Will Nash, Wonnacott Commons co-head and associate professor of American Studies, also marked an exciting fusion of academia and student extracurricular interests. Among the students participating in Friday's event was Sheyenne Brown '09. Brown danced alongside fellow Riddim World Dance members and also performed some of her poems. "Performing is what I enjoy most," gushed Brown, "be it acting, dancing [or] poetry."

Yet in regards to the thematic nature of some hip hop music, Sheynne admitted that often times she is oblivious of the lyrics she is dancing to. "For me, dance is instinct, I just feel it and want to move to it." It is "when we stop to think about the music itself," she explained, "that we realize that there exist very destructive images." Perhaps this is why the Symposium hit home for so many students. As an art form that almost all of us are familiar with, examining hip hop critically offers particular insights into social stereotypes and objectification of both women and men.

Indeed, explained Richardson, hip hop is becoming increasingly accessible to younger generations-whether it be on the radio or in music videos-and its messages are simultaneously growing more powerful. Richardson recalled her experience teaching modern dance to young girls this summer and in particular highlighted their great impressionability. Wincing slightly, she described how some of them interpreted good dance style to include removal of clothing and "shaking it."

Such media images pervade even our college community- be it in the form of late-night dances to Madonna or posters promoting upcoming sporting events. We are all entitled to freedom of expression, she emphasized. It is when our identity begins to become muddled-contorted by media images-that we need to stop and evaluate ourselves and the media critically. In essence, stressed Richardson, the symposium encouraged students to question "where we draw the line between expression of who we are-identity, culture-and the result of what we've been seeing."