Keli Goff
Keli Goff, the author of a new book on young independent black voters, discusses what the real role of hip hop should be.
By Ali M. Latifi
May 13, 2008
Keli Geoff, author of Party Crashing, spoke at the Center for American Progress in March.Hip hop was born in the late 1970s, and back then, it was a movement of the people. Graffiti art, break dancing, emcee battles, and rap music were all a new kind of grassroots activism—it all grew from the streets. From Grand Master Flash’s depiction of the urban jungle in “The Message” to N.W.A. (Niggaz with Attitudes)’s often controversial descriptions of street life in Los Angeles, the music of hip hop has always focused on the difficult realities of urban life. In more recent years mainstream hip hop has become less about politics and more about scantily clad women in music videos. Today there are still people within the "hip hop generation" who have made loud political declarations, but in an unpredictable way.
In her new book Party Crashing: How the Hip-Hop Generation Declared Political Independence, author Keli Goff explores trends and conflicts within the African American community. There is increasing number of registered independents among the so-called hip hop generation that is complicating what was once considered a largely cohesive (and liberal) voting bloc. Campus Progress recently got a chance to talk to Goff about the independent hip-hop generation voter, the impact of celebrities on politics, and—of course— Flavor Flav.
Much of the presidential primary polling and reporting out there groups voters into racial and gender blocs. You argue that the hip hop generation wants to move past labels like “black voter” and “young black voter.” They’d rather be known as simply “voters.” Why do you think the media is so eager to segment the vote by race and gender?
The media likes to simplify in such a way that they can easily be told in 30-second sound bites. It’s much easier to say “that black voters did this” or “white voters did that” than to actually discuss the many layers and complexities of voters. Every voter has a story and that story is not merely comprised of the color of their skin. But politicians, pundits, and political consultants often fall into that trap of making such generalizations.
Sometimes there are definite trends, but identifying a trend is the easy part—finding out the story behind the trend is what’s really important. For instance: It would be easy to say Barack Obama has an overwhelming lead among black voters—therefore they must be voting for him because he is a black candidate, which some have attempted to argue. But if you look at the polling data early in the primary, he struggled to earn his support, particularly among older black voters. There was a story there—a really interesting one about generational differences among black Americans that anyone who just glanced at the exit polls today might miss. You have to be willing to dig a little deeper.
In your book you refer to a quote by Russell Simmons stating that the same mentality that inspires someone to buy a new CD or sneakers can be used to engage them politically, but you also have Oprah Winfrey saying kids in America only care about Jordans and iPods. How do you balance these two starkly opposing ideas and engage the hip hop generation?
Both of these schools of thought reinforce the notion that most people are motivated by what they perceive as a benefit to themselves, material or otherwise. If voting is successfully marketed as providing the ultimate benefit—power—then more young people will vote.
What role do you think celebrity endorsements play in the political process?
It depends on who the celebrity is. I think that most people would argue that it traditionally doesn’t matter.
Right, but celebrities can get people in the door to hear a candidate speak.
Exactly. Which sometimes does make a big difference.
Do you think politicians are distancing themselves from hip hop celebrities?
Sure. They’re controversial.
Among the hip hop and black communities, there has been a lot of criticism of BET and its role in creating/perpetuating stereotypes of both black and hip hop culture. Does BET do more harm than good? Is it living up to its potential?
It’s hard to say because they’ve definitely aired some programming that’s questionable and probably doesn’t reflect African Americans in a particularly positive light. Where do you draw the line between what’s considered offensive and what’s an authentic representation of some? The analogy I would use is that Flavor of Love is the biggest hit in VH1’s history and yet I would dare say that if that aired on BET people would be upset. I think there’s definitely room for criticism but we have to be careful of selective critique so to speak. I find a lot of those videos offensive but I don’t watch them. If everyone wasn’t watching them then they wouldn’t be on.
You’ve argued that there’s a lack of racial understanding in the feminist movement. Is this why more white feminists don’t speak out against the proliferation of video vixens in the world of commercial hip hop videos?
I don’t have an answer to that. What I can say is that on gun control that was the case. The Million Moms movement didn’t start happening until after Columbine occurred. Handguns had been the leading cause of death for black youth for who knows how many years before that? I do think sometimes a lack of understanding can sometimes lead to a lack of action.
Some people feel hip hop is not a positive representation of black culture. What will it take before we see hip hop artists making politically charged statements in mainstream hip hop again?
You know what’s interesting is Kanye West is sort of like that. He does definitely play into some of the stereotypes of hip hop in that he is very into material things, but he also made that controversial comment about Hurricane Katrina and he’s still a mainstream artist and he’s still taken very seriously.
Hip hop is sort of on the decline, and when things are on the decline people start trying to change—people start trying to figure out how to refurbish things to make it new again. So what we could end up seeing is someone saying, “Let’s try making it more political. Let’s make it less about naked women and see what happens.”
What other artists besides Kanye West are bringing politics back into hip hop?
Russell [Simmons] has. Russell’s interesting because he’s like the "Godfather of Hip Hop." He hasn’t been involved on the music side for a while and I think that’s part of what has lent him the credibility to be seen as a legitimate political voice. He hasn’t been making videos with naked women. He’s kind of eased out of the music and is more into his own media empire. He’s done some very legitimate things that go well beyond simply being a celebrity who endorses.
Russell’s model is interesting because he took it to the next level. He didn’t worry about just endorsing last election cycle—he actually worried about mobilizing and educating voters on a variety of issues and getting them to register to vote. He set certain goals that he wanted to accomplish with his advocacy and his activism and he hired people to actually make it happen. I think that’s had a really powerful impact because here’s someone that people really look to as sort of defining father of hip hop who used to not vote himself (and he talks about that) until he saw an issue that he wanted to see changed with his brother and the Rockefeller drug laws and that made him become involved. He basically sent a message that you can make a difference, too. His involvement and the way that he did it was a really powerful statement.
At a UCLA panel entitled “Does Hip Hop Hate Women?” Bakari Kitwana and Davey D recalled seeing a very young girl who told them she wanted to be a video girl when she grew up. They attributed this to the lack of strong black female figures in the mainstream media. Do you agree with their analysis? Who do you see as a strong black female figures who may be able to counter that image of the video girl?
I wouldn’t agree with that analysis. I don’t think you have to look that hard to identify strong black female role models in the media. I think the bigger issue is presenting young people with options and opportunities that they feel are within their reach. For many young people, especially from urban areas, the idea of going off to college, getting a degree, and hosting a talk show may not seem as possible or within reach as getting a gig as an extra in a rap video. We have to help them realize that what is possible for Oprah Winfrey, or Condeleeza Rice, or Halle Berry is also possible for them.
Ali M. Latifi is the Special Assistant to the Senior Vice President of Online Communications at the Center for American Progress. He graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 2007.
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— Mark Randall - May 29, 11:32 PM - #