Post-Reading Week 12: Hip-Hop

• I think I liked the video because it is not the everyday hip-hop music videos we usually see. Lupe Fiasco did a good job portraying the "good bitch" to the "bad bitch". Some of the points made by Lupe Fiasco is the hierarchical level of being the "Bitch Bad" being the bottom level, after "Women Good", and the top part of hierarchical level is the "Lady Better". The way he uses bad to good to better defines the hierarchy of the women portrayed in the society. Lupe Fiasco's music is critically conscious because of the lyrics that explains the point of view of the boy and the point of view of the girl. Also, the video shows the actors of the hip-hop music video that they did and the minstrel shows at the very end of the video which shows that White folks dominates minstrel shows and they carry all the money. The black woman and the man didn't really like painting their faces even darker with charcoal because they're humiliated by white folks. 
• The article "Thoughts on Lupe Fiasco's "Bitch Bad" connected to me the most not because we discussed it in class but because it gave me broader insight of what is happening in the video. The article is also a pro for Lupe Fiasco's music video because of the story and the confusion most kids think about when they were little and when they grow up they basically follow what they see online or with their parents. With the boy Lupe Fiasco pointed out that "he is in reality" because he sees his mom doesn't dress like a "bitch", while in the girl's "malleable" mind is portrayed with the music video of the mom in bikinis showing her butt. I understand more about Lupe Fiasco's "Bitch Bad" because the author did a really good job analyzing the video. 
• The connection between Jamila's point of view and Lupe Fiasco's video is that it's not about the feminism's view of how the women dress in a music video but also how they can help in order to stop or lessen the "stupidity" that women most of the time show in a hip-hop music video. Lupe Fiasco's "Bitch Bad" music video portrayed the life of the mother in order to live and raise his son by his own. She had multiple jobs in order to please the people that pays her to act in a bad video and in a minstrel show. Jamila is also pointing out that we need to be aware of how the producers or the people behind the music video portrays the body of a woman or women included in a hip-hop video. 
• I believed that hip-hop is a movement against white supremacy and how they see black men as inferior to the white folks. Hip-hop too is getting in the popular culture amongst the youth to show their own oppression in their lives. It can be socially responsible because most people listens to hip-hop and most of the billboard hit makers are hip-hop and rap artists.
• According to Clay there are a lot of things that you can do with hip-hop. It can be a way of communicating to people that are experiencing the same oppression as you. It can also be a way of showing emotions in performances. It can also be a way to make people aware of the problems that faces their society. Yes most of the time. Some of the hip-hop songs that I listen to contain messages that impose awareness in the society.

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