"Keeping it Real"

Because I am teaching it, I had the pleasure of re-reading Imani Perry's Prophets of the Hood. I had forgotten just how good the book is and her effort to do justice to the full complexity of hip-hop styles. I am also reminded that her thesis - hip-hop lyrics engage in a systematic critique of American life from an African American political location via African American Vernacular English - is an important given I still encounter many friends, families, and acquaintances that are baffled by my scholarly interest in hip-hop.

One part that really jumped out at me was her take on "realism" in hip-hop. I found her take interesting because I currently writing something about authenticity in contemporary African American literature. Perry defines realism as assertion of "allegiance to black youth populations, or subgroups within the community." She further states that being real is "a political rather than purely sociological stance that gives testimony to the emotional state resulting from the experience of poverty, blackness, and the crises of urbanity" (87). For Perry, realism is about staying connected to one's community (94), avoiding sanitized and stereotypical versions of African American life (95), and speaking truth about one's experience in a way that reveals greater and/or communal struggles (96). I thought that she really nailed it.

The flipside of her approach is that many of the commercial rappers are not socially connected or merely in the game for their own personal economic benefit. Unfortunately, these folks are not "keeping it real" no matter how frequently they reference guns, drugs, or sex.

Definitely a good book. I highly recommend it!