e-Mailbox: Public housing demolished for profits

Dr. McGhee is an archeologist specializing in the African American historical presence.

Back in the day when Co-Publisher Glen Ford operated the nation’s first Hip Hop radio syndication, “Rap It Up,” (1987 – 1993), corporate boardrooms had yet to discover the mega-profits of Gangsta Rap, and politics rocked the house. Last week, we republished an interview with the Political School artist, Paris. The Q&A was conducted by the staff of Playahata.com, and first appeared on Davey D’s excellent site. As Davey D’s introduction stated, “Paris hails from the San Francisco Bay Area and was catapulted onto the national scene in 1990 with his hit single “The Devil Made Me Do It” and album of the same name. Since then his uncompromising stance on political issues and biting social commentary have both aided and hindered his quest to bring solid music and messages to the masses.”

Reader Craig Arie called our attention to another interview with Paris, whose LP “Sonic Jihad” comes out on September 23. We think the artist’s conversation with thaformula.com should be of interest to those who bemoan the current state of Hip Hop and Black culture, generally. Here’s a slice from the interview:

It’s a catch-22 type of situation because, in so-called minority communities, life imitates art, so we act the way that we see on TV. Most kids in school – high school and middle school – know the lyrics to songs more then they know their schoolwork. Everybody that’s reading this interview knows how influential music is when it comes to us, and so when there is almost a type of a blanket negativity that exists in the music then you see it havin’ negative ramifications on us in real life, and that’s the most disturbing thing. I mean everybody that came from my era who was puttin’ it down when it was me and PE and X-Clan and Krs and a whole lot of folks, we saw the positive impact the music that we did had. I get emails to this day from people who say that “The Devil Made Me Do It” and “Sleeping with the Enemy” were life-altering experiences for them because it made them look at things differently and made them approach situations differently. It made them become more aware of themselves and how they fit in America’s racist structure. I can only imagine what kind of influence that a lot of what is going on now is havin’ on folks that’s comin’ up. It’s a frightening thing. It’s genocidal actually.

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