September 19, 2005

NY Times on Hip-Hop and Katrina

David Banner made a great impression on me when I interviewed him ~~last year~~ a few months ago (damn it's been a long year) for this very rushed piece on rappers with college degrees (note: I did not write the headline). I'm glad the world is getting to know this side of him (I am quite fond of parentheses):

Rapping for a Hometown in Hurricane Crisis

"I lost my house," said one victim of Hurricane Katrina, although this particular victim was equipped with some wildly refractive ornamentation and, more importantly, a very loud microphone. The crowd fell silent. "I lost my cars," he continued. "But it ain't about me." Then, without pausing to acknowledge the absurdity, he delivered an exuberant, bare-chested ode to the shiny rims on the wheels of vehicles he no longer had.

This was, in a twisted way, one of the most moving moments of Saturday night's concert. The victim was the New Orleans rapper (and reality-TV veteran) known variously as Young City or Chopper, an aspiring star who joined loads of established ones inside the Philips Arena for a concert called Heal the Hood, a hip-hop fund-raiser for - and, in a few cases, by - victims of Hurricane Katrina. (A New York hurricane relief benefit is to be held Monday night at 10:30 at the B. B. King Blues Club and Grill in Manhattan.) On Saturday, Atlanta's famously competitive hip-hop stations had joined forces to promote an event that would be, as the jocks constantly reminded their listeners, historic.

And they were right. The night was organized by the tireless Mississippi rapper David Banner. He had corralled an impressive lineup of rappers, especially Southern rappers: Young Jeezy, T. I., Big Boi from OutKast and many others. The cause had everyone excited, but the "because" had everyone even more excited: the night was made possible by the extraordinary continuing success of Southern hip-hop.

No other event has ever mobilized so many rappers so quickly. Just about everyone heard Kanye West's impassioned claim that "George Bush doesn't care about black people." Fewer know that some stars (like T. I. and Fat Joe) hit the radio airwaves for impromptu telethons. Others, like Paul Wall, led clothing drives. And yet others, like Eminem, wrote sizable checks. Rappers from the fertile New Orleans hip-hop scene responded particularly gracefully: Juvenile was one who lost his home, but he plays down his own story, focusing instead on those who lost much more...

Posted by jsmooth995 at September 19, 2005 2:28 PM

Comments

Very cool. I'd seen an interview with him at one point where he basically said that it was great and all that he got some mainstream play, but at the end of the day, that wasn't what it was all about. Seems like a totally on the level guy.

Posted by: Tom at September 19, 2005 7:11 PM

These guys are takin' the phrase "show & prove" to a new level, i'm proud

Posted by: roe luv at September 19, 2005 10:35 PM

I'm not trying to rain on the parade, but David Banner's widely publicized quote just didn't sit well with me. This one--"I think Hurricane Katrina has exposed America for what it is. I think it's bigger than Black and White. I think it has a lot more to do with rich and poor. We've always known that America is a racially driven country. We front like it's all good, but we know the levels of racism that are in America. It shows that America doesn't give a damn about people in the hood, period."

I feel like he was talking on both sides of the fence here. Personally, I think it is both race and class, but it sounds like he's trying to dismiss race more than I would like. I just didn't feel very comfortable with the quote. I want to know who the "people in the hood" are? Just my 2 cents on David Banner. (Plus his new video totally kills my belief that he is about anything too concious.) However, I do think that Hip Hop rallied together and that is impressive.

Posted by: Rachel S at September 20, 2005 9:59 AM

Good article..it didn't seem rushed at all..

i was at that benefit last night and David was wildin...i wrote a review about it in The Lesson. overall the show was great...the 6-year-old New Orleans survivor was the best part...

Posted by: veronica at September 20, 2005 11:00 AM

if you don't know who the people in the hood are then perhaps (a) you ain't never been to the hood or (b) you ain't never left it.

black people can't front like class (read money) don't mean anything when OJ and MJ are walking around scott free. Racism is a major problem int he country but you are fooling yourself if you don't think a fat bank account is not gonna cushion you from a lot shit poor negros in the hood have to deal with on the regular.

Posted by: the crossfader at September 20, 2005 3:08 PM

Good article

Posted by: DnB at September 23, 2005 12:01 PM

Love the higher ed article. He really impressed me in an interview I did with him last month where he stressed the importance of knowing history. And to the comment about his video, he does a lot of good for the community but at the end of the day he still has to make ends. Seems he strikes a worthy balance.

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"wildly refractive ornamentation"

Love it. Never heard that one before...

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