The Roots’ newest album is set to come out in two weeks. I’m pretty sure I’ll buy it, as I like all the songs I’ve heard – minus Birthday Girl, which (a) wasn’t as bad as everyone made it out to be, and (b) isn’t on the album anyhow. However, I have a bone to pick with this video.
What you are seeing is a perfect accompaniment to the gritty, muffled sound of Black Thought ripping the microphone up. However, I’m not sure if people are seeing the problem here. The group is murdering a white male. It’s undisclosed what he has done, and the reasoning behind this killing. It can almost be seen as a form of torture as they beat him and burn him. A group of all black males killing a white male.
Let’s look at that again. I respect The Roots – I think they have a positive effect on hip-hop and music as a whole, but they (Rik Cordero, director included) are wrong here.
Let’s flip the stage around a bit. Would you EVER see The Roots murdering a Latino man, or someone of Asian descent? No way. They seem to have to be attacking the white man. They wouldn’t murder a woman, because that would be seen as wrong or politically incorrect. Yet, somehow, it’s seen to be okay to portray this attack on the white man. For some reason, the reverse actions of one of the most unfortunate and wrong things in the history of the entire world, is seen as okay and acceptable. Am I, the white man, paying for my crimes? Get the fuck outta here. That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. The Jewish people and Japanese people during World War II were placed in internment camps, where many died. They are not sending a racist message. A video depicting such a thing would not be seen in the same light as this “75 Bars” is. Even worse, if a white band was portrayed in a video as ritualistically killing a black male…well, all hell would break loose. You don’t even need me to tell you that, it’s more or less common knowledge.
In this world of political correctness and this current fad of not offending people can sometimes really be taken over the top. For example, a petition had started to make them “people-holes” instead of manholes. However, if I see something like this, I feel like the cards are stacked against me as a white person. I know I cannot do the same thing and be able to escape away safely. Same thing goes with the controversial n-bomb. I do not use the word, and do not condone the use of it. A couple of my black friends don’t use it, because they don’t feel it’s fair for everyone. I don’t mean to be a whiny person here, but I want a level playing field when it comes to these types of things.
I know the theme of the album is the white man’s attitude towards blacks in the past, but we’re not in the past anymore. We’re in the present. And if racist attitudes are something that the world as a whole wants to get rid of, there’s no need to be putting out things like this.
That is all.
This post has been certified controversial. Make sure you catch the comment train. I know you’ve got an opinion, make it heard – especially if you disagree with me.
Word, i watched that ish after reading your post and i totally agree wid you. I didnt think it even really sounded like the roots style either… just plain offensive.
i disagree in the sense that black and them are very intellectual and do thing thoughtfully.
the key here is it’s art. they are telling a story.. the story here is ‘the white man(the majority/elite/rule makers…)’ NEEDS to be kidnapped (sometimes, or in this case) JUST to be able to explain how some/they feel as “minorities..” … it’s not about color it’s about culture… you got a whole era of people that don’t understand the system is aimed at making it difficult for MINORITIES. it’s hard to swallow fact of America and think they did a good job in representing the NEED for the “white man to understand a minorities plight”
all in all it represents the feelings of a lot of people towards the elite and oppressors of america… that they wanna beat the system/the white man…. i think it’s a much needed piece of art/music, most people in the public eye like the roots just pussy foot around important issues.. here they are addressing it head on.
respect to you and your opinions andrew, peace
the fact will remain that certain people will never understand or appreciate ART and a hard to see/hear story that needs to be told and understood..
so understanding this truth, the roots decided to address the issue that the system is still designed to make it hard on minorities in america.
the point isn’t to go out and kidnap someone and beat them if you disagree with them, it’s to illustrate how a lot of people feel and who they feel it about… to me the violence is a metaphor for the pent up (rightfully so) anger.
fair enough, but is that a fair way to go about it? do they have other options?
well considering how unfair the odds are stacked against certain groups of people, i feel that it is fair to use your platform(roots-their music) to get a point across, in fact all things considered i think it’s maybe even NEEDED.
BUT i think they/we do have other options, although considering the power of good music, it MAY be one of the strongest options, coupled with a video and you got a ‘winner’ in my book
I don’t condone the beating and burning of anything, be it human or animal. That being said I have a few questions for you. If it were a black man (or any other race for that matter) that was being murdered would you even notice? If Thought wasn’t constantly interjecting the “n” word into the song would the attack not be as racially charged?
What I find offensive is the thought behind this “level playing field” thing. Really, if this video and others weren’t made, and if the n word wasn’t used anymore by anyone, how will this make everything fair? Maybe things will be fair in your eyes, but things still won’t be fair for us.
While I cannot and do not blame you personally for 400 years of slavery, it still happened, and its effects are deeply rooted in our blood. It’s only been a little over a century since it’s dimise and only like 40 years since the civil rights movement. You mention other races like the Jews and Japanese who went through trying times as well, but you have to remember those races were given public apologies or recieved some type of compensation for their suffering. These were not good examples in my eyes, because we weren’t, nor has there been any formal apology.
Surely you can’t expect this anger to just totally dissapate right away. Like everything complicated there is a process, and it will take time. Sure there can be other ways to express this anger,
sorry hit the submit button by mistake
Just wanted to say that of course there are other ways they could have expressed this anger but would anyone taken notice or even cared?
I Was more jus dissapointed like normally hes lyrically tight but his rhymes was sloppy here and that bassline is just a joke… I mean i was as much offended by the drop in the standard of hip-hop on display as the fact that it happened to be a white guy he was beatin on… I just wouldnt call this art… I think on this one black thought is walkin a thin line between enlightenment and ignorance….
also he says n**ga far to often and im sure he deemed it politically appropriate but it jus sounds like that “the Game – we gorillaz” song where he say motherf**ker at the end of every bar…
Peace
-RowanB
interesting opinion rowan, personally i’d have to completely disagree with those sentiments though(not like it matters) regarding the song it’s self..
in my opinion black thought, unlike most emcees, doesn’t DO sloppy rhymes EVER in songs… lol and if he did it’s certainly not in this song and i haven’t heard it(although i’ve heard everything released publicly)
i’m not disappointed at all, there was a point to saying that word so many times… the last thing i do when i listen to black thought rhyme is compare him to other emcees, it just doesn’t cross my mind when listening to a master lol, seriously. personally i think everything thought says in songs ARE art, especially this one(and even more so including the concept behind the video)
i won’t be responding to this comment section anymore because i’ve commented on the blog and the song it’s self. if anyone of you wanna question me further about it then send me a message (if you can’t find where to contact me then fuck it
lol
good blog post andrew and thanks y’all for sharing your opinions.
goodwill it makes me look popular when a post has got like 10 comments though! hahah
thanks for stopping by everyone, it’s nice to know a couple people read this
To be honest the real reason it was a white dude was simple logistics. A good friend and very talented NY based actor, Seth Abrams was the only one I thought would be able to handle the extreme nature of the video. I’m not claiming ignorance to racist themes here but working with Seth, Tariq and Ahmir to figure out the motivations of their characters had nothing to do with race. Seth imagined himself to be a corrupt road manager not some kind of white oppressor (he’s Jewish by the way). I simply asked Tariq to think about Seth stealing Roots tour money and that was enough. I can understand not likening this video to art as the Hip Hop music video game has a few more years of reperation but please don’t say we’re wrong for wanting to tell a story. Corruption comes in all colors just as revenge can be told 1 million ways. My interest lies in the human race and the human condition. Peace.
Most people despite race, have something stacked against. I’m sick & tired of being sick & tired of people making the “black (or insert any minority) people have the odds against them). WTF does *that* mean?
Let’s all hold hands and hate people who are successful then eh?!?
I’m done. Anyway, I have to agree the video is offensive. Naturally, I have a twist. I think the video is about street culture fighting back against corp. America. Okay, hold up though.
While a ton of people who “find it hard to succeed in America” will find such a video needed & the topic highlighted. Let’s flip it around another way:
If the video were corp. America attacking something in the street that *ought* to be attacked, let’s say drug dealers, the video might depict white males kidnapping some black dude, & so on. Man…that would make Al Sharpton turn over in his grave (in my mind he’s already dead).
We could argue the people in both videos (the roots & my imagined one) just *happened* to be the races they are. However, knowing what little I know about ?uest & Blackthought, & all that PETA bullshit, I’m going to wager they *knew* the implications of this video.
Having said all that, let me preempt possible attacks on my motives. I’m a mixed (black & white) Detroit resident, blue collar, criminal record, atheist libertarian.
As I understand it, & I’m open to correction, someone involved with the video’s production is a Jew. That hardly makes it better. I don’t know why that was even mentioned. Black people who are anti-corp America hate Jews. To what degree they are hated is likely as varied as haircuts, but can’t be more than marginally so than corp. American white men.
lol wow, a response from the video director, RIK CORDERO himself… pretty wild.. BUT the LYRICS of the song and the direction of the video seem so far apart… the LYRICS of the song infer more than just… “stealing the roots tour money”
interesting STILL to see the root of the concept behind the video.
good job rik.
@detroitrapblog..
the FACT is (if you’ve studied immigration in the u.s. and racism in the u.s.)
laws/acts/etc ARE aimed at people of certain phenotype/monetary positions-to DISENFRANCHISE THEM…in the past AND NOW, it’s sad BUT true.
[...] shot the videos for The Roots’ “Rising Up”, “75 Bars” (which I talked about recently) and “Birthday Girl”. He’s one of the hardest working people out right [...]